Delorean prices and condition advice.

[JT992]

Hi.

I'm moving towards the position of buying my first Delorean, hopefully at some point this year. 

Reading through the forum and contacting PJ Grady and DMC Texas recently, both of which provided great advice, it's been quite the eye opener to see how prices have risen so sharply with even frame rotted cars verging on ridiculous money, notably from the BHCC. I have some idea of what to expect from a car when it comes to the maximum I'd be willing to pay, but any advice from owners would be greatly appreciated on what I'd be dealing with on a budget of around £30,000. I'd be planning on purchasing a car from the states.

Understandably frame and engine condition are major areas to look at, though when it comes to the interior, rips/cracking of the binnacle and seats are something I can live with and rectify over time.

Thanks.

[Derfel]

Hi,

One thing I would be looking out for was a good running engine. The Bosch mechanical fuel injection can be a right pain to fix if the car has been standing for a long time!

Also - don't rule out getting a UK car - I was offered a running one, within your budget, only 3 months back.

[JT992]

(09 Jun 2021, 10:16)Derfel Wrote: Hi,

One thing I would be looking out for was a good running engine. The Bosch mechanical fuel injection can be a right pain to fix if the car has been standing for a long time!

Also - don't rule out getting a UK car - I was offered a running one, within your budget, only 3 months back.

Thanks Derfel, I'll definitely keep that in mind.

I've always seen UK cars going for far more than the U.S based ones, so that's quite promising. It would certainly cut out the potential hassle of shipping a car over. There was one on show at a dealership in my town, (Seeing a DeLorean in Northumberland is extremely rare), and they were asking around 40k. 

Thanks again.

[Derfel]

I managed to get mine through a wanted ad on this forum.
Chris Williams - the club secretary put me in touch with an owner who was planning to sell his car - and we did a deal.
Might be worth touching base with him to see if he knows of any more potentially for sale.
Dealers always slap on a big margin - so dealing direct with an owner will bring the price down to something sensible.

[JT992]

(09 Jun 2021, 16:52)Derfel Wrote: I managed to get mine through a wanted ad on this forum.
Chris Williams - the club secretary put me in touch with an owner who was planning to sell his car - and we did a deal.
Might be worth touching base with him to see if he knows of any more potentially for sale.
Dealers always slap on a big margin - so dealing direct with an owner will bring the price down to something sensible.

I'll definitely get in touch with Chris as that is an option worth considering. For a long time I've been convinced that UK cars are completely out of reach and as you say, the dealership bumps up the price to silly money. 


Thanks for your input, it's certainly expanded my potential options.

[acmetowers]

Second the don't forget the UK especially the less well known aution sites such as CCA and other local ones, got mine from the UK a few years ago for just under 17k as I was the only bider due to it being painted, the RHD at the same time went for just over 40k and in the next auction from CCA a "normal" D went for around 24k.

[Rissy]

It makes me wonder what the condition of those cars was, because i'll be honest, I wouldn't part with my LHD manual for anything less than £38k-£40k these days. That reflects the agreed valuation on the insurance.

[JT992]

(10 Jun 2021, 10:49)acmetowers Wrote: Second the don't forget the UK especially the less well known aution sites such as CCA and other local ones, got mine from the UK a few years ago for just under 17k as I was the only bider due to it being painted, the RHD at the same time went for just over 40k and in the next auction from CCA a "normal" D went for around 24k.

Thanks for the heads up on the auction sites, it's certainly another option to consider.

[JT992]

(10 Jun 2021, 11:11)Rissy Wrote: It makes me wonder what the condition of those cars was, because i'll be honest, I wouldn't part with my LHD manual for anything less than £38k-£40k these days.  That reflects the agreed valuation on the insurance.

Hi Rissy.

I completely agree as a good deal is sometimes too good to be true. If a potential car does come up for sale I'll be doing my research and asking for advice here before taking the leap.

Thanks.

[acmetowers]

Not trying to devalue our cars just trying to put through the "don't miss out on other sites" as people just look at the normal ebay bhcc where the cars go for top dollar. 

Regarding ccs here's the link for sold deloreans https://www.classiccarauctions.co.uk/glo...t=Delorean the list is from 2016 to 2019 with some missing, but as you can see they were quite good cars.

[Rissy]

I think that pretty much does devalue everyone's cars to be honest. I think I should now be knocking around £10k off the value of my car when i reinsure in September. I can't justify £38k-£40k if cars are going for as little as that. They all have better condition bumpers than mine for a start. Can't see frames of course.

Just as well I didn't buy mine as an investment, and have no intention on selling.

[SpudMurphy]

A cursory glance at those listings, as stated by acmetowers, show, certainly in one instance, details 5 years ago, and prices have gone up considerably since then. Also I suppose that the hammer prices are shown , if so, add commission and vat.

[DMC1983]

Prices have jumped since 2019 too. If anything, since 2019, theyve have jumped considerably. For what i paid for my car in jan 2019, you cant even get a decent frame on one today.

[acmetowers]

I think I need to increase my insurance agreed value, at the moment I've got it for 28k, what's the PJ Grady cost these days for a good example?

[JT992]

(14 Jun 2021, 09:40)acmetowers Wrote: I think I need to increase my insurance agreed value, at the moment I've got it for 28k, what's the PJ Grady cost these days for a good example?

When I emailed Chris at PJ Grady, he told me good examples sell for £45k.