Re: John Delorean and Reliability.

["Knut Grimsrud" <knut.s.grimsrud@xxxx>]

William_Sternbach@xxxx wrote:

> When John Delorean created the DMC-12, I believe
> that reliability was similar to the Chevy Vega's.
> Most DMC-12's have less than 50,000 miles because
> it is difficult to keep the DMC-12 running
> continuously for a long period of time to
> accumulate 50,000 miles.

I don't agree with some of the common assertions of the DeLorean quality or
reliability. I have two DeLoreans of my onw -- one that now has 140,000
miles on it. The DeLorean is generally constructed of quality components
(with a couple known exceptions for which replacements are readily
availble). The Bosch fuel injection system used in the DMC is rock solid as
is the PRV-6 B28F engine and the manual tranny (I don't know much about the
auto since I don't have one). Not only are the components used in the car
generally of good quality, but the car's design and construction is also
sound (although the build quality is a bit variable, especially with the
very early cars). Having gone through my cars from top to bottom a couple
times, I have only found a couple things on the car that are questionable.
Many of the common problems people report are usually not artifacts of build
quality or quality of materials, but of poor maintenance and improper
storage.

The most common source of DeLorean reliability problems I have encountered
with the folks in the local club and others I have contact with is generally
a result of owner neglect. A very common misperception is that not driving a
car is equivalent to preserving it. This is not true, and such neglect
(usually accompanied with a lack of regular maintenance) takes a heavy toll
on the cars. Regular maintenance applies to cars whether they are driven or
not -- for example, the window sticker reminding you of your next oil change
indicates that it's due after 3000 miles _OR_ 3 months. Cars that don't see
general use (or are parked for extended periods) often go for years without
an oil change let alone a coolant flush, brake flush, etc. I suspect that
the reason higher mileage cars generally fare better mechanically is because
they see sufficient use to undergo regular maintenance and their owners keep
up on it. As a point of cmparison, a friend of mine parked his Nissan for 12
months after which he was unable to get life back into it and ended up
donating it to charity because he couldn't get it going again. How many
DeLoreans sit for long durations?

Granted, there are a few well-known issues with the car and in general these
also have well known fixes available from the folks that do such a great job
of supporting our cars (like DeLorean Motor COmpany, PJ Grady, DeLorean
Motor Center, DMC Joe, Darryl Tinnerstedt, and so many others).

I disagree with the assertion that DMC's are not reliable cars. I would
instead assert that some DMC owners are less reliable with maintenance of
their cars.

Knut