New Guy Needs Some Advice

[transamer79]

All i can say is i love this forum!!!!!!!!!! you guys are great. I thought corvette guys were great and we helped eachother out alot but MAn o MAN. I appreciate everyones input over the last few weeks, thanks for helping me make the right decisions.

 

[Kmrumedy]

Wow...I just read the entire 7 pages.

If I were you, before I did anything else, I would spend $15 and buy "The Viper Buyers Guide" by Maurice Q Liang.

You need to be very well eduacted on these cars before you buy one. We take care of our own here and we are happy to help out.

I was in the same position as you the same time last year. EVERY car that interested me I had others on this forum look at - The people here found issues that I would never have found. They saved me from buying some pretty bad cars.

It is easy to get "Purchase Drunk" on these cars and buy too quickly. People here will give you great advice and if you add your personal research and education, you will find the perfect car for you.

 

[transamer79]

show me some rt10s!!!!!!
i cant find anything with power windows in my range except for those with high miles or salvage titles

 

[Dom426h]

What is your CURRENT price range? the original 25? the stretch to 30? or the ebay budjet of 35? lol sorry dude, i had to..

keep you eye out and at best you will get lucky and find one that had minor damage but was properly repaired. If not no biggy, find a good deal on somethingelse, save your money, and look for your viper in a year or two. trust me, you will still be able to enjoy it just as much at 25/26yrs old.

 

[99 R/T 10]

show me some rt10s!!!!!!
i cant find anything with power windows in my range except for those with high miles or salvage titles

Check your ***. Maybe we can make a deal on my 97

 

[transamer79]

What is your CURRENT price range? the original 25? the stretch to 30? or the ebay budjet of 35? lol sorry dude, i had to..

keep you eye out and at best you will get lucky and find one that had minor damage but was properly repaired. If not no biggy, find a good deal on somethingelse, save your money, and look for your viper in a year or two. trust me, you will still be able to enjoy it just as much at 25/26yrs old.

ill give you credit, that was pretty funny. lol.

My budget is about 30, the ebay 35 was me having poor judgement. If i had to go 35 i probably could but i really dont think its a good idea for me to go into that range.

 

[cudavip]

Young blood, your still at this?
Your 24 with 30G to burn buy a property with as little as your money as possible, buy cheap flip it and move up in two years you'll be buying one of the garage queens someone on this site is storing for you.
Example: seller on this site has a 2001 acr for 66,9 I offered 60 (see my thread whats with car owners)
no sale not even a negotiation anyways I took my 60G bought/sold some tech stock as well as others my 60 is now 70 in two weeks he most likely still has the car and his attitude and I now have 10G more it was'nt the right thing for me.
You have time on your side buy/invest wisely now own vipers as well as others later.

 

[transamer79]

I have about 20 to 25k to play with, the other ten is going to be through an auto loan. I looked into the forclosure market and it seems like i have about another year and a half before anyhting is going to change so i have some time. Besides, i need to save more before i get into any property in my area, the met NYC area is expensive. I get a rent free house with my job so im not paying rent so i can save rather fast. I think that i can buy a toy and play for a year or two before i have to sell and put something down on property. The whole while i will be saving and when the time comes to sell i will have more in the bank and it will have only cost me a couple grand to have a bad ass car for a yer or two.

 

[transamer79]

The viper i was about to buy just sold yesterday

Im back to square 1, let me know if you guys see something i might be interested in.

 

[Bobpantax]

Three up. Three down. You are being sent a message from a higher authority and it is a clear message. Don't buy now. Listen to the message. it makes sense. You are only 24.

 

[costanZo]

What is this talk about only being 24 and waiting to buy? I'm 24 and just bought my Viper- got it 2 weeks ago. My friend who I was with last night has a Viper and he's 24 also and he bought his when he was 20. I think I remember some kid on this forum being 19 who has one too...

If you have the money and you want one bad enough then do it. Being 24, especially with no kids, no gf at the moment is the best time to get yourself into one.. If you can buy one safely without having to sacrifice a lot then do it, but don't buy one if you're gonna end up ruining your credit or barely being able to live and get by because of your Viper payment.. If you can afford to have a Viper and another car as a daily driver then you should be fine. You only live once anyways, and it's better to buy it now then to wait until you get older and actually have a family that demands more of your income..

If you are looking for good deals, try cars.com or autotrader.com which I'm sure you already have along with eBay. However, the best place to buy is through the Marketplace here within the classifieds.. thats where I bought my Viper and I gotta tell ya.. it's much more reassuring to be buying a Viper from a VCA Member then from some Dealer or private seller where you can't fully trust the history on the car which is why you also wanna make sure to get the carfax records no matter what you find.

You're looking for a RT/10 in the 25-30k range right.... what about this?
ViperClub Classifieds - 95 Viper RT/10 Yellow Includes Hard Top New Price Reduced $9000. - Powered by PhotoPost Classifieds

it has 41,000 miles but for your price range it's gonna be hard to find real low miles..

Goodluck on your search!

 

[Bobpantax]

Read his posts again. He does have a limited budget. If he loses his job and has to pay for a place to live, he will be between the rock and the hard place. Regardless of someone's age a nest egg is always a good thing to have available. That's why I referred to his age. He has plenty of time to save more and improve his financial condition so that he can get the Viper he really wants.

 

[costanZo]

Read his posts again. He does have a limited budget. If he loses his job and has to pay for a place to live, he will be between the rock and the hard place. Regardless of someone's age a nest egg is always a good thing to have available. That's why I referred to his age. He has plenty of time to save more and improve his financial condition so that he can get the Viper he really wants.

I'm not going back within 7 pages to read all his posts lol.. just saying if all is right go for it and buy one... obviously if you can't swing it then you can't swing it.. and you would be stupid to risk a job if you have a limited budget..

However, if he can find a way to do it safely- then go for it.. I mean he did own a Z06 originally so if he could afford that I'm sure he could afford a Viper if he finds one around the same price range.. but then again if he had a hard time affording the z06 before his buddy cracked it up.. then yes, I agree with everyone else here.. wait until your financial condition is in better standing..

 

[djacob372]

Soft tops are cheap, and easily damaged while storing so I wouldn't worry about it... you'll probably never use it anyway.

 

[transamer79]

hey guys, i havnt been on in a few days. I can afford 45,000 if i wanted to but i dont want to . I have about 20 to 25 cash and the rest to make up with a loan so i can go as high as i want. I would like a gen 2 but i want to stay within a reasonable budget. I just dont want to be paying it off forever, thats why im on the old budget. Someone said earlier "if he can afford a z06 he can afford a viper." that is where the budget is derived from, i wanted to spend about what i spent on the z06, not another ten grand on top. I found a nice 99 rt 10 with 25,000 miles that i would like to buy if the dealership will drop the price a little bit. What do you think is a good price to pay for a 99 silver rt/10 with 25,000 miles and black interior. the car is in overall excellent condition.

 

[cudavip]

Since your so persistent (a great quality to have, btw) if it does'nt have to be an RT/10 did you call on the 97 red GTS w/7771 on the clock, original owner 37K or BIN of 38K off e-bay.
Get in it, under it, all around it see if he's holding back something otherwise it just may be what your looking for?
perhaps 35K, and a couple G for full maintenance and your in.

 

[hemihead]

I'm a similar situation to transamer79. I hope we're not driving the Viper owners nuts by driving prices down but my story is that I'm 49 years old, I just sold my 1969 Road Runner and I'm going to buy a Viper or build my other dream of building a crate hemi car. I made great money on my Road Runner and I don't necessarly expect to do the same with a Viper but I 'm leaning toward the Viper, I think I need to get it out of my system at this point in my life. I have a budget of $30 - $35 K for a gen 2 RT 10. I just want a solid dependable weekend toy car. It dosen't need to be a garage queen, obviously not ragged out. I'm looking for a clear title, minimum mods, dependable gen 2 RT 10. I'm not going to get bent out of shape over some road rash or a couple stone chips, a solid car is more important to me.

If anybody sees one that fits the bill, I"ll give Transamer79 first shot since he started this thread but don't forget me as well. I may lean on you guys for your experience when I find a candidate.

Jerry

 

[costanZo]

Someone said earlier "if he can afford a z06 he can afford a viper." that is where the budget is derived from, i wanted to spend about what i spent on the z06, not another ten grand on top. I found a nice 99 rt 10 with 25,000 miles that i would like to buy if the dealership will drop the price a little bit. What do you think is a good price to pay for a 99 silver rt/10 with 25,000 miles and black interior. the car is in overall excellent condition.

Yes that guy was me. I got your PM too. I am at work right now but I will give you a call later.

And a Silver 99 RT/10 with 25,000 miles could price out anywhere between 35,000-40,000 in good condition.

It's all a game though. Whatever you do don't let the dealer know your fully interested in the car. Even if it's perfect in your eyes... just find some flaws about it or things you dislike about the car(even if your lying). The dealer will not want to risk losing the sale and will most likely be flexible with the price knowing you are interested and will buy.

 

[NukedGTS]

Regarding the budget issue and comparison. . . . the issue is not really the purchase price as much as it is the work (if any) you are looking to have done after you purchase your Viper. Corsa catback install, which is a very popular add-on will run you $2700 - $3200 for a Viper. A similar setup on a Vette will be between $1200 - $1600. If you want the whole picture, those are the things you need to consider. We commonly refer to the "Viper Tax" on this forum for a reason.

 

[costanZo]

Might help someone looking for an ABS car:

eBay Motors: Dodge : Viper (item 320234419392 end time Apr-21-08 07:39:44 PDT)

Jump on this quick!!!!

 

[transamer79]

thanks costanZO but that rt10 sold already. Oh well. Im am an idiot and should have jumped on the first one that i went to look at instead of letting some of these guys get in my head. Im KICKING myself in the ass right now for not buying it.

 

[Venomiss]

I'm a similar situation to transamer79. I hope we're not driving the Viper owners nuts by driving prices down but my story is that I'm 49 years old, I just sold my 1969 Road Runner and I'm going to buy a Viper or build my other dream of building a crate hemi car. I made great money on my Road Runner and I don't necessarly expect to do the same with a Viper but I 'm leaning toward the Viper, I think I need to get it out of my system at this point in my life. I have a budget of $30 - $35 K for a gen 2 RT 10. I just want a solid dependable weekend toy car. It dosen't need to be a garage queen, obviously not ragged out. I'm looking for a clear title, minimum mods, dependable gen 2 RT 10. I'm not going to get bent out of shape over some road rash or a couple stone chips, a solid car is more important to me.

If anybody sees one that fits the bill, I"ll give Transamer79 first shot since he started this thread but don't forget me as well. I may lean on you guys for your experience when I find a candidate.

Jerry

What area are you from? Reason I ask is that it's a good idea to meet other Viper owners in your area. Several of our members tend to sell by word of mouth with the clubs. Plus you get the background on the car you are looking at.

 

[hemihead]

Thanks for the great advise Venomiss.

I'm from the Detroit area but I'll travel for the right car. A nice long ride home in a new Viper sounds like a blast. Since I just sold my Road Runner I'm just starting my Viper networking, in fact my post on this chain was my first networking for a Viper.

In addition to lurking on this site for quite some time (in fact I even joined in on a Viper club group buy of a four post lift two years ago), I just stared lurking on the Motor City Viper club page and I will visit them at some up coming events.

Please keep me in mind if you see or hear of anything.

Jerry

 

[transamer79]

i just saw the viper i could have bought for 28 being flipped for 37 right now. what a great world we live in!!!!!!!!! im an ass for not jumping on it.

 

[hemihead]

I haven't checked with the owner yet so I don't know if this car is still for sale or not, it's priced right but this car has been listed for awhile by a VCA member. Does anybody know the story on this one?

ViperClub Classifieds - 1999 Viper RT10 17k - Powered by PhotoPost Classifieds

Thanks,
Jerry

 

[transamer79]

that one sold a while ago, i called about it but with a price like that it was gone fast