Thanks for the sound advice sir, Being a younger enthusiast at the ripe OLD age of 24..I myself am hoping to purchase my first D before the Memphis show (already have my room booked!)and it certainly would be nice to be able to DRIVE to the show! A few points that i would like to expand upon: > First, read a copy of Stainless Steel Illusion, that will give you the background you need to make a proper selection. Still a hard book to find..and expensive when you do. If i'm not mistaken wasn't someone here a publisher, a few months ago i remember reading that this person might raise some funds for a reprint. >I've purchased 2 Ds in the last 10 months, Can i have your job? >After reading the book you'll note there were a lot of changed made >month by month, Is this due to the stock of parts being used up before being succeeded before the new improved parts? >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. Agreed, '83 would probably be the least likely to cause trouble, BUT, there's just something about THE hood (grooved w/ gas flap)!! i think THE hood was gone at approx vin 3200? someone correct me if i'm wrong. > 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. I'm pretty sure the "rule of 20" should be noted here. You would still need insurance, registration, tax. etc.. >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. Non-owners cannot get to the owners list. Hence the name "owners list" It would be great if i could call whoever has owned the car previously (if not the being sold by the first owner), but without that list, it isn't going to happen. > 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. First time buyers have no real experience in looking for a good purchase. But i think the DML runs a close second to ownership. Even though i have yet the opportunity to even ride/drive a D, i feel that this list is a valuable source of knowledge. This list has given me the knowledge of the man, myth, legend, car and company that allow me to intellectually speak about such topics. i think it's safe to say that i speak for non-owners who are members of the list: We appreciate the help and guidance that our friends here on the list provide us. We look forward to joining the community of Delorean owners and do so anxiously. -Jeff Chabotte Norwich, CT Striving for the dream.