Any one know this Viper in Houston, TX?

[DarcShadow]

http://secure.texasdirectauto.com/cis/getlisting.aspx?vin=1B3ER69E21V703120

A buddy of mine is looking hard at this one and I told him I'd post up on here and see if any of you knew this car and could offer up any info on it.

He'd also like to know a good Mechanic down in Houston that could give the car a good once over for him. Seeing how he is in Fort Worth and the car is in Houston he doesn't want to make the treck down only to find something wrong that the seller is not telling him about.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[eucharistos]

pretty sure i've seen the car here or on the alley, someone should chime in

no header heat shields

side pipes w/o good pic of rear bumper hole or no hole

...

dealer details:
18 Inch Wheels
Transmission: Manual
Cylinders: 4
Drivetrain: 2WD

 

[SkyBob]

The dealer details also say it has a bucket rear seat. And I don't see evidence of a racing harness they say it has.

Bob

 

[NHL2133]

Does anyone else see the color difference in the area I circled, or are my eyes just playing tricks on me?

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[SkyBob]

Does anyone else see the color difference in the area I circled, or are my eyes just playing tricks on me?

I would have to guess your eyes are playing tricks on you. The bloom of the flash is in the circle and without a really excellent digital camera you don't know what the camera adds to the photo.

Bob

 

[ryan94rt10]

wasn't that car for sale on ebay a few years back??

 

[BlackSnake99]

valve covers have been repainted. Looks kind of rattle-can in the pic.

 

[plumcrazy]

heat shields are missing from exhaust too.

 

[OVERBOOST]

http://secure.texasdirectauto.com/cis/getlisting.aspx?vin=1B3ER69E21V703120

A buddy of mine is looking hard at this one and I told him I'd post up on here and see if any of you knew this car and could offer up any info on it.

He'd also like to know a good Mechanic down in Houston that could give the car a good once over for him. Seeing how he is in Fort Worth and the car is in Houston he doesn't want to make the treck down only to find something wrong that the seller is not telling him about.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

You should tell your buddy to take a look at this one. Might even be able to deliver it.

97' GTS Paxton S/C - ViperClub Classifieds

 

[DarcShadow]

Thanks for the comments I'll pass them along. He said he was going to register on here today so he might post up himself.

I've already sent him the link to the 97 GTS Paxton S/C. It didn't grab him like the Blue Saphire did and he's really looking for a 2001 or newer. He likes the Gen II GTSs but also would like to have ABS.

 

[Sneaky C]

Make sure he calls ahead before he makes the trip to see it. They are a by appointment only dealer.

 

[ACR2000GTS]

I actually bought a 2000 ACR from these guys. After two months of cleaning, a new set of tires, and some other small things the car was finally up to par. The car was a mess when it shipped, barely clean, rear tire had a nail in it. Company was quick to make the sell but when I mentioned how dirty the car was and the issue with the rear tire I never recieved a reply. I would not buy another car from these guys.

 

[LifeIsGood]

It's hard to tell much about the exterior paint from those shoddy pictures...they need to be taken outside and without all the reflections. As has been stated...sidepipe conversion has been done and the rear picture leads me to believe that the exhaust exit hole is still in the rear. It appears that they used a gallon of ArmorAll (or it's equivalent) on the interior, it's spattered all over...steering wheel, stereo surround. The driver seat is showing wear. The interior sill covers have wear or are dirty. The outside of the passenger seat has scratches or maybe the picture is just bad. As already stated...the heat shields are missing from the headers, the valve covers have been very poorly repainted, some of the spark plug looms are missing and the windshield cowl looks like it has a little damage on the driver's side. The engine compartment looks a lot older than 12K miles.

Tell your buddy...good luck with this one...I hope it's a steal!

 

[DarcShadow]

Is there a reason for pulling and leaving the heat shields off the headers?

 

[ViperLSS]

Did no one else notice that the Viper badge is missing from the front fascia? Why is it not there?

 

[Tiago]

be careful buying from these guys, some of their cars have been damaged and repaired... just make sure to have it cheked out thoroughly.

 

[white out]

That car needs a lot of paint correction.

Nick

 

[DarcShadow]

Well, he flew down prepaired to buy it but after seeing it first hand he decided against it. The car appeared to of been tracked pretty hard and didn't have any mufflers on it. I didn't get a full report yet from my buddy but I got the impression from his email that there were several little things with that he wasn't happy with in addition to all that you guys pointed out.

Thanks for your observations and help. He's back on the hunt for another one.

 

[BlackSnake99]

I think he made the right decision.

 

[Bird325]

I REALLY want to thank you guys for all your input. As DarcShadow said, the car had been on the track ... a LOT. The dealer that looked at it (NW Dodge in Houston) did a really poor job of checking it out. Even told me that the car showed no evidence of being on the track (even *I* could tell that wasn't the case!) ... they also told me that the valve covers were SUPPOSED to be all red like that. I didn't even drive it after flying down there and seeing the shape it was in. The sales person (Phil) was very honest with me as we took it out with him behind the wheel. I appreciate his honesty and would recommend going by there just to look at all the cool cars when you're in Houston ... it's a very unusual used car dealer.

A quick summary on what I found. The rear tires had heavy balling, even on the edges of the tread (hard cornering, usually track inspired). Paint chips all the way down the side on the lower part of the body (usually due to hard cornering with other cars in front of you). Air dam on the front had met up with a BUNCH of parking humps ... they didn't even TRY to hide that. Hood was a bit whacky ...not quite square. Driver door sagging about 3/4 inch. Interior nice, but not anywhere near perfect. Shocks were shot! DS mentioned the side pipes ... they were straight pipes with no mufflers at all. It was so loud that one of the customers commented that it sounded like a tractor when it pulled up...impossible to even hear a loud conversation when at anything above a fast idle on the road. Shifter didn't move smoothly through the gates. Overhead storage netting was stretched so far out that it needed to be replaced. Still had an amplifier in the back (probably didn't work), but the speakers had been cut out and wires left exposed.

Overall, not my idea of a good first Viper! Might make someone a nice track car for 10K less money, but otherwise, don't bother with a trip down there.

Again, thanks for the input. We're still looking for a Gen II GTS that has been lovingly cared for. A track day every now and then is fine as long as the owner still loved the car enough to take care of it. If you run across one, let me or DarcShadow know.

 

[Bird325]

Well, since the one in Houston didn't work out, we're looking further to find the perfect GTS. I'm posting up a new link to get your input on one in Nebraska.