Need assistance checking out a car in the Indianapolis area

[Gus Strakes]

I just put a deposit on a '01 RT/10 contingent on a good inspection. I need someone that can check out the car for me, or give me the name of a Dodge Dealership with a good Viper tech that can do the inspection. I plan on driving out there next Monday the 21st, close the deal on Tuesday morning, and haul my FE's new "stablemate" back to Baltimore right after that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Steve-Indy]

You have e-mail.

 

[Casey]

Steve doesn't know much about Vipers though!

I don't even know if he's ever owned ONE of them!

 

[Go Fast For Life]

You mean JUST ONE of them!

 

[Need4Speed]

Be careful if it is 01 VIN # 1B3ER65E31V703522. I was investigating this car in that area.

Its was on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6209&item=4522559993&rd=1

Look at the speedometer picture milage. Then run the vin# records at a dodge dealership. You will find the milage was checked in at a dealer with 20,100 or so. The picture shows 15780. Looked like a turnback to me so I left it. Also they completely resprayed the front hood and put new decals on. Might still have the records somewhere. If your spending that much and there is any question then there is no question.

Not sure if its the same car your looking at but thought I would mention it.

 

[Casey]

You mean JUST ONE of them!

Exactly!! Steve is the Viper Guru!! We are lucky he's from Indy!

Casey

 

[BrutusBuckeye]

I also checked out the Viper that Need4Speed referenced. It looks like it's got a pretty crazy past. I had a insurance investigator friend run the vin and some other things. They found a bunch of past owners/auctions including a exotic car rental. Those things might not bother you, but I passed on the car.

 

[Gus Strakes]

Thanks guys, that is the car in question. After reading the above posts from NEED4SPEED and BRUTUSBUCKEYE, I called my Dodge dealer, ran the vin (again), and learned NEED4SPEED was exactly right. I don't know why I didn't pick that up the first time, but the car was scheduled to go to Palmer Dodge for a pre-purchase inspection on Friday, and I'm sure they would have detected the problem(s). After learning of the apparent odometer roll back, I called the seller, and informed him that the car would not pass inspection, and that the I could not go through with the purchase. During our conversation I disclosed what I had learned, and where I had learned it. I am convinced that the seller is a stand-up guy, and that he is a victim in this situation, and not to be blamed. As a matter of fact he sent me an email, and asked me to post it which is as follows:
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"Hey Gus,
Thank you for your response. It would be much appreciated if you could pass on an apology to the VCA members, especially those who had shown interest in this particular vehicle. I have been in touch with Nick Dellen, whose family owns Dellen Automotive in Greenfield, Indiana where we purchased the vehicle. We are in process of making arrangements for this situation to be taken care of. (Members can read between the lines) I in no way intended to misrepresent this vehicle to anyone who had previously inquired. I was completely unaware of this information until it was brought to my attention. In my haste to provide my wife with a truly great 40th birthday present, I failed to take the time to research. Let your members use my poor judgement as a less expensive lesson to not be too eager and take their time. There's always another car out there. Gus, thank you agin for your help in this situatuion. Please feel free to cut and paste this e-mail to post on the VCA website. You have my permission."
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My deposit is returned, I saved the cost of the inspection fee, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate this board. Still looking...

 

[viperrt96]

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"Hey Gus,
Thank you for your response. It would be much appreciated if you could pass on an apology to the VCA members, especially those who had shown interest in this particular vehicle. I have been in touch with Nick Dellen, whose family owns Dellen Automotive in Greenfield, Indiana where we purchased the vehicle. We are in process of making arrangements for this situation to be taken care of.

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All I can say is not much gets past you guys. Great investigative work! I'm only responding in defense to the Russ Dellen dealership in Greenfield. I have worked with them on several occasions. Matter of fact I will drive out of my way to take my car there. I think Palmer Dodge is the only Local dealer around here that has a Viper tech but I still feel comfortable with Dellen and will continue to go there.

I want to say something about dealers reporting the mileage. I had a situation with my Tahoe where the dealer had recorded the wrong mileage and I noticed it on my bill when I was paying. I was only having my oil changed. I brought it to the cashier’s attention that My Tahoe had 73k not 93k. She only responded oh that's Ok it's not a big deal. I said it was and went to the service manager. He verified I was correct but only responded that he could not correct it. Once it was put in the system it could not be removed? I insisted he do something so he generated another report stating the mistake. It didn't correct anything. I still own the Tahoe but if I sell it and the next guy goes to that dealer it could bring suspicion.

It doesn't sound like the case here but it does happen.

 

[Gus Strakes]

---------------
I want to say something about dealers reporting the mileage. I had a situation with my Tahoe where the dealer had recorded the wrong mileage and I noticed it on my bill when I was paying. I was only having my oil changed. I brought it to the cashier’s attention that My Tahoe had 73k not 93k. She only responded oh that's Ok it's not a big deal. I said it was and went to the service manager. He verified I was correct but only responded that he could not correct it. Once it was put in the system it could not be removed? I insisted he do something so he generated another report stating the mistake. It didn't correct anything. I still own the Tahoe but if I sell it and the next guy goes to that dealer it could bring suspicion.
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That is interesting! Steve-Indy, during my phone conversations with him, said basically the same thing -- that once a mileage is entered in the computer it cannot be removed even if it is in error. Also that when checking on a vin, the mileage is a required field, and sometimes a person doing an inquiry, but doesn't know the mileage, can put in whatever they want. Could that be? That seems like it would leave a lot of room for error.

 

[Steve-Indy]

UPDATE, Gus...presently, NOT sure about above milage entry for inquiry purposes only...just asked Viper Tech same question..his answer was that he THOUGHT the permanent entries were associated with service and/or warranty work...and, under circumstances of doccumentable entry typo errors, COULD be changed by D-C. We need a PRO to answer this for us!!!

 

[Gus Strakes]

The seller has emailed me letting me know that Dellen Dodge has bought back the car. I think that was a quality move on the part of the dealership. His email is as follows:
______________________________
"2-19-05
Hey Gus,
A quick note; The Dodge dealeship where we purchased has bought the car from us and paid it off. In researching the car we found the following. The entire hood had been replaced under warranty with some 508 miles, same for the headliner and accelerator pedal. Some of this work was done at the 13,000 mile mark in August of '03. The vehicle had an A/C charge and weatherstrip repair at Ringold Dodge under warranty and was logged in at 20,100 miles in November '03. That equates to approx. 7000 miles in 3 months. One explanation was the Viper tech or whomever, logged the kilometers instead of mileage. Anyway, the car is now out of our hands and no longer our worry. Thanks for your initial interest and your help, along with the help of the VCA. I wish you the best in your search for another car."
_____________________________

Finally, yesterday I saw the car in question, being advertised on the Internet by Fritz Used Cars in Fisher IN., so Dellen didn't waste anytime getting rid of it.

 

[Steve-Indy]

Thanks, Gus. Congrats to Dellen for a "stand-up" move on the buyback. Interestingly, we bought Viper #1 from Dellen in 96...they were very nice to us as well.

 

[Casey]

Big Time move by the Dealership!!

 

[Dv8tor]

Wow, I'm impressed. Sounds like everyone stepped up and did the right thing. I might be looking at a Viper at Palmer Dodge soon. Good to know they have a good tech there. (I'd still want to take it somewhere else for an inspection though)

I ran the CARFAX on the car too and saw that their were 5 owners. That alone would make me run the other way

In my search for a descent Viper, the CARFAX doesn't detail service history. How can I find out what work has been done on a particular car?

 

[Steve-Indy]

Go to a friendly Dodge dealer, and ask them to run the VIN thru D-C...SEE the reports YOURSELF !!!!!

 

[Need4Speed]

Guys,

The car is not at Dellen Dodge (unless they moved it already) The car is at some Dealership called Fritz in Fishers.

http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=178400093&dealer_id=72517&car_year=2001&search_type=used&make=DODGE&transmission=&model=VIPER&distance=0&address=06905&make2=&advanced=y&certified=&max_mileage=&max_price=56000&min_price=1&end_year=2004&color=Red&start_year=2001&drive=&color2=&isp=y&engine=&body_style=CONVERT&doors=&fuel=&lang=en&cardist=659

Funny how the Milage is listed at only 15000 now, looks like it was rolled back another 780 (unless they are just omitting the 780 which could be)

Wonder what kind of sales speech you would get calling about it? Wonder if they would even tell you about that.

Perhaps they just bought it at an auction? Who knows.