Hello Adam, i can give you the facts first-hand as a college student with a DeLorean. owning one at this young age is a definite toss-up. i had wanted one for probably 10 years of my life prior to college, and when i graduated from high school, the first semester in college, i treated myself to a $16,000 present!!! was it smart? probably damn right stupid, actually!! even though i bought a car that i know was in decent shape and well cared for, it IS a 20-year-old car and i am approaching the rule of $20K pretty soon. and i still want to rebuild my A/C system and put a new radiator and cooling fans in!!!!! i will be over $20K easily by the end of 2002. a car like this always needs things, especially if you are as anal as i am. i want everything to work perfectly all of the time, and it is quite enjoyable to spend time alone with the car getting closer to that goal every day. however, the rest of my young life has taken a major toll. my life has become four things - working 35-40 hrs a week to support my DeLorean lifestyle (it's not a car - it is a NEW LIFE), going to school, seeing my girlfriend, and trying to find time to sleep sometime in there. i have completely missed out on the 'college experience' - i pay cash for tuition to stay out of further debt, yet i live at home where i have a garage and free room and board. i spend as little time on campus as possible and because of that i haven't made hardly a new friend there - and i'm a sophmore! i work nearly every day to pay $400/mo car payment, credit card (mostly DMC stuff), $120/mo insurance for two cars, gas, etc. i net about $1100/month, which barely covers everything by the end of the month. good thing i got my girlfriend AFTER i got my DeLorean or else she would never have put up with the car - she knew what she was getting into before we started going out. after school, work, girlfriend, i hardly ever see my other guy friends anymore. maybe every other week i'll see them for awhile. i used to play guitar and compose electronic music with vintage synthesizers - all of that stuff has since been sold to cover expenses. i don't party pretty much at ALL anymore which is either a good or bad thing, due to my long work hours and such. when i think about it, i really am throwing away my youth - all because of a car. i can't even imagine what it would be like if i had instead bought a $5000 domestic car with low payments and i'd have $500 a month to spend on whatever i wanted - beer, guitars, music, road trippin, more beer, treat my GF to a nice dinner sometimes..... i'll never know what that it is like to have more money than i need. every month i wonder if i'll be late on a payment. that sucks, man. and i make more money than you do! and just like you - before i had the car it looked like i had LOADS of money left over in the budget! WRONG! in fact there have been 2 times that i was very close to giving everything up and selling the car because i couldn't handle it anymore. but it was my dream car.... i can't ever see myself selling it. however, that's not to say that the whole experience hasn't been rewarding. i've met some great people through my DeLorean ownership - i've taken part in a number of car shows and i have won a trophy at every show i have attended that has awards. i completely enjoy having the car that everyone on the street thinks isn't for real - i love having the college students do double takes and smiling, and i love having customers where i work ask who owns the DeLorean in the parking lot. it's awesome! every time i get in that car it is the best thing that happens to me all day. it's something that i work hard for, and i appreciate the car more than you would ever imagine. stupid as all hell? the stupidest thing anyone still in school could do? completely and utterly moronic and boneheaded? the thing to do if you want to wallow in debt? DEFINITELY! rewarding and ultra-cool? YES! if i had to do it all over again - i'm not sure what i would do. i think i would have probably waited until after college, but then you don't know if you will get married right away and buy a house, and then you might NEVER buy a DeLorean. but if you want something bad enough, you will get it. it's just a question of WHEN and not IF. if you do buy the car - resist the urge to make it perfect. fix what you absolutely cannot live with as you get the money. always pay cash for parts, never get into the credit card malstrom. if you do, you will only make a questionable financial situation even worse. as for the daily driver - don't count on it. my car seemed like it would be a good daily driver when i bought it, and it reasonably is, but i have had i think three major show stoppers, all of them very expensive repairs. good thing i still have my trusty but getting rusty 87 Plymouth Turismo on the side! but at least i know i will not have problems in those areas anymore for a very long time now that they have been fixed correctly. as for driving in winter - only do this if you want to kill yourself and total your brand new toy. reasons: 1. the car is too short to see above snowbanks on corners, and the stainless steel seems to render it invisible. 2. the heater is not powerful nor very hot. better bundle up! 3. everything seems to work less perfectly in the winter - locks, gas struts, latches, door handles break off, etc etc etc. 4. the car handles pretty poorly in the winter due to being rear-drive and a majority of rear weight. any turn taken on ice, sleet, or low-traction surface, especially coupled with braking, will send you into the most wicked doughnuts your chevy cavalier wished it could do! i had to get towed once out of a snowbank on the first day i took my car out of winter storage because i hit a patch of ice (and no, i do not drive carelessly like a bat out of hell) and downshifted. the slight change in velocity made my car begin to fishtail and i did a 180 and went sideways into a snowdrift. kind of embarrasing, but the tow trucker thought it was the coolest thing anyway. also the first day of freezing rain i was driving the car and i switched lanes and started fishtailing - i lost control and went into the other lane, good thing there were no other car around. i quickly regained control but went 30 under the speed limit the rest of the way home i was so freaked out. after those 2 times i have vowed to NEVER drive my car when there is ice, snow, or freezing ANYTHING on the ground or in the air. i will never again risk my life or my investment like that ever again. i even had brand new Yokos with less than 1000 miles on them. the car just isn't good in bad weather. DO NOT rely on it for year-round driving if you are planning on selling whatever car you aleady have. put the D in storage and drive your tempo. if you want this lifestyle, by all means - buy the car! and have fun with it! but don't say i didn't warn you.... Andy Soma576@xxxx 1982 DeLorean DMC-12 VIN#11596 Fargo, ND 58102 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]