As a fairly new owner of a blue 06 Paxton-charged car myself. I've learned many valuable lessons quickly.
1. Check the obvious for dummy lights being on, and also have emissions done before you buy the car. Many sellers and dealers reset the lights and it takes 50-100 plus miles for them to come back on so it may appear like the lights are fine or not triggered.
2. Check the engine for the obvious oil or fluid leaks, inspect the hoses, inspect the belts, and spark plug wires in particular. Wires are a ***** to replace on this gen, often requiring you to remove the intake manifold completely. If you ever remove the intake manifold runners, it is a pitta!!! Please, I beg of you to use a strong magnet and account for every single bolt, as they can easily fall into the head runners and cause full engine damage if you are not careful. pull out a spark plug and see when the last time it was swapped. I would also pay someone to check compression and throw the car on the lift to check under the car for damage, leaks, wear and tear, etc. These cars are so low they are very hard to inspect without a lift.
3. When you go see the car, ask them not to have it running or warmed up. Start the car cold and see how it idles,see how it warms up, etc. Run the car for a good 30 minutes if you can. This will let you test the gears, clutch, any overheating issues. This is also a good time to check the brakes. Do a couple of hard stops to see if its pulling, etc.
4. Run a carfax if you can. Buy your own, do not trust the one at the dealer (unless you can run it from their site directly to CarFax), but even that may not show everything. Open every door, lower the windows, open the hood, trunk, look under the rear carpet, etc. Check for resprays, repaint, any damage, etc.
5. As for recommended fixes, it all depends on the mods the car may already have and previous work so its hard to recommend anything. Its a 12 year old car, so a lot of the OEM stuff will be somewhat bridle or worn out, or have already been replaced by previous owners if they care for the car. Location of the car also makes a big difference. Up noth Vipers can have some extra rust on parts because of the salt residue on the roads after winters. In my Viper I had to replace the Idle Air Control Valve (IAC), the Air Intake/Charge Temp sensor (IAT), as well as some hoses. When replacing the IAC you will need to disconnect the battery, reconnect it and do a calibration sequence with the gas pedal before starting it. Otherwise it may idle very high.
6. Check the tires for wear to see if they need an alignment or just replacing.
7. Check the A/C and heat, make sure both work.
8. Check how the windows go up and down. My passenger side window has an alignment issues that many owners report. Not a huge deal but can become a bigger problem if not addressed early. The hood struts are usually worn at this stage, as are the trunk gas struts.
9. The shifter shaft can be loose often. This is a an easy fix usually by removing the metal ring and boot around it, and tightening the double nut below it.
10. OEM radio *****. There are tons of alternatives with double din, single din, etc. I ended going with the Alpine Halo9 and a reverse camera myself and love the huge 9", plus didn't have to cut the dash to fit a double din.
11. Enjoy it, these cars are so much fun and you will get tons of thumbs up and people taking pics at the light. Hope that helps some.
