[DML] Re: D as a first car?

[William T Wilson <fluffy@xxxx>]

On Wed, 23 Jun 1999, Martins wrote:

> Does anyone reccomend have a DeLorean as a first car? That's what I'm
> planning/hoping on doing. My great-great aunt has been somewhat of a
> "penny-pincher" for a LONG time. She's got a lot of money, but won't
> spend it. And when she passes-on, the money will be inherited by other
> family members. She said that I'm supposed to inherit $12,000. Now,
> that's pretty much a DeLorean. (Of course, I might save up for a while
> and put more towards it; following the rule "You get what you pay
> for")

I have really mixed feelings on this.

On the one hand, I firmly believe in "now is the time" and that if you
really want something, you ought to go ahead and get it.

Secondly, you might consider that not spending your money is a good way to
wind up with a lot of it. When I was 16, I had $6,000 in the bank that my
parents gave me. Through careful investing, I turned it into $20,000 by
the time I was in college; I was able to use this money to launch my own
Internet company. It's turned out to be a lot more useful to me than a
DeLorean would have been.

Some people *have* owned DeLoreans as their first car - maybe one of them
will contribute their experience.

On the other hand...

The DeLorean is an automobile that falls firmly in the "high maintenance"
category, not necessarily engine wise, but in all the little details. 
Some of the repairs that may need to be done can be fairly expensive.
$12,000 will buy you a DeLorean in reasonable condition, however, it won't
leave any left over for insurance, maintenance, etc. The real cost of a
DeLorean is more than just what you pay to bring it home; how much more
depends on how careful and lucky you are with the car you select. If you
don't have the money your car will become more of a burden than a joy.

I've never known anybody (myself included) that didn't crash their first
car into *something*. Whether you do that at 10 mph or 100 mph will
likely determine whether you get to drive your car to the body shop or
have it towed to the wrecking yard. A DeLorean fender costs $4000, and
driving around town in a rumpled DMC kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't
it.

You might also consider whether you really want to own a DeLorean, or if
you just happen to be excited about it right now. Maybe, a year from now,
you'll want something else - maybe you'll end up wishing you'd bought an
RX-7, or an MR2, or a Mustang, or something.

This is why I recommend that everybody should start out with a Geo Metro,
an old Subaru Legacy, an original Beetle, or something like that. In
addition, those sorts of cars are much easier to drive than a DeLorean.
And they'll get double the fuel economy - which cannot be overlooked if
you have to buy your own gas on a highschooler's salary. :}

Put the rest of the money in a mutual fund. After you have gotten the
hang of car ownership, after a year or so, take your money out (you'll
have more of it), sell the junker (it won't lose much value in a year, if
it only cost $2000 to start with), and buy yourself a nice D, and then
you'll have a little left for when something breaks.

> One of the main problems is my dad. I wouldn't exactly call him a

Don't pay too much attention to that. Either he'll outright forbid you
from buying a DeLorean, or he won't. Try to listen to what he has to say,
though. :}



------------------------------------------------------------------------

eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/dmcnews
http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications