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Thoughts of a potential DeLorean owner
#1
Like anyone growing up in the 80's a DeLorean means more to me (if only from bttf) than what the actual car is. It's an icon, and it people appreciate it. As such like many people it'd always be a nice collectable car to own/drive.

However as a collectable car you can't really keep it outside of a garage, and I guess you can't really park it anywhere in a carpark etc where it would be left alone? I'm also wondering what the size of it is with the doors opening as it's no use fitting in a garage if you can't then open the doors!

I'm unsure what kind of mpg you get from it, how much maintenence it's likely to cost a year in servicing to run it - how practical it is to actually drive as opposed to only showing it the saylight for rare summer drives etc?

Would it be a mistake to try and own one as a second car or to take it places other than secure locations? I'm full of questions and have few answers I guess Smile It seems the price of them is going up (or am I wrong) and that now if you get one <18k you're going to have a lot of work to do on it.

Also the slightly important issue of lhd being a big deal and wondering how people cope with it or whether it's remarkably easy to suddly be shifting manual with your right hand etc etc?

All input from experienced owners/runners appreciated Smile
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#2
Hi there Leozack.

To answer your questions, from my view point, and experience owning a D' for a couple of years now:

I don't keep my car outside in all the weathers. It's kept in a garage. Some people DO keep their car outside, but perhaps with a car cover over it or something. The question is how much can you bare for your prize possession being exposed to the elements, and the more speedy deterioration of it as a result, and of course, the increased necessity to work on it, and repair it.

I've taken my car to places, like Costco or Tesco or something with a large car park (parking it away from the general mob of cars), with plenty of people around, and have had no bother. Just the usual excited, or curious people taking pictures or checking it out. So far to date, i've not any problems with jealous or vindictive sorts who might be tempted to do something to the car, or steal parts off it as souvenirs or something daft. I wont lie to you, when the car is out of your view under such circumstances, it is on the forefront of your mind a lot, wondering if the car is ok the whole time, and this means you don't tend to mess around when doing your errand. Some people might be more relaxed than me however.

The car is around the 45 Inch height with the doors closed. You can double that height with a door or doors open. Length is about 14 feet and width about 6 feet. You'll need around an additional 13 inches each side to be able to open both doors safely without risk of scuffing the garage wall. Not a nice sound....so i hear.

mpg, depends on the type of drive. I'm getting around 26-28mpg on long motorway journeys and this drops to something more like 20mpg in more urban types of journeys.

Servicing is completely variable, of course. Depends whats broke, or on its way out, and whether you can do the work on it yourself or not. It's not a cheap toy to own. A DeLorean owners hands are generally never far from their pocket, even if there is nothing essentially urgent requiring done. You're always looking at what other things are bugging you and you want to do something about.

My car is a special occassion/sunny dry weather car, generally. It only sees about 1500 miles a year or so. It's a toy, a second car, not relied upon for work or anything.

Driving a left hand drive car on the left side of the road has one major drawback. You'r on the wrong side of the car for overtaking parked cars on the side of fairly narrow roads so it is harder to see when the coast is clear. Especially since you are sitting so low down. Your viewpoint is a bit lower than the wingmirror on a standard sized Volkswagon Golf when you're driving.
As for everything else though, you quickly learn and get used to it, so it becomes second nature. You learn to hug the side of the road or kerb, rather than the centre line down the middle. Shifting is a bit more weird or un-natural feeling. I tend to shift with my fingers rather than my hand since the gear stick sits up quite high on the centre console by comparison to "ordinary" cars, and with it being a 30 year old car, its not as smooth as perhaps most people are used to with more modern cars.

I hope this has been useful to you. Maybe others will give you a different story, because at the end of the day, it's a personal relationship between you and your car. And every car out there has its own little quirks (personality) to get used to...
Rissy
(Forum Member 288)
(DOC Member 663)

May 1981 vin#1458 "LEX"
Grey, Flapped, Black
Chassis: #1073
Engine: #2839

Main Car(s):
2005 BMW M3 in Velvet Blue
2010 Honda Civic Type R in Sapphire Blue (1 of 115 made)
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#3
Thanks Rissy it's good to get some owner experience - the more the merrier if anyone else efels like chipping in!

I'm seriously doubting I can get a garage big enough for a D so it'd probably end up on a driveway with a cover or under a roof :/ Due to not really being able to leave it places I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to actually drive it anywhere withotu worrying about it while I'm gone - it doesn't have the sorts of sophisticated alarms modern cars have so may be a target. I've also considered hiring it's services for the prom type seasons to make it earn a little cashback since it would undoubtedly digest some money every year. Yet to get a "classic" insurance quote, as a 1st car it costs me £700. Hugging the roadside instead of the center doesn't sound like it will end well considering the abundance of roadside drain holes/bumps and monstrocities that attack our cars on english roads :/ One part they never teach you when learning to drive is tryin to spot and avoid all the potholes and bumps and ironworks! Doh

I'm also considering replacing my main car with an is300. Mmmm
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#4
I guess another factor is the area you live in.

My car has spent most of its UK life outside, normally on a drive, but sometimes out on the road, and
has never had any problems with vandalism or such like. I take mine to Morrisons to do the weekly
shop sometimes - and do get some funny looks parked up in the 'mother and baby' spaces getting my
young daughter out of it lol

I've had my car for nearly 9 years now, so I'm used to LHD and the difficulties it can pose, but the main
thing I always do when I'm pulling into the right hand lane on a dual carriageway or M-way is not only
check both the rear mirror and passenger side mirror, but I also look over my shoulder, as there is often
someone oblivious to what you want to do sitting in your blindspot taking photos or chatting to his mate
about the DeLorean. Another thing, is to watch your road positioning, sometimes its very easy in a LHD
car to forget your position on the road and find yourself going 'budoom budoom' down the cats-eyes....

As for garages, well I used to have a typically tight on space garage at my old house in Stevenage (which
was a 'new build', and I would struggle to open the door on my 3dr Clio and get out of it in the garage,
whereas the DeLorean posed no such problems at all Big Grin

Hope this helps!
Claire Wright  - Club Treasurer
Jul 1981 DeLorean - Flopsy #2292 
Aug 1989 Cavalier 1.6L - Guinney
Apr 2021 Mokka-e Launch Edition - Evie
#170
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#5
You have had some great replies there, and I would add that I never had any issues using the car for daily use (Tesco Etc) there are very few idiot's out there that would set out to damage your car (no more than any others) most are just genuine admirers who will admire and ask lots of questions. At the end of the day they stand up to people brushing against them a lot better than most painted cars.
Chris
Membership Secretary DOC UK
2021's DeLorean event: http://www.deloreans.co.uk/forum/showthr...p?tid=6056
VIN#15768 Ex VIN#4584
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#6
Hmm thanks for that input - I live in keynsham between bristol & bath so it's a relatively quiet suburban town but just the other day someone broke 3 rear windscreens on their way up the road at night and last year for no reason someone kicked off my wingmirror on the pavement side overnight. But I guess drunks going home can happen to anyone right? Are you saying you find yourself drifting to the right because you're naturally used to peering down the right side of cars in front? (I find myself naturally slumping into the center of the car for more central driving position, but that's just me). 9 years mostly sat on a drive in english weather! How has it held up? At least the paint can't fade Big Grin

I can't imagine being able to open a D door inside a garage unless it's pretty tall - my last garage was about 6'1 and I ahd to squeeze past the previa's mirror to get out of it.

Interesting tips on LHD driving - I always check my shoulder before pulling right even in a RHD because it's alarming how often there's someone you can't see any other way even in RHD! I guess parallel parking will take on a new challenge - especailly if you're driving both LHD and RHD cars!

Do people tend to goto their local mechanic for work or head to bigger dealer type garages - and having seen the prices on some specialist/import parts I'm imagining even a simple wiper or something for a D would cost a lot? And hmm what type of tyres can it take now I think of it?

Without checking I'd also imagine there is no creature comforts like a/c (if windows don't really open doesn't it get toasty?) heated seats etc - and the stereo is probably an oldskool cassette/radio with no opportunity to replace it or mod it to take an input cable from a portable device? (or maybe I'm being too harsh - I haven't checked the specs today just rattling off what I think of)
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#7
Hi Leozack

I've had my D for about seven and a half years now (my god, has it been that long :wink: ) and done around 14000 miles in it - which is not nearly enough.

It's lived on the drive since I bought it. I used to cover it up every day, but found the dirt from a journey would produce fine scratch in the stainless as the cover moved around in the wind.

Now I only cover it up at the end of the season after it's been washed (though last year I got caught out with the sudden cold snap, so I've got some nice pics of it buried in a foot of snow!)

The stainless holds up great in the poor weather, in fact the more the rain washes it, the better it looks. The chassis will corrode in unprotected areas anyway and will suffer most abuse when you're driving in the wet. It's a question of balance - if you only drive it in the dry, you wash and dry it every time you use it, kept it in a heated, dehumidified garage, change the fluids every year........then of course you'll halt it's deterioration but owning one becomes a chore not a pleasure. Just take care of it like a normal car, keep it clean, keep your eye out for any little problems like flaking epoxy, damaged seals, oil leaks etc.

I live on a main road which has it's pros and cons. And yes if I leave my daily driver parked on the main road overnight there's a good chance the wing mirror will have been taken off road side by a passing van, or kerbside by a passing drunk.

There's always a risk whatever you do with it. Even if you kept it in a garage all the time, the second you go on the road you're open to 1000's of people flying about in their cars!!

There is no factory security on the cars, but there are plenty of low cost aftermarket products both mechanical and electronic which can be relatively easily installed.

I'm not really too fussed about parking. I tend to park at least one cars space away from anybody else, I try and avoid parking in lonely parts of the car park as that's usually where all the trolleys end up getting shoved. I've used pay and display, roadside and multi-story car parks.

Parallel parking is actually a doddle! Just throw open the drivers door (watching out for pedestrians and lamp posts of course!) and you can see all the way down the length of the car - you're virtually sitting on top of the rear wheel.

I'll take it anywhere I can. I regularly drive it to work, go shopping in it, nip round friends, down the pub..... Of course I avoid the dodgy areas or places that are hard to manoeuvre in - not for me, but for the others drivers around me who are likely to smack into it while hufting their Chelsea Tractors around!!!

My MPG is extremely good for what it is. I get around low to mid twenties around town and push the low thirties on a good clean run. That's part of owning a car like the DeLorean - if fuel is an issue for you, then get something more economical :wink:

Left hand drive difficulties are a personal issue I guess. I have no problem with it at all. Overtaking can be a little tricky at times since you can't see around the right hand side of the driver in front, but most of the time if you hold back a little you can see around the left hand side of them instead. The most difficult time I find is on the Motorway at night. If your in the left hand lane it can be very difficult to judge which lanes the drivers behind are in when trying to pull out. I like the gear stick on the right. I can indicate and change gear at the same time Smile

Tyre's can be cheap if you get the slightly narrower 225/60/R15 my last pair cost me £47 each. The fronts are bog standard, it think I paid about £25 each for them. That's budget tyres and there good enough my driving style and the mileage I do. Of course you can go out and blow £100's on expensive brands if you want to, but (without getting into a boring tyre debate) I can't see much point.

I've had the same set of Bosh wipers since I fitted them way back in 2003 nothing special, they were under a tenner for the pair from my local bits shop where I get all my consumable stuff from. Filters and such like are all bog standard and readily available. We have plenty of part numbers for all that stuff

Yes the DeLorean has (partially) opening windows and yes it has air conditioning 8)

The Craig radio is excellent. You can listen to "Static FM" or "Crackle 103 point Hiss" It even comes with Bass and Treble control so you can alter how quickly your ears start to bleed before turning it off. Most owners replace the radio and speakers with something a bit better - like putting a tin bucket on your head and hitting it with a hammer....you get the idea. I've kept the original for aesthetic (and slightly sadistic) reasons
Richard H. DOC 365 VIN 1274
http://www.deloreans.co.uk
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.
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#8
The D was way ahead of it time for standard equipment.
A/C is standard, electric windows, electric mirrors, digital display radio/cassette, central locking.
Ok the stereo is out of the ark now but was state of the art for 1981.
No heated seats but simple to do if you had to restore the seats with new leather for example.

I agree with Claire on the LHD but after 11 years I am so used to swapping between RHD and LHD it does not bother me. Also should you take the car abroad to France for example you will find it is lovely to drive. All those who went on the trip to Le Mans will agree to the giant killing ability of the D to take out RHD super cars on A roads! :wink:

Tyres, Fronts are easy lots of choice £40+. Rears a little bit harder but you can get them for around £100.

Nick H
DOC 650
Jaguar X-Type
Range Rover Sport SDV6 "Rufus" (Mrs H's motor)
DeLorean DMC 12 Vin#2862

My other hobby...
http://www.lccuk.org.uk/
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#9
Thanks that's a load of great info again - really good to pull together all these owner experiences into one place to get a good feel for how it is driving/owning/maintaining a D. The biggest obstacle for me is still the cost at least 20k for a good one that's a lot of potential-house-deposit money to invest in something that will keep circling your legs asking for more Tongue Yet I can't think of anything I'd
rather step out of for any occasion from work visits to shopping to evening liesure complexes to cross-country cruising (especaily with a/c in summer!)

I just can't shake the fear that it'd suddenly collapse inside out within a year and need just about everything replacing including the main chassis frame and I'd be broke haha! I feel like it deserves a big collectors indoor garage to live in, not a drive with foilage around it trying to make it moldy if it's only used a few months a year or in a pokey garage being turned into an arachnid guarded ornament. Damn ... it's hard to recover fun into owning a car isn't it :/ I'd also need to look into "classic" insurance since I hear you can get dirt cheap prices despite the massive value of such a car and the fact they can't replace it!

I guess I'm also put off by being a non-mechanic - I can happily build you a pc from bits and maintain it but when it comes to cars I have to youtube to see how a diff works or glaze over watching the workings of a gearbox - and whilst I have mechanic type pals around, none of them could do work for me as none are mechanics with a garage - so my D would be at the mercy of whatever local grease monkey will accept the challenge - this doesn't fill me with confidence as most owners seem to do their own work to keep the costs reasonable and to know their baby is in good hands (the same pride I take in my IT)

Very few D's are sold each year, so getting to actually go for a ride in one or better yet drive one seems like something I'm unlikey to be able to do unless I'm literally buying it off someone that day - a hard market to get into then :/ Most people are also telling me to go invest in something with the money instead of buying a depreciating rustbucket Wink Though from what I can see it's going up in value not down! (but then you don't buy one to sell, do you, so it's a false investment - you buy one like you'd buy a pet, to share and enjoy and experience - or maybe that'd just me be haha)
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#10
And not that I want to debate tyres either but when your life depends on about 8 square inches of car/road contact each and every corner, I never scrimp and go budget tyres - if you lookup tyre tests you'll see hue differenecs in stopping distance and cornering sharpness between cheaper tyres and better tyres. I usually buy pzero/pirelli/dunlop or somesuch at about £90/corner. If you're going to not scrimp on anything in a car I beleive it should be bakes and tyres - the rest is pretty much optional but those 2 are rather important to avoiding accidents and keeping you alive Wink Funny how people spend far more on making themselves go faster though ;D Of course ebtter tyres means faster corners too but hey!
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#11
You are not alone, Goodyear Eagle rubber all round on my D.

Nick H
DOC 650
Jaguar X-Type
Range Rover Sport SDV6 "Rufus" (Mrs H's motor)
DeLorean DMC 12 Vin#2862

My other hobby...
http://www.lccuk.org.uk/
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#12
Leozack,

fret ye not!!! There are plenty of us about round the country, that if you see a car you are
interested in, one of us can give it the once over on your behalf and ensure that its not about
to disintegrate - most cars are well known in the Club anyway.

I think you've got to stop likening the rust issues of most 30yr old cars with this particular 30yr
old car, and remember that its got bog standard mechanicals, not super car mechanicals.

If you get a car, and find that you need some work doing, just stick the kettle on, get the bacon
butties on the go, and some of us will no doubt pile down and help you out. Thats the kinda people
we are Mr Green

And I can concur with what Rich has said about his car living outside, his car absolutely gleams due
to being out in the rain, in fact he popped round in it last night and the car is looking the absolute
mutts nutts, mine, which was garaged from September to May looks tarnished in comparison.

I serviced my car myself in May, oil change, filter, plugs, air filter - plus I fitted a new oil pressure switch,
and I also set up the CO mixture and the idle - total cost? less then £50 for all the parts. Phill needed
new front brakes on his car last year, calipers and pads and brake fluid came to less then £100 for both
sides, and the parts matched up to a 1981 Ford Capri 1.6 Smile

If you can, come up to our big 15th Anniversary meet up in Derbyshire in September, you'll get to see lots
of cars close up, have a ride in one (mebbe even a drive round a carpark) and see for yourself how easy they
are to live with. Full details are on the events page.

Cheers,
Claire Wright  - Club Treasurer
Jul 1981 DeLorean - Flopsy #2292 
Aug 1989 Cavalier 1.6L - Guinney
Apr 2021 Mokka-e Launch Edition - Evie
#170
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#13
Sounds good Smile Not sure if I an make the event or at least not for more than a day but I'm looking into it with a couple of mates Wink The thought of getting up close and personal with them may make or break me buying my own finally Wink From what you've said it seems maintenence can be reasonably cheap parts-wise if you're capable of doing the work yourself - I've just never been in that position nor of having anyone to do it but maybe it would be the time to learn! Tongue The offer of assistance with buying/maintenence is also a welcome sound - everything you've just said is certainly a brighter picture and plenty more food for thought so thanks again!
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#14
Quote:but maybe it would be the time to learn!

Loosen = anticlockwise

Tighten = Clockwise.

Consider yourself taught - that's about all there is to it...!
Richard Hanlon
Derbyshire
DOC 393

1981 DMC-12 VIN 06126
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#15
haha thanks for the tip Wink sadly if I told someone that about a PC I'd not trust them ripping mine apart properly Wink Well tbh it's the putting back together that's always the hard bit right? Tongue In my case I never even knew how a car was made or how it worked - only by watching some youtube animations and stuff do I even haev a clue - I'm still a long shot from a mechanic! I'm the sort who'd rather pay someone to get it right, but in the case of a D that's probably gonna cost a lot - I know there was at least 1 specialist garage in the UK somewhere who likes D's, but I think that was up north somewhere. I admit I'd like to be in a position where I can do my own servicing etc, I just don't believe it could hapen xD Hmmm ... still seeing who round here would be interested in heading up in sep for the weekend
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