Car and Driver Piles on the C7 vs Viper Bandwagon

[Viper Grenade]

I walked from buying a gen5 and picked up a gen4 then sent my Gen2 to be TT'd. With the ****ty treatment I got at the dealers and with how soft the Gen5 is, it would take a hell of a lot to get me to buy a gen5.

I'm thinking a ZO7 is in my future at this point.

 

[theviper]

Before questioning the owner of a Gen V on his sources of data, how about you spill it on where you seem to get your information on those problem cars?

Over 6,000 miles on mine, no issues to report. No dealership visits. I won't freak out if anything does occur, being a first year model.

Directly from owners and dealers. Great you haven't had a problem. But you don't represent the entire Gen V ownership. Although, based on the sales figures, one owner is pretty darn close to the entire sales figures (just joking)!

 

[theviper]

Calculating from this site, we only have had 1 lemon Gen V posted. So, 1/436 sold = 0.2% of actual Gen V owners are unhappy with their purchase.

Horrible!

But, about 99.8% of non-owners seem to enjoy bashing on the Gen V, and making up statistics about them.

I know of at least 2 buy backs and 1 engine rebuild. I know of multiple fit/finish issues. So I know directly know about 10-15 Gen V's out there and 6 had issues. That puts us hovering around 50%. I doubt I magically know of all the 6 that have issues. Even if I did, that puts us at 1.3%. So perhaps my 5% guesstimate was wrong...perhaps it is 50%?

 

[theviper]

Ill give the preceding poster that his point is valid. Preceding poster, time will tell what the real number is. But you have to admit that with so few Vipers out there and hearing quite a few stories, both minor and major, you just have to be concerned as a Viper lover. That is the direction my post was coming from, however eroneous the number is. You can argue over that number and detract from the serious factual issues being pointed to but those issues will still remain.

If say, 450 Vipers were sold, all you would need is 4.5 of them troubled to be 1%, 9 to be 2% and 22.5 to be 5% etc I'm sure you know the numbers. So where will the real number fall? We will see. But no question there are some serious QC and factory/dealer support problems. What happened to KB should never have happened, especially as high profile as his case is. Its all around the internet. It seems SRT doesnt care about its reputation on the world stage much less care about a customer. Thats the feeling it gives off.

BTW if im bashing anything its SRT's mismannagement not the G5 per se.

Exactly my point. As a Viper lover, I cringe at everything that is taking place. Horrendous marketing, poor QC, and, as it turns out, a car that needed to be a little bit more for a little bit less.

 

[slysnake]

Present plans call for some 30,000 C7s to be built each year

That's one reason why I own a Viper.

From the comments:

Chevy sent my wife and I an invite to their Corvette Precision Drive. Classroom instruction on racetrack and handling technique, followed by laps and a slalom course at Monticello Race Track in Upstate NY. Each person chose their own C7 Corvette to drive. Plenty of sticks and autos to choose from. Car was also there in every paint color, and equipped with the Z51 handling package. In total, it was a 6 hour event with catered lunch, FREE!

Now that is pretty impressive!

 

[ViperSmith]

The SRT track experience is a bit of a wash too. All the ones near me were booked by the time I finally got my car.

Again, not to be snotty, but why weren't Viper owners held slots? Why aren't there Vipers at the SRT experience to drive?

Come on SRT.

 

[theviper]

The SRT track experience is a bit of a wash too. All the ones near me were booked by the time I finally got my car.

Again, not to be snotty, but why weren't Viper owners held slots? Why aren't there Vipers at the SRT experience to drive?

Come on SRT.

You are correct...SRT marketing failure again. They simply don't know how to cater to people making over $100K/year (which is not a lot). Never have and at this rate, never will.

 

[past ohio]

Did I hear that several people have had fit/finish issues ? What is going on at CAAP ? The line moves slow enough PLUS the employees should point out any issues, then put them over in the corral and fix...when I go to CAAP, there is enough time of people standing around or sitting at the picnic tables, this to me is embarrassing....the car is a hand build compared to the Corvette line, also where are these VIPER DEALERS, how would they let them go out the door ??