[General] Mileage query.

[coaster]

Hi everyone,
I've been lurking on here for a few weeks now.
So I'm looking to buy a Delorean, I've found one that looks pretty good. everything is pretty much stock, 2 owners, 45000 miles or so,
I made an offer on the car, and then I got an autocheck on the car.

It was clean, apart from there were no records before 1993, not a surprise there. However, in 2004 the car was smogged and a mileage was recorded at 140,000 (a good trick given the odometer only shows 5 digits). This is the only mileage that shows up on the report.

There are a few possibilities.

1, the tester guy recording it wrote down the decimal as part of the full mileage, 140,000 instead of an actual mileage of 14000... Unlikely given the white decimal wheel on the odo...

2, It's gone round the clock, and the owner in 2004 informed the tester to add 100000 to the reading.

3, Autocheck is just wrong. And the odo is genuine.

Anybody got any thoughts on this? Surely by now there must be a bunch of cars with 6 digit mileages being mis-represented by their odometers?

And- how big a deal is it? The car looks pretty clean, and I'd be doing a few upgrades anyway, suspension, brakes etc... Is there anything in particular to watch out for on a car with high miles on it?

Cheers!

[DMCMW Dave]

More likely that the emission test guy figured there's no way a car that old only went 45K and added the 1 at the beginning. Owner didn't notice.

Originally Posted by coaster

Hi everyone,
I've been lurking on here for a few weeks now.
So I'm looking to buy a Delorean, I've found one that looks pretty good. everything is pretty much stock, 2 owners, 45000 miles or so,
I made an offer on the car, and then I got an autocheck on the car.

It was clean, apart from there were no records before 1993, not a surprise there. However, in 2004 the car was smogged and a mileage was recorded at 140,000 (a good trick given the odometer only shows 5 digits). This is the only mileage that shows up on the report.

There are a few possibilities.

1, the tester guy recording it wrote down the decimal as part of the full mileage, 140,000 instead of an actual mileage of 14000... Unlikely given the white decimal wheel on the odo...

2, It's gone round the clock, and the owner in 2004 informed the tester to add 100000 to the reading.

3, Autocheck is just wrong. And the odo is genuine.

Anybody got any thoughts on this? Surely by now there must be a bunch of cars with 6 digit mileages being mis-represented by their odometers?

And- how big a deal is it? The car looks pretty clean, and I'd be doing a few upgrades anyway, suspension, brakes etc... Is there anything in particular to watch out for on a car with high miles on it?

Cheers!

[Gary4097]

Originally Posted by coaster

Hi everyone,
I've been lurking on here for a few weeks now.
So I'm looking to buy a Delorean, I've found one that looks pretty good. everything is pretty much stock, 2 owners, 45000 miles or so,
I made an offer on the car, and then I got an autocheck on the car.

It was clean, apart from there were no records before 1993, not a surprise there. However, in 2004 the car was smogged and a mileage was recorded at 140,000 (a good trick given the odometer only shows 5 digits). This is the only mileage that shows up on the report.

There are a few possibilities.

1, the tester guy recording it wrote down the decimal as part of the full mileage, 140,000 instead of an actual mileage of 14000... Unlikely given the white decimal wheel on the odo...

2, It's gone round the clock, and the owner in 2004 informed the tester to add 100000 to the reading.

3, Autocheck is just wrong. And the odo is genuine.

Anybody got any thoughts on this? Surely by now there must be a bunch of cars with 6 digit mileages being mis-represented by their odometers?

And- how big a deal is it? The car looks pretty clean, and I'd be doing a few upgrades anyway, suspension, brakes etc... Is there anything in particular to watch out for on a car with high miles on it?

Cheers!

Does it look like a vehicle that has 145,000 miles on it? I would think a vehicle with that many miles would show some serious wear and tear, especially an unrestored delorean. In my opinion 45k is prob a more accurate number, but thats just my opinion.

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by DMCMW Dave

More likely that the emission test guy figured there's no way a car that old only went 45K and added the 1 at the beginning. Owner didn't notice.

I agree with Dave. This issue came up regarding an Ebay DeLorean recently. There are very, very few DeLoreans with over 100,000 miles on them. It's not that they won't last that long, it's just the fact the overwhelming majority of DeLoreans were squirreled away during the 1980s after DMCL collapsed. By the time people started realizing they could easily obtain parts and service for the cars (mid/late '90s), and starting putting DeLoreans back on the road, they were already collectors items... so most haven't accrued much in daily driving mileage. Even without seeing pictures or knowing anything about this particular car, I can almost assure you it truly has 45k on it... not 145k.

[coaster]

Ok, Thanks for the replies,
The owner is hopefully digging up some more history docs to find some proof of mileage.

From what I've read here seems like the condition of the car is more important than what the odometer says. I guess I just got a bit of a shock with the Autocheck though...


Thanks again!

[Sidaries]

My car has more that 100000 miles and it hardly shows it. Ed from delorean.eu said, that if the coolant bottle is still plastic and it seems to be old and the stickers on the engine compartment are burned, than it is more likely that the car is over 100000 miles. Mine is a really nice and reliable car, so I think high mileage is not a big problem with these cars, if they got the regular maintenance they need.

[Sidaries]

And a picture to show my engine. Sticker and coolant bottle can be seen too.
I bought my car as a 50014 miles car, but angle drive broken. It was a bit more.

[coaster]

Great info, Thanks!
the owner has dug up all sorts of history on the car, all of which supports the 45k mileage on the car. I'm going to see it again tomorrow on a ramp, and I'll be taking my check book...