First post - on the lookout for a silver Gen3

[Jon]

Hi folks,

I'm glad to have found this forum. I have never owned a Viper, but I have always had the thought in the back of my mind that someday I might be able to pick up a used one for a price that I can rationalize to myself.

I appear to have reached that point, and have been keeping my eyes open, just trying to get a handle on prices and learning as much about the Viper as possible. (This forum has been invaluable for the latter - thanks very much!)

I definitely want a Gen3, and although I was initially open to just about any color, I think I'm basically locked into silver at this point. I realize that the Viper is about as subtle as an atom bomb, but I want to try to minimize attention as much as is possible. (A lost cause perhaps, but bright yellow or racing stripes would not help.) I like the looks of the black too, but it needs so much maintenance to keep it looking good. With the silver, I figure I will be able to spend more time driving than washing and buffing. Plus, the silver has a classy look to it, IMHO - almost a European "Aston Martin-esque" vibe from some angles.

I have been looking in the $35-40K range, and this appears to be doable. I wouldn't mind going a little bit over for an absolutely pristine example. I've handicapped myself quite a bit by locking onto the '03-06 in silver, but I'm not in any particular hurry so I'm just hoping that the right car at the right price will come along eventually.

I have some questions already which I haven't been able to find the answers to in the archives, but I will create separate posts for those. Thanks again for the forum, I look forward to participating and learning more in my quest to become a Viper owner!

 

[Venomiss]

Try local VCA clubs and ask too. Good luck with your search.

Viper Club of America - New York/Connecticut Region

One more suggestion might be to ask for a ride in one first to make sure it is really what you are looking for.

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

U have a PM.

 

[RTTTTed]

If I was buying I'd pic the mods (exhaust, hiflow cats, K&Nsstereo upgrades, tires, etc.) that I wanted and buy the car that comes with the mods. You can buy any color Viper and a couple thousand will get it painted. New tires ($2,000), lightweight brake rotors and ceramic pads for the brakes are a few thosand, exhaust $2,000 with Hi flow Cats, etc.

Good luck

Ted

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

I would politely disagree with the $2000 cost to repaint. More like $6000 if done to perfection. And any repaint is going to lower value due to the perception the car has been in an accident
Find the best Silver car you can and buy it, and looking at the thread and knowing what I know I think you just did. Make sure to check your PM's.

 

[RTTTTed]

I would politely disagree with the $2000 cost to repaint. More like $6000 if done to perfection. And any repaint is going to lower value due to the perception the car has been in an accident
Find the best Silver car you can and buy it, and looking at the thread and knowing what I know I think you just did. Make sure to check your PM's.

I was just referring to a cheap paint job that would look good and not stating that an excellent paint job costs that much. I would repaint my Viper myself. I know that paint jobs can cost between $2,000 and 10,000 to more depending on profit margins, type of paint etc etc. I've seen nose repaints here from $300 to a thousand and stripes from $300 (Leslie) to $3,000.

Lol, does Maco still do $800 "executive" paint jobs (not that anyone should ever get one).

It does look like his request for a silver Gen 3 (if he's looking for stock) has been answered. Good luck.

Ted

 

[Viktimize]

here you go

howcome this isnt in the classifieds?? id probably be interested in this myself. nice looking car.

 

[CitySnake]

howcome this isnt in the classifieds?? id probably be interested in this myself. nice looking car.

Maybe a non-member can't find the $ to pay for an ad?

 

[Dom426h]

TEDD, you were WAY offbase with the Paint comment

 

[RTTTTed]

LOL, I thought it was pretty funny. I've seen how the Maco paint jobs went flat after 6 months and wasn't really recommending it.

I was looking for laughs...

 

[Asp Man]

Hi folks,


I have been looking in the $35-40K range, and this appears to be doable. I wouldn't mind going a little bit over for an absolutely pristine example.

Where have you been looking, specificaly?
That would get you an ok GenII, but if you're serious about that GenIII in sliver, add 10 or maybe as much as 15K onto that range. Maybe a beat, high mile, many owner, storied '03, but probably not in silver, could be had for that, but I think that's still a bit optomistic. Others will agree, some may not.
That said, you may come across a distress sale, keep your fingers crossed and don't be afraid of shipping or travelling to get to the right one. Get the help of club members in your area, and further afield if needed, to help sight/check cars out with or for you.
Enjoy your quest!

 

[Jon]

Where have you been looking, specificaly?
That would get you an ok GenII, but if you're serious about that GenIII in sliver, add 10 or maybe as much as 15K onto that range. Maybe a beat, high mile, many owner, storied '03, but probably not in silver, could be had for that, but I think that's still a bit optomistic. Others will agree, some may not.

Mostly on-line, as I have not had much luck locally. There doesn't seem to be much in the auto traders, even nationwide. I have a search set up at a web site, called "car gurus" or something along those lines that e-mails me whenever a viper comes up for sale - these are mostly from dealerships. I have also been checking out dealerships that have their inventory online (mostly these are people specializing in exotic/high end used cars), and of course, eBay. A ton of Vipers move through eBay, though not a lot of them actually get sold. However, I have found it useful to get a handle on prices by looking at the vehicles that actually do sell and listings with buy-it-now prices. Granted, there are many, many variables to take into consideration from vehicle to vehicle so comparisons can be difficult, but I have found it helpful.

From what I have found, $30-35K will easily buy you a Gen3 with a title problem. Vipers must be expensive to repair because insurance companies seem to be writing them off all over the place even for seemingly minor issues. So, there are a lot of them out there which have had repairs ranging from major to minor but since they were written off, have a salvage title. Probably many of these would be perfectly fine, but considering my relative lack of Viper knowledge, I have been reluctant to seriously consider them. The Viper seems to have a reputation for biting people who aren't careful, which is probably where all of these salvage vehicles come from. I have a '70 Barracuda with an aggressive 440ci big block on relatively narrow tires (purchased several years ago before the prices went nuts), so I am hoping my experience with that unrefined beast will translate something to the Viper. I'm not taking anything for granted though and will be super careful when I do find one.

Anyway, back to the prices...
$35K also seems to be enough to buy you a very good condition Gen3 with a clean title, many times single owner, but with higher mileage - 35,000 or so, and at the 60,000 mile mark, the prices seem to sometimes dip down closer to $30K. The higher mileage Vipers seem to be pretty rare though - the ones that are for sale at least.

One data point which has stuck with me clearly, mostly because it was a silver car and it was sold to somebody else the day I called on it, was a one-owner '04 with 13,000 miles. It had many chrome accents (roll bars, exhaust tips, the knobs and gauges and such all had chrome trim), as well as a shorty shifter and K&N setup along with carbon fiber accents and other dress-up in the engine bay. That one sold for just above $40K, and appeared to be in excellent condition.

So, that's basically how I got my $30-40K range, with the possibility of going a bit over for a great example. Granted, this will probably not apply to the '05 and '06, but it seems to hold true for the '03-04.

That said, you may come across a distress sale, keep your fingers crossed and don't be afraid of shipping or travelling to get to the right one. Get the help of club members in your area, and further afield if needed, to help sight/check cars out with or for you.
Enjoy your quest!

Thanks! I'm definitely not afraid to travel - it seems to be a requirement actually, as there aren't many Vipers out here. While doing some looking around, I found that there is a large dealership about 30 miles from me; they have one Viper tech on staff. Apparently, there are 2 or 3 Vipers in the area that come to them for service. The sales guy that I talked to had never seen one sold through them in the year that he has been there. So, I figured out real fast that I was going to have to open up the search radius considerably.

I greatly appreciate all of the help and advice given. Both in the forums themselves and via PM, I have been contacted by many folks with helpful info.

Thanks again!

 

[swexlin]

Jon, I just bought my 2003 Black two months ago. It had about 22,900 when I picked her up, and I just turned 24,000 miles last weekend.

When I started looking, my price range expectations were about the same as yours. I quickly found out what others here have said - you're going to find little or nothing worth buying in that range. With my purchase, and some things that need fixing and/or serviced, and new tires, I was quickly in the mid-40s. Something to keep in mind.

I would recommend searching some of the dealers on this site. I purchased my car from Bernie Katz at BJ Motors, and would recommend him to anyone. Check out his website, or give him a call.

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

LOL, I thought it was pretty funny. I've seen how the Maco paint jobs went flat after 6 months and wasn't really recommending it.

I was looking for laughs...

Sorry, not funny Ted, the guy is a newbie,you go back and read your original post, nothing in it indicated you were joking, the original read is that you can buy any color Viper and repaint for 2k. Please be careful what you advise new guys.