I Bought a Viper Today!

97fatboy

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I bought a 1997 Red GTS with 12K miles. It is a cherry of a car purchased from the original owner.

I know I need to get all the fluids changed. Any estimates what this should run? It will also need a new set of tires pretty soon. Are the Pilot Sports the general concensus for typical driving (no tracks)?

Are there other things I should have done at its first service trip?

Thanks for all your help in answering my questions. I will add some pictures when I pick it up next week.
 

YouWish

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Congrats on your new Viper. We all look foward to pictures. What other sports cars have you owned or do own now?
 

Chuck 98 RT/10

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I'm not certain what a dealership charges. I do my own.
9 quarts of $5/qt oil
$10 Mobil filter
2 qts of $20/qt diff + $7 friction modifier
4 qts $20/qt tranny
2 pts DOT 4
2 qts ps fluid $7/qt
Antifreeze
grease
 

Ulysses

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Don't forget to do plugs and wires

Champion RC 12LYC
Wires: JonB at PartsRack or Chuck Tator at Tator Dodge. Both great people to work with.
 

Dimitrios

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congrats! you gonna love it. def change fluids, plugs and spark plugs. figure about $500. also consider getting some headers and cat back. big difference.
 

genXgts

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Congrats man,

Perfect year choice, bias intended!

Consider dropping the front fascia bolt that punctures the front fascia resoivor. One bad bump or approach angle and it's toast. PITA to change, fascia has to come off.

Other than that good year, make sure all the TSBs are done for 97. Intake gasket and rear main seal the biggies.

Best of luck with her, take it easy on the go juice if your running on MXX3 OEM rubber. Might have some tread left but the age alone makes for a hard compound that will bite you back quick. The new Pilot Sport is a good fit, although there are now other choices, including Dunlop, most seem tot go to the Pilots.

I went with the Kumho sticky street tire, half the price and stick like glue, much more confidence in the corners. Might want to do a search on them on this site and read all you'll ever want to know about them.

take care,
 

NatRT10

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Congrats on your GTS! My first Viper was going to be a red '97 GTS as well, but it turned out it was driven a little harder than I had liked. Looking forward to seeing pics of yours!
 

PhilC

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Congratulations! You're gonna love it. I'll second the $500 estimate and the need to check that all the TSBs have been done. Good luck. If you live where it is cold, then be very careful not to jump on the accelerator especially if you are not going straight ahead. They get sideways very easily when the roads are cold.
 

ViperRay

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Try to learn to do the fluids and maintenance stuff yourself. There's no rush and it's not difficult...do one project at a time. Get the service manual. There's everything you need to know in the archives on this forum and lots of answers to other questions not covered.
Red '97 GTS is my ride also. Good luck.
 

genXgts

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good advice Ray.

most of the fluids take less time to change the time to get the car in the air, no joke.

(and maybe the rims off in the case of brake fluid swap)

and comfort in knowing things are done right and with the correct oil if you do not have a competent dealer in your area.

how far is Kansas City from Tators?haha
 

Y2K5SRT

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Welcome aboard! I would be neglect if I didn't mention that one of your best "first moves" is to join an active VCA chapter. You lucked out, in that the Kansas City Region is one of the most active in the country. Oh yeah, and free Dyno Day (with food provided too), free Viper Calendar, and the knowledge of 50+ local Viper owners are at your disposal. Off the soapbox, here are your suggestions:

1. For regular Viper service, Bud Brown Dodge on Metcalf (Overland Park) is excellent. If you are out in the eastern metro, try Jay Wolfe Dodge in Lee's Summit. Up north, Gladstone Dodge in Gladstone has a good reputation for working on Vipers, although I have heard they sit outside when not being worked on (even over freezing rain weekends). And while I think the world of some of these dealerships (Bud Brown in particular), I personally buy 5-quart jugs of Mobil 1 at WalMart and get the oil changed at the local Quick Lube - they will usually do it for me for free when I bring my own suppplies (oil & filter). Figure a dealership will charge between $80 & $110 for an oil change on a Viper. Do it yourself for around $55 using Mobil 1. Oh, and one of the best dealerships for Vipers is (gulp) a Ford dealership: Mike Anderson at Chuck Anderson Ford in Excelsior Springs usually has 3-4 Vipers in for service on any given day. While he can't do Dodge warranty work, he does everything else on Vipers - from supercharging to paint work to complete custom engine builds. And he is also a Kansas City VCA member and one heck of a good guy to boot.

2. Pilot Sports are excellent tires and would be my first choice on 1999 - 2004 Vipers. However, Kumho makes a 17" tire for earlier Vipers that many seem to think offers better traction, albeit shorter life. They are a stickier compound and apparently cost less than the Pilot's as well. I desperately wanted them for my 2000 GTS, but they were (are?) not available in 18". If you are looking for longer life with a little less hook-up, Pilots are the way to go. I got 20,000 miles out of my first set, including many passes at the dragstrip, some autocrosses, and a few road course events.

3. If you are going to a Dodge dealership for your service, have them check over the car and look up the service history based on the VIN. This will alert you to any potential "problem areas" that car may have had in the past. With only 12,000 miles, I would do an oil change and see how it runs otherwise. I don't know that plugs and wires are a big deal with such low mileage, but the guys above have more technical expertise than I can claim. If the car still has the stock tubes and filters, I would replace them both with smooth tubes and K&N's immediately - especially if they have the original stock filters after 12,000 miles.

Again, welcome to the Viper Nation - you chose wisely!

Chris
 

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