The DeLorean Owners Club UK Forum

Hi everyone, My names it Elias, I'm 25 and live near Brighton.

Been checking out the forum and website for the past few weeks now, planing on joining the club/magazine in the next week or so.

I've joined up for some advice as I'm planning on buying a fixer upper to work on with my neighbour who's a mechanic.
I dont particularly need one in great condition as I'm looking for a good project to get stuck into, my only requirement is the body work to be in good nick and it has to be a manual.
I would be looking to spend about £7,000 - £10,000 max on buying the car, if that's realistic?

Looking forward to chatting to you guys,

Elias

hiya, nice to have you on board 8)

I've not seen a car in the UK for that sort of money for a long time, so your
best bet will probably be checking out the US market, but you'll need to factor
in adding about 30% to the sale price to cover shipping, import fees, etc.

If you do buy stateside, its worth seeing if you can track down spare parts at
the same time, and get them shipped over with the car. I found Ebay in the US
a good source of spares for my car when I imported it - although if you can, get
the vendor to put the parts in the 'trunk', as it has been known for stuff to go
walkies during transit/at the docks when its left in the cabin of the car or the
glovebox.

I think Eddie is planning a bumper next issue of DeLorean News, plus when you join
you can take up the 'back issue' option so that you'll get lots of reading material
to go with your membership pack.

Cheers,

Hey, Thanks for the info!

Yeah I had a feeling i was going to have to go down the import route, no problem though.
Would you be able to recommend any good sites to find a fixer upper on? So far I have only be able to find fully restored cars state side.

Elias

if you're on sites like Facebook, you can contact some of the US DeLorean
groups, the guys over there are great fun and if you get chatting and tell
them what you're after, there's a good chance they'll know of something
lurking somewhere just waiting to be rescued.

Most of us find our cars via Ebay, thats how I got mine in 2002 for just $4500

If you want, I'll put some feelers out with friends in the Pacific NW and Ohio Clubs
and see if they know of any cars that would suit your requirements.

Yeah that would be much appreciated, thank you

I'll have the ability to fix most things engine and interior wise, so if its a pretty beat up non runner thats no problem.

I've not had much luck finding the Facebook group, don't suppose you have a link?

Can only agree with Claire on this one, really just keep an eye on US Ebay (and theres not many on there at the moment) very rare any thing that cheap will come up in the UK I'm afraid. However any cars for sale usually come up for sale through the club.

Chris

http://www.facebook.com/OhioDeLoreans

http://www.facebook.com/pndcpage

These are the links to the Ohio and Pacific North West clubs.

A really cool guy is Josh Quellhorst in Ohio, he's got a lovely car and is
a nice bloke to chat to - although he doesnt get alot of 'English language-isms'
so if you say summat is "buggered", you'll get a " ? " in response when chatting
online to him lol

A few of us have done what you want to do and Claire/Chris are on the money - the choice of cars US-side is such that you'll find what you want eventually - but you may have to wait and scour the forums/ebay US.

I was in the same boat - but I'm after a runner now that I can fettle and personalise - but if I see a car, I'll post it here.

you've 'sweetalked' SWMBO then Dan? :wink:

Nah -it's still mid-next-year (unless "my" car appears before then). I still have no where to put it but I'm having to use the line "It'll be alright" and "I'll worry about that when it happens"...

Dan Willis Wrote:Nah -it's still mid-next-year (unless "my" car appears before then). I still have no where to put it but I'm having to use the line "It'll be alright" and "I'll worry about that when it happens"...

lol, well my De is fine living outside, they dont have to be pampered garage queens :wink:

Thanks for those links Claire, I've joined the groups, I'll give that guy a shout over the weekend (will try keep the English-isms to a minimum :wink: )

Dan cheers for that, yeah if you see anything give me a shout.

Appreciate the help everyone

No problem Elias... Claire - yeah my last one lived outside but I'm just not comfortable with it nowadays. Cats and kids.. cats and kids.. it'd keep me up at night!

The for sale/wanted section of http://www.dmctalk.org would also be a good place to look and post a wanted advert. I believe Martin has had success in purchasing multiple project cars via a wanted advert on dmctalk.

There is also this post from dmctalk which might be of interest.

Quote:What I want to pay vs. what is realistic

A “rule of thumb” for D’s was established years ago, and for the most part it is still applicable. “What’s the difference between a $20k and a $25k DeLorean? About $10k.”

What will you get for your money? In most cases, you will find the following true:
- $2k - $4k: A car with rot, not running, interior destroyed, sitting for years - - possibly decades… more times than most—a parts car. This car will take MAJOR $$ and time to restore
- $5k - $10k: a project car that has been sitting forever, MAYBE it starts, more than likely it doesn’t. MAJOR updates to electrical, cooling, brake, fuel system have to be done.
- $11k - $13k: a project car that starts, moves. Can be made into a daily driver with some work. The list of MAJOR updates to electrical, cooling, brake, and fuel system may have been started.
- $14k - $19k: a project car that has had some work done, starts and runs, drives, but needs work. A lot of daily driver D’s fall into this category. Higher side of this category are project cars that need work, but all the big things such as the cooling system, fuel system, electrical system have been mostly sorted out and updated. Body should be in good condition, some blemishes or minor work can be expected. Car can be driven with confidence for the most part, but some things are still being sorted out.
- $20k to $26k: There are a lot of D’s in this category. These are a lot of the well-known cars that spend a lot of time in a garage, have been basically rebuilt and updated, body is in excellent condition, everything works, car can be driven with confidence virtually anywhere. NICE D’s.
- $27k to $35k: This range is getting harder and harder to find as the economy has changed over the past few years. At the upper end of this range, you would expect to find things like concourse cars. When the economy was good, VERY NICE D’s were in this range, but in the past few years this has changed with the economy. The majority of nice cars you will now find in the $25k range.
- $36k+: These are the unicorn cars. More than likely you are spending this kind of money buying a car from a vendor, or an older person who thinks the car is a Ferrari. If you are looking at a privately owned car in this category and the car has no substantial history (i.e. Right Hand Drive (RHD), Johnny Carson owned it, etc…), you can do better. Vendor cars usually have full inspections/some kind of warranty in this price range.

Please note, these are GENERALIZED figures from what we have all seen time and time again. Yes there are exceptions to the rules.

$2k - $4k: A car with rot, not running, interior destroyed, sitting for years - - possibly decades… more times than most—a parts car. This car will take MAJOR $$ and time to restore

my car was $4500 9 years ago - had minor chassis rot (which now needs sorting), leather on seats destroyed, cracked dash and binnacle, it ran (just about), had no clutch, no handbrake, every panel was damaged, needed new front fascia, engine manifold gaskets shot to bits, etc, etc, etc







9 years, and £8k later, the car is still a work in progress, but is in everyday useable condition, who knows, I might have her finished... one day..... :wink: