What I want to pay vs. what is realistic
A “rule of thumb” for D’s was established years ago, and for the most part it is still applicable. “What’s the difference between a $20k and a $25k DeLorean? About $10k.”
What will you get for your money? In most cases, you will find the following true:
- $2k - $4k: A car with rot, not running, interior destroyed, sitting for years - - possibly decades… more times than most—a parts car. This car will take MAJOR $$ and time to restore
- $5k - $10k: a project car that has been sitting forever, MAYBE it starts, more than likely it doesn’t. MAJOR updates to electrical, cooling, brake, fuel system have to be done.
- $11k - $13k: a project car that starts, moves. Can be made into a daily driver with some work. The list of MAJOR updates to electrical, cooling, brake, and fuel system may have been started.
- $14k - $19k: a project car that has had some work done, starts and runs, drives, but needs work. A lot of daily driver D’s fall into this category. Higher side of this category are project cars that need work, but all the big things such as the cooling system, fuel system, electrical system have been mostly sorted out and updated. Body should be in good condition, some blemishes or minor work can be expected. Car can be driven with confidence for the most part, but some things are still being sorted out.
- $20k to $26k: There are a lot of D’s in this category. These are a lot of the well-known cars that spend a lot of time in a garage, have been basically rebuilt and updated, body is in excellent condition, everything works, car can be driven with confidence virtually anywhere. NICE D’s.
- $27k to $35k: This range is getting harder and harder to find as the economy has changed over the past few years. At the upper end of this range, you would expect to find things like concourse cars. When the economy was good, VERY NICE D’s were in this range, but in the past few years this has changed with the economy. The majority of nice cars you will now find in the $25k range.
- $36k+ : These are the unicorn cars. More than likely you are spending this kind of money buying a car from a vendor, or an older person who thinks the car is a Ferrari. If you are looking at a privately owned car in this category and the car has no substantial history (i.e. Right Hand Drive (RHD), Johnny Carson owned it, etc…), you can do better. Vendor cars usually have full inspections/some kind of warranty in this price range.
Please note, these are
GENERALIZED figures from what we have all seen time and time again. Yes there are exceptions to the rules.
Want to trade for a Delorean
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by dvonk
