How could a clean Gen3 viper sell for $38K?

[SneakyPete13]

Hope this is the correct place to ask this. But I recently came across this auction and found it remarkable that this car sold for just $37.5K.

Can anyone shed some light on why it would've? Not sure what I am missing.

DT: 2004 Dodge Viper SRT-10 Mamba Edition #51/200 | PCARMARKET

Finished in Viper Black Clearcoat over special two-tone black and red leather interior, this 2004 Viper SRT-10 Mamba Edition is numbered 51 out of 200 examples produced for the model year. It derives an output of 500 HP from a naturally aspirated V10 engine paired with a 6-speed manual...

www.pcarmarket.com

 

[BoondocSaint]

At a glance it is a car that has "higher miles", and a history with some level of front end damage. Gen 3 cars aren't usually the most sought after, the auction appears to be no reserve, and the market is settling down for most Vipers after some record highs. When you add it all up, it looks like a right time right place for a lucky buyer of what I would consider a nice car. Maybe I'm missing something as well, Gen 3 cars aren't my main focus or specialty.

 

[GTS Dean]

There's a funny joke in there somewhere...

 

[Steveisit]

9 owners
High miles
Cracked grill
Cracked dash
Unstated amount of buyers premium common for auctions possible 18% to 25% and maybe other fees. Maybe other factors

 

[MoparMap]

40k is considered high miles nowadays? That's kind of scary. For a 20 year old car that's only 2,000 miles a year, which seems in line for what I might expect of a fun summer car. The good thing is that Vipers are built very well and put up with miles pretty great compared to most other high end exotics and supercars. I'd rather see a car driven and exercised to keep it in working order than sitting in a garage for years at a time only getting started and idled every couple of weeks.

 

[BoondocSaint]

40k is considered high miles nowadays? That's kind of scary. For a 20 year old car that's only 2,000 miles a year, which seems in line for what I might expect of a fun summer car. The good thing is that Vipers are built very well and put up with miles pretty great compared to most other high end exotics and supercars. I'd rather see a car driven and exercised to keep it in working order than sitting in a garage for years at a time only getting started and idled every couple of weeks.

I agree 100%. 40k could be considered "high mileage" for low production sports cars with any collectible value, but that's not why I own cars. Cars that are as much fun to drive as Vipers should be driven IMO, save the collecting for baseball cards.

 

[Bonkers]

Ive been seeing alot of $40-45k Gen3s rolling around the
past six months, $38k isnt ridiculous considering the issues
this example has. As the Millennials are coming into their own
and "drivers" dying off, there is a clear market shift happening
from muscle to digital. Rawness, which some would say the
Viper is the epitome of, is not as appealing to the Doordash
crowd as say a GTR or Ferrari.

Ive been the bad guy here for years over this, but i dont think
this Viper Premium has much life left into it. I suspect Gen3
and Gen1s will be sub-$30ks again much sooner than later...

 

[BoremViper97]

40k is considered high miles nowadays? That's kind of scary. For a 20 year old car that's only 2,000 miles a year, which seems in line for what I might expect of a fun summer car. The good thing is that Vipers are built very well and put up with miles pretty great compared to most other high end exotics and supercars. I'd rather see a car driven and exercised to keep it in working order than sitting in a garage for years at a time only getting started and idled every couple of weeks.

I bought my 97 viper 3.5 months ago with 40k on it.
I greatly enjoy the car for sure, but I’m convinced it is 20-30% low on power. Mine won’t even break loose the tires unless I try to (with quick clutch release or doing a donut).
And while it is faster than ‘anything else’ on the road (that I’ve yet encountered), I barely won a drag race with a big diesel pickup truck.
My car feels about the same (by memory) of a 1990 mustang 5.0 that I had 30 years ago- plenty fun and fast but not exhilarating.
Last year I had a 2006 corvette (automatic trans) base model- it was exhilarating. That LS3 engine amazed me every time I dug into the gas pedal. It had great pulling power at every position on the tachometer, and the higher it revved, the harder it pulled.
And it did burnouts like a madman: many many times I just floor it and steer while it did 80’ burnout before shifting into 2nd gear and then continuing impressively. Granted it had 6-7 year old tires, but so does my Viper.

A 40k mile boring car is very different than a 40k mile awesome car. Think about how many accumulated minutes have been wide open throttle on a Viper compared to a boring car.
WOT wears out things- piston rings, drive train, valve seat efficiency, etc.

 

[GTS Dean]

The first things you need to do are put new plugs and wires on the car and make sure your battery voltage is strong. Keep track of the plugs by cylinder and see if any are noticeably different than the others. Run a compression test on the car after it's warmed up and compare the readings with the old plugs. I always perform this at WOT until the needle maxes on each hole. You might also want to check your fuel pressure at the manifold. If it isn't running steady at 54+ your pump or regulator may be failing.

 

[Bill W]

I had the same slow response when I first bought my '02 Viper. Like GTS Dean said, new plugs and wires are a must. Made a world of difference on my Viper. High flow cats and a K&N air filter are another consideration.

 

[BoremViper97]

I had the same slow response when I first bought my '02 Viper. Like GTS Dean said, new plugs and wires are a must. Made a world of difference on my Viper. High flow cats and a K&N air filter are another consideration.

How many miles on your 02?

 

[Bill W]

How many miles on your 02?

There were only 12,000 miles on the car at the time.

 

[myz32300tt]

There was a silver 03 with 25k at a local dealer that sold for around $35k. It had a weird KBB history (that and actual title history didn't line up) which is why it sold cheap, so I'm not surprised to see these start coming down.

I bought a 1994 with 14k miles last year for 43k. There's not an exorbitant amount of low mileage older ones out there that I think will tank the market, but its a market like all other things. They go up, they go down. I'm never selling mine, unless I lose my legs or arms and physically unable to enjoy it, from their I'll keep watching the market so I can get a Gen 5. After all, they do need siblings

 

[SneakyPete13]

There was a silver 03 with 25k at a local dealer that sold for around $35k. It had a weird KBB history (that and actual title history didn't line up) which is why it sold cheap, so I'm not surprised to see these start coming down.

I bought a 1994 with 14k miles last year for 43k. There's not an exorbitant amount of low mileage older ones out there that I think will tank the market, but its a market like all other things. They go up, they go down. I'm never selling mine, unless I lose my legs or arms and physically unable to enjoy it, from their I'll keep watching the market so I can get a Gen 5. After all, they do need siblings

Very similar to my story. Bought a 94 several months back for $35K + 5K to have it sitting in the garage with everything sorted out. 22K miles. Been loving it. Childhood dream car, and never disappointed me since day one. There's just nothing else out there like it.

 

[SneakyPete13]

9 owners
High miles
Cracked grill
Cracked dash
Unstated amount of buyers premium common for auctions possible 18% to 25% and maybe other fees. Maybe other factors

Buyer's premium is pretty much the same as other sites actually. 5% or $5K whichever is the lower.

 

[praha-sti]

That's a good deal to me ... even if it has damage ...

 

[viperfest]

Never have no reserve!!! That is a fool thing for a good product.

I raced a new Porsche 911 GT3 with my 05 copperhead and was just barely pulling away. It was from a 30 mph to 80 mph race. He was surprized this old car could take him.

 

[Byrdman]

I bought my 97 viper 3.5 months ago with 40k on it.
I greatly enjoy the car for sure, but I’m convinced it is 20-30% low on power. Mine won’t even break loose the tires unless I try to (with quick clutch release or doing a donut).
And while it is faster than ‘anything else’ on the road (that I’ve yet encountered), I barely won a drag race with a big diesel pickup truck.
My car feels about the same (by memory) of a 1990 mustang 5.0 that I had 30 years ago- plenty fun and fast but not exhilarating.
Last year I had a 2006 corvette (automatic trans) base model- it was exhilarating. That LS3 engine amazed me every time I dug into the gas pedal. It had great pulling power at every position on the tachometer, and the higher it revved, the harder it pulled.
And it did burnouts like a madman: many many times I just floor it and steer while it did 80’ burnout before shifting into 2nd gear and then continuing impressively. Granted it had 6-7 year old tires, but so does my Viper.

A 40k mile boring car is very different than a 40k mile awesome car. Think about how many accumulated minutes have been wide open throttle on a Viper compared to a boring car.
WOT wears out things- piston rings, drive train, valve seat efficiency, etc.

I have a 2000 RT/10 with 40,000 miles and it is infinitely faster than any 5.0 or Corvette.It's faster than my 2000 Challenger ****, which is FAST. I can place her in 3rd gear on the line and burn the 335mm tires every time. Not sure what you are dealing with....

 

[BoremViper97]

I have a 2000 RT/10 with 40,000 miles and it is infinitely faster than any 5.0 or Corvette.It's faster than my 2000 Challenger ****, which is FAST. I can place her in 3rd gear on the line and burn the 335mm tires every time. Not sure what you are dealing with....

Wait; you can do burnouts in 3rd gear from a standstill??