Solid Red 98
Enthusiast
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2007
- Posts
- 427
- Reaction score
- 2
Bad
1. Probebly the worst thing i have goin for me, othern then drivBing in a parking lot iv only driven auto my whole life. NEVER driven manual on the street and will go further and say infact i dont how too. Basically, if i buy this car, i personally wont be able to drive it home. (trying to be as honest as i can here)
2. No place to really park it, what i mean by that is, i take care of my parents, and they live in a not so great street, althogh the area i live in is great, the condo i live in the street isnt very good. Theres no garage, and i would have to park it outside. I can cover it and the weather down here in southern cali is great so it never snows, but im worried about what the nieghboorhood kids or someone that has bad motives might do to it.
3. I dont even know how to change the oil on my own car.
Parking a Viper outside can depend upon where you live in a given region. In the case of Sou-Cal, there are exotics-a-plenty in some areas, and so many cars, in general, that it might not be as exclusive as in some areas, thus not garnering the type of attention that its looks suggest. Here in the Bay Area, my Viper is often seen as just another shiny red sports car. When I first got it, I only drove down rose petal covered streets on only the most perfect of days, and tried to find a spot in the living room for it next to the family dog. I later began to understand that despite all of the attention and immaculate care my car has received, I pull into the same gas stations as beat up Hondas, rusted out pickups, and minivans. My Viper shares the same pothole infested, wet tarred, gravel littered, dusty, often crowded, roads that other rubber tired vehicles compete for space on. I came to the realization that my Viper was actually designed to spend a good deal of its life outside!
I have put enough miles on my car that it is far from a garage queen, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I really enjoy the car, and drive it enough to become familiar with its ways.
If you do buy one of these cars, treat it well and use it--life is short. If you wait until all conditions are just right for many of the worthwhile things in life, you will be doing a lot of waiting and not much living/ doing / accomplishing. Some ships sail over the horizon and never return. At 28 you are near the family building stage whether that is on the horizon or not. Forget a Viper during that time, unless your partner is really a-o.k. I got mine after my kids got older. At your stage in life other priorities have a habit of popping up an superseding the toys.
As for learning to drive a stick, if you have been driving for some time, it really is quite easy. Just this month, I taught both of my sons (15 and 18) to drive manual in one outing. It helps to understand what the pedal does, mechanically, and why. You need a good teacher and a day of practice. Hey, people learn it every day, and never look back.
The thing about the Viper is that it is quite unforgiving of certain mistakes i.e. too much gas, rough application of torque, and just brain farting, and forgetting to put it in neutral before getting off the clutch at a light or parking space, or even leaving it in gear and forgetting on restart. The motor has enough power near idle to put the car through something.
It really is not a beginners car, but is a finesse oriented drivers car; it is no Z , Mustang, or Vette--nor is it a Bugatti. Ideally you need an acquisition plan for the Viper where you do a benefit/risk/timing assessment as the car relates to you. If you have to park it outside and cover it in order to have the car, and enjoy it, figure out how to do it the best you can. It may serve as an impetus to get another place with an adequate garage, who knows? As for cost, sadly Vipers are some of the cheaper cars on the street relative to some of the Mercedes,Cadillacs, SUV's and basic 30k sedans out there, so it is far from irreplaceable. You, on the other hand are irreplaceable, so make your decision based upon that theme. You can afford to wait a while, get a manual sled to become shift proficient on so that you will be able to at least do a test drive. You must be able to drive it home...Remember that a high number of Vipers never make it home on the first day. Make some adequate preparations. Then go get your dream without putting the cart too far before the horse.
1. Probebly the worst thing i have goin for me, othern then drivBing in a parking lot iv only driven auto my whole life. NEVER driven manual on the street and will go further and say infact i dont how too. Basically, if i buy this car, i personally wont be able to drive it home. (trying to be as honest as i can here)
2. No place to really park it, what i mean by that is, i take care of my parents, and they live in a not so great street, althogh the area i live in is great, the condo i live in the street isnt very good. Theres no garage, and i would have to park it outside. I can cover it and the weather down here in southern cali is great so it never snows, but im worried about what the nieghboorhood kids or someone that has bad motives might do to it.
3. I dont even know how to change the oil on my own car.
Parking a Viper outside can depend upon where you live in a given region. In the case of Sou-Cal, there are exotics-a-plenty in some areas, and so many cars, in general, that it might not be as exclusive as in some areas, thus not garnering the type of attention that its looks suggest. Here in the Bay Area, my Viper is often seen as just another shiny red sports car. When I first got it, I only drove down rose petal covered streets on only the most perfect of days, and tried to find a spot in the living room for it next to the family dog. I later began to understand that despite all of the attention and immaculate care my car has received, I pull into the same gas stations as beat up Hondas, rusted out pickups, and minivans. My Viper shares the same pothole infested, wet tarred, gravel littered, dusty, often crowded, roads that other rubber tired vehicles compete for space on. I came to the realization that my Viper was actually designed to spend a good deal of its life outside!
I have put enough miles on my car that it is far from a garage queen, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I really enjoy the car, and drive it enough to become familiar with its ways.If you do buy one of these cars, treat it well and use it--life is short. If you wait until all conditions are just right for many of the worthwhile things in life, you will be doing a lot of waiting and not much living/ doing / accomplishing. Some ships sail over the horizon and never return. At 28 you are near the family building stage whether that is on the horizon or not. Forget a Viper during that time, unless your partner is really a-o.k. I got mine after my kids got older. At your stage in life other priorities have a habit of popping up an superseding the toys.
As for learning to drive a stick, if you have been driving for some time, it really is quite easy. Just this month, I taught both of my sons (15 and 18) to drive manual in one outing. It helps to understand what the pedal does, mechanically, and why. You need a good teacher and a day of practice. Hey, people learn it every day, and never look back.
The thing about the Viper is that it is quite unforgiving of certain mistakes i.e. too much gas, rough application of torque, and just brain farting, and forgetting to put it in neutral before getting off the clutch at a light or parking space, or even leaving it in gear and forgetting on restart. The motor has enough power near idle to put the car through something.
It really is not a beginners car, but is a finesse oriented drivers car; it is no Z , Mustang, or Vette--nor is it a Bugatti. Ideally you need an acquisition plan for the Viper where you do a benefit/risk/timing assessment as the car relates to you. If you have to park it outside and cover it in order to have the car, and enjoy it, figure out how to do it the best you can. It may serve as an impetus to get another place with an adequate garage, who knows? As for cost, sadly Vipers are some of the cheaper cars on the street relative to some of the Mercedes,Cadillacs, SUV's and basic 30k sedans out there, so it is far from irreplaceable. You, on the other hand are irreplaceable, so make your decision based upon that theme. You can afford to wait a while, get a manual sled to become shift proficient on so that you will be able to at least do a test drive. You must be able to drive it home...Remember that a high number of Vipers never make it home on the first day. Make some adequate preparations. Then go get your dream without putting the cart too far before the horse.
