08 Vipers sales seem to be slow....

[ViperTony]

Nobody who is serious about wanting a high performance car goes to Consumer Reports or MSN Autos for an unbiased review.
These guys are fine for comparing a Civic against a Corolla, just don't expect them to understand what a Viper is all about.

Agreed. CR can't get their dishwasher reviews right...how could they possibly review a Viper??? The most informational Vipers reviews can be found right here on the VCA.

 

[Alexarz]

U gotta stay real here, ferraris do not lack torque,gallardos(don't know much bout murcis) are pretty reliable other than the clutch......

Remember the post a while back with an individual that had a beautiful large garage with a turntable .. it was filled with chrysler products...viper...prowlers etc....Well that post made it to the bmw board and all those owners just basically made fun of his taste of cars....

Compared to Vipers, Ferraris are anemic in the torque department. In my opinion, road racing should have some hefty uphills so that torque would be more of a factor in racing. In motocross, most outdoor tracks have a huge, steep uphill section. I would love to see a Ferrari gasping for gear going up a hill, while the Viper whips past it. As far as the Lambos go, I never owned one and never will. The Merci looks reasonably attractive but is out of my price range. I'm not a fan of the Gallardo at all. I don't know if it is true but I read many times that Lambos are not reliable at all and cost a fortune to fix (again, out of my price range). I like the fact that a Viper is reasonably practical and can whip the ever living **** out of any of those exotics (you gotta love a tt 1400hp Viper). I have to admit that I like the Ford GT and feel that it is a tragedy that they stopped making it. I would much rather have a GT than any Ferrari or Lambo but my first choice remains the Viper.

I feel quite confident that the new ACR will give them all something to hobble home about on a road course.

 

[ViperLB]

Time out for a minute. I think Chris Marshall on this or another post pointed out that as far as Chrysler is concerned, all of the 2008s are presold. One can do the math on the start of production, end date of production and number of cars produced and I am sure it is around 1200 cars total! I know they were north of 1000 months ago. The 2008s on ebay are dealer cars and also are presold and bought by the dealers. So what is eight cars on ebay got to do with over a 1000 sold cars? Obviously, the viper for 2008 is a financial sucess for Chrysler.

Dodge only sold 46 Vipers in December. To get to 1200 units per year they need to be averaging 100 units/month.

allpar.com - Chrysler, Dodge, and Mopar news

 

[wallbanger]

BUT that same data also says that dodge sold 435 total vipers in 07 which doesn't make sense....it also says that they only sold 68 vipers in december of 06 which is reasonable if there was no 07

The 1455 total sold in 06 seems reasonable

 

[fastmd]

It's simply that euro inferiority complex rearing its ugly head. Lets face it; euro cars are rubbish. Mercedes cars are among the least reliable cars available. BMW is average and a design nightmare to work on. Ferraris lack torque and are not reliable. Lambos are notorious for falling apart. The Viper is a simple, effective design made american style (big and powerful) and nothing ****** euro trash off more than to get whipped by american simplicity.

This is not an accurate statement, you truly are speaking out of your a##. I have owned all of the above and still own some. All cars are different and appeal to to different people.
You know what the real problem is, Chrysler's Marketing department. They should have pumped this car like every other manufacturer, the italians get their marketng for free, the germans pay, and Chevy opens up the vault.

 

[sun diego]

BUT that same data also says that dodge sold 435 total vipers in 07 which doesn't make sense....it also says that they only sold 68 vipers in december of 06 which is reasonable if there was no 07

The 1455 total sold in 06 seems reasonable

They are probably measuring sales to end users. 435 left over '06s sold in 07 would make sense. Thats about 37 a month. The 68 in Dec 06 would seem OK, with the number dropping every month in 07 until the 08 deliveries in Dec.

 

[MbnViper]

hmm for me the ZO6 its just a C6 with few new body parts. !

and ZR1 its just a C6 with even more body parts !

and anyone comparing any Viper model with a vette needs a

im not a Gen3 owner but guys who talk and talk and talk about how the Gen2 looks better needs to stop complaining and go buy a 08 gen3 and now Gen4 all looks 1000000 time better than any vette.

 

[MbnViper]

It's simply that euro inferiority complex rearing its ugly head. Lets face it; euro cars are rubbish. Mercedes cars are among the least reliable cars available. BMW is average and a design nightmare to work on. Ferraris lack torque and are not reliable. Lambos are notorious for falling apart. The Viper is a simple, effective design made american style (big and powerful) and nothing ****** euro trash off more than to get whipped by american simplicity.

Bugatti,
Ferrari and Porsche rubbish ? LOL

the only issue i had with my Ferrari is timing belt service schedule nothing wrong with it but its my dealer who keeps calling me to schedule a service date. LOL

about MB funny i was just checking a 12y old 600SEL and 450SEL all in good shape to me. the 600 just needs new plugs/clean injectors.

 

[Nine Ball]

I think someone else nailed it. The '08 Viper doesn't look "new" to the general public, they simply can't tell them apart. So, it does appear that the '08 only appeals to current Viper owners who tend to study and appreciate the differences.

But, we are the same people that also recognize that the value of the Viper will depreciate about $30K in the first year. You then have to ask yourself, do I want to lose $30K+ in one year just to have the newest engine, or do I just enjoy my '06 and modify it?

 

[sun diego]

Time out for a minute. I think Chris Marshall on this or another post pointed out that as far as Chrysler is concerned, all of the 2008s are presold. One can do the math on the start of production, end date of production and number of cars produced and I am sure it is around 1200 cars total! I know they were north of 1000 months ago. The 2008s on ebay are dealer cars and also are presold and bought by the dealers. So what is eight cars on ebay got to do with over a 1000 sold cars? Obviously, the viper for 2008 is a financial sucess for Chrysler.

You can still order an '08 or an ACR from a dealer. The earlier colors are sold out, but the cars aren't.

 

[N2 Vipers]

How do they expect us to order a car in a color which we have never seen on a Viper?

 

[Les Quam]

Hard to sell a Viper in the midwest with a hard winter and poor economy. My local Porsche and Mercedes dealers are slow as well and they don't have snow as an excuse.

As for a new body style Porsche has been successfully building the 911 with essentially the same style for 40 years and counting. For cars like the Viper it's whats underneath that counts and my 08 Viper is superior to my 06 by a wide margin it is the real deal and a true Gen 4 Viper.

I can afford any of the euro cars and last owned an 05 Porsche Carrera GT MSRP 450K. All things considered I prefer my 08 Viper to the 450K Porsche. Nothing drives and feels like a Viper NOTHING. Mainly because you actually have to drive the car and have some skill to drive it. No electronic driver aids or paddle shift trans found on a Viper.

IMHO the Ferrari's, Porsches, Vettes are tremendous cars realizing that NO car is perfect and each car appeals to different people for different reasons.

 

[Lawrenzo]

How do they expect us to order a car in a color which we have never seen on a Viper?

Excellent point- I went to the LA Auto show expecting to see some large color swatches of the Violet paint, and they had Nothing! How hard would it have been to put all the colors together for the public to see

 

[N2 Vipers]

Even if they have the color swatches, you need to see it on a real Viper to see if it works. The computer mock ups on the internet just don't make it, the colors are off anyway.

 

[Motorhead]

How do they expect us to order a car in a color which we have never seen on a Viper?

This website has done a good job of showing paint samples of the new colors. Do a search of "08 paint colors" to check them out.

Until more cars/colors hit the road though, check out the websites below, as they do a fairly decent job "digitally" depicting the new interior, exterior and stripe color combinations available. Good luck!

Official Dodge Site - New Autos, Trucks, Minivans, SUVs, Cars, Wagons
SRT - DriveSRT

 

[DAMN YANKEE]

Last Viper Mag said that sales were so good they may extend production....

 

[SRT10]

I think that January is a terrible time to be trying to sell a sports car. We'll see how things heat up when the weather gets warmer and people actually get to see them on the road.

Ditto on the Yellow.

Your right about sports cars and January.The local Chevy dealer (Freehold Chevrolet ) has his lot filled with corvettes.

 

[RMBSRT]

When the Z06 came out, you could not touch one for MSRP.... most went for 5k -10k over sticker. The 08 Viper has hit the market with a bit of a thud...I am just a little suprised. You can blame the weather all you want but the Viper is getting allot of competition at its price point.

The marketing for the car came and went with the mag reviews. I don't see Chrysler promoting it much at all. I guess time will tell for the Viper....

 

[The Great One]

Towbin Dodge in Nevada wants $108k for a solid blue coupe with slate/black interior, and $110k for a silver stripe/GTS blue coupe. Of course I think this is some celebrity Dodge dealership from their website. I was getting real close to pulling the trigger with Bill P on an 08, just something didn't go as planned today. Looks like I may have to wait one week to find out. I don't know that there are that many GTS Blue's at dealers, but Towbin might be sitting on those coupes for a while.

DELETED!!!

 

[DodgeViper01]

Towbin Dodge in Nevada wants $108k for a solid blue coupe with slate/black interior, and $110k for a silver stripe/GTS blue coupe. Of course I think this is some celebrity Dodge dealership from their website. I was getting real close to pulling the trigger with Bill P on an 08, just something didn't go as planned today. Looks like I may have to wait one week to find out. I don't know that there are that many GTS Blue's at dealers, but Towbin might be sitting on those coupes for a while.

haha. You beat me to it. I was there last night. Add $2K to each of those. Now the "market adjustment" for the cars is $110K for the solid blue and $112K for the blue with silver stripes. MORONS! There are deals out there if you look hard enough. Anything over sticker is dumb!

 

[FikseGTS]

I think the color options could be holding some people back, and how they run this set of colors, then that set, limit your options and so forth, that's the case for me..... I'm personally not a big fan of the "lifesaver" colors.....

My 08 is due to be built soon and is #713 if this says anything.
The first 53 were, I believe, were pilot cars for press & testing. #53 was an hour old when we saw it at the museum when we were there for the Belle Isle event. Not sure how the number system works but this sould give an idea of how many cars were built so far. There are still the next set of colors coming out so there must be a lot of cars ordered and sold. My 2 cents.
GRNBGON

 

[bluestreak]

I'm looking at one right now at Invoice. I would not blame the slow economy. There are bidding wars over sticker and long lists for the ZR1 and GTR.

Compare apples to apples here. There are no bidding wars in the US for the GT-R, there havent even been any preorders taken yet, and Japan isnt on the verge of recession. The ZR-1 is not apples to apples, if we were talking about the ACR, then that's more comparable to the ZR-1. But I'd be willing to bet that Z06 and Corvette sales are down as well.

 

[1fast400]

I think the 08 looks amazing. I'd love to have one. However, with what 04-06 vert's are selling for, I'd rather buy one, drop it off at UG, spend similar total money and have a TT. This is exactly what I'm doing as soon as I sell my truck.

I think an earlier poster said it best. Most of the 08's are going to current viper owners. When it gets warmer, I think sales will pick up.

 

[viper77]

I think the reason it seems Viper sales are slow is because a majority of the orders are customer orders and are presold. You just don't hear about them. The sales are done when the car arrives and the customer takes it home or has it delivered. Anyone who wanted one could just contact a dealer and order one at a prearranged price. Why wait to be gouged on Ebay. I think a majority of 08 Viper buyers were well prepared to order one and knew it would be a time consuming task to get one. Most of the Northern states buyers were prepared to wait till spring to get the car, so no hurry. The ones on Ebay are speculators and only want to get the impulse buyers. Not many of those these days. If they want to hold onto the car and hope that buyer shows up, so be it. They only make so many a day so it takes a while for them to get to the customer. As far as I can see, once people are getting them, they are posting pictures. A lot of non members in the North are just receiving their cars and they are just put away till spring. Once spring comes and if there is any sign of life in the economy, and the word gets out how great the 08 is, I think sales will pick up for dealer owned cars.
I thinks sales are great, seems they are getting more orders than they were prepared for. This may be why Chrysler has seen fit not to do much advertising. If sales are strong, why spend the money. Until the production is done and the final tally is figured, we have no way of knowing if sales are slow or great. One problem if sales are great is that they will up the price! We don't want that to happen do we. If sales prove to be better for the 08 than they expected then that should help to ensure the future of the breed. So we should be saying "Wow there is only 8 on Ebay, must not be many around."
Just some thoughts.

 

[FikseGTS]

gouged, they are available at MSRP on ebay, maybe less.....

Why wait to be gouged on Ebay.

 

[Camfab]

Honestly, and I hate to come off as a nay-sayer on the 08s, but you know who the 08's REALLY appeal to???? Current Viper owners. People who can appeciate the bettering of the bread, and how the 08 is certainly the high water mark for performance and all out race-car made for the street of all the Vipers.

The problem is to attract NEW customers, they needed to change the car completely on the outside, because effectively the outside looks the same as the 03-06's. So if that 'design' was failing to meet market excitement, how did they think the same look and design would do it again, short of adding more HP??

The Viper is an emotional decision based on looks, feel, and rawness... I have no problem admitting the 08 is a better viper then my 06 (stock). But it looks the same. Where as the GTR is ALL new.. so you get to be the NEW kid on the block with that look, not a 08, who's LOOK is 5 years OLD. And the ZR1, while some feel looks RICEY, it ISSSS a far more flamboyant look then its base box, or z06 counterpart. Even still I think the zr1, short of attracting Bow-Tie Die Hards, would also have struggles when it came out, if its only change was a hood and more power.

New 'looking' sells. Most people spending this kind of bank want NEW LOOK AND FAST.

Thats my 2 cents. And its not to slight the 08s. Its human nature... we want all the fastness but also want the newness/stand-out when we are interested in buying NEW models of things.

Jon

Your right on.

 

[DodgeViper01]

gouged, they are available at MSRP on ebay, maybe less.....

Right on. Many are above or at MSRP but there are always a few available under MSRP. There are also many dealers out there willing to give the car at invoice or close to when you order one. Just takes a little looking.

 

[snakeplissken]

Theres 300 million people in the USA and Dodge can't sell 1200 Vipers. They will sell no problem.

 

[Smog Dog]

Theres 300 million people in the USA and Dodge can't sell 1200 Vipers. They will sell no problem.

You're right, they will sell. We were told at CAAP on Friday 1200 had already been ordered by dealers. Planned production is 1500. So 300 left to complete the 2008 run. That said, sold to dealers and sold to a retail customer are two different things.

 

[DodgeViper01]

Theres 300 million people in the USA and Dodge can't sell 1200 Vipers. They will sell no problem.

I like that quote! Good point!