How do the youger Viper owners afford their Vipers?

[Qualitywires.com]

I'm talking like 20-25 years old? I was driving a okay car, but nothing like the Viper? Did parents help out? Savings? Just curious?

 

[Toby]

I think if we actually knew how much some of this 20-25 year old people had in their savings it would cause major depression. I am 33 and I kinda wonder the same. After the house, 2 other car payments, my 69 camaro hot rod, 2 kids, other hobbies, new deck on the house, a wife who loves to spend money, etc etc etc etc...I am wondering my myself why I am even considering another hot rod like a Viper. Maybe it was the Cancer I beat last year. I now understand the statement "you only live once, so you better enjoy it"

 

[Dr Roof]

Im 27 years old. so a little out of your age requirement. I started a Insurance restoration business in 1996. 21 years old. today my business is in 3 states and expanding even more come storm season. last year we did 7 million in sales. So to answer your question I worked real hard!!! no hand me downs here!!! To top it all off everything I own is paid for!!! Including my house !!!God has blessed me tremendously!!! When I started out my dream was a corvette. Now my Viper is getting supertuned By Doug levin! Go figure, GOD IS SO GOOD!!! Pursue your dreams and work hard, you can have anything you want.
David

 

[rgifford]

It is not that bad, call Bill P, you know he can always work a deal.

For real, it actually took me, a LOT of hard work, determination, motivation, more hard work, good timing(some people call this luck when they do not make it happen themselves), and even more VISION on top of everything else.

As for the saving account thing, I think if you can pony up for the viper(taxes, upkeep, insurance....), I doubt you saving account is hurting, but then again you could be living paycheck to paycheck.

Robert
First viper @ 25.

 

[C O D Y]

Bought my first viper 3 years ago at the age of 26. Not a record for youngest, but that was as soon as I felt comfortable making the purchase.

I first made the smart choice and bought a house. Now I have a second home and would like to buy another in the near future.

The same story here as so many others, hard work and no hand me down money.

I don't advice anyone to follow the path I have taken, however I did not make it past the 8th grade and in this day in age that is a big disadvantage. I had to blistered my hands every day for 10 years to scratch out an average living with my small business. I still struggle from time to time, but I'm proud to say that I don't owe on anything and will be purchasing a Final Edition and SRT/10.

Good luck to all the young people who have dreams of purchasing one of these great vehicles. There are more ways of achieving your goals than there are vipers made. Everything comes to he who hustles while he waits.

 

[Lidquidsilver]

i'm 15 i'm closing on two grand saved and this summer i'll be able to get a job need i say more ??

 

[Lidquidsilver]

P. S. my parents can't afford to help me out so don't go there

 

[LotsaHP]

Don't know if I'm the youngest Viper owner out there, but I'm deffinately one of them. Just turned 22. Nope, no parents helping out, I just work work and work. Currently putting myself through college, and working full time as a manager at a bowling alley, and part time at another side job. Have it worked out where my car payments are done two months before my student loans come due! Also, I bargained on my 1994 RT/10. The dealership wanted $49,900. I talked them down to $36,000 over the course of 7 months! To answer your question, if there's a will then there's a way.

 

[Tusc]

I was lucky. My dad took me aside in high school and said that since he was going to be retiring soon and my sister was coming up behind me that he would only be able to pay for two years of college for me. That was great since most of my friends put themselves through college. But I took his words and ran with them. I worked all through high school and college pretty much building/selling computers and doing my own detailing business as well. I think that at one time I had the majority of the campus' professors and administration paying me to detail their cars. Good money, good work, and it all settles into a groove after a while. And I squeeze the nickle to make the buffalo fart!

So while I was in high school I took night courses and weekend classes to earn college credit. In the summers I read text books and then took the corresponding CLEP exams. Cost efficient? At $42 per test and getting between 3 and 6 credits per test? You betcha! Then I hunted down a college that offered a 3-semester year that also accepted a lot of CLEP credits. Long story short, I went to Albertus Magnus College in New Haven (literally up the street from Yale - SO close!) and was able to graduate with my bachelor's degree within 22 months of graduating high school. I was only 3 courses away from a double major. In the time since then, those three course requirements have been dropped so I ought to go back and see fi I qualify to get a 2nd degree out of them.

So I graduated early and had money in my hands. Through my dad I invested deeply into UPS before they went public. The day it opened on the market my money doubled. At the time I wasn't market savvy and didn't sell at the best time. But then I bought into a family friend's business, ZIGO. I sold out of them for nearly triple gains!

Now I had a big head at the time, admittedly. If you were 20 and 21 doing business like that you would be too! I took the entire next year and educated myself on the stock market. Even opened my own corporation to trade through. Business went well for a while and then I started second-guessing myself. Then I lost a lot of money D'oh! Now I don't do the crazy things I used to do.

But I still invest and trade and have a good base going and a good plan in place. I kept my cars, but moved home again so I could pay for my next round of college.

Now I am putting myself through a masters degree program in healthcare administration in long-term care and hope to finish it by the end of the summer. I am a bit tired of school, especially when you know for a fact that 95% of the classes and topics have 0% to do with the field of work. The long-term care field is one of the most regulated businesses in the country. I figure that, much the way dirt track Cart drivers go from backwoods to prestigious Indy and Formula cars that I can basically hone my skills in long-term care and then move over to hospital administration.

But there, in a nutshell, is how I got where I am. Nothing great to show for it right now, but I've got a good jump on most people in my age group.

I turn 23 on the 19th of March and hope to own my first Viper (used) by the end of the summer.

 

[jimandela]

TobyT,
you do only live once .. go for it.. i too am 33
with 2 little ones, wife and house....
after 2 spinal surgeries at between 23-28yrs old and
walking with a cane for a while.

i even used to be a college level ice hockey goalie.
but was advised never to play again.
So after lots of therapy i can now walk without a cane.
Can do pretty much whatever.. and hurt some later, but that is okay i decided to put my energy in to my dream car...
the viper...
go for it..
can alway sell it in a few years for a new house.
JIM

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

One of the great things about the Viper is that it is an attainable car for just about anybody. As the years pass the used car market makes it even more so than when you were 25 Adam.

I run with these fbodys and Stangs that cost 20K to 25K. These guys dump another 5K to 10K into them and they're in the 30K range. That's getting very close to a GenI.

 

[BlackACR]

I'm 25 now, but when I was 21 I bought a 95 R/T. Sold it at 23 and, bought my 99 GTS. Sold it at 25 and, bought my 00 ACR. Not to mention the 2 C5 I had kept during that time. The youth of today are very lucky. Right out of school a lot of us make near six figure incomes. The key is school. Lucky for me I went into Real Estate at the right time. Dallas exploded since then. I fell very lucky & thank my parents for being on my *** all the time about school.

 

[Bonkers]

Under 25 don't bother unless you're born into money or have one 'ell of a great job and have the most naive insurance company on the planet.

If you have neither than wait like everyone else. Get a house (if I were hypocritical I would also suggest a degree) work yourself up the ladder (intergra - Z28 - corvette - ect..) and prepare your savings account for a lunge-at-jugular down payment.

By then it would be much easier than solving world hunger, but not by much.

 

[BobK898]

This is a great thread to read. Congrats to all of you that made the most of your talents and opportunities. To quote Don King, "Only in America".

 

[silverviper]

I joined a startup software company in 1996 just before they went public. At the time the annual revenue was $15m with 200 employees.

Six years later, I'm still at the same company, only now our revenue is closer to $1.5b with 5000+ employees.

Stock. Also six years of consistent hard work and faith that our strategy would really work and of course buckets of luck to be in the right place at the right time. Didn't make me miracle-never-have-to-work-day-again rich, but selling at the right time helped me get some great things at a young age.

My first Viper was a new 99 ACR when I was 26.

 

[Qualitywires.com]

That's great stuff to read. I know sometimes older people get a bit jealous of younger people's success. (Not everyone).

But I guess if we want one, we will get it sooner or later...just depends on how you do it. Congrats to getting what you want on your own. To the 16 year old...save that money and open an IRA ASAP! I wish I did when I was waaay younger!

 

[mjguflaw]

Hard work! I'm 28 and a corporate lawyer for a large multinational law firm, so I certainly put in my time at the office. I saved up a nice chunk of the down payment and am financing the rest. I gotta tell you, it's worth every penny. The first time I drove around south beach and had people getting out their video cameras to film the car, I knew this was going to be a lasting marriage!

 

[Viper Specialty]

I dont know if I am the youngest (to be soon) Viper owner at 18... but If you all want to know, I make my money parting out cars, LEGALLY. I also do work for the local dealers in my area, usually involving the Acura NSX, Mitsu 3000GT VR-4, and the Toyota Supra. The Viper will be my 5th high HP car. (No, I didnt crash any of the others...no tickets, accidents, or stupid stuff). My parents did not help me financially at all... accept they fronted the money for the first car I parted, which has long since been repaid. Please dont flame me because of age, etc, as I normally see happen on this site. I am just letting others know what I do and how I do it. After owning 5 high HP cars and not giving into street racing or any of the other temptations normally associated with teenagers, I feel I am responsible enough to not do what most people my age do. Unlike them, I have nothing to prove to anybody. I plan on buying a Viper for Myself, and Myself alone. I have a respect for the Viper and the engineering that went into it's production that goes far beyond the 1/4 mile times and top speed...in fact, it lingers more towards what the car stands for. I dont care what anyone else thinks about it or if they think they are faster, it doesnt matter to me. As I said, I am buying the car for Me, not to show what it can do to others.

*EDIT* Sorry if it seems like I did too much "explaining" in my message, but it was the only way I could think to explain how all younger drivers are not the same. I just dont agree with how some people lump us all together into one large group or stereotype. Yes, granted, there are a LOT of bad younger drivers that make bad decisions and always drive like they have something to prove, I will give you that. But, not ALL of us are like that, there is a small percentage that do have a respect and knowlege about driving that you would not expect a person of that age to have. I just hope that the Viper community can learn to respect me for what I truly am and what I know, instead of simply my age. Thanks for reading...

 

[Matt]

I bought my Viper when I was 23. I used a home equity loan from a condo I purchased a couple years earlier which had appreciated 50%. I also work as an engineer in the Bay Area of California so the pay is good.

I look at this as the reward for sticking it out for four years in a tough engineering program and working hard prior to that to get in to a good college. I had my parents approval for the purchase (which is important to me) and now my father enjoys it as much as I do.

-Matt

 

[USAF BAD ASP]

I'm 23 and just got my first RT/10. I'm full time in college (15-19 hours) and work in the Television production industry as a Jib/Boom camera operator. Every weekend (thurs-sun) I fly around the country shooting concerts, video's, etc. I've been in the industry since 16. Pay is great. I'm taking a huge pay cut in 3 months when I go active duty Air Force as an Officer upon graduation. I also work on project cars I buy during the week in my little shop/garage. I have been faithful in my tithes to God, and according to Malachi 3:10, He has blessed me beyond my dreams!!!

 

[KenricGTS]

I am now 27 but,I was 23 when I bought my first Viper a Yellow '95 RT/10 and I had that car for a couple of years. I now have a '96 GTS that I love and have moded. I think the same is true about the others that posted work hard and do not give up. But most of all God has blessed myself and my family. I love cars!

God bless and I hope all of you are even more successful than you already are, Kenric

'96 Viper GTS 6000miles 452rwhp 512rwt
'02 Escalade
'99 Durango 360
'93 3000GT VR-4

 

[Gerald]

I, also, just missed that cut off. I got my first one when I was around 28. I used to make my boss alot of money by selling used machinery. One day I wised up and thought, "why can't I do this on my own"? Took a chance.. never looked back....


Gerald

 

[BlackACR]

Gerald, we are not leaving you out. You are defiantly the youngest person with a DLM Supercharged 800H.P. Viper

 

[jamie furman]

I say more power to the young guns, its a young mans world and anyone who has a viper in his 20's weather he worked for it or it fell into his lap I think thats awesome.But don't get too cocky you can get broke just as quick as you got rich, a wise man once told me that, I told him he was wrong........he wasn't.

 

[Makara]

I am glad too see that there are so many other young viper owners out there. I remember when I was in 7th grade I would draw pictures of the viper in science class dreaming about what it must be like to drive one. The thing that bugged me about the car is that I never thought that I would be able to afford a car like that until old. I remember bugging my dad day in and day out to buy a viper. I didn't care if he would never let me drive it. I just wanted to be able to sit in the garage and look at that beauty. Finally my dad took me to a the DC car show so I could see a viper in person. I still remember weaving in and out of people as that bright red viper peeked through the crowd. Oh it was so beautiful. It was too red, too low, too wide, too outrageous. It was just too much. I stood open mouthed looking at the car for what must have been almost an hour as the bright red viper spun slowly on the platform. Fast forward a few years... I had worked very hard to graduate from a very respected computer animation program and was struggling to get into the film industry. It's hard to get your foot in the door so I took an internship at a software company. Perhaps the lowest point of my life. I had no money, knew no one, had no job satisfaction, no respect. I worked very hard to show that even as an intern I could be an asset to a company. Half way through my internship I was getting calls at work from studios wanting to hire me on the spot and I could "name my price" I never broke my contract to be an intern despite potential employers telling me that they would smooth things over with my boss. It's tough to turn down an offer of "name your price" when you only make $800 a month interning. I kept up the work and I felt respected, even as an intern. The day after my internship was over I had a job making very good money. The company wanted me so bad that I started working on saturday. I have since moved on to another studio. (today I start working with a big time director working on one of the most anticipated films of next year!!) 7 months ago at the age of 23 I bought my first viper. A red RT-10 just like the one I saw at the car show with my dad. I have three cars and there is something special about all of them but I really feel that the viper stands out. Every time I see it in my garage I have a hard time believing that I finally got that big red **** car I drooled over at the car show.

 

[Viper Specialty]

JusSumfastGi- I completely agree with what you said. It is the absolute truth, and something I as well as a successful young entrepreneur have the "joy" of dealing with...

 

[Mike Brunton]

My success story is I developed a new drug called "swank" that has been selling like hotcakes! With my new-found billions, I bought Vipers, bikes, several F1 teams, and even a giant inflatable monkey.

Life is good!

 

[BlackACR]

It should be called spank. Because that is what I'am going to be doing to those 03 vipers!!