How bad does this rust look?

[dembkomj]

Hi I'm new to the forum and will be checking a car out for sale next week. the owner said there was some rust issues on the frame so I asked for some pictures. He sent me these three. Note the car has an aftermarket turbo. He still drives it around and it has 48k miles. How bad are these areas compared to other examples?

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Thanks,
Mike

[DMCMW Dave]

That's bad.

[Patrick C]

It's likely worse than the pictures show. Ask for shots of the front frame as well.

[Delorean Industries]

Purchasing a car in that condition will result in years of pain, suffering and financial mayhem. Definitely keep looking.

[Michael]

Rest assured, that's the "good" side

[Dangermouse]

I don't think I have seen as rusty an exhaust in many years. I can't see the OPs location (as I am on Tapatalk) but I would guess he is in Europe.

[wafflemaster]

I don't think I have seen as rusty an exhaust in many years. I can't see the OPs location (as I am on Tapatalk) but I would guess he is in Europe.

Europe OR the bottom of the ocean :) I've never seen an exhaust that rusty that doesn't have holes in it. Amazing.

[Ryan King]

Pass. Pass. Pass.

This will just cause you so much grief later on in life. All the suspension parts are probably pretty toasty too.

[Jonathan]

+1 on keep looking. There will be other cars.

As mentioned, these photos are the "good shots." You will also likely find many of the fasteners and brackets in a variety of places quite rusty and difficult to work with. That means that even on the okay parts of the car, it could be painful getting those items swapped out or worked on if the time comes. Seatbelt bolts as an example, sunvisor screws, license plate lights, marker lights, windshield trim, etc.

[Dangermouse]

Now to be fair, we don't know what the asking price is. The CO could have it very reasonably priced to allow for the extra work.

[DMCMW Dave]

Now to be fair, we don't know what the asking price is. The CO could have it very reasonably priced to allow for the extra work.

Only if the price on the entire car is somewhere close to "free". OR less.

[dembkomj]

Here is a link to the car for sale. The guy claims it was painted red from the factory or dealer, which I don't buy. He has tried selling it via ebay in the past for $18k, then $15k, and he is now asking $10,000 for the car. Me wanting to go for originality I would of course strip the red paint off, take the turbo off, and other things like original radio. He had recently replaced the leather. The car is located in suburban Philadelphia.

Would you guys say there's maybe a couple thousand dollars worth of frame repair here, or is this a typical case of needing a donor frame and basically throw the old to the scrap yard?

http://car-from-uk.com/sale.php?id=51327

[Mark D]

I don't think there is much left of this frame to repair. There is so much rust you would probably have to replace the whole frame. The rest of the suspension parts are probably going to be just as bad. There are way better examples out there that won't cause all the headaches this car has in store. Unless you want to spend the next several years elbow deep in piles of rusty parts and spend tens of thousands of dollars replacing just about everything I'd run away from this one.

Aside from the serious, serious rust issues this car has it sounds like a more original car would suite your tastes better anyway. Removing a turbo setup and coverting back to stock can be an expensive and painful process, made worse if the person who did the turbo conversion hacked up the wiring harness in the process.

AND the car is painted? This car would be a trifecta of bad if what you're seeking is a mostly original non-painted, rust free, NA car. You definitely want to pass on this car and find something better. Spring is here and there are going to be cars popping up for sale left and right.

[vps3922]

Now to be fair, we don't know what the asking price is. The CO could have it very reasonably priced to allow for the extra work.

I agree.

@dembkomj: Can you share the asking price? I see flaked off rust in there and this is already a problem for the frame in the engine compartment as it is the area with the highest load. And the frame is black, so somebody painted it already. This car needs to go for cheap or I would also agree to continue looking.

[Mark D]

@dembkomj: Can you share the asking price?

According to his previous post the seller is asking 10k. It's listed online at over 15k.


Here is a link to the car for sale. The guy claims it was painted red from the factory or dealer, which I don't buy. He has tried selling it via ebay in the past for $18k, then $15k, and he is now asking $10,000 for the car. http://car-from-uk.com/sale.php?id=51327

I'd hate to see someone spend 10k on this and then realize it's going to take double (or even triple) that to repair all the problems and in the end they'll still only have a car that is worth about 20k.

I've recently seen much better sell for about half of what the seller of this car is asking.

[vps3922]

According to his previous post the seller is asking 10k. It's listed online at over 15k.



I'd hate to see someone spend 10k on this and then realize it's going to take double (or even triple) that to repair all the problems and in the end they'll still only have a car that is worth about 20k.

I've recently seen much better sell for about half of what the seller of this car is asking.

Oh, I missed that. Sorry. Yeah, I would walk away. Far away.

[vwdmc16]

My car had similar rust in the rear, not quite as bad but I was able to repair it in the car with the engine out. As a professional fabricator I would have charged as much as it would cost to get a good used frame but as I found they can be hard to get.

Also agree that car is only worth a few grand considering the amount of repairs it appears to need. It won't be a profitable venture.

[Rich_NYS]

This looks like the red DeLorean that has been listed many times and (I believe) has changed owners a few times recently. When I saw the Craigslist post it was listed as excellent condition.

I might have a few pics from one of the owners when I was going to look at it...I'll try to find them.

[Jeffu]

Europe OR the bottom of the ocean :) I've never seen an exhaust that rusty that doesn't have holes in it. Amazing.

My car used to have a BAE turbo on it with rust worst than that. My exhaust rivaled the Titanic! However, the rest of the car had no rust. IMO exhaust rust should not be a huge concern because its one of the least expensive fixes on these cars, relatively speaking. But, with frame rust like that, I would urge you like the others, to keep looking. Don't let the initial emotion of "I found a DeLorean for sale" get the best of you.

[Dangermouse]

That's an odd website. "car-from-uk", when most of the cars listed are in the US.

and 106 DeLoreans currently for sale. I don't think so.

Edit, from the few random listings I looked at, they all had "Also published at eBay.com" or "Also published at eBay.co.uk" after them. Just an ebayMotors repackager?

[SS Spoiler]

The "black paint" may by rust proofing the quality centers sprayed on cars that sat on the docks unsold. I bet the vin is a late 82, 83.