In my experience the difference between the so-called 20K rule and 30K for a sorted-out DeLorean is all in labor. If you can and do all or most of your own work, the 20K mark is reasonable. I've seen people easily hit the 30K mark who do none of their own work, and either pay the major vendors to do it right OR pay local mechanics less per hour, but several times over to figure it out. As in anything there are always exceptions (the occasional lemon vs. the occasional fantastic deal), but these are reasonable center- points. If I had paid for all of my OWN labor at even half of what I get paid per hour in my "real" job , I'd be way past the 30K mark. Just a guess, I've never had the guts to add it all up. But as Dave Stragand often points out, we're not in this for the money, but for the therapy. Another way to think about it is compare the cost over time to buying a new $30K car. What will it be worth in 4 years? Even at no maintenance you'll be spending 15-20K in depreciation. Dave Swingle --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Scott Gardner" <gardners14@xxxx> wrote: > I talked to the staff at DMC in Houston about a year ago, regarding > their $32,500 "turn-key" cars, and the gentleman basically said "We've > been doing this for a long time, and $30k is what it costs to get a good > DeLorean. You'll either spend it up front or in repairs."