How to buy a Delorean DMC-12: a Non-Technical Guide for Nerds

Let’s get this out of the way…

This is not going to be a technical guide on how to buy Delorean DMC12. Plenty of those already out there + I’m not a mechanic by any means, actually very far from that.

What this guide is going to cover is mostly the things that I keep being asked about by family, friends, and most other people I meet.

I’ll also cover some of my story and how I came to buy my own car, plus give an overview of what to look for, where to look for and how it is to live with a Delorean (spoiler alert, it’s not without its issues, but I fucking love it).

This is also aimed at being a guide for 2020 and beyond. I’ll focus mostly on online ways of finding a car for sale and I’ll try to talk about stuff that hasn’t been covered in other guides.

My story

The research

Though I consider myself one of the biggest BTTF fans in the world, I didn’t really start looking to buy or even consider buying a Delorean since the summer of 2019.

I guess the main issue as is for many people was the lack of money at first but then also the simple fact that I had no idea where to start and I actually never thought about this even being possible for normal people.

That is until I started looking into it and got trapped in the rabbit hole.

You see…

Once you start diving into Delorean stuff a whole new world opens up. A world of nerds, classic car enthusiasts, and people that are simply just curious.

I soon started to notice that it was actually possible to buy one of these cars at a price that was “reasonable” and not crazy at all (more on this later).

This made me decide to (really) begin my search and find my dream car.

The almost fatal mistake

A few months after I started looking online I found what seemed to me like a good deal.

The car in question was also only 2 hours from my home so I decided to go and take a look.

Here’s what I found:

Yes, this car was a total wreck. The engine was missing, all interior was missing (although parts of it were being sold with it) the windscreen was cracked, the chassis was partly rusted and the list goes on.

Any sane person would’ve just left and never gone back. When it’s Delorean and BTTF, I’m not exactly sane, hence why I was seriously considering buying this car.

A few friends also suggested I give it a go, although I gotta say most people just told me to stay away from it. I didn’t want to hear it, I was like a junkie in front of a bad batch, but I still wanted it.

And so it began, the car was auctioned on eBay at £12k. I prepared my cash and was ready to bid up to £13k (fucking crazy, I know).

It was now the last day for the auction and I was patiently waiting to make the last bid and snatch the car.

Luck + success

That’s when luck, or more precisely a nice man named Don Steger (R.I.P.) popped up in my Facebook messenger.

As I’m sure most Delorean fans knew, Don, who sadly passed away a few months ago, was the only remaining Delorean-certified mechanic in the US.

A few days earlier, I saw he was selling an engine and I thought, if I was gonna buy this wreck of a car, that engine might come in handy, so I messaged him about it.

form that day he knew I was looking to buy a car so I guess he kept me in his mind.

The message that changed my life:

I quickly checked the photos and I couldn’t believe it. A complete RUNNING car for what was like £17k and I was there about to buy a POS wreck with no engine for only £4k less???

I asked Don a few more questions, videos, and photos of the car with the help of a few of my Delorean buddies who were more expert than me, and the deal was done.

I bought my Delorean VIN 3010 on September 12, 2019.

After about a month or so of waiting, the car showed up at my garage on November 15th and from that day on I’ve transformed from just a Back to the Future fanatic to a Delorean fanatic.

Thanks again, Don!

Why would you want to buy a DeLorean DMC-12?

If you are anything like me, grew up in the 80s or 90s, you probably love Back to the future. If not, you should because it’s the greatest movie ever made.

if you do you probably also love the Delorean DMC-12. I know since I was about 10 when i first saw the movie the Delorean was the only car I ever wanted and I ever cared about.

No Ferrari or Lamborghini has ever even left the slightest impression that the DMC left on me. I’ve always wanted the Delorean and all the other cars I couldn’t give a shit about.

So, there usually are just 2 main reasons why people might want to buy one:

They are BTTF fans
They are classic car collectors

I’m definitely in the first group, or so I thought before I finally bought mine last year. As I said above, from that point on, I really started to become interested and passionate about the car itself as an iconic classic car and part of automotive history.

Where to start: The Community

Join a club

The first step I always recommend to people is to join a Delorean club, there are a ton of them in almost every country on earth. I personally joined the 2 existing clubs in the UK, and then just decided to be part of what is to me the most active of the 2, the Delorean club UK.

The great thing about joining a club is that you’ll meet a ton of interesting and generally super helpful people, some owners some just people like you that are still looking.

Everyone is welcome to join and the members are extremely helpful.

This is where I met a few of my now closest friends who helped me during my first year of ownership.

Network on FB groups

The second step is to join all of the Delorean-related facebook groups available. There is a shit ton of them but the most active are the following:

Join all of them and start diving in. You can use the search bar to look for topics like “looking to buy” or “where can I find” or “for sale” or “selling” or “project car” and you’ll most likely find posts written by people like yourself who are looking to buy.

Start to familiarize yourself with the jargon and language that people use. Especially if you are not mechanically minded like I was (and still am), it’s very useful to begin learning the main terms used by people to identify various parts of the car which are critical.

Go to meet-ups

Most of the clubs run yearly or quarterly meet-ups that are open to all members. Those are probably the best way to see cars in person, look around and ask a ton of questions.

It will get you ready to judge a car for sale from its photos when the time comes.

If your club isn’t running meet-ups, you can always try to go to any classic car meeting and chances are you might find a Delorean there.

Where to actually buy a DeLorean

Import it or not (UK)

Once you deep into the rabbit hole of Delorean groups and communities, you’ll start to identify patterns, the same 2/3 things mentioned in all posts, you’ll know what the most important things to look for in a car are and you’ll have someone whom you can ask for help and a second pair of eyes when you eventually find a car you’re thinking of buying.

Once you have all that, you also need to think about whether you want to buy a car from within your own country or import it from abroad.

I personally don’t think it makes a lot of difference. The main thing is just finding a car that is in good enough condition and within your budget. The location doesn’t matter as much. Shipping companies are super efficient nowadays and you can also hire companies to check the car for you in person.

That said, most good deals can be found on project cars in the USA, which is where most cars ended up as it was the original target market for the DMC.

And it’s also where I found mine.

For a great guide on how to import a Delorean from the US to the UK, you can check this link on the club forum (you need to register): http://www.deloreaneurotec.uk/viewtopic.php?f=148&t=5130

Which websites should I look at?

The next step is to actively begin your search. You’ll need to look for new cars for sale essentially on a daily basis. So many people are looking to buy a Delorean now that they usually go super fast.

The way I did this, and the way I suggest you do it is to create a folder in your browser called “Delorean”.

Here’s what mine looks like:

In the folder I added all of the websites that I knew had the best deals at the time, here’s my list:

Forums

‍Ideal to spot cars for sale before they get listed online

Car for sale listings‍

Once they are here, it’s usually too late, still worth keeping an eye on them.

Some people in the community are also super active in regard to online listings. Peter Naulls for example, complies all available and known listings in a weekly collection page. Keep in mind those are the main and better-known listings online. Not 100% of cars are there.

Save all of those in your folder, pick a time of the day (or 2 times each day, morning and night), and open all of that one by one to see if new cars come out for sale.

It’s as simple, just requires consistency and patience.

Getting to know people

The main reason why I suggest people join the clubs and actually get to know people is quite simple…

The more people know you and know you are looking to buy, the more people can send YOU new listings when they come across one for sale.

Me and my friends also started a Whatsapp chat where one of us is still on the lookout and basically sends us car listings to ask for our thoughts. In case one of us finds an interesting car for sale online, we send it to him to see if he is interested.

This is essentially how I got my car. Don knew I was looking to buy and contacted me as soon as he had that car in his shop. The car wasn’t yet listed anywhere else and that’s how I was able to buy it at a fair price without multiple buyers competing and bidding the price up.

What about them new ones?

This is kind of a controversial topic but the short version is:

There are currently no new Deloreans being made. So yeah, that Facebook post people keep sharing is either very old or just a publicity stunt.

Also, the proposed cost of one of these new Deloreans is going to be about $100,000.

With that said, I think it’s also important to mention that, even if they were to start making new “improved” cars, who in their right might would prefer to spend an insane amount of money for one of those compared to an original 40 years old one at a lower price?

How to spot a scam? Detective work.

The easiest way to spot a scam listing is to pay attention to a few signs:

No photos or poor-quality photos
Some photos are used in other listings (you can do a reverse image search on Google)
The price is too low and not at all within the ranges I’ve provided above (i.e. too good to be true).
Poor description or missing description
No VIN number was provided (the car’s identification and production number)

Besides these, the obvious first step is to contact the seller and ask for more information. Honest sellers are usually pretty happy to share more details, photos, and videos and answer any questions you might have.

If you notice the person is trying to avoid replying to your questions and is not willing to send over extra material, it’s usually a bad sign. Either it’s a scam, or the car is in worse condition than advertised.

In either case, run away.

The first thing I recommend though is to take all the info you get and send them to people who are more knowledgeable than you, hence why I suggest you join a club and get to know other owners.

As a last step in the “detective” process, I usually stalk the seller on all social media accounts I can find. Yes, that’s it.

Just go to their social profiles, add them as friends, and scroll through to see if they look like a real person, and if they have written in the past about the car (a good sign they are passionate and not just looking to make a buck) and generally speaking, to get a feel of what kind of person they are based on what they publish.

If the profiles are empty it might mean it’s a fake profile = bad sign.

Always take these as indications though, if someone is not posting on social media, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a fake account, some people are just not active (which I think is a good thing btw).

What will it cost?

Project car vs good condition vs showroom

With your budget in hand, the first thing you need to decide is:

Are you looking for a good-condition car, a showroom-condition car, or just a project car that needs restoration?

The better the condition, the less extra money you’ll have to spend on it later on, and the earlier you’ll be able to enjoy your car. So, I highly recommend going for something a bit more on the higher end if you can.

Project cars can be quite cheap but (especially if you’re not an expert mechanic) can also give you a lot of headaches. They are also not very good for your wallet…

Based on the conditions, price ranges are as follows:

Project car – £15,000 – £25,000
Good condition – £30,000 – £40,000
Showroom – £50,000+

The prices I listed here are the current average ranges as of December 2020.

Keep in mind:

they can vary a lot.
beware of scam listings.
if you’re lucky and find a car that hasn’t been listed online yet, you might get a better price.
The more you’re willing to get your hands dirty and work on the car instead of taking it to a mechanic, the more money up front you can save and get a cheaper car.

What’s the value like over time?

According to an older article from Hagerty:

“Prices have risen 7 percent in the last year, 42 percent in the last three years, and 50 percent in the last five.”

From what I’ve seen, prices have gone up even during COVID-19, or at least they have remained quite stable, which is not what i was expecting.

With next year being the 40th anniversary of the car first being made and a bunch of the usual BTTF events and anniversaries (the 35th was this year) I can only see the price go up even more.

Could it be a daily driver?

The Delorean could definitely become your daily driver and that’s what it basically is for me. Although working from home, I don’t really drive it every single day, I do take it out for grocery shopping and a bunch of other daily chores.

When talking about using the car as a daily driver, there are a few things you need to keep in mind:

Fuel consumption

According to How Stuff Works:

“18 to 20 miles per gallon (mpg, or 29 to 32 kilometers per liter) is a fair estimate”.

That said, here’s what a few other people have reported:

~ 28mpg for automatic transmission cars.
Mid-20s mpg for stock engines while driving around town or if the engine is poorly tuned.
Mid-30s mpg for stock engines, if well tuned.
High 30s mpg for engines with Volvo fueling components.

So, all in all, I’d say it’s pretty good for a 40-year-old “sports car”.

Practicality

The car itself is not super practical, it’s very low and if you need to put stuff in the back parcel shelf, there’s not a lot of room to get stuff in. Still, it’s a car, if you need it, you’ll find a way to make it work for you.

Space

The space doesn’t seem much but you’ll actually be surprised. The front bonnet is not very high, but it’s super wide and can fit quite a lot of stuff. I mainly use it for tools (you never know), a car cover, and the occasional grocery bag.

The back parcel shelf is also pretty spacious and that’s where I always put all of our groceries.

Heating

heating and AC in this car is pretty essential if you want to be able to use it. In the summer it gets super hot very fast and in winter the windscreen gets foggy easily.

Celebrity status

One of the main things you need to be aware of (as you probably imagine) is that this car is a true attention whore.

You will get people talking to you, asking you to take photos and videos, and also standing in your blind spot on the highway trying to film the car at all times.

Just be sure to plan your trips ahead of time and factor in additional stops.

Although some owners get annoyed by this, It’s personally something I really enjoy. The Delorean has been a great way to meet and get to know new people and to break the ice with them in a way that would never have happened if it was just me standing there.

I also remember how I felt about it before I got one and I know I would’ve given my left kidney to just sit in one. That’s why i don’t mind sharing it with others.

Insurance

Here in the UK, insurance on a Delorean is not crazy if you have some kind of history and your records are clean. I personally paid about £600 for the first year and £450 for the second year with no claims. Some people I know pay about £300/year which is even better.

The car will usually be insured as a secondary car (not as a daily driver) and with limited mileage. Mine is at 5000 miles per year, which is usually enough.

Will there be “problems”?

As with any car, there are always problems. Especially if a car is 40 years old… that’s to be expected.

The good thing about the Delorean is that if you’re as passionate about it as I am, the problems don’t seem to matter as much as with any normal car and my wallet is always open for it.

That said, there are a few things that some people particularly dislike about it.

No power steering

I don’t hate this, but at the same time, it’s pretty difficult to maneuver the car when you’re not running at a certain speed.

I take this as one of those quirks of owning a 40 year old car, and for some things I actually enjoy it. You can really feel the weight and “power” of the car when you’re driving it which is nice compared to modern cars where everything is so easy and effortless, you almost forget you’re driving them.

Turning angle

The turning angle is very bad. It’s easily the thing that annoys me the most about driving the car.

It’s so bad it’s basically like this:

Ok, yeah that may be an over-exaggeration, but it goes without saying that it takes me a lot of time to get in and out of narrow places.

Foggy windscreen

If you’re AC is not working, which is the case for most project Deloreans, your windscreen will get foggy very easily. I should mention in the photo below, my windscreen was cracked, which contributed to moisture entering the car.

Weak headlights

The main headlights are not very powerful, and I often find myself having to use the high beams as normal lights (thankfully, the car is so low that other cars don’t seem to mind)

That said, you can get upgraded headlights, even LED ones which seem to work well.

Low stance

As said multiple times, the car is very low. My car especially, looked like it came out of a Fast and Furious movie. That made it extremely painful to drive across UK roads with all of the speed bumps and potholes we have.

Thankfully it was just a matter of replacing the springs to get it to a more normal height. Now the ride is very smooth and not as excruciating as it was before.

^^[photos]^^

None of these is obviously a deal breaker for most people, but still good to know before you take the plunge.

Final word

There it is, my “guide” to buying a Delorean DMC-12. Hopefully, you enjoyed reading about my personal experience and found something valuable that you didn’t know!