RE: [DML] Re: Question and strange car show behavior

[mike.griese@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Welcome to the world of low volume automobiles.  The DeLorean
is certainly not unique compared to other manufacturers.  The difference
is that DeLorean did not survive long enough to have provided their
own fixes for the problems you cite.  This actually makes the problem
worse, because there was a long time in the wilderness before the
current vendor environment matured where there were an awful 
lot of hacks performed on these cars by largely well-meaning but
underinformed mechanics.  New DeLorean owners have to wade
through these "repairs" to put the car back to where it was intended.
This can be expensive and frustrating depending on their expectations.
If they stick with it and avoid the siren song of the quick hack, they 
will eventually wind up with a car that is at least as reliable as other
cars of the era.

In my opinion, this is exactly why we need to have a vigorous concours
for the DeLorean.  Without a documented description of what the
cars should be, new owners have no way to judge the condition
or value of any particular car they might be interested in.  Cars with
"improvements" like one-off engine installs, gearbox changes, 
electrical modifications and the like are the ultimate hacks.  Imagine
you are a new owner of one of these cars and you have a problem.
There is NO WAY the established DeLorean community can help
you.  You are at the mercy of whoever you can find to work on 
your car.  At that point, every repair is an experiment because there
is no body of knowledge to fall back on.

Things really haven't gotten better with time.  Porsche is dealing with
chronic rear main seal failures in the Boxster and 911.  They also 
have problems with intermediate shaft failures.  I'm getting a new 
engine for mine because I was "lucky" enough to have both
problems.  Of course, there is no guarantee that the new engine
won't have the same problems.  So, does that mean I should try 
to cram a small block Chevy into it?  I don't think so...

--
Mike


-------------- Original message from "Videobob Moseley" <videobob@xxxxxxxxxxx>: -------------- 


> You know, I mis-spoke. 
> I should not have said "unreliable". 
> Despite all the goofy problems we all have, the engine will usually fire up 
> and go... 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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