GTS Shopper

[mmcc269]

Hi, I'm looking to purchase my first viper, and committed to a GTS edition.

I've found a 97 garage queen with extremely low miles:

Any comments/insight about this year model from current or past owners soul be appreciated?

And what is a fair price range I should expect?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Invasivore]

How many miles? How old are the tires? How many owners?

 

[mmcc269]

1200 miles, 1 owner, original ties... Its red... Its been garage kept, started and fluids changed once a year.

 

[Invasivore]

Find out exactly which fluids have been changed. It will need new tires which are about 1200 a set. I would say it is worth about 39-40 if mint. The red is probably the least valuable color.

 

[slitherv10]

I don't think 39-40 for this car is fair market value. Look on ebay or autotrader and you 'll see them for anywhere between 40-45 with way more mileage on them and 3 or more owners. yes i agree that the red ones are not the most sought after...Blue with white stripes are,but,with only 1200 miles and one owner,you have to respect that and say high 40's for sure if not low 50's. 39-40 you would get an average miled (10-20,000miles) car , def. not mint.and over 3 owners with blemishes. Low 30's would get you high mileage and lots of imperfections and even lower than that a salvage or rebuilt titled one.

Dewf, high 40's with the low mileage and one owner ! No questions.

 

[VIPER PIT]

I would say high 40s to 51 max with that milage.

 

[GTS1997]

There's a red 1997 GTS on the Fleabay online auction site, with 605 miles on it. The asking price is 44,***. I would be very concerned about dry rot, and other assorted problems though, from the years of just sitting.

 

[slowfrc]

Just out of curiosity, is this car located in new jersey?

 

[Invasivore]

that car will never go for anything more than 40k, mark my words. Whether its fair or not that is what they are selling for. I found plenty of red GTS cars for close to 30k with low mileage.

 

[speedracervr4]

OP, Are you planing on keeping the car a garage queen? If not I would look at others with a few more miles (10-15k) on it and maybe some upgrades and newer tires unless the seller is willing to let it go for high 30s to low 40s. No point in paying an extra 5-10k for a super low mileage Viper just to drive it.

 

[troublemaker]

I know it's not an answer most like, but most GTSs are selling in the range of minivans. The low mile examples should be holding there value better, but that only means something to a select few that would pay a premium for it. Extremely low mile cars have always scared me, as far as something I'm going to rack up some miles on. If you are buying a garage queen and plan on keeping it a garage, it wouldn't be a concern of mine. I agree with the above, this probably won't go higher than $40,000. I hope I'm wrong, but at least from a buyers point of view, you will benefit from the depressed market.

 

[Darth Menace]

The prices seem to be going all over. Look at autotrader, ebay, etc to get a feel for what your looking for/the price. I got mine from ebay on aut 2011 for $31,700. 98 red gts with 18000miles

 

[mmcc269]

Thanks everyone for all the feedback... The car I'm looking at is in Boston and yes the tires do need replacing along with the door channel striping... the low miles are attractive but the price $44,500 is about $5k higher then I'd like to pay... Going to keep the search going over the winter months and see what hit the grid.

 

[Camfab]

Weatherstrip for the Viper is crazy expensive, just something to remember. Sounds like a really nice car. Just an FYI, I keep hearing all these comments that cars will not sell for X. The bottom line is that a collector will pay much higher dollars than Joe Salami nickel and dimer. True, a collector car must be that 1 out of a hundred car to qualify. I can tell you that if I was in the market for a perfect GTS, I'd have no problem spending 10K more for an ultra low mileage car. An ultra low mileage car is ultra low only once in it's life. You could buy a 10K mile car and spend 10K just to make it as perfect as the 1K car AND it's still never going to be a 1K car, ever.

Hopefully at somepoint in the near future I'll be able to purchase that perfect garage queen with no miles before the prices of these cars make the upward swing. 30 years ago the same mentallity existed when someone spent over 15K for an ultra low mileage mint '69 Z-28.

I do however agree with the idea that you should not pay a large premium for a car that your going to drive the poop out of and rack up the miles, if you are concerned about getting your money back.

In the mean time keep telling everyone these cars are worth nothing so I can get my retirement investment for next to nothing.

 

[Dirk Pitt]

There's a red 1997 GTS on the Fleabay online auction site, with 605 miles on it. The asking price is 44,***. I would be very concerned about dry rot, and other assorted problems though, from the years of just sitting.

There is really nothing different between a car that is driven and a car that is "just sitting" as it relates to degradation of seals, bushings, etc. The chemistry works the same way in both cases. I'd be more concerned with environment where the car was stored (i.e. dry hot climate vs. garaged). Other than tires, a properly stored and maintained car should be fine for a long, long time.