My twist on the buying experience: When you are going to look at the car to make an offer, bring a friend driving his DeLorean and park it next to the one you are looking at. If that doesn't scare the bajebbies out of the seller, then nothing will. I bought a garage queen DeLorean with 8600 miles on it for $17.5K. I've always wanted a DeLorean, but never knew hardly a thing about them. I would read the Auto Trader ads and some would mention that theirs had a Volvo engine. I was hoping to find one with the Porsche or Ford engine option because I heard those were better. Obviously I didn't know what I was looking for. When I found something that looked brand new and super low miles, I figured I couldn't go wrong -- especially for the price. I really wanted one with the Porsche engine, but I settled for one with a Volvo because they have a good reputation. Was that a good deal? Eh, well.... I think I paid too much. Now that I have worked on just about every part of the car, I have found all kinds of little flaws. If I had of known to look for these when I was making offers on the car, then I'm sure I could have drove the price lower. There was little done to the car by the previous owner. BUT, probably everything that was done was done wrong. Trying to form a criteria for finding the best DeLorean for you is not an easy task. I know that I bought the perfect car for me. It had little done to fix it, and I had all the original factory defects and weak spots to deal with. Is that bad? Certainly not. I'm an engineer and tinkerer type. I love finding problems and fixing them. This was a great car for me, but may have been a horrible car for someone else. Did the $20K rule apply to me? No. Not counting stupidity and luxury, I have spent a needed $8K fixing my car up well enough to be suitable for daily driving. This was mostly for parts. I did 99% of the labor myself. I wouldn't do it any other way. If you are in need of a DeLorean (it is okay to say that you actually need one -- there are such things as wants, but then there are some luxuries in everyone's life that are truly necessities -- and for some nothing other than a DeLorean will do.) you either need to be a good mechanic with a lot of tools and money on hand or you need to have a good relationship with someone who is. Your other option is to buy a refurbished DeLorean -- and still you either need to be or become a mechanic who is familiar with the car or know someone who is. But this is true with any car -- the DeLorean is just an extreme case. Anything less and your car will be sitting. I have over $30K invested in my DeLorean. If I had to sell it today, I would have a lot of potential buyers scoffing even at my original purchase price. I have talked with several DML regulars who admit to me personally that they have well over $30K invested in their cars, but they are too embarrassed to admit it publicly. I say that the $20K rule is conservative for a D that can hold up to regular use. If you want a very reliable daily driver that looks new, then forget the $20K. You are now in the $30K rule class. My advice to anyone buying a fixer-upper (this includes garage queens with very low miles): make a list of every part on the car that should be repaired or replaced. Then make two expense columns: Parts & Labor. Then subtract this total from the magic $20K rule. If I had of done that, then my garage queen would have a negative worth. The seller would have had to pay me to take it off his hands. Do you get my point? Maintaining a DeLorean is a hobby. You do it because you love doing it. Many times I've heard a statistic that auto manufactures make more profit from selling replacement parts than they do from selling the car when it was new. Cars are money pits. But what makes a DeLorean so great is that my DeLorean is still worth what I paid for it -- probably even more. I can't say that about any other car that my family has ever owned! If a DeLorean has had a lot of work done on it by a reputable mechanic such as PJ Grady, DeLorean Services, DMC Houston, or even DeLorean One -- you are probably getting a great value. There are so many barely roadworthy DeLoreans out there that are selling for $10K to $17K that it they are pulling down the values of the well maintained ones. A properly maintained new-looking DeLorean should cost you $30K+. Anything much less and you will only be driving it occasionally. Buy a DeLorean. You NEED it. It is healthier than anti-depressant drugs. It is more true to me than any girlfriend and costs much less. (At least my car hasn't driven itself back to the garage of its previous owner.) Now I've said too much :) Walt Tampa, FL