Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?

[93vette]

Naples Motorsports is listing a 1996 GTS (as "incoming inventory") with 1,800 miles. Could you provide some feedback on what may need to be replaced on this car (or any with this low of mileage) like gaskets, etc and perhaps a ballpark figure to get her up and running leak-free (if even necessary). Thank you for your ideas and any other tid bits of advice on very low mileage cars. Take care. Tim.

 

[STUGOTS]

1800 miles, the only problem you should have is gas (with the prices going up).

and BTW my dad bought a (dont bite my head off guys) z06 from them and they are very good people, he was really impressed and the car came the EXACT way they said.

Good luck

 

[FE 065]

Re: Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?

A Michelin rep gave our club a tire tech talk in April. There was something said about tires getting hard(er) with age.

The tires on that '96 are 8 years old now. Even if they do only have 1800 miles, you might want to change them.

I think he mentioned 10yr old tires as a definite no-no. You're right in that ballpark at 8 yrs old.

 

[txlen]

Re: Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?

if you can give me the VIN i'll run it for you and see if it's had anything done on it...or if there's any recalls on it...Len

 

[Tomer]

Re: Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?

Do a search here, there have been several posts about "small" problems with the 96, some leaks/gaskets, something to do with the window guides?

I echo the tire thing, if they have originals on them, get rid of them asap!

Good Luck
Tomer

 

[93vette]

Re: Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?

STUGOTS-I am glad to hear about the good experience you and your father had there.
Len-I don't have the VIN yet, but it should be online soon once they post pics of the car. Thank you for the offer, I will let you know if they get the car online soon.

Thanks for the feedback gents, I am so new at this I didn't even think of tires . Another dumb question, can you tell if the tires are old/originals just from appearance, cracks, etc?
I am trying to decide b/t 96/97 blue and white stripes or a 98/99 silver with no stripes. I know both cars will catch WAY more attention than my little 'Vette, but I was still "ticket-prone" in the Chevy; therefore, I may go with the silver no stripes to MAYBE catch a little less attention from Jonny Law . Anyways, I still have plenty of time to decide...

 

[Gerald Levin]

Re: Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?

"Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?"
Yeah, buying it for anything less than $50K will be your major concern. My 4500 mi 96 has given me NO problems and is worth the same today as it was over a year ago. These low mi cars are being bought daily and eventually will get harder and harder to find. Care to share the price on the car?

 

[Gerald Levin]

Re: Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?

Oops, I just saw that this is offered by Naples Motorsports. Scratch what I said before. Your major concern is buying this for anything less than $55k. Good luck and share the price if you can.

 

[93vette]

Re: Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?

They are listing it for $58,995.

 

[Hypntzd]

I bought a car from their other location in Boston. Two well known Viper techs in NY checked it out and were very impressed. You will pay more but you get what you pay for. And those cheap Vipers on ebay, I looked at them for 2 yrs and most of them there was a reason why they were priced so cheap.

 

[IEATVETS]

I would change all of the fluids as well. Low mileage car that is for sure, but $59,000 sounds pretty steep to me for a 96 GTS. For that price I would ask for a 4 year warranty, shipping in an enclosed trailer and 7 days 6 nights in Maui!

 

[Gavin]

you should email me - I will email bakc my phone number
I will walk you through every issue with that car
OR
Do a search on this board - couple months ago I posted a detail report on 96 GTS's and what to look for.
Its quite a long list.
Gavin

 

[93vette]

Gavin, I just finished reading a lot of your old posts. Wow, it took a few minutes to say the least. Thanks for all the great advice, it was well worth it.

 

[DodgeViper01]

You could possibly experience engine problems since the car has not really been driven. Personally I try to stay away from low mileage cars that are years old because they are mostly garage queens that give you more problems that good.

 

[95Viper]

Change brake, diff, trans, oil, antifreeze power steering, clutch fluids.

 

[SJT97GTS]

Naples is a good place, but they're VERY expensive. IMO, the Viper prices they ask for are 2 years old.

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

It's a very reasonable price for a perfect,low mileage car. Will you have any significant problems because of the low mileage....No Way. Is it worth the price....Yes, absolutely, if you want a low mileage brand new car.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Re: Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?

Another dumb question, can you tell if the tires are old/originals just from appearance, cracks, etc?

Look for MXX on the sidewall. They were great tires when they came out but they haven't been made for several years now.

 

[joe117]

Re: Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?

I won't argue one way or the other about the $58k price but you must think about what the car will be worth if you drive it another 5k miles.

Right now it is a very low miles car. A year of normal driving will not change the condition of the car but it will add enough miles to make the car, just another 96 Viper.

The value could drop quite a bit.

If you bought a late model Viper with your $59k, you would not take such a big hit for driving the car and adding miles.

 

[1996VIPERGTS]

Re: Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?

I have a 96 GTS with only 885 miles that I am thinking about selling soon. I have been debating about selling the car for some time now, I don't want to, but I will need the extra money soon to put towards a house. I will be asking $59,999 firm. If your interested in the car let me know.

 

[DodgeViper01]

Re: Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?

Wow. How can you only drive it 885 miles? The temptation is just to great for me. Everytime I have free time I either glace quickly at the car or drive it to do my necessary duties. That is sheer will power you have. CONGRATS!

 

[GTS234]

I purchased my '96 in Nov. 2002 with 1800 miles. It turned to 2700 miles last Thursday. I have not had a moments trouble in the year and a half that I've had it. None. Not even a hint. Super nice car. Gave $54K for it. Don't regret buying it one bit. On the car you're looking at, the $50k to $55K range would be good for you to bargain towards if possible.

Look for paint work, body panel fitment, leaks, wear on the drivers seat, etc. ,etc., etc. Check the documentation with the car. Try to contact the previous owner/owners. All the usual stuff.

Also, in talking to Jon B. from Parts Rack one time, he mentioned that cars in the first hundred or so of production had a few more problems than cars produced on out in the production run. Check that VIN number. Last three digits tell you what car number it was (see my user name and picture). It doesn't tell you exactly what car it was in the production process because, due to logistic considerations, some were acutally produced out of sequence (if 100, 105 & 110 were going to the west coast and the delivery truck was scheduled for next week, they might finish them and then get back to 101, 102, 103 etc. after those west coast cars were gone). But you can still get an idea how early or late the car was produced by the last three digits.

Good luck, they are good cars!

Robert

 

[1996VIPERGTS]

Re: Any concerns with a 96 having 1,800 miles?

It does take alot of will power. The car is covered and kept in a climate controlled storage year round, a couple miles away from my house so that makes it easier. I also have a few old Corvette's taking up all the room in my garage and most of my spare time, which I am trying to finish up. Having other automotive toys to play with keeps my mind occupied and makes it easier.

By the way the car is a late '96 model year car, ending VIN #960.