DeLorean Seller’s Guide
This is very much a work in progress. This was originally posted to DeLorean Fanatics Facebook group.
Introduction
I’ve been asked by a few people recently how to sell a DeLorean. I’ve never done this personally, but I have looked at an awful lot of DeLorean ads, so I have an idea of what works and what doesn’t.
First off, if you aren’t ready to sell your car because you’re still attached to it, then do us all a favor — don’t sell it! I know there’s a lot of emotional attachment, so if you aren’t sure, then it can wait. You’ll just be wasting everyone’s time and causing yourself grief. This is especially for the “you won’t be able to test drive unless you have a cashier’s check in hand” guy.
What to do
Most important, wash your car. I know this seems dumb, but I’ve seen way too many dirty DeLorean car ads. Yes, I know that getting a DeLorean really clean is a lot of effort, and yes, that barn find is going to be awful inside, but spend 30 minutes with water and a cloth. The Wizard video below is particularly about this topic, but it also has some great general hints on selling, and is well worth watching. Buyers will subtract $500-$1000 off your asking price for a dirty car.
Grammar — “it’s/its”, “than/then”, “your/you’re”. I’m subtracting $100 from your price for every grammar error I see. And ALL CAPS — don’t do it — you aren’t cool enough to carry it off. If you’re asking for someone to fork over the equivalent of a house down payment, then you can spend 5 minutes and have a friend check your ad. Seriously.
Very important details —location, VIN, manufacture date, interior color and auto or manual and upgrades. So many ads lack these basic things.
Pictures, Pictures, Pictures
Pictures — the more the better, but really important to get pictures of the engine bay, instrument cluster and frame. In particular in the engine bay, we want to see the fuel lines and coolant tank. Just a single picture of the engine bay is fine. The frame — this is potentially one of the most costly items to fix for a buyer, so it’s a big deal. But it’s usually enough to stick your camera in the wheel wells and also just underneath the car.
Is there something broken on the car? That’s fine — no DeLorean is perfect, and buyers fully expect to buy a car with things to work on. Whatever it is, get good pictures and document as best you can — otherwise you’ll be bugged about it.
Details, details, details.
Unless you bought the car from new, or have done a complete restoration, it’s not likely you’ll know the full history of your car. That’s OK, but all the documentation you can muster, the better.
Audience — selling a car is an exercise in filtering out time wasters. So, choose where you post. Facebook marketplace are likely visible to the wide world, so you might not want that. Places like dmctalk or the DeLorean-specific groups will give you a much smaller audience, but it’ll be much more focused.
Story!
Finally, and this one is really subtle, but in some ways it’s the biggest factor in getting your asking price — story. People love car stories. Stories sell cars and drive prices up, which is why certain celebrity cars (for example) command such high prices. Tell your car’s story — both about the marque and your car in particular. If you can get a story in someone’s head, then you might have a sale.
