In my view, the DeLorean (or any other car for that matter) becomes salvage when the cost to fix it up is more than the cost of purchasing an equivalently fixed up car already. In other words, if you can buy a DMC carcass for $4000 and it takes you $10K to fix it up and you're left with a car that could be bought for less than $14K then the car was salvage. The notion of getting a cheap DMC by purchasing a junker and fixing it up is ill advised. With the current prices for DeLoreans, I have rarely seen cases where this pans out (even if one does not include the cost of labor by doing the work themselves). There are cases, however, where the notion of fixing up a DMC is appropriate and of great value, but not in terms of monetary value -- for example, some of us really enjoy working on these great cars and feel great satisfaction in doing such restorations. Such works of love have their own rewards that are not monetary and the work is an ends in itself. First-time owners that may not be very familiar with the peculiarities of these wonderful cars are probably also in the worst position to carry out such projects, and in some cases it is easy to overestimate one's mechanical capabilities in successfully and effectiively doing major mechanical and cosmetic restoration projects. My suggestion is to buy a car that needs work if your objective is to do the restoration work because you enjoy the work itself. If your objective is to get a good DeLorean, then I think most people would be much better off purchasing a good DeLorean. Merry Christmas! Knut