[DML] I Drive the Dream (was: Drive the dream?)

["Marv Hein" <marvhein@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jeremy,

Sounds like you're making a good choice in waiting.  

I, too, want you to know that DeLoreans are not all problems and 
horror stories. I was lucky... I had the money to buy the "$20K 
version" right out of the gate. I'm not a mechanic, have all the wrong 
tools, etc.  I wanted a car I could drive.  Everyone said I was nuts.

I bought a 10,500 mile car.  It had been driven regularly enough that 
the previous owner had been forced to do a fair amount of the 
refurbishing already. (Hoses, brakes, suspension, tires, etc.) It 
appraised easily for more than I paid for insurance purposes.

It's been eight months and 8,000 miles since then. I drive it 30 miles 
round-trip to work almost every day.  I have not been stranded 
anyplace while driving the car and have easily managed a Vegas-Phoenix 
roundtrip.  I get 22-25 mpg and consider it to be as reliable a daily 
driver as my other newer vehicles. So far, it's proven cheaper to 
repair.   

The only absolutely required new items for the car have been a new 
fuel pump (failed in my garage) and a brake master cylinder (old one 
had a slight leak). My biggest challenge was that the fuel pump didn't 
like the mid-Summer Nevada heat, but that's been solved.

It's true, I've added a bunch of other parts to the car on a purely 
voluntary basis because "working on the car" has become nearly as much 
fun as driving it. I'm also trying to keep it as reliable with some 
preventative maintenance.  Spread out over the eight months, I've 
invested less than $100/month.  Cheap insurance, I think.

Total labor hours required at a shop so far? 2.  I owe a lot of this 
to the support of the DML and my fellow Arizona DeLorean Club members. 
The others' advice to join a club, if you can, is echoed here.  You 
may find your future car in the hands of a fellow club member.

I recently sent my D's previous owner an email, telling him how much I 
enjoy the car and that it had turned out exactly as he'd described 
it: "A Reliable DeLorean."  In these days of false hopes and promises, 
my experiences with the DeLorean have been very positive.  I hope 
yours end up being the same.

Marv
#10820
AZ-D

P.S. Someone else on the list suggested a loan.  Somewhere along the 
way, when your finances make sense, you might consider that. Look what 
you get for $20K at a new car dealership these days. It's not much of 
a contest. :)


--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "biojerm" <Jedamay@xxxx> wrote:
>
> Id like to thank everyone for their advice and opinions on 
everything,
> I think im going to cry when I say the words "im not getting it", but
> I dont want to make a big mistake or anything. From what im hearing
> from everyone the best idea is to save up $20k or so for one that 
runs
> great. Hopefully in a couple of years ill be able to post on this
> forum about MY car and not one im planning on getting.
> 
> Thank you all for your support.
> Ill get one before I die! Just watch me.
> 
> Jeremy.
>









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