In the end I finally had to call the local Sheriff to see if XVipers was still in business. Michael had over $77,000 USD in deposits that I paid him and he wasn't answering his telephone or emails. As far as I was concerned he was no longer in business.
Once I told Michael that I had contacted the Sheriff (via email) he immediately replied to me. Unbelievable!
Any way, I headed south and picked the GT up just before Xmas and brought it back to Canada. Once I was back in Canada it took a while before the car could be inspected due to the Xmas holidays.
Before leaving XVipers I didn't check the mileage. I assumed the mileage would roughly be the same as when it was inspected by the State of Missouri in October - roughly 800 miles (rounded up). Guess what? The mileage on the car was now 1527!
If I remember correctly Michael stated in this thread that he didn't put one (1) single additional mile on the car. And yet now the car had an additional 700+ miles added to the speedo!
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At this point I had to ask myself, I wonder if he installed the Ford Racing Shifter that I paid him for including the install. So I removed the console and guess what I found out? The shifter was never installed!!
Here are pictures of the stock shifter before I removed it.
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So I purchased a Ford Racing Shifter from Blue Oval Industries and installed it myself.
Here is a side by side comparison of the stock shifter with the new short shifter in front. Notice the difference in height of the blue support legs. The stock shifter has shorter support legs and the short shifter has longer support legs.
In a nutshell the short shifter has longer support legs. This moves the shifter pivot point higher on the shift lever which reduces the throw.
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Short shifter installed.
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To date Michael still has not returned my 1996 Viper GTS car cover, welding helmet, Ford GT brochures and a 1966 Shelby Mustang GT350 owners manual signed by Carroll Shelby.
In the end it took a total of 4 trips to Missouri to complete this transaction.
1st trip - transported all parts to him as agreed upon...didn't meet Michael
2nd trip - flew to Missouri to see the progress on the GT...didn't get to see the car
3rd trip - drove to Missouri so I could meet Michael face-to-face because he wasn't answering his telephone and/or emails
4th trip - to pick up car and my parts
Basically it cost me $12,000 for the first three trips (fuel, food, hotels, flights, etc.)
Some members have suggested that the price I paid for the car was "A STEAL OF A DEAL". Well in fact it turned out not to be a "steal of a deal". Why do I know this? Because I have since met a guy who fixes wrecked Ford GT's on a regular basis. His company is located in Texas and has sold over 30 fixed Ford GT's for $10 to $15 thousand less than what I paid Michael.
So why not just get my money back instead of completing the transaction? Because I learnt from other VCA members, that had previously done business with Michael, that it's not that easy to get money back.
I learnt a big lesson from this transaction and that is never trust someone who refers you to their friend to do business. I should have checked to see how many other members had previously done business with him and what their experiences were. In the end I heard from many members that had unfavorable transactions with him.
