Help for a potential first time buyer, please!

[DeLoreanBandit]

Hello everyone! New to the forum. I've always loved DeLoreans. I've wanted one for a long time now, and one has recently come up for sale in my area. I called and went to check it out earlier this week ( the only one I've ever seen in person. Lol! ). It's an all original ( right down to the dry-rotted tires ) 5 speed 82 with just under 1,800 miles. It's not bad, but it does need some TLC to make it nice again, as it's been sitting for a long time. It was last inspected in 1994, hasn't been started since I think he said 2007, the lock on the driver's side door is stuck, and it's been sitting outside for the last 3 or 4 years, so who knows how many mouse nests are in it and how much wiring has been eaten.

He's asking $26,000, which I think is HILARIOUS!:rofl: I'm thinking about half of that, considering what it will probably take to be running and dependable again. He said give him a call if I wanted to come take another look. I wanted to ask if anybody has any advice on specific things to check; mechanical, electrical, common rust spots in the frame to check for, things like that. Other than a fuel system flushing and a tank cleaning, what else could this car potentially need? Also, what upgrades would be recommended? I know the 82's had a lot of the bugs from the 81's fixed, but I would like this car to be as reliable as possible. I don't plan to drive it every day or anything, but I'd like to take it out now and then and not have to worry. Anyway... sorry to go on so long, but I'm just trying to get a good idea what I might be getting myself into before I commit and make him an offer. I'd really appreciate any tips anyone could offer.:)

Thanks a lot!

[Jeff K]

A kinda of rule of thumb is 1K for every year it sat.

I wouldn't even offer half of asking price. You can find a running one that needs a bit of love for the early to mid teens.

[Michael]

From your description, his asking price is just unrealistic. I wouldn't even bother making an offer. I have a few theories about cars that have sat for years with astronomical prices:

1 the owner actually thinks the non running car that's falling apart is worth the number based on what his friend down the street said. Usually they do not need the money anyway.

2 the owner knows its not worth much but gets a kick out of people trying to buy it, and a bigger kick out of watching them get mad at the inflated sales price....they don't need the money either.

[David T]

Aside from all of the typical work this car will need to get it going again, the fact that it was outside means you need to check the frame. If it is very rotten that can add a lot of extra expense to fix. Decontaminating it doesn't cost much but takes a lot of time and then you may have some repair work if the wiring was chewed up or you have to remove the heater box to clean it. A non-runner that has sat outside is worth about $5K depending on how bad the frame is. At this point mileage is not all that important. Difficult to check the frame when it is on the ground with flat tires. Figure on:
new tires
new battery
new struts
new radiator
new water pump and hoses and belts
Rebuild/replace the brakes and clutch hydraulics
replacing and cleaning the fuel system
replacing the hoses and parts of the A/C
It will take a LOT of time and parts to get it running and make it reliable again. This is a restoration project, not a few small repairs. Add up what all of the parts and labor will cost and base your offer on that. A good running low mileage car can be worth around $25K. If it takes $20K to make this one good then you can only spend $5K to buy it. My advice is to always buy the very best car you can afford. After spending $25K (and the time it will take to make it worth $25K) you could have bought one for $25K and driven it reliably for a year. Consider that too when making your offer.
David Teitelbaum

[EdR5150]

Where is your location? Many Delorean owners would be willing to accompany you, and give their opinions of the car. They might even show you their car!

[DMCMW Dave]

A kinda of rule of thumb is 1K for every year it sat.

Assuming it was relatively up to date maintenance-wise when "parked" and didn't suffer a catastrophic engine or transmission failure which caused it to be "parked".

[kenny]

He's asking $26,000, which I think is HILARIOUS!:rofl: I'm thinking about half of that, considering what it will probably take to be running and dependable again.

David covered a lot of what will be needed in his post and his advice is good.
A non running car would be $10k max. By your description of this car I would say it is worth much less.
A seller who is asking 26k for this car is out of his mind.

[Shep]

I think the reason he's asking so much is because it is such a low-mile DeLorean that is mostly original, and it's hard to find that nowadays. The problem is, from what it sounds like, there are issues that need to be addressed (e.g. door locks) but haven't been for the sake of originality. Not to mention the fact that it hasn't even turned over for five years. And since it was last inspected almost two decades ago, I'd wager that's the last time those tires ever met pavement. Either it's been run on occasion ever since then, or he let it sit there all those years and five years ago changed the fluids and got it to run. As it's been five years since it last ran, I have a gut feeling that the next time he tried to start it, it wouldn't run, and how much damage was caused by gummed-up gas and old fluids is anyone's guess.

Honestly, don't even bother with it. I'd be uncomfortable offering $7,000 on it, and frankly unless he's going to sell for a "barn find" price as he should be, I've got a feeling that if and when it does sell, it will be parted out. Perhaps that's the reason why he doesn't want to admit that it's worth so little -- he may be afraid to face the fact that it's just not worth the time and effort to turn it into a driver again, and parting it out is the only viable option for most potential buyers.

[DeLoreanBandit]

Assuming it was relatively up to date maintenance-wise when "parked" and didn't suffer a catastrophic engine or transmission failure which caused it to be "parked".

That's another thing I was suspicious of. Wow, thanks for the heads up everybody. I've been saving for one of these for a while and I've got a pretty good bit put away towards it. I'll probably just save up for a little while longer and hopefully by spring or early summer I'll have enough to get one that's already nice and won't really need much, if anything at all. I'm in the finishing stages of restoring a 1977 Bandit Trans Am ( hence the username Lol! ) which has been a complete ground-up, nut-and-bolt job, so I don't really want to buy another complete tear down after all the blood, sweat and tears that went into that one! Thanks for looking out for a naive DeLorean first timer. I really didn't expect so many replies so fast! They're really not kidding when they talk about the DeLorean community being a tight-knit group.


Thanks a lot guys. You probably saved me from myself BIG TIME on this one!

[DeLoreanBandit]

Where is your location? Many Delorean owners would be willing to accompany you, and give their opinions of the car. They might even show you their car!

The car is in Beckley, West Virginia. I'm in Summersville, West Virginia, about 45 minutes away. Don't see many of these around here. If it doesn't have 10 foot tires and a obnoxious, deafening hillbilly exhaust:swear1: people around here just aren't interested.;) Lol!

[uhhair]

Not to hijack the thread, but it just makes me annoyed when you see someone with a car like this and that asking price. Odds are, it'll be years and years before it finally moves again or gets sold, and by then it has a 50/50 chance of being nothing more than a parts car at that point in time. Sucks how many Deloreans could be on the road if people were more realistic about their value from the start.

Getting back to the subject though, I notice it's VERY common for interested first-time buyers to get overly excited about a Delorean coming for sale close to them and try to justify the purchase to themselves, when really the distance is the ONLY thing the car might have going for it. This is normal. The goal of our community should be to mainly calm these buyers down and stress that the condition/price of the car is by FAR the most important part of the search for a Delorean, not it's location. Even first-time buyers should be prepared to travel or search extensively for their first one. I think we've done a good job at stressing these points so far. Keep it up.

[David T]

Finding a car, any car, close by gets people interested. In this case it is a Delorean but it happens all the time for any car that is a little unusual. The problem is, unless you are familiar with what to expect you do not know what you are in for and get caught up in the excitement. Sometimes you just have to know when to walk away. The owner is not willing to take his loss on the car and he thinks it is worth X. Till he sells it for less than X he hasn't lost any money on the car! Low mileage, by itself, is not so important if it is a non-runner in lousey condition. Never give up though, I would keep in touch and one day you may catch him in a more negotiable mood. You can also try to educate him as to value by showing him what other Deloreans have sold for.
David Teitelbaum

[Shep]

To me, the worst part is that cars like this only decrease in value as time goes on and more parts need to be replaced. Pretty soon it's worth next to nothing, and it's not until the owner allows it to be parted out or passes away that it finally goes. What a shame :frown: