A few nifty blue/white GTS pictures...

[Y2K5SRT]

One of our local guys has a 1997 GTS that he picked up on MSO less than a year ago. After a lot of thought, he decided he is going to sell it. He asked if I could come by and take some pictures of it prior to putting it on eBay. Wow, what a beautiful car! Hope you like the pics...

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[GTSPOWERED]

It does not get any better that that!

 

[Andrew2KRT10]

Has it been driven ?

AC

 

[01sapphireGTS]

WOW, unreal condition. SUPER COOL ! !

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

What price is he asking?

 

[GTSPOWERED]

It is on Ebay the buy it now is $85k

 

[TomSlick]

I looked at that car on the showroom floor at Kile Dodge in '98. I ended up buying a new '96 from another dealer that wanted to sell theirs worse than the owner at Kile. I believe he was asking full sticker. I never thought it would of still been there in '03. I hope your friend gets his asking price, but somebody will have to really want that car to buy it. It does kinda take you back in time, but I've found that it's not the same the second time around. It DOES make you appriciate the "good ole days" more. Great Ad though. It sounds like you wrote it up for him.

 

[ViperJoe]

It is on Ebay the buy it now is $85k

ROTFLOL!!!

Thanks, needed some humor to start my day!

Heck I've seen cars with FIVE THOUSAND miles on them that don't have ANY scratches and scrapes like that one has!

 

[Hisserman]

He'd have to clean it up before I would bid!

 

[Achilles99]

I guess the $85k BUY IT NOW price is supposed to be a psychological ploy to anchor our thoughts into thinking the car is a steal at $50k

 

[Topawam]

I don't get it !!! The car has 410 miles, I supposed a collector item, and it is not full stock... I thought the mods guys were the one to drive the car...
My 0.02...

 

[Toby]

85k?

Now that's funny.

Great pics though.

 

[LIVIPER]

Awesome car. Absolutely a 'destine to be collector car"! But $85K seems high even for a super clean low mile b/w.

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Thanks for the comments on the pictures and glad you liked them. As far as the Buy It Now price (and the auction in general), realize that it only takes ONE buyer. Do I think that $85K is high? Probably. But also realize that some folks have too much money and would jump all over an original blue/white GTS that is still under the original factory bumper-to-bumper warranty - for two more years. The Buy It Now price idea is to create a perceived value, much like an earlier post mentioned - albeit sarcastically. Is the reserve that high? Of course not.

The thought is simply this: With so many Viper owners complaining about the lack of a new Coupe, wouldn't somebody possibly be interested in acquiring one of the most popular colors EVER and have the original warranty intact? I don't know of any other blue/white GTS that have it. I don't care if they have 5000 or 5 miles, they don't have a factory warranty and it is a crap shoot - especially with a car that hasn't been driven. Much as I love the SRT, spending $70K+ for one or being able to acquire what most consider the ultimate Viper (color and model) with a full warranty and almost no miles sounds pretty damn good at that price.

Two other things: The mods and the scrape. Personally I would return the car to 100% stock and sell the mods elsewhere. Hell, there were only three: Tubes, filters, and rear exhaust. He kept the orginal stuff safe and sound, of course. While I expect it to sell (already had a few e-mails), I wouldn't be surprised if it is returned to stock with more pictures added to the auction. As for the scrape, I suspect that it was at the dealership and was never fixed. He doesn't drive the car and has already had a couple other Vipers and knows the limit. The question is whether it would help or hurt the value to repaint the fascia. Mind you, most of that can be buffed out, but obviously a couple scratches need to be painted. He has apparently opted to leave it as is.

Again, thanks for the notes and glad the pictures were well received. I only wish it were my car!

 

[Both Stacks Blowin']

Interesting point for all to consider.

Has the car had the 998 recall work carried out?

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Interesting point for all to consider.

Has the car had the 998 recall work carried out?

Good question! I ran the VIN through the DC recall database and it came back with: "No Incomplete Recalls or Customer Satisfaction Notifications Exist" for this car specifically. Looks like it was all done! Oh yeah, and the link (which is great) is as follows:

http://www.dodge.com/webselfservice/dodge/index.jsp?screenName=recall&country=us&emailUrl=goToEmailForm%28%27R%27%29

Use it for any Dodge and it comes back with any incomplete recalls for the VIN specified. Nice!

 

[venomblue550]

if the car has 410 miles...how did the rubbing marks on BOTH of leather seats...scratches and scrapes front bumper..and is that exhaust stock?? i like those tips...

 

[Y2K5SRT]

if the car has 410 miles...how did the rubbing marks on BOTH of leather seats...scratches and scrapes front bumper..and is that exhaust stock?? i like those tips...

The original selling dealer actually explained these when he sold it: The car sat in his showroom (and in other parts of the dealership) for some six years. Being a good 'ol boy without a pretentious bone in his body, he let folks "try on" the Viper for size and take pictures in it, thus the seat scuffs. The couple hundred miles the dealer put on were all by the owner for parades, etc. (did one of those myself today - pics in the Gen III forum shortly). Apparently he has a pretty steep drive and picked up the scrape(s) in the process.

Based on the posts here, he is having a professional detailer come by and see what they can do on the fascia without paint work, as well as look at the seats. I personally think just about all of it will turn out very nicely - it just should have been done earlier. He also had EVERYTHING returned to stock today:

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In answer to VenomBlue's question, the pipes are Snake Oyl which they custom made with Porsche tips ($900 worth). Those are now packed away and no longer on the car. Ditto the smooth tubes and filters. Realize he bought the car to drive it and then just couldn't bring himself to do it even after these minimal bolt-ons. Knowing it deserves a home with someone that is more apt to appreciate it, he decided to sell. He has a modded RT/10 (very) which he drives all the time. They look good together!

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[TomSlick]

When I looked at buying the car in '98, it was so dusty that I can see why he never sold it. Plus he didn't want to sell it real bad, because it sat there so long. But a Dodge dealer scraping the front? He should of known better. That'll make a nice keeper for someone.

 

[TomSlick]

Anybody know if this car sold? Didn't watch it on E-bay. What was the high bid if it didn't sell?

 

[Bad_Byte]

Anybody know if this car sold? Didn't watch it on E-bay. What was the high bid if it didn't sell?

Nope it didn't sell. 57,269.69 was the final bid but didn't break the reserve price.

 

[Sonny 00 GTS ACR]

Beautiful car, but enough polishing!

Racing is not for everybody, but there is nothing to compare with the experience of feeling what the Viper is capable of. Check out Viperdays!

 

[Tom Sessions]

This car has had the frame recall performed on it.I went to KC and took care of it for him before the Viper Days event at Mid America last May.

 

[VIPER52USA]

Hopefully in 5 years (when I have the cash to buy this) there will be one in this good of condition. This is my EXACT dream Viper. Wow, look at her shine!

 

[AlbertFattal]

WOW

 

[FrankBarba]

a few emails were thrown my way on a trade, but nothing ever materialized. maybe he will contact me again.

 

[dennis]

Woah...

How wide are those front tyres?

 

[Y2K5SRT]

The car is not sold yet, however some interesting things have taken place since then:

1. He had the scratches on the lower fascia professionally buffed out and the results were awesome:

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2. Several people are talking with him about buying it, however he believes that he may be able to get a little more from the car and may relist it on eBay.

3. The reason he now believes he may be able to get more from it is based on what he was told by one of the potential buyers: The car is the LAST blue/white GTS ever made.

Now is that true? We honestly don't know but are diligently researching it through DC and several others. The date makes sense (MSO of 12/01/97) and it is definitely one of the very last built if it isn't actually the last one. Note that I didn't "hype" that potential fact here nor was it added to the auction as we want to make sure this car is entirely fact-based. Once that fact is verified (or discounted), then expect it to be relisted with a different reserve and/or be sold in short order...

 

[Sonny 00 GTS ACR]

Those are 335 Hoosiers all around Dennis.

 

[dennis]

Those are 335 Hoosiers all around Dennis.

Thanks for the info. Looks beast.