Re: [DML] Drive the dream?

[Ryan Wright <ryanpwright@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 1/22/06, biojerm <Jedamay@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> As it would turn out, i just ran across someone who is selling a 82
> delorean 20k miles on it and I was wondering if I should get it.

No. Just from your brief description I can tell you the car is a
basket case. Stay away from it.

Here's what you would need to make this car something you can drive and enjoy:

1. An enclosed garage to park it in and work on it.
2. A healthy supply of good tools.
3. A healthy supply of disposable income.
4. A lot of time and mechanical ability.

> wants $7k for it,

You'll spend another $7k fixing enough of the problems to drive and
enjoy it. Note, this won't necessarily make it reliable, or nice. Just
somewhat useful.

> I want to save up and get a v8 put in it eventually for a more
> reliable car. but im having a hard time find out what kind of tranny
> these things have and how much they are to replace if this one needs
> to be replaced. Any and everyone I call has no idea what it has except
> for "delorean" transmission.

The V8 won't make it any more reliable. Expect to spend a huge amount
of time and/or money for this. I've been looking into an engine swap
myself and I've found that it's not a minor thing. This isn't a Fiero
where you can find forums full of people who've done swaps and can
give you advice. If you try to perform an engine swap you're basically
on your own here.

The transmission is probably just fine, actually. A new/repaired
transmission computer will probably fix it. Not for certain, though.
You might have to spend several thousand dollars to replace it. Hard
to tell without looking at it.

> This will be my first/only delorean and I only make about $30k a year,
> but im willing to do whatever it takes to drive my dream car.
> Anyone have any suggestions?

Yes. Don't buy this car. You don't make enough money.

A DeLorean is a $20k car, give or take. There are exceptions but this
is basically the magic number. Now, you can buy a car for ~$20k that
will be in excellent condition and perfectly usable or you can buy a
car for $10k and put another $10k+ into it. That's pretty much how it
goes for the vast majority of us.

To put it bluntly, you can't afford a twenty thousand dollar car.
Certainly not one that, at random times, will require a thousand bucks
worth of parts and 10 hours of skilled labor - unobtainable in most
areas - to repair again. The $7,000 car looks affordable, but if it's
like most $7,000 DeLoreans it's really a $30,000 car in disguise.
Meaning you'll probably have to put that much into it before you start
to enjoy it.

> But am i going to have to use all
> my money and live in my car trying to replace the engine and tranny?

Considering your income, yes, pretty much.

I know you want a DeLorean. We were all in your situation at one time.
My advice to you is to work on two things: One, save your money. Two,
increase your income. When you're pulling in $60k and you've saved up
$20k in cash, then go out and buy your dream car. But get a good one
that you'll actually be proud of, not a $7,000 piece of junk.

Also, I know you didn't come here looking for financial advice, but I
highly recommend you listen to a man by the name of Dave Ramsey. He's
on talk radio stations across the US and you can find your local
station at www.daveramsey.com. The fact that you're thinking of
spending $7k on a 25 year old basket case of a car, with a $30k
income, tells me you could use his excellent (and completely free)
financial advice. That isn't a slam, by the way; I was once in your
shoes and I'm trying to help you avoid the same financial mistakes I
once made. Just listen to (or download from his web site) a few of
Dave's shows and he will set you straight.

-Ryam


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