Re: John Delorean and Reliability.

["Robert Rooney" <DMCVegas@xxxx>]

Before I reply, I must ask one thing. What exactly is the purpose of 
your posting? Are you considering purchasing a DeLorean for yourself, 
or someone you know and want to know more about it? Or is it 
something else? As far as reliability goes the DeLorean is a very 
reliable car once is has been raised to it's proper operating 
standard. By this of course I mean a variety of itmes. Things such as 
trailing arm bolts, updated cooling pipes, improved electrical 
relays, etc... And even then depending upon when the car was built it 
and/or who owned the car before you it may already have these 
updates/repairs completed. Ownership is a very important thing when 
it comes to a car. Let me give you an example: I own the 
proclaimed "DeLorean from hell". I have had problems with my car that 
would make the jaws of most everyone on the list here drop to the 
floor. But NONE of the problems that I've have with the car have been 
due to any defects or problems with it's design. My car sat for over 
a decade in the desert. That alone would have been enough to warrant 
a good number of problems. But it was also coupled with a string of 
mechanics before I came along who ended up causing more problems then 
they fixed. Alot of the items that have gone wrong with my car were 
easily preventable had I have known they were there in the first 
place. But because I was told they had already been taken care of, I 
overlooked them. Many of the lessons learned with my car were learned 
the hard way. If I could do it all over again there are a number of 
things I would have done differantly. But the one that I would never 
have changed was buying a DeLorean.
Geting back to your question though rahter then just my personal 
experiences, the DeLorean is a very reliable car. It has in a sense 
been blessed with a strong motor and trans-axle, great suspension, 
and a beauty second to none! One thing that you have to remember is 
that in many cases here on the list a good number of postings are 
from people like myself who are bringing our cars back onto the road. 
And these postings are concerning repairs that have to be made due to 
neglect rather then design flaws. But even then one thing that you 
need to remember with the DeLorean is that it was somewhat rushed 
thru it's production. So any types of flaws that would normaly be 
discovered durring closed road testing and development were found out 
by the consumers. But nothing that came up was something that 
couldn't be overcome on the production line. If you want to talk 
about poor designs look at the Geo Metro hatchback. The SRS module is 
located directly under the cup holder. It is entirly possible that by 
spilling a drink you could trip the module and force the air bags 
into deploying while driving. Or what about the A series cars put out 
by GM from '78-'83 with the gas tank only 11 inches away from the 
rear bumper, or what about "side sadle" mounted gas tanks on GM 
trucks? I would consider that more of a design flaw then an 
underpowered fan fail relay. In the end, I just don't see the 
connection that you've made between the Vega and the DeLorean. John 
DeLorean didn't design the Vega, he was head of Chevrolet when it 
came out. That's the only connection. If I recall right, JZD wasn't 
that fond of the Vega either. As far as DeLorean's go. Higher milage 
is usually better simply because if it's been driven that far, then 
someone must have cared for it somewhat to enable it to go the 
distance.

-Robert
vin 6585
I'd rather push my DeLorean then drive any car made by GM!



--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxx, "Sternbach, William [IT]" 
<William_Sternbach@xxxx> wrote:
> [MODERATOR'S NOTE: DeLorean reliability has been discussed on the 
list in the past. It's been a while since it was last dicussed, so 
I'm letting this thread start again for the newcomers. Please focus 
reply postings on facts -- the usual moderating filters will be in 
place.]
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I just wanted to make a polite comment about John Delorean and 
Reliability.
> 
> When John Delorean was an executive at General Motors,
> he introduced a new car to compete with the foreign economy cars.
> It was the Chevy Vega. It had a 2.3 Liter Overhead Cam 4 Cylinder 
engine.
> My sister bought a Chevy Vega brand new.
> 
> She constantly had problems with it and after 1 year, she traded it 
in
> to the dealer and she took a big financial loss.
> The Chevy Vega was GM's least reliable car of all time.
> Most Chevy Vega's never lasted long enough to make it to 50,000 
miles.
> 
> 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 am a fan of John Delorean and the DMC-12's,
> but I hope it is ok if I make this polite comment that cars that he 
designed
> have poor reliability.
> 
> It seems the best DMC-12's to buy are the ones with over 30,000 
miles,
> because most of the problems have already been fixed by the previous
> owner. Another member of this list told me that if you buy one of 
these
> "fixed" deloreans, you can expect troublefree operation for a long 
time.
> 
> What do you think?