[DML] Re: Subject:: What you see IS NOT always what you get

["Walter" <Whalt@xxxx>]

For those of you who want to learn from my buying experience, here is a
synopsis of the more serious things wrong with my car that a better educated
buyer wouldn't have overlooked:

My car was apparently in an accident before I bought it. I had no idea of
it's past history. The dealer I bought it from didn't give any information.
The main evidence of the accident was a bent grill on the fascia. I had no
idea it was bent. It was bent symmetrically, so I thought it was supposed
to be shaped like that. Then I went to a show and saw several other
DeLoreans -- they were all straight across the bottom -- except mine!

Other things I later noticed that were evidence of a collision:
The headlights were not properly aimed.
A headlight retaining spring on one side was the wrong size which made the
headlight loose.
The right front fender has two very slight indentations at the front, and
the texture over this area doesn't match the rest of the fender (presumably
where a front end collision wrinkled it). Very few people notice it. You
have to know what you are looking for to find it.
The left front fender looks too good to be original. The texture on it is
deeper than the rest of the car.
Both my front lower control arms are damaged from towing, and my alignment
was WAY out which ruined the front tires while I drove it home. New control
arms cost $610 each if you can find them.
A stainless bracket that runs the length of the inside of the front fascia
had been bent and straightened. I intend to replace it someday.
The fan shroud is split on the bottom. I have found that these are made
from a brittle kind of plastic that tends to crack easily. It is very hard
to repair. If you crawl under the front of a DeLorean and see any splits in
this shroud, then that is a good indication that the front of the car was at
least bumped hard.
On an upper note, the fiberglass underbody appears to be undamaged. If it
was repaired, it was a great job. I'll learn more as a do more work on the
car.

I don't intend to keep my car forever. Eventually someone else will own it
(or at least parts from it) if the world lasts long enough. I'm probably
going to become a monk in a Russian Orthodox monastery in a few years, and
before then I will put the car up for sale. For the record, all the above
is describing VIN 03633 which is a Sept '81 build. Even if a future owner
tries to hide the history of my car, this posting will make some of that
difficult. Although hopefully by then I will have totally corrected any
remaining problems so that the above info will be a moot point concerning
the value of the car and will instead just provide some interesting history.

I think it would be great to expand the VIN list of known DeLoreans to
include histories of the cars. Although, unfortunately many people have
things to hide. If someone posted a bad comment about someone else's car,
then someone could be unhappy about it. Oh well. I have learned that it is
always best to let the truth be known. I have fewer problems and a lot less
to remember that way.

Walt Tampa, FL