Buyer Beware Of This Viper On eBay

[WPG]

I went and looked at this Viper on eBay today:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6209&item=2401129562

At first glance, this Viper looked like new. The paint was glossy and I was really impressed at it's condition. I made my way to the rear and noticed that there were specks of dirt in the paint in the rear. Upon closer inspection, I found ripples in the paint, as if too much paint had been applied, and that the white stripes were smeared in two places, appearing to me that they had been repainted on also. There was also a lot of blue overspray in the wheel wells. Additionally, it was missing one of the plastic wheel well pieces in one of the rear wheel wells.

Another thing I noticed was that the wheels on this car were massively pitted on the inside. I have been upset with the wheels on my Prowler pitting in the past, but the wheels on this Viper looked like they had corroded barnicles all over the inside.

I just wanted to post this to potential bidders on this car so they will not be surprised. I still think it is a very nice car, but if you are looking for a perfect one, this one is not it. I would definitely have this car inspected before purchasing it.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Dang, from the pictures the car looked pretty good!

 

[WPG]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Dang, from the pictures the car looked pretty good!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, that's what I thought also. When I saw that car I thought it was perfect. Until I started to see the small things that made start to look closer. When I looked at the wheels, I thought it was just brake dust on the inside. But when I rubbed my finger along the inside, it felt like 20 grit sandpaper. When I looked at the paint, I thought it looked fantastic. But then I started going over the car closely and saw that the paint, at least in the rear, had bumps in it. Then I saw the paint had a run in it and that the one stripe has some smudges in it, as if someone didnt let the paint dry before removing the tape. The overspray in the wheel wells was another dead give away that this car has had paint work done.

By posting this, I did not want to discourage anyone from actually purchasing this car. It is a really nice car, and at the right price, would be acceptable. I just strongly suggest having this car inspected before signing any paperwork. I saw the pictures in the eBay auction and thought it was too good to be true, and it was. As I am also in the market for a Viper, I would sure as hell hate to have one delivered and find out that it was not what I thought it was going to be. Plus, when I checked out the seller's feedback, I found out that apparently some others have bought cars from them to later find out that the cars had been in accidents. I asked them if the car had been in an accident and they said they ran a Carfax on it and it had no records of an accident. But like the title of this post, buyer beware.

 

[Big Medicine]

CarFax is a joke; it must be owned by a dealers' association. I KNOW I had a Vette that required $12k worth of repairs, &amp; a year later CarFax showed a clean history. I know of others as well. Realistically, it doesn't hurt to check, and maybe something will show.....I have never seen any unfavorable reports however. I wouldn't put too much faith in a clean CarFax report.

 

[Jay Herbert]

Car Fax certianly is not perfect. But it does sometimes catch a few things that can be a good place to start your search. Many states record VIN numbers at the scene of accidents, and some of these accident reports make it into Car fax..... the problem is they try to list the severity of an accident, which can be so far off it is pittiful.

I have found that once you suspect the car has been in an accident, it is almost always possible to find out the details. Start with a title search, or a friendly dealer to find out past owners of the car. With patience, you can find and talk to the owners, and eventually find out about the accident.

On a car I'm doing some reseach on, I was even able to find out the actual body shop that did the work, and dealer that did the alignment. The end result was very positive, in my case it turns out the fellow hit a mailbox, knocking some paint off the fascia. The only work done was repainting the facia, and the hood so it would match. No body work of any sort. Total bill at the body shop was $800. The Dealer Viper tech said the car aligned fine with no issues. So, in this case, and accident was really no problem.

 

[JH23JOB]

It does look nice. Good thing someone like you took the time to look it over carefully for someone else to avoid any future grief.