Re: At what point does a DeLorean become salvage.

["Knut Grimsrud" <knut.s.grimsrud@xxxx>]

In my view, the DeLorean (or any other car for that matter) becomes salvage
when the cost to fix it up is more than the cost of purchasing an
equivalently fixed up car already. In other words, if you can buy a DMC
carcass for $4000 and it takes you $10K to fix it up and you're left with a
car that could be bought for less than $14K then the car was salvage.

The notion of getting a cheap DMC by purchasing a junker and fixing it up is
ill advised. With the current prices for DeLoreans, I have rarely seen cases
where this pans out (even if one does not include the cost of labor by doing
the work themselves). There are cases, however, where the notion of fixing
up a DMC is appropriate and of great value, but not in terms of monetary
value -- for example, some of us really enjoy working on these great cars
and feel great satisfaction in doing such restorations. Such works of love
have their own rewards that are not monetary and the work is an ends in
itself.

First-time owners that may not be very familiar with the peculiarities of
these wonderful cars are probably also in the worst position to carry out
such projects, and in some cases it is easy to overestimate one's mechanical
capabilities in successfully and effectiively doing major mechanical and
cosmetic restoration projects.

My suggestion is to buy a car that needs work if your objective is to do the
restoration work because you enjoy the work itself. If your objective is to
get a good DeLorean, then I think most people would be much better off
purchasing a good DeLorean.

Merry Christmas!

Knut