How much would you guys say this Viper is worth?

[Viper Specialty]

OK, I am considering buying this Viper to Rebuild and sell, or part out. I'll list the damages, and you guys throw some figures on what its worth. Red (no stripes) 1998 Viper GTS, 7000 miles, GT2 spoiler. NO frame damage, runs and drives, interior excellent, air bags OK. Damage: small area of paint scraped off front driver side edge of bumper, small crack on driver side "fender", scratches on driver door and rear driver fender as well. Salvage title. Think in your mind the damage that would occur to your Viper if you went into a bank too fast and misjudged a "protection pole" by about an inch or 2, and it scraped down the side of your car...looks like thats what it was. all parts repairable...but I will replace them, repair and sell the old ones. thanks for any input!

 

[Anthony - 98 GTS]

I would guess a simple repair of the crack, sand/fill the scratches and repaint the hood, door and fender would cost $3-4,000.

Repaired car with salvage title (would help to know why it was salvaged) would be worth $43-48k.

 

[Viper Specialty]

JusSumFastGi-not sure exactly... I am waiting to receive the VIN in their next reply, so I am going to check it on CarFax... Dont forget though, if a car ends up at an insurance auction for ANY reason, it gets a Salvage title... there may be a reason they gained possesion of the car other than an accident. Also, do you agree with Anthony on the worth of it after it's repaired? the company wants 43K for the car as is... whats the MOST I should offer?

 

[Viper Specialty]

true that... but if those re-sale prices are correct, I would be in a bad position to pay 43K for the car. I planned to sell the car one way or another... either in parts or whole, as I will be getting a new 2001/2002. but if it came down to selling it whole, It would cost the same to buy the car and fix it as I could sell it for at 43K. I think I may be best off buying a "more wrecked" car for a lot less and parting it out... or low-balling this one and parting it out anyway, as it's worth A LOT more, and salvage title does matter if it's being parted.

 

[Viper Specialty]

Any more opinions on if this car may be worth it? I will post a picture when they send it too me. Anyone out there know of any more minorly damaged GTS's or 98+ RT/10's???

 

[Viper Specialty]

I believe I would be purchasing it from the "salvage pool", so I think it's too late... if not, is there any way I can find this out? The company I would be buying it from rebuilds cars and sells them... if they dont sell it "as-is" before they get around to rebuilding it that is...

 

[Viper Specialty]

from my understanding, the company has the title in hand and it is Salvage. Although... to a point, the title status really doesnt matter to me now that I think about it... whether or not I fix and drive tha car for a few months... I most likely will be parting it out when it comes down to it because it is simply worth a lot more money that way... that is, unless I could get a solid 50K for the car when I go to sell it. in your estimation, would this car be worth 50K come summer time? ALL damaged parts would be REPLACED(new hood, front bumper, door shell, rocker panel and rear fender...whatever cant be fixed by simply stripping and re-painting), I am not one for fixing things. Also, I will be able to prove to the next buyer that the damage that resulted in a Salvage title was minimal, so they will know the car is not "messed up" with non-visable damage. too bad it's not an 01 or 02... then I would just keep it!

 

[dansauto]

I don't think it ever would be worth retail money with salvage title. But I have rebuilt Corvettes and Porsches in the past and as long as they are done right I get close to retail. The real problem with salvage titles is that the laws vary from state to state. I live on the NY/PA border and it is hell trying to flip titles from one state to the other. On such a high dollar car you may enounter buyers from other states, once they find out what it takes to title the car in thier state, they probably won't want the car, no matter how good it looks or how good a deal they are getting. (NY is currently backlogged 4 months !!)

 

[Viper Specialty]

well, 50K would be under the retail value... ones with 3x the mileage sell for more than 50K. Oh well... looks like I may just part it out. VIPER PARTS FOR SALE! GET YOUR VIPER PARTS HERE! LOL...

 

[Viper Specialty]

Lots and lots of time? are you kidding? I can strip down an entire VR-4 down to nothing by myself in about 60 hours... have 2 friends and beer and it can get done in one long day. selling the parts is easy as well... the only time consuming thing is shipping... but on a car of this sort, 90% of the time on any major part,the new owner will want to pick it up.

 

[Viper Specialty]

Parting out the car will ALWAYS net you a LARGE profit. figure the Viper costs 90,000 NEW, tax, etc. now, figure if you built that car with new parts, 1 by 1, it would cost you 200,000+ to build that same car. now, figure used parts sell for 1/3 to 1/2 new parts cost, so, right there you have a final value of 80,000 + on a complete car...if done right. this is what I do for pocket money...and it works VERY well if you have the abilities. At the moment, I part out Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4's. they cost me about 2000-3000 each, and I usually make 15,000 profit per car... and they are VERY wrecked to start with.
As for your estimate a 98 would be worth 25,000... LOL... I WISH. you cant even get a wrecked first gen for that. the only 98 I saw in that price range had no suspension, water damage, wrecked on the front, t-boned, hit a curb, you name it... not to mention the curb ripped off the bottom of the tranny and engine.