Re: [DML] Re: DAILY DRIVER DMC (long)

[Soma576@xxxx]

Hello Adam,

i can give you the facts first-hand as a college student with a DeLorean. 
owning one at this young age is a definite toss-up. i had wanted one for 
probably 10 years of my life prior to college, and when i graduated from high 
school, the first semester in college, i treated myself to a $16,000 
present!!!

was it smart? probably damn right stupid, actually!! even though i bought a 
car that i know was in decent shape and well cared for, it IS a 20-year-old 
car and i am approaching the rule of $20K pretty soon. and i still want to 
rebuild my A/C system and put a new radiator and cooling fans in!!!!! i will 
be over $20K easily by the end of 2002. a car like this always needs things, 
especially if you are as anal as i am. i want everything to work perfectly 
all of the time, and it is quite enjoyable to spend time alone with the car 
getting closer to that goal every day. however, the rest of my young life 
has taken a major toll. my life has become four things - working 35-40 hrs a 
week to support my DeLorean lifestyle (it's not a car - it is a NEW LIFE), 
going to school, seeing my girlfriend, and trying to find time to sleep 
sometime in there. i have completely missed out on the 'college experience' 
- i pay cash for tuition to stay out of further debt, yet i live at home 
where i have a garage and free room and board. i spend as little time on 
campus as possible and because of that i haven't made hardly a new friend 
there - and i'm a sophmore! i work nearly every day to pay $400/mo car 
payment, credit card (mostly DMC stuff), $120/mo insurance for two cars, gas, 
etc. i net about $1100/month, which barely covers everything by the end of 
the month. good thing i got my girlfriend AFTER i got my DeLorean or else 
she would never have put up with the car - she knew what she was getting into 
before we started going out. after school, work, girlfriend, i hardly ever 
see my other guy friends anymore. maybe every other week i'll see them for 
awhile. i used to play guitar and compose electronic music with vintage 
synthesizers - all of that stuff has since been sold to cover expenses. i 
don't party pretty much at ALL anymore which is either a good or bad thing, 
due to my long work hours and such. when i think about it, i really am 
throwing away my youth - all because of a car. i can't even imagine what it 
would be like if i had instead bought a $5000 domestic car with low payments 
and i'd have $500 a month to spend on whatever i wanted - beer, guitars, 
music, road trippin, more beer, treat my GF to a nice dinner sometimes..... 
i'll never know what that it is like to have more money than i need. every 
month i wonder if i'll be late on a payment. that sucks, man. and i make more 
money than you do! and just like you - before i had the car it looked like i 
had LOADS of money left over in the budget! WRONG! in fact there have been 2 
times that i was very close to giving everything up and selling the car 
because i couldn't handle it anymore. but it was my dream car.... i can't 
ever see myself selling it.

however, that's not to say that the whole experience hasn't been rewarding. 
i've met some great people through my DeLorean ownership - i've taken part in 
a number of car shows and i have won a trophy at every show i have attended 
that has awards. i completely enjoy having the car that everyone on the 
street thinks isn't for real - i love having the college students do double 
takes and smiling, and i love having customers where i work ask who owns the 
DeLorean in the parking lot. it's awesome! every time i get in that car it 
is the best thing that happens to me all day. it's something that i work 
hard for, and i appreciate the car more than you would ever imagine. 

stupid as all hell? the stupidest thing anyone still in school could do? 
completely and utterly moronic and boneheaded? the thing to do if you want 
to wallow in debt? DEFINITELY!

rewarding and ultra-cool? YES!

if i had to do it all over again - i'm not sure what i would do. i think i 
would have probably waited until after college, but then you don't know if 
you will get married right away and buy a house, and then you might NEVER buy 
a DeLorean. but if you want something bad enough, you will get it. it's 
just a question of WHEN and not IF.

if you do buy the car - resist the urge to make it perfect. fix what you 
absolutely cannot live with as you get the money. always pay cash for parts, 
never get into the credit card malstrom. if you do, you will only make a 
questionable financial situation even worse.

as for the daily driver - don't count on it. my car seemed like it would be 
a good daily driver when i bought it, and it reasonably is, but i have had i 
think three major show stoppers, all of them very expensive repairs. good 
thing i still have my trusty but getting rusty 87 Plymouth Turismo on the 
side! but at least i know i will not have problems in those areas anymore for 
a very long time now that they have been fixed correctly. 

as for driving in winter - only do this if you want to kill yourself and 
total your brand new toy. reasons:
1. the car is too short to see above snowbanks on corners, and the stainless 
steel seems to render it invisible.
2. the heater is not powerful nor very hot. better bundle up!
3. everything seems to work less perfectly in the winter - locks, gas struts, 
latches, door handles break off, etc etc etc. 
4. the car handles pretty poorly in the winter due to being rear-drive and a 
majority of rear weight. any turn taken on ice, sleet, or low-traction 
surface, especially coupled with braking, will send you into the most wicked 
doughnuts your chevy cavalier wished it could do! i had to get towed once 
out of a snowbank on the first day i took my car out of winter storage 
because i hit a patch of ice (and no, i do not drive carelessly like a bat 
out of hell) and downshifted. the slight change in velocity made my car 
begin to fishtail and i did a 180 and went sideways into a snowdrift. kind of 
embarrasing, but the tow trucker thought it was the coolest thing anyway. 
also the first day of freezing rain i was driving the car and i switched 
lanes and started fishtailing - i lost control and went into the other lane, 
good thing there were no other car around. i quickly regained control but 
went 30 under the speed limit the rest of the way home i was so freaked out. 
after those 2 times i have vowed to NEVER drive my car when there is ice, 
snow, or freezing ANYTHING on the ground or in the air. i will never again 
risk my life or my investment like that ever again. i even had brand new 
Yokos with less than 1000 miles on them. the car just isn't good in bad 
weather. DO NOT rely on it for year-round driving if you are planning on 
selling whatever car you aleady have. put the D in storage and drive your 
tempo.

if you want this lifestyle, by all means - buy the car! and have fun with it!
but don't say i didn't warn you....

Andy

Soma576@xxxx
1982 DeLorean DMC-12 VIN#11596
Fargo, ND 58102


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