New member. Looking to be an owner. Somehow!?!?

[pistol11]

Just wanted to say a quick hello to the forum. Im down in Torquay Devon.

Iv wanted to own a Delorean for as long as I can remember. I'm not a petrol head but have owned BMWs in the past. I big fan of E30's.
My ultimate goal is to own a Delorean, but it seems to be an expensive and hard to come by dream. Now being 33 I am now currently researching the most cost effective way of owning one. I haven't exactly got the Monet lying around but with some stretching and tweaking im sure there must be a way!! Lol

Any way, hi for now guys and feel free to drop me any help you can offer if you get a spare mo! will now enjoy a good look around the forum.

Rob

[Domi]

Welcome to the forum :wink:

[steve852]

Hey Rob, welcome to the DOC forum!

Can I ask; have you begun putting together an action plan in order to get one? Setting aside money every month into a pot, etc? Also have you decided upon the type of car you want yet? (project car, A+ car, etc). I'd say totally stick at it though and you'll get there mate. Everyone here on the forum will be glad to offer advice. As someone once said to me, your car's already out there just waiting for you to buy it

[Guinney1971]

Hi Rob,

welcome to the DeLorean Owners Club UK, and I hope you find this forum and the Club
friendly and informative in your search for your dream car.

I have to say, the E30 and E21 were my favourite 3-series Beemers, I always fanced a
Baur E21 323i myself, but could never afford one when they were still fairly plentiful

I was lucky, in that when I bought my (project) car in 2002, prices were fairly low, but
even now project cars from the USA can be expensive.

Its always worth keeping your eye on various classic car websites that offer various cars
for sale, as well as the usual suspects like Ebay. If theres a car in a part of the country
that you cant get to, but would like someone to have a look at, always put a shout out
on here, and I'm sure someone will either know the car or be able to go and check it over
for you.

Also, its worth joining the Club (from just £25 p/annum), that way you'll always be up to
date with the latest cars for sale in the Club, plus you'll be able to benefit from other things
like preferential insurance deals, our bumper packed full colour magazine, yearly free gift, etc.

Its worth noting that not all DOC-UK members are on this forum, so if someone is looking to sell
they are more likely to announce it in the mag then on here.

As you'll probably know, you've got a choice of bonnet style, interior colour and transmission,
so its worth perhaps making a 'wish list' of what sort of DeLorean you want, and going from there.

Mind you, I was in a 'beggars cant be choosers' situation, as I couldnt afford a good car, so I
bought mine as it was all that was in my price range - I've got an early 'gas flap' hood, black
interior and manual transmission - which luckilly was what I preferred anyway :wink:

Good luck, and if you need any help, we're all here for you - and if you fancy a trip up from the
South West in a couple of weeks, you are more then welcome to come along to our big Club
meet up in Derbyshire in September (details on here in the events section).

Cheers,

[pistol11]

Thanks guys for your really friendly and helpful welcome'

I haven't got any real preference. Id like a manual. But i wouldn't lose sleep over it. I'm by no means flushed either! Lol
I'm think im gonna be looking for as reasonable a price as poss on a drivable model. I couldn't stretch to an A+ price I don't think.
I'm putting a little money away but buy the time I have enough I have a feeling the Market price would have as well. Lol
The way I'm looking to do it is to save as much money as I can and probably borrow the rest. I would replace my second car with it. So it would have to run.
I also see there is a high demand for people looking to include a Delorean in weddings and the like. Which could help with the costs involved in having it?
I think £10-£15000 would be my price bracket and make it a realistic option. What does that get me? Lol
I would love that sort of money on the hip, but by the time I did have that sort of cash I don't think it would cut it!

Great advice tho guys I will def join the club and see what develops. You all seem so friendly which is very warming! ?

[steve852]

Hey Rob,

£10k could get you a runner, whereas £15 should get you a pretty good car with only minor works required. This car recently went for £15,200 on eBay a week ago:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320726239299

Quite a bargin - a really early D at a good price, so long as you're happy with the first gen bonet and dark grey wheels. In support of what you were saying I too purchased mine with some savings and the rest a bank loan. I'll take me about 3 years to pay it off I reckon, at the rate I'm paying, but it'll be 100% worth it

The weddings are possibly a good idea (although I've never done it myself) but a friend of mine who ownes a D is a regular on the wedding circuit and it seems like a good racket. Only think to be aware of is the insurance for doing such events, and you'll of course want to be confident in the reliability of your car before doing it. But aside from that, yeah! Do it! I'm considering it myself!

[Guinney1971]

that car's been relisted Steve, its currently sub £12,500 with 24 bids on it.

Most insurance companies charge about £50 extra to cover wedding hire and
the like. You can do weddings, school proms, birthday treat rides, etc. Its all
good fun and helps with the running costs of the car.

Steve, you up for this Knightcon thing in Yorkshire at the end of September then?
(see events section).

[steve852]

Actually no, I don't think so. The auction got to just over £12k (below reserve) when it ended. I don't know first hand, but I've heard it's since been sold privately for £15.2k

And yeah I reckon I'll go to Knightcon. Should be interesting in a geektastic sort of way!!

[TheOriginalMrP]

pistol11 Wrote:Thanks guys for your really friendly and helpful welcome'

I haven't got any real preference. Id like a manual. But i wouldn't lose sleep over it. I'm by no means flushed either! Lol
I'm think im gonna be looking for as reasonable a price as poss on a drivable model. I couldn't stretch to an A+ price I don't think.
I'm putting a little money away but buy the time I have enough I have a feeling the Market price would have as well. Lol
The way I'm looking to do it is to save as much money as I can and probably borrow the rest. I would replace my second car with it. So it would have to run.
I also see there is a high demand for people looking to include a Delorean in weddings and the like. Which could help with the costs involved in having it?
I think £10-£15000 would be my price bracket and make it a realistic option. What does that get me? Lol
I would love that sort of money on the hip, but by the time I did have that sort of cash I don't think it would cut it!

Great advice tho guys I will def join the club and see what develops. You all seem so friendly which is very warming! ?

Hi Rob, and welcome to the club!

It's always nice to have new members and prospective owners!

You kinda remind me of myself - I was in exactly the same boat as you in 2005. I had the chance of a DeLorean in the year 2000 for £6500 and that amount of money to me was unachievable. I had a rover montego as a car, and little else to my name back then.

By 2005 I had an E34 BMW, and a Peugeot 205 convertible. A step up from the montego, and modified the E34 to it's physical peak.

I still wanted a DeLorean badly, and September 2005 I made a decision - I was gonna save for a delorean. And you know what Rob? 14 months later I bought my 1983 Grey Manual with 25K on the clock.

How did I do it so quick? Determination and willpower. It's a bit like losing weight, once you're on a roll you just keep going.

I sold the Convertible peugeot for cash.
I stripped the E34 and sold the parts and the basic car afterwards. I took a part exchange on the BMW and sold that too.
I sold all my guitar equipment
All my home cinema equipment
All my CB radio and ameteur radio equipment id saved for years.
Petrol Radio controlled cars went.
Boot sales every other week with almost everything i owned... It was all getting old, and i can buy it again anytime - that was my theory.
Overtime in work, and hobbles. (I was a car valeter at the time so after hours work was plentiful)
Every day of the week, my then girlfriend Kelly would go to the bank and put in something, no matter how little. I remember finding £1.20 under a seat in a part exchange car once, and physically putting it in the bank the same day - if it's in your pocket you will spend it!

With regular saving and going without luxuries like take away food etc, I have a disposable £15K in just over a year. I had nothing else mind, except the basics in my house. All was replaced afterwards!

I bought the car December 2006, and still have it now. I wouldn't sell it. Since then, I have replaced all the things like CB equipment, and stuff I wanted back after buying the car.

The DeLorean takes up very little income. It's passed the MOT 5 years on the trot with no advises, I think I've probably spent about 3-4K on it's upkeep. It needed a clutch, slave cylinder, starter motor, and routine servicing so thats the bulk of it - but when i bought it it ran lovely, and needed nothing. Only my first year of regular use introduced some minor niggles.. I also had to buy lots of goodies like carpet mats, ICE equipment etc so thats the only real overhead.

Insurance is about £260 a year for me, fully comp, Agreed value of £21500, and free breakdown cover. I'm 37 now and the premium hasn't changed in 5 years.

Sell your E30 mate, you next one (After the DeLorean is bought) will be 10 times nicer.

I liked my E34 so much and missed it after it sold, so I saved the same way and now I have an E39 M5 too. As well as a mint Fiesta XR2 and a nissan Micra as a daily driver.

If I can do that on a car valeters wages, so can you! ;-)

Good luck Rob!

Ben

[pistol11]

Cor blimey!! That's some good going!

A very inspiring story, I'm gonna give it a very good shot.

[Guinney1971]

^^^^^^ what he said, inspiring story Ben