Re: [DML] On Buying a DeLorean...a Primer!

["K Creason" <dmc4687@xxxx>]

Nicely written, Les.
But there is absolutely nothing wrong with the 81's!!!!!
I own an 81, #4687, and I love it. It's an October, which I believe was the
biggest production month, and are fantastic vehicles.
Personally, I would rather have an 81, simply for the added asthetics of
hood lines than a flat hood.
Now earlier 81's might have some problems... such as the windshield antenna
or filled in front-fender antenna hole, etc. But it's all minor, and it's
all part of each vehicle's unique personality.

The biggest point you made, and can't be stressed enough, is updates and
care given. Mine had about $5k done in updates and restoration done a few
years before I bought it, so I was getting a fantastic deal for twelve and a
half.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Les Huckins" <jhuckins@xxxx>
To: <dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 4:46 PM
Subject: [DML] On Buying a DeLorean...a Primer!


> First, read a copy of Stainless Steel Illusion, that will give you the
> background you need to make a proper selection. I've purchased 2 Ds in
> the last 10 months, I did my homework, here's what I came up with:
>
> After reading the book you'll note there were a lot of changed made
> month by month, there's a certain VIN segment that is more attractive
> than the rest. Best suggestion is get the latest one you can find,
> preferably an '82 or better, or if you find an '81 you like, it would be
> best if the VIN is 5000 or better. This is important.
>
> The consensus is you should not buy a fixer-upper, it'll kill you in
> time and money. Best reasoning is something that has been driven with
> some regularity but not a high mileage unit, around 30,000 miles is
> about right. What you really want is a nice car that someone else has
> spent the fixup money on, you'll see advertised a car with $15,000 in
> fixup costs and the car is for sale for $18,000. That would merit a
> look.
>
> With that, my first purchase was an '82 with 35,000 miles on it,
> previous owner had paid $17,000 for it and spent several thousand on
> fixups during the 5 years of ownership. New upholstery, new battery,
> new brakes, new steering wheel, new metal radiator and overflow bottle,
> new steering bushing, new door pulls, new shift boot, painted the dash
> and facias, no dents, no eyebrow (drooping over the headlights), new
> tires (Yokohamas), no dents, looked good and ran very well. Asking
> price $18,000, I bought it for $17,000. I've put another 3500 miles on
> it with no problems except the otterstat fell off because the metal clip
> was discarded in favor of a sealant. The really terrible thing is the
> "mechanics" who get to a car before you do and throw things away that
> you have trouble finding and who also change factory settings such as
> wiring and vacuum hoses. Anyway, nice car, no regrets.
>
> Fast forward: about September of this year there was an ad on eBay for
> an '83 with 8,245 miles on it, like new, no known problems, asking
> $16,500 with no bids and was in CA. I negotiate the price down to
> $15,000, now here's the part to pay attention to. The VIN number is
> listed on eBay ads, with that I went into the owners list on the DML and
> found that although the current owner (from NJ) wasn't listed, the
> previous owner in NY was. Called him and found the car had been
> purchased from PJ Grady and that they had owned it about 2 years, the
> NJ owner had had it about 9 months. I called Rob. Rob remembered it
> well and said it was a really nice car, he had gone all through it and
> given it a 1 year warranty. I . Armed with that info I took a check
> and went to see it. Awesome, very much like new, the tires, the
> upholstering, everything. Brought it home and have added about 500 very
> happy miles, only thing I've done to it is change the exhaust tips, as
> recently mentioned, it had the tiny pipes without tips. Has Lockzilla
> and Fanzilla the braided clutch line, all kinds of upgrades, a dream
> car.
>
> What I'm saying is that first of all it's very much a buyer's market,
> there are a lot of cars around, do your homework first, get a nice one
> you can enjoy, and at a reasonable price. Don't get dazzled by the
> first one you see and/or by a cheap price, take a little extra time to
> get it right rather than spending a lot of time regretting a hasty
> choice.
>
> Addendum: I only do 5-speeds, the consensus is the automatics tend to be
> a little slower off the line and do have some exotic things go wrong
> with the electronic shifting etc. but that's personal choice, it may be
> worth the extra pain to have an automatic.
>
> There's a nice one out there waiting for you to discover it but first DO
> YOUR HOMEWORK!
>
>
>
>
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