Hello again all.
As all you forum veterans well know by now, for quite some time I have been in search of a nice (read: cheap running) Viper to inhabit my driveway. I have very limited financial resources and I have burned my patience thin during this search, but I have finally limited myself to three viable choices. Since I'm playing a gamble on this anyway with a less than 50/50 chance of getting anything, I figured it couldn't hurt to get some off the hip opinions on which direction I should take. All three of these cars fit my criteria of being 1) Cheap, 2) well running, 3) Owned by people I trust. (Since all three belong to people who frequent the board I ask those them to refrain from identifying themselves to help keep responses unbiased.) Yes I realize the true locals here will recognize these cars in a heartbeat.
Here are my options:
<u> 1994 Black RT </u> - This is my current choice, but it has really high miles. Almost everything on the car has be refreshed and conditioned and the motor was replaced under warranty about 15k miles ago. I trust the owner and the car and it is square in my price range, but I have concerns whether the vehicle will survive another 100k miles with my kind of driving. Also, for some really odd reason, the insurance is higher on this vehicle (for me) than the next.
<u> 1996 White RT </u> - I am somehow continuously drawn to this car despite the fact that it is the only one of the three I have yet to see in person. Again I trust the owner and car but it has the highest mileage on the motor. The pros: 96 is my favorite year, white is my favorite colour, and I'd have the only 1996 (or white) Viper in my state. The fact that its going for over $10k more than the other two and its mileage are the only cons I can think of.
<u> 1997 Blue GTS </u> - The wildcard. This is a wrecked GTS with broadside damage to the passenger side. The benefit with this wreck is that with the lowest price tag here I also get all the extra parts (including used hood, used door, and new exhaust, not to mention quite a few other goodies) plus I get a newer, more sought after car as a whole. The pros with this car are: it is a GTS!, my Gfriend would greatly prefer the hardtop, I'll have cash left over for go-fast stuff, and I wouldn't be scared to death about scratches or high miles. The cons: Well it IS wrecked, I didn't get the chance to fully examine the damage yet so the possibility of added/unknown repair costs is very real, it is a GTS, and did I mention it was wrecked. Oh and I forgot to mention by the time I got this one the road my insurance and my DMV point-standing will be much lower.
If anyone else has a Viper for sale under $30k (I guess I should give up that hard liquor huh) please drop me a line. As always, Any thoughts or criticisms will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
As all you forum veterans well know by now, for quite some time I have been in search of a nice (read: cheap running) Viper to inhabit my driveway. I have very limited financial resources and I have burned my patience thin during this search, but I have finally limited myself to three viable choices. Since I'm playing a gamble on this anyway with a less than 50/50 chance of getting anything, I figured it couldn't hurt to get some off the hip opinions on which direction I should take. All three of these cars fit my criteria of being 1) Cheap, 2) well running, 3) Owned by people I trust. (Since all three belong to people who frequent the board I ask those them to refrain from identifying themselves to help keep responses unbiased.) Yes I realize the true locals here will recognize these cars in a heartbeat.
Here are my options:
<u> 1994 Black RT </u> - This is my current choice, but it has really high miles. Almost everything on the car has be refreshed and conditioned and the motor was replaced under warranty about 15k miles ago. I trust the owner and the car and it is square in my price range, but I have concerns whether the vehicle will survive another 100k miles with my kind of driving. Also, for some really odd reason, the insurance is higher on this vehicle (for me) than the next.
<u> 1996 White RT </u> - I am somehow continuously drawn to this car despite the fact that it is the only one of the three I have yet to see in person. Again I trust the owner and car but it has the highest mileage on the motor. The pros: 96 is my favorite year, white is my favorite colour, and I'd have the only 1996 (or white) Viper in my state. The fact that its going for over $10k more than the other two and its mileage are the only cons I can think of.
<u> 1997 Blue GTS </u> - The wildcard. This is a wrecked GTS with broadside damage to the passenger side. The benefit with this wreck is that with the lowest price tag here I also get all the extra parts (including used hood, used door, and new exhaust, not to mention quite a few other goodies) plus I get a newer, more sought after car as a whole. The pros with this car are: it is a GTS!, my Gfriend would greatly prefer the hardtop, I'll have cash left over for go-fast stuff, and I wouldn't be scared to death about scratches or high miles. The cons: Well it IS wrecked, I didn't get the chance to fully examine the damage yet so the possibility of added/unknown repair costs is very real, it is a GTS, and did I mention it was wrecked. Oh and I forgot to mention by the time I got this one the road my insurance and my DMV point-standing will be much lower.
If anyone else has a Viper for sale under $30k (I guess I should give up that hard liquor huh) please drop me a line. As always, Any thoughts or criticisms will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.