1996 RT/10 Is this good Price

[malcoll]

Ok, my search continues. Yesterday I test drove a 1996 RT/10, black with black interior. The paint was fair to good, some small hairline cracks in the hood close to the vents, a lot of clear coat scratches from waxing and buffing. The interior was fair to good, some wear on the driver seat, not a lot, but the shifter surround was loose... and the dash panel had some deep scratches/chips? The engine bay was dirty, some paint missing from each valve cover, oil seeping from the PCV valves? The right headlight was roached.... clouded on the inside?
No modifications to the engine or exhaust, just new intake tubes. The am/fm does not work on the radio and there is no trunk mat, he has a soft top and a hard top, but just the factory windows. The drivers door does not stay open, just flops closed unless you hold it open while getting into the car.
The A/C was replaced about 4,000 miles ago as well as the clutch, yet it seemed to chatter a bit on take off... also if you were standing next to the car while running in neutral... there was an odd chattering type sound? The car is claimed to be a two owner w/40,000 miles. It looks like about a 60K car in condition. He's asking $43,000...... sounds steep to me for what he's got, but what do you guys think?
I did feel a bit of engine vibration at idle.
This is the first Viper I have been able to drive, I liked the feel.. gobs of torque and acceleration!
Dang, I gotta buy one soon, I just want one that I can be super proud of.

Thanks in advance,

Lance

 

[ruckdr]

Lance,
From what you described, TOO MUCH.
Later,

 

[ledfoot]

Run !

 

[Gavin]

For that amount of money or just a little more you can find a well cared for car with moderate mileage - its definately a pass.
Invest some time and you can find the right car for you.

 

[C O D Y]

You can find better. Don't give up.

 

[knuk]

Take a look at my ad in the classifieds. I have a 96 RT black/silver stripes just over 14,000 miles, excellent condition and asking 44,900 - take a look, a link to some pics as well. Full description etc in ad.

 

[Godsil Performance]

I looked at one at a local dealer about two years ago and it sounds about the same in condition. It was a '95 in yellow. They would not deal at all saying that yellow was so hard to come by and it would be sold next week at the price they were asking. I know about three months ago the car is still there. The price when I looked at it, $54,000. I figured it was probably a $35,000 car.

 

[GCHDEALER]

Offer $31,000.00 He may need to sell and at that price you can correct what is wrong to make yourself a nice car.

 

[MadMaxx]

Daaamnn man, 43K!!?!!?!

I'll sell you a near pristine 96 White/blue RT/10 w/ both tops, aftermarket windows, and lots of other goodies! My engine bay is CLEAN. I was asking 39 for it.

LMK.

MM

 

[Bonkers]

Too much. From the condition you describe it defenatly falls into that $39k price hole. Unless you know exactly what you are looking for, stick with the VCA Classifieds and/or make a trustworthy friend in the club to kick tires with you.

 

[SC ACR]

Way out of line.... I just sold my 1996 white/Blue 10,400 miles. Excellent condition with hardtop for 41K and that was a "good" price!

Keep looking.

 

[99 R/T 10]

With all the problems, it should be priced in the mid to high 30's. Seems like a lot of problems for that price. And by the way, unless you like to wash the car everyday, stay away from black. It does look striking when it is clean, but only lasts for about 10 minutes or the first drive, whichever comes first.

Mike

 

[Snake Bitten]

1. Some small hairline cracks in the hood close to the vents
2. A lot of clear coat scratches from waxing and buffing
3. Some wear on the driver seat
4. The shifter surround was loose
5. The dash panel had some deep scratches/chips
6. The engine bay was dirty
7. Some paint missing from each valve cover
8. Oil seeping
9. The right headlight was roached, clouded on the inside?
10. The am/fm does not work on the radio
11. The drivers door does not stay open
12 Clutch seemed to chatter a bit on take off, also if you were standing next to the car while running in neutral
13 I did feel a bit of engine vibration at idle
14. He's asking $43K

WOW! It doesn't sound like you are looking for a builder, so I think the best advice so far was: RUN!

 

[phiebert]

Doesn't sound too good but just FYI, some of the things you mention you'll find on a lot of Vipers. Check out AspViper's one in the classified, I saw it last week and it is very nice. And he is a meticulous owner about to get a SRT so he's selling it for the right reasons too. See my thoughts on your list of issues below...

1. Some small hairline cracks in the hood close to the vents [Unless it's been repainted almost all GEN I's had hood crack problems until they switched to a different technique to make the hoods. Mine is a lot worse then the one your describing]
2. A lot of clear coat scratches from waxing and buffing [If it's black, those are darn hard to avoid!]
3. Some wear on the driver seat [That's too bad, mine doesn't have any]
4. The shifter surround was loose [Unusual but sounds like an easy fix]
5. The dash panel had some deep scratches/chips [That sounds abusive!]
6. The engine bay was dirty [What kind of seller doesn't even clean the car up to sell it?]
7. Some paint missing from each valve cover [I wonder if that means he's had some work done on it because I haven't seen many covers missing paint naturally]
8. Oil seeping [Should change the PVC valve and should have clean up the bloody car!]
9. The right headlight was roached, clouded on the inside? [It is pretty common on Vipers that I've seen for the fog lights or headlights to get clouded after washing/rain. Should probably get a new seal put in]
10. The am/fm does not work on the radio [Not a "true" Viper part but unfortunate that it is falling apart too!]
11. The drivers door does not stay open [Do any of them? Just kidding but this is pretty common too.]
12 Clutch seemed to chatter a bit on take off, also if you were standing next to the car while running in neutral [All Vipers rattle when idling in neutral. It's a feature! The chatter on take off would worry me though.]
13 I did feel a bit of engine vibration at idle [By vibration do you mean lumpy cam type vibration or the engine was loose on the mounts? Number two would make me walk away for sure!]
14. He's asking $43K [Too much for the car in that shape when you are in a buyers market for Vipers compared to when I bought mine a few years ago when the economy was better and people weren't selling them!]

 

[picflight]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GCHDEALER:
Offer $31,000.00 He may need to sell and at that price you can correct what is wrong to make yourself a nice car.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree with Gchdealer, make a resonable offer considering all you have to fix to get it to a Viper lover condition.

 

[joe117]

He's asking top dollar price for a low bucks car. I would think hard before I paid even $10k less than he's asking.
The "odd chattering" sound from the engine and the clutch "chatter" could be expensive problems. The other problems are just going to look worse and worse to you the longer you have the car. You will end up spending a bunch to make everything look nice. Nobody wants a ***** looking Viper.
There are plenty of 96 Vipers for sale with no real problems for that kind of money. Lots of older Vipers with no real problems for almost $10k less.

 

[garolittle]

Buy MadMaxx's car.