Did anyone buy their used Viper sight unseen?

[cayenne]

I guess this post follows along in the same vein as my question about Auto Inspectors. With these cars being relatively rare....and none available in my area. I could face the real possiblity that I may find a car on the other side of the country, have it inspected, and shipped to me if all checks out.
I know that this is in fact what you do when ordering a new car from the factory, but, a little riskier when doing it on a used car.

Has anyone here actually bought their Viper without first physically looking it over themselves, and test driving it? If so, what this from a private owner or eBay?

I'm just a little anxious on buying a high end car with a $$ price tag this way...but, it looks like I may indeed need to do this. I cannot fly around all over the place looking at cars....I do contract work, and just don't have the off time to do this for the foreseeable future...

Thanks!!

cayenne

 

[EA6BPilot]

Cayenne,

I found my car on traderonline.com from a dealer in Vegas (I live in NC). I called up the dealer, asked him what was wrong, he told me, etc etc. I put a deposit down and did the loan paperwork through the dealer. The problem I ran into was that they lost paperwork, were slow in taking care of things, and were hard to get ahold of.

I decided to buy a cheap plane ticket to Vegas and take care of things in person. I test drove the car, was happy with it, and signed the paperwork that day. I also had them ship it to me vice driving it back (it cost $900, which was less than gas, hotels, and speeding tickets would have been!) My advice to you is to get an idea of what the car is like over the phone, but test drive and seal the deal in person. I tried to do it otherwise, but it didn't pan out. $40k+ is just a lot of money to be risking without being completely sure.

Good luck. I hope this helps!

 

[OLXRAM]

I did that with mine. I live in IL. Bought from CA. Had him send me pics of "problem areas" known on vipers.....ya know. under the front nose for scrapes...etc etc. I was also able to contact the previous owner through the dealer and get helpful info. Worked for me. No problems at all.

 

[B SNAKE 1]

I found my on e-bay but bought it after the auction was closed. Live In Illinois flew to Virginia $128.00 for the plane ticket, drove it home. Had owner e-mail pictures & did a car fax. Had a buddy at the local Dodge dealer run the vin also. Few things I didn't like but couldn't pass on the deal.

 

[GraphiteGTS]

Bought mine SU (sight unseen).

 

[NDW]

Bought mine on Ebay sight unseen from a rebuilder. Have been very happy with the car. It is a former car of a regular poster of this site.

 

[cratica]

I live in Texas and found the one I wanted at a hi-end dealership in Southern California. I didn't have the time to go check it out, so I asked lots of questions, got lots of answers and photos as well as the viper technicians name who serviced the 1-owner car. Everything checked out, so I bought it. They sent it out on a truck. The adrenaline of seeing your first viper as they open the trailer doors and seeing it back down the ramp is like no other!!!! It was a really neat experience. The car was as beautiful as described. White with 2 blue stripes and a clear coat as thick as molasses in January.

 

[LIVIPER]

I would definitely see the car in person. I looked at my car in NC before I bought it. I recently bought a Harley on my third deal. I was VERY LUCKY to find out that the first TWO were scams!! (one was a reconstructed title and the other was non existent) And believe me, I would not be any more reassured just because the seller is a dealer, unless I knew the dealer's reputation either first hand or from a reliable source. Chuck Tator can tell you some horror stories.

If you are buying a Viper, you are going to drop decent money, regardless of year or milage. A few hundred on some airline tickets would be well worth it.

 

[Steve Miehe]

I bought mine sight-unseen from Woodhouse via Bill Pemberton. Granted, the car was new but I had never seen one in sapphire blue prior to its arrival in my driveway. It's a different situation when buying something pre-owned, though......

 

[STUGOTS]

i bought mine SU and im happy with it but if i had seen it i would have made them do a few things and they did a few things that i don't think any hi end shop should sell a car with such as the following

1.the front bumper was off (had to be alligned)
2.the check engine light was on (cracked vacume canister under front bumper) (guess thats why the bumper was slightly off)
3.battery was on its way out
4.needed a tune up
5.radiator hoses were taped on and worn
6.dirty air filters
7.dirty fuel filter

allthough it ran like a dream


nothing major but defnitly not the way you sell a viper i think anyway,cost me less the a grand to fix all that but still thats the risk you take buying SU overall i couldent be happier with my baby tho

 

[ViperRay]

I bought my GTS sight unseen from Premier Sportscars in Springfield, Mo. The car was shipped to me after a $5,000 deposit. I could then inspect the car in my driveway (and put it on my lift) while the driver waited (or I could have gotten a professional mechanic if I'd wanted). I had a signed (faxed) contract in hand after the $5,000 deposit that stated that I could return the car and get my deposit back if the car was not as advertised (which was virtually perfect). Needless to say, I gave the driver a cashiers check for the remainder and he drove away with an empty trailer.
Now that's a dealer putting his money where his mouth is!

 

[Dimitrios]

bought my car from ebay. seen it there. try to negotiate over the phone. flew to rochester on jet blue which was a 45 min flight. drove back 6 hours. car was like new like stated and only had 6k miles on it. also it was sold by a dealer so if there was something wrong with it i would have just returned it. good luck. i dont think a car with low miles, and still has warranty would be a bad buy unless it was hit or somethin.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

I bought my car SU in another country!! (Canada) But I did call the local VCA officer and asked about the owner, not about the condition of the car. If the owner was OK, I figured the description was accurate. And no complaints, either.

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

Why not ask someone here to check it out. There have been many such deals facilitated right through this web site. I checked out a GTS here in Maryland for a guy in Washington state. Car was a 2000 with less than 2000 miles on it. Showroom new, no brainer. I then suggested a local Viper Tech to have it evaluated mechanically and the guy bought it sight unseen. He was overjoyed when it got there and I made two new friends. The seller was into the same kind of boats as I and is now helping me locate one. It worked out well for everyone.

 

[93Cobra]

Bought mine in Dallas. Flew in and drove it 1500 miles back to So Cal.

 

[tim721]

bought mine SU too. came from Dallas. Owner was cool and let me pay COD for it if it passed my approval. No deposit either. I was gonna have him drop it off directly at Tators, but it was late on a friday night. Fortunately Chuck went thru the entire car the following Monday and everything checked out...

owner was nice, allowed COD for payment, and disclosed all of the blemishes it had over the phone. he told me if I wasnt happy when it got to my driveway, tell the driver to bring it on back.

 

[joe117]

I didn't buy SU.
If I did, I think the main worry would be scams and not a misrepresented car.
Detecting a private owner scam might be very hard. The deposit would be easy to lose.

I almost bought two SU. I was high bidder on both. One seller refused to sell even though his reserve was met.
The other has false bidders.
I would have done it.

 

[plumcrazy]

bought my 98 GTS from woodhouse sight unseen......with them, I'd do it again...anyone else.....maybe not

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

No problem buying ANYTHING sight unseen from Woodhouse. They are the very unusual exception to the rule. If Bill says it's perfect, it will be.

 

[MichaelP]

Bought mine off of Ebay paid through Pay Pal $10,000 at a time since that is their limit. Id did call the Viper tech that serviced the car and got his opinion. I then flew out to TX and drove it home.

 

[Jeff Lemke]

I bought mine SU from Fitzgerald Motorsports in NH the summer of 98. At the time my research showed they had a great reputation so I was trusting. I have just recently learned they are history due to some bad business or something.

Anyway, I've been happy with my car from the start and feel I've got a good one.

I flew out with my daughter and we drove it home to MI.

It was cool.

Jeff

 

[ElCapo]

I bought mine SU from Woodhouse, and I've got to say they are the best outfit I've ever worked with!

The best I tell ya.
-Jeff

 

[Dave T (BADVENM)]

I traded my '03 Cobra (from Woodhouse) on an '01 Sapphire Blue/silver stripe unseen. It had 146 miles on it and was a leased car through a woman. As others have said, if Bill P says its perfect it is. Bill sent me a few pics but they never do justice to the beauty of the car. I now have 999 miles on it.

 

[Kevin Stitely]

Found mine in the classified section on this board

Contacted the owner via phone will follow up jpegs

Made arrangements for tech inspection at the nearest dodge dealership

Bought a one way ticked to Kentucky, physically inspected the car in person, signed the check over to previous owner

Drove it back to Maryland...10hr adreneline rush

PRICELESS!

 

[kgrif]

2000 GTS with 732 miles on it. Yes sight unseen. Was not disappointed.

 

[KurtZ RT-10]

I had always wanted a viper, but never even sat in one when I decided to buy one.

Found my car on autotrader on line, it was a Cadillac dealer in Washington State that took it in on a trade. Called them up, asked a lot of questions had them send more pictures. Made an offer, they countered, I said no.
About an hour later they called back, and came close to my number and agreed to it, but they had to pay to ship it to me. Faxed over paperwork and wired money.

Two weeks later, trucks pulls up and unloads the car, the driver curbs the wheel when taking of the lift. The carrier paid for new wheel.

After going over car, it was like they said, with a few exceptions like small scratches .It was a good deal.
But if I was to do it again I would first contact someone in you local VCA club and get some advice, and maybe someone they know or contact to look at the car at that location.

 

[TomH]

Bought mine sight unseen with a salvage title! All turned out well, drove it home 800 miles no problems, now has another 5000 miles and still no problems. Got a great looking gts for less then the cost of my buddies Camaro SS, now he hates me, to really.

 

[ohiodoc]

I got mine from ebay, The guy drove it down from Aspen, CO and I flew him home. It is not perfect but for the price I paid it was worth it. I love the car and it drives great. I do drive mine everyday too. Do I wish I did it different? Maybe but I have a nice viper and I can always repaint it to get rid of two small scratches and a dent in my side exhaust.

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

Found mine on autotraider. Was on vacation in Yellow Stone at the time. On the way home stopped in Dallas and rented a car. Drove 31/2 hours to Stillwater OK. Had the owner bring the car to the hotel in stillwater. The car was not as clean as they said. I expressed that to them, and explained I came to buy a mint condition 2000 steel gray GTS and this was not mint. Bald tires, bad battery and dirty as hell. I said no thanks, but if I changed my mind I'd give them a call. I went back into the hotel and prepaired to checkout and drive my rental back to Dallas.

I thought about it for awell, and figure if they would come down some more on an already great price, I could buy new tire's a battery and give it a bath.

I bought it the next day and dove it to Fort Worth TX and left all the savings (and then same) with ViperSpeed. Flew back to TX two weeks later and put 4k on the car driving it home. The problem I've had is I can't get this silly ass grin off my face.

 

[Doc.]

bought one off EBAY, but I flew out and looked at the car in person before I handed over the dough. With the low cost of air travel I would just fly out and see the car in person. Not everyone's idea of a perfect car are the same.

Doc