Buying a GTS, but which to buy?

[FXRcR1]

Hello All,

Apologies in advance for the long post!

I am a huge Viper fan especially obsessed with the 2nd Gen. GTS. I don't think I'm alone in believing it's one of the best American sports cars ever built and it was a timeless classic from the beginning. I've always felt the GTS would be a car that appreciates in the long run which leads me to this thread.

I'm not one of those people that wants to buy cars for investment sake, if I can't drive it and enjoy it, I don't want it. However, if I can own a car and minimize my losses on it by being strategic about it's use, then I'm all for that. So here's my situation:

- I'm in the market for a 96-97 GTS Blue/White. It doesn't absolutely have to be a B/W car or even 96-97, just so long as it's pre-2000 to keep the forged internals and better cam. Yet, B/W is strongly preferred which takes me back to 96-97.

- I live in NYC so I have literally zero use for this car, and even worse nowhere to put it. I've hit the point in my life where I need to start scratching some of these itches so I'm buying one anyways haha.

- My parents have a lot of extra garage space in rural Kansas and I like to take advantage of that. I will be putting the car with them and I will drive it approx. 3 times/year when I visit them at their house. My dad will also drive it sparingly to keep the tires from flattening etc. In total, it will be driven less than 1,000 miles/year.

- There are a few mods that I feel are absolutely essential to really bring the car up to the level I want it at. Smooth tubes, hi-flow cats, cat-back exhaust, short shifter, and possibly headers & brakes if I really want to get crazy.

Taking into account the minimal amount I'm going to drive the car, but simultaneously the fact that I will not be leaving it stock, what should I do?

A) buy a super low mileage car [like under 10k mi.] and try to keep the mileage low

or

B) buy a regular low mileage car (for it's age) [like 40k mi.] and drive it as much as I want/can which still wouldn't amount to much.

I'm asking in effect, do the mods really decrease the future sales value and how many miles/year is too many to diminish collector value? Even if I put 1,000/year on option B, that would be significantly less than what the previous owners have managed to date.

Thanks in advance for any opinions!

 

[charlesj]

Since you don't plan on driving it much at all, it would seem to make more sense to go with option A. I can't imagine only driving a car 3 times/year. Now that I finally got mine back on the road, I drive it every chance I get. Once you are bitten, it is addictive. Here's another idea... Option C. Find yourself a garage closer to you (maybe Jersey) so you can drive her more often.

 

[FXRcR1]

Believe me I've thought about it! The problem is the roads in NJ anywhere near me are all terrible and over-crowded. I need the car somewhere I can use it to some degree without destroying it on *** holes and cesspool trucks. Driving to a nicer part of NJ would take me a couple hours at least by the time you factor going to rent another car, traffic, the miles, etc. At that point it wouldn't be something I would frequently take advantage of because it's such a pain.

Option A is attractive but I worry that 1,000/year would be too much and I also worry the mods would make it less desirable down the road.

 

[Paul Hawker]

Financially you might be best off buying a relatively low mileage B/W and putting just enough miles on it to keep it drivable.
Option 2 is to buy a higher mileage other than B/W and not worrying at all about how many miles you put on it.

Best financial option is to just rent a high performance vehicle when you want and where you want. No upkeep issues and you get to drive a different high performance vehicle every time.

There are concerns about storing a car for most of the year, and driving it hard every time you take it out. Tires get hard, suspensions get less subtle, fuel goes bad, batteries get weak, brake fluid absorbs water etc.

Cars get significantly less fun, if you need to worry about putting miles on them

 

[FXRcR1]

I might have to disagree about the rental aspect, at least here in NY. I rented an LP560 Spyder last year and it was $1,500 for 24 hours w/ a 100 mile cap if I remember correctly. All in all when compared to actually owning the car with maintenance, insurance, depreciation etc. it might be close, but at least when you own the car you get the thrill of seeing it in the garage or knowing you own it. If you're renting periodically you get none of the head aches but none of the real pro's either.

To each their own I guess.

 

[Sybil TF]

Look at a b/w , then look at other colors. You will want the b/w...

 

[denniskgb]

So what did your mom and dad say?

 

[FXRcR1]

So what did your mom and dad say?

What do you mean? They have extra space so they don't care.

 

[Free2go]

I am a huge Viper fan. I've hit the point in my life where I need to start scratching some of these itches so I'm buying one anyways haha. - My parents have a lot of extra garage space in rural Kansas and I like to take advantage of that. I will be putting the car with them and I will drive it approx. 3 times/year when I visit them at their house. My dad will also drive it sparingly to keep the tires from flattening etc. In total, it will be driven less than 1,000 miles/year!

Do exactly what you said above. Mod it, enjoy it, you won't lose money. Just pull the trigger and do it...you could die tomorrow. Plus you got an ole man that can take care of it and enjoy it too. He could die any minute.

 

[Camfab]

I suggest looking at a bunch of different cars and pick the one you love the most. They all have their own attributes and quirks. Just make sure you have the car you want checked out by a Viper tech. Call the Viper Wizard, Chuck Tator, somewhere in your neck of the woods. You won't find better advice or service in the East coast.

 

[Gerald Levin]

Go with the Blue/white up to 40k mi. You will have a very small $ decrease potential compared to the huge excitement potential you will experience. My previous viper was a 96 b/w and I had it for 5 years. Sorry I ever parted with it and my next car will be the same. There is no other Gen 2 as nice and probably one of the nicest vipers ever made. Good luck with your b/w.
Gerald

 

[FXRcR1]

Thanks for all the advise guys. Still can't make up my mind but I'm probably leaning towards a 40k mile car where I won't be so worried about every extra mile. Assuming I buy the car somewhere a decent ways away from Kansas (which it almost certainly will be), if it was a really low mile car I wouldn't even want to drive the 1,000+ miles to my parents garage so I would ship it. If it was a 40k mile car I probably would drive it myself, which is certainly more exciting and kind of the whole point I guess.

I can't remember what forum I used to be a member of and under what user name, but I do remember reading endless threads about Tator being the man more than 10 years ago. Glad to hear he's still kicking around!

 

[ViperJohn]

Not sure you can go wrong with either option. Since you know color you want, Narrow your search to 96/97 and then determine what car out there provides the best value for you.

Good luck.

 

[Slamstadam]

I'm in a similar situation. Shopping right now. I want the right car and limited depreciation. I'm also looking for light mods like your wish list.

Facts:
1)
The "low mileage" cars are being offered at premium prices. In some cases they appear unrealistic as in $49K,$59K even $69K, this does not represent a good "investment" as the cars are only now leveling out, they are not really appreciating. (noted: these are typically cars with less than 15K miles) and there is really no logic in the pricing except that they are feeding on the prices of each others ads and looking for "that one buyer" they see on fake reality shows. At $59 or 69K you really need to have a hole in your museum that needs to be filled because you are bumping up against low mile '06 or '08 coupes with significant driving benefits over the gen2.

2) To me it makes no sense to own a "modified low mileage" car those two concepts fight each other as value is concerned to a collector.

I have settled with this decision- I am going to find an already modified GTS with 10,000 to 40,000 miles. As I talk to sellers I will find the mods I want, and then get the lowest mileage car that is ready to go. The mods you suggest at full retail will quickly add $10,000 to your investment which you would most likely never recoup. So I'll pay a little extra for the mods I want or I'll pay a little extra for low miles, but I won't do both.

 

[troublemaker]

If you want a low mileage car for reasons of future value, then fine. But buying a Viper with 60-70,000 miles really isn't much for these cars. You basically have a low strung truck based motor that really needs very little maintenance, no more than a daily driver. These things are pretty overbuilt from the factory and upkeep is cheap. I'm not telling you how to spend your money, I'm just suggesting to not rule out a higher mileage, well taken care of car. I would rather have a 50,000 mile 20 year old car than a 5000 miler if I was planning to drive it.

 

[Sybil TF]

I bought a 96 GTS with 29,000 miles and $14,000 in mods for $35,000. He wanted $39,000 lol