Are Edmunds & Kelly Blue Book reliable?

Danny Ocean

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Are the pricing estimates in Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds reliable when it comes to Viper's?

It seems their pricing is always a few thousand $$$ lower than the vehicles I'm looking at ('97 ~ '00 GTS, low mi.).

I don't want to insult a seller with a low-ball offer and I certainly don't want to pay too much, either.

???

Thanks in advance,

D. Ocean
Miami, FLA
 

TomSlick

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I use KBB as a guide, but low mile cars usually get more than blue book pricing. In general Dealers use them as a guide to gauge price. It is an average of what cars are selling for. But, for instance there is a '02 RT/10 w/1900 miles at a local dealer who is asking $68K, which I thought was high for that car, and is higher than book value, and he'll probably get it because it's a rare car. You could probably do better on e-bay than a dealer, but be careful. Check it out good before you buy, or buy from a dealer that deals in these cars. It's best if you can see what your buying, because the best pictures don't show everything, and you can't rely on the information your getting from the seller.
 

redlightrich

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i looked at them, and galves when buying mine about a 10 months ago. they were all too low. i could not touch a car for what they were saying. averaging the three, i should have paid 37k for a 3200 mile gts in excellent cond. needless to say i paid quite a bit more.
 

Hisserman

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Danny --

No, neither Kelly Blue Book nor Edmunds are reliable when it comes to Viper's. :( Check the classifieds on this Board, monitor eBay and ask members on this board for an opinion. :laugh:
 
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Danny Ocean

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Danny --

No, neither Kelly Blue Book nor Edmunds are reliable when it comes to Viper's. :( Check the classifieds on this Board, monitor eBay and ask members on this board for an opinion.

Well...when dealing with someone who is "emotionally attached" to a vehicle (e.g. diehard enthusiasts), it seems prices are always higher...same phenomenon occurs over at the Vette Forum and when shopping at local car shows.

Here's an example. Guy has been trying to sell this for awhile on E-Bay. I don't know what his reserve is, but I think his starting price would be fair. He ridiculed my offer of $42k.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4507673953&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

D. Ocean
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Bad_Byte

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Danny -- Here's an example. Guy has been trying to sell this for awhile on E-Bay. I don't know what his reserve is, but I think his starting price would be fair. He ridiculed my offer of $42k.

I have a totally stock 97 Red GTS with 15,500 miles.

I'd be willing to let it go to a VCA member for 45K - Non-Negotiable.

Outside the club, the price is 46,900.

Simply because I don't have to sell and I want what the car is worth.

Offer me 42 and I keep the Viper.

No, I don't think you should be ridiculed for making that offer.

Personally, I think being without a Viper is much worse than being ridiculed.
 
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Danny Ocean

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Simply because I don't have to sell and I want what the car is worth.

A car (or house, or diamond, or horse) is worth the price someone offers. Without an offer, "worth" is, err...worthless.

I offered the guy $42k, assuming he'd counter with $45k. His starting price is $44.5k and I'm assuming his reserve is $4k ~ $5k above that based on his other auctions (seller's other cars were all purchased recently from E-Bay and he's trying to "flip" them...I'd love to make $5k for just a quick detail job).

Personally, I'd rather pay a fair price than be ridiculed anyday.

D. Ocean
Miami, FLA
 

Tiepilot

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Simply because I don't have to sell and I want what the car is worth.

A car (or house, or diamond, or horse) is worth the price someone offers. Without an offer, "worth" is, err...worthless.

I offered the guy $42k, assuming he'd counter with $45k. His starting price is $44.5k and I'm assuming his reserve is $4k ~ $5k above that based on his other auctions (seller's other cars were all purchased recently from E-Bay and he's trying to "flip" them...I'd love to make $5k for just a quick detail job).

Personally, I'd rather pay a fair price than be ridiculed anyday.

D. Ocean

I agree with you completely, notice all of the bids he has with only nine hours to go. :D
Miami, FLA
 

twinvipers

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redlightrich
Galves is a dealer wholesale book that no one else should use as a guide. You would almost never buy a car looking there.
 

TomSlick

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That's not a bad offer, so the guy just really doesn't want to sell that bad. Somebody else will and it's a good time to buy right now. I bought a '98 GTS this year for $41K.
 

Brian 95 RT

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Blue book value brings up a good point in regards to insurance on a Viper: if my car is wrecked or stolen, will my insurance company reimburse me enough to replace my Viper with a similar one? If what everyone says about blue book is true, I'd say the answer is "No". Do the regular insurance companies (AAA, State Farm, Allstate, etc.) allow you to have a stated value policy on your Viper?
 

tarfungo

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It’s my considered opinion that for low mileage vehicles, Edmunds and KBB are useful only as a very loose guide. You’ll notice that with an older vehicle with low miles you can put in much higher mileage in the pricing calculators and still get the same price as low miles. Of course, it depends if you are a seller or buyer and if the numbers these vehicle-pricing solutions offer are in your favor or not. For me, low miles are not necessarily a good thing as a car that sits a lot can still deteriorate. On the other hand, low mileage vehicles are usually in better than average shape. Either way, low miles and condition are factors for what a car is worth.

For example, I recently sold a near mint condition 1992 Mits 3000GT VR4 with less than 17k miles on it. Bluebook was around 10k. After researching what these vehicles were selling for around my area, which was around 10k, I decided to list my car for sale at $18,000 obo just to see if I could get someone to bite. Silly price I know, but I figured that if someone were really into these cars they would have to appreciate what I was selling. In the case of this vehicle, the bluebook value didn’t decrease until I put in over 50k miles or so into the pricing calculators.

There was a lot of interest, mostly from guys calling to see if the car really was in perfect condition and with only 17k miles. Then I would get, “You know bluebook is only 10k?” I would retort by saying, “Great, when you find a mint condition 92 VR4 with 17k miles, buy it!” Anyway, I didn’t get 18k, but I did get $16,500 from an avid VR4 nut that exclaimed that my car was the cleanest VR4 he had ever seen.

The point here is; if you have something that can’t be easily found else where, you can probably command better pricing than bluebooks – this would include Vipers for the most part as there are not many in numbers. On the other hand, there seems to be a lot of Vipers for sale on Ebay, Viper web sites and so on. It depends on what buyers at the time you are selling are looking for.

When I bought the VR4 above, I paid more than bluebook - as I did for my Viper. For both of these cars, I paid the seller what it was worth to ME. Of course, I don’t want to be ripped off, but also I’m NOT necessarily thinking about what I’ll be able to sell the car for in a few years. I want the car to enjoy NOW. That’s what I’m paying for. My daily driver is a 93 Honda Accord. It had 21k miles on it when I purchased it a year ago. I got it for $4600 – perfect running and above average cosmetic condition - only needed to replace the original tires. $4600 is below bluebook – and I did get a good deal - but Hondas are a dime a dozen.
 

Toby

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Viper prices are all over the place these days.

You can't put your finger on pricing anymore because gen one and two Vipers are not generally equally comparable anymore because of various types of use and age.

You just have to go with your gut and tell yourself what you are willing to pay for the type of Viper you are considering.


Common sense and lots of research will steer you in the right direction.

Your best bet is to find a trusted Viper owner who others in the community know and go from there. Buying from a dealer can be tricky as generally you will pay more from a trusted dealer or take the chance of buying a real piece of junk from a scam artist type of operation.

Have fun...the purchase process can be exciting and taking delivery is only a few steps below loosing your virginity. :eek: :laugh:
 

RPHJR

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All blue books are WAY too low on Viper Values. I could not touch my 2001 GTS for Blue book...simple supply/demand. The GTS cars are still in demand. And there are not a ton of them out there.

However, the EXACT opposite is true for other cars.. When I bought my 2001 GTS, I needed to sell a 2002 Z06... I ended up selling it for $2,000 LESS than galves... Just because the market was flodded with used corvettes...
 

RPHJR

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All blue books are WAY too low on Viper Values. I could not touch my 2001 GTS for Blue book...simple supply/demand. The GTS cars are still in demand. And there are not a ton of them out there.

However, the EXACT opposite is true for other cars.. When I bought my 2001 GTS, I needed to sell a 2002 Z06... I ended up selling it for $2,000 LESS than galves... Just because the market was flodded with used corvettes...
 

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