Possibly picking up an 03 SRT... advice please

[adg44]

So I found a 2003 SRT-10 with 2800 miles on it for about $45,000. Silver on black, no stripes.

The car is in as new condition, except for a small curb mark on one of the wheels. Whatever recalls there are have been done, and the first service was done. It is due for an oil change though as it's been over a year.

Current owner bought the car through a relatively local viper dealer in 2005 with 7 miles on it. The original owner was a collector, and he passed away and his cars were sold off.

Given that fact, I'd become the third owner of the car, which I don't know how it will affect resale value.

Also, the car has no warranty, so I'm a little hesistant as I'm not sure where the troubled areas are on the Viper, or how bad maintenance and upkeep is. I'm hoping you all can shed some light on that.

I didn't notice any heat from the sidepipes during my test drive, although I wasn't pushing it hard. Yeah it's a hard car to get in and out of, but not too bad. The offset pedals are a little odd, but I'd get used to them. Only pet peeve is that I am looking out the top of the windshield as I'm 6'2" and may be a little tall for the car. Headroom is fine though when the top is up.

So, looking for your thoughts and opinions on this deal...

Thanks.

 

[CaptainDavid]

There are seat lowering kits eveywhere. My 04 SRT-10 has almost 10,000 miles, I've had no warrenty issues ( knock-wood). These cars are a lot more rugged than most peeps think. Its a truck engine after all...

 

[DWR46]

After you get the car, remove the sun visors. It makes the upper windshield area seem less restrictive and feels less claustrophobic when driving with the top down. Just buy it, it sems a great price for the condition and life is short.

 

[Ray W]

As far as Vipers go. Buy what you like with what you like on or in it. If it drives and rides good when you check it out and hasn't been wrecked it's going to be a good car. Take another Viper owner with you when you go. Some noises will be normal some will not.

ps.....Silver stays and looks the cleanest,even when dirty.

 

[Venomiss]

Where are you at? Talk with some local Viper owners if you can.
Pay a Viper Tech to look it over. Could save you big $$ in the future.
Tires?

Maybe call to see how much a warranty would be? Do a search here-there are many threads with good information in them about how to get the best deal.

Look into the seat lowering kit. Worth it.

Good luck!

 

[adg44]

Thanks guys. Does the seat lowering kit make it so that the seat won't move back and forth anymore though? I would assume so. I guess that's not a big deal once I set it to the correct position.

I noticed that the studs for the exhaust manifolds were all rusty, yet the car had never seen rain and stays in the garage covered. I guess that's just normal for iron due to heat and moisture?

 

[1BADGTS]

Pricewise check this months Galves wholesale book (only book dealers are using right now )and simply add approx 3-4 grand for retail.Galves will have adjustments for mileage ect.Extremely soft market right now.

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

I beg to differ with 1BadGTS, as a blanket statement that Galves is the only book Dealers are using now, is grossly inaccurate - I frankly don't know a single Dealer in our area using it. Every book out there is just a guide , nothing more, and each car is an individual. Viper values have been enormously strained over the past few years as many of the guides went to using only auction prices since they could not garner enough information on sales otherwise.

Check out this car , and it sounds like it has a fair pedigree, and what most books , guides, etc. won't tell you is that there were very few 03s built in Silver ( seems like the number was around 290 total, whereas well over 1000 were done in red ).

Color is big with Vipers and low volume colors normally will bring more money. If the price is fair, and the car is in good shape, rock and roll. A warranty may be an issue though, if the car is over 4 years old, as Dealers can not legitimately offer you contract if they did not sell you the car. If it was sold late in 03 it still might be eligible. Call me if you want me to check out the Vin.

Good luck.

Bill Pemberton
Woodhouse
1-800-889-1893

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

PS - keep in mind the rim can be refinished, but with the rims on this vehicle it is virtually impossible to match the finish, and you will likely have to redo the other rim on the same side to get them to match.

Estimate that cost to be around $500 to do both.

 

[ulllose]

I have a 03 silver with just over 15k on it. Very few problems (fan had to be replaced at 3K miles).
Some 03's that were produced late had red calipers but most have black(greyish)

I didn't know there were so few silver 03's..........i better stop driving it and buy collector plates lol

 

[adg44]

My main concern is that I will be the third owner of this vehicle, even though the first owner put on all the miles. I feel that the price is fair, but given that I suspect the market is soft on the Viper, someone being the fourth owner could make it extremely hard to sell. Sure there is nothing wrong with it, but that is what people think if a car has gone through a lot of owners...

 

[1BADGTS]

I beg to differ with 1BadGTS, as a blanket statement that Galves is the only book Dealers are using now, is grossly inaccurate - I frankly don't know a single Dealer in our area using it. Every book out there is just a guide , nothing more, and each car is an individual. Viper values have been enormously strained over the past few years as many of the guides went to using only auction prices since they could not garner enough information on sales otherwise.

Check out this car , and it sounds like it has a fair pedigree, and what most books , guides, etc. won't tell you is that there were very few 03s built in Silver ( seems like the number was around 290 total, whereas well over 1000 were done in red ).

Color is big with Vipers and low volume colors normally will bring more money. If the price is fair, and the car is in good shape, rock and roll. A warranty may be an issue though, if the car is over 4 years old, as Dealers can not legitimately offer you contract if they did not sell you the car. If it was sold late in 03 it still might be eligible. Call me if you want me to check out the Vin.

Good luck.

Bill Pemberton
Woodhouse
1-800-889-1893

Bill very friendly with the guys at Buhler -they FLAT OUT USE Galves.The market ***** right now.Traded my 06 coupe two months ago for dead Galves 55grand .(Car was like like new 4000 miles )Sold retail for 58gs.

 

[1BADGTS]

Keep in mind book value has no adjustment for color .Buy the thing and have to trade it in to almost any other dealer you get only allowances that are in the book .Nothing else.Look at the Vipers auto trader.ANY of them for sale that are more than 4-5 grand over Galves have been there for months -guess why .Maybe thet are priced too high.

 

[1BADGTS]

Bill what i am trying to say is you at your dealership MAY make a color allowance and adjust accordingly.What kind of valve is this guy going to get in 3 yrs when he gos down the street to say a Caddy dealership to trade this car in.Adg 44 take a test.Call or stop by your local dealership see what they will give you for an 03 SRT before you by the SRT (my bet its dead Galves )

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

Bill very friendly with the guys at Buhler -they FLAT OUT USE Galves.The market ***** right now.Traded my 06 coupe two months ago for dead Galves 55grand .(Car was like like new 4000 miles )Sold retail for 58gs.

This really cracked me up, this guy is "FRIENDLY" with his dealer and they convinced him "THE MARKET *****" and they "FLAT OUT USE GALVES" and I guess he traded his coupe to them "for dead galves 55 grand."
The dealer he refers to is a good dealer and a site supporter so I can only assume there were honest and maybe there were some cosmetic or other issues with the car. Vipers need to be KUNG FU perfect. EVERY owner thinks his car is AS NEW. The dealer sees a different picture.
To the newbies here...Listen to Pemberton, there is NO guide that works for used Vipers, it's a dark art, not a science, and you better hope Voldemort helped you pick the model, color, mileage and condition.

 

[2snakes4us]

My main concern is that I will be the third owner of this vehicle, even though the first owner put on all the miles. I feel that the price is fair, but given that I suspect the market is soft on the Viper, someone being the fourth owner could make it extremely hard to sell. Sure there is nothing wrong with it, but that is what people think if a car has gone through a lot of owners...

are you getting the car to Drive or Sell? Price is cheap if i has not been wrecked. If you want a investment get a limited # car.

 

[1BADGTS]

This really cracked me up, this guy is "FRIENDLY" with his dealer and they convinced him "THE MARKET *****" and they "FLAT OUT USE GALVES" and I guess he traded his coupe to them "for dead galves 55 grand."
The dealer he refers to is a good dealer and a site supporter so I can only assume there were honest and maybe there were some cosmetic or other issues with the car. Vipers need to be KUNG FU perfect. EVERY owner thinks his car is AS NEW. The dealer sees a different picture.
To the newbies here...Listen to Pemberton, there is NO guide that works for used Vipers, it's a dark art, not a science, and you better hope Voldemort helped you pick the model, color, mileage and condition.

Lee Joe Houss Himself personally inspected my car a matter of fact he owns my old 96(Before i bought the car in Arizona Joe had the president of the Arizona VCA inspect it for me .The car showed new (ask Joe )Buhler is giving Galves -no more.I dont think Darren(Buhler) would screw me as i was in his wedding party when he got married.Joe (Hous )if you on line please comment as to the condition of my red 06 that Darren took on trade a few months ago.

 

[1BADGTS]

Ex Specs on my 06 serial number 1b3jz65z88v200998.Red 06 coupe 5 spoke wheels ,3.55 gears Corsa exhaust Kand N filters .4000 miles.Car was bought 5-27 08 (one of Viper Eddies in Arizona clients cars )FOR 58000.00.Traded in to Buhler Auto Group 3 weeks later -DEAD GALVES value of 55000.00.Don Buhler himself then sold two weeks later to a friend for 58000.00

 

[1BADGTS]

Low and behold the origional add placed by Joe Houss on my behalf is still on the VCA classified.Red Coupe Black stripe.Houss description (that he wrote) Joe C is very passionate about his Vipers .The car is showroom new (i guess that means Kung Fu perfect).Please all check is out.For those of you who dont know Joe Houss is an EX NAT Vca president .No one puts words in his mouth.AS clearly illustrated wrote the add and placed it for me.

 

[ulllose]

are you getting the car to Drive or Sell? Price is cheap if i has not been wrecked. If you want a investment get a limited # car.

If your looking for an investment................DON'T BUY A CAR ....................

 

[adg44]

are you getting the car to Drive or Sell? Price is cheap if i has not been wrecked. If you want a investment get a limited # car.

I'm getting it to drive, but I also don't like to take a bath on my cars. I don't want to buy something that will depreciate like a rock, so I try to judge the market accordingly. I have looked at all the Vipers that have gone through manheim, and the price seems right. My only concern is that it's going to be hard selling a three owner Viper when it comes time. I think that's what's going to hurt me most rather than mileage.

 

[TBarrow]

The 03's have the 7/70 powertrain warranty on them. just call and get it transfered into your name. I have an 03 that my wife bought for me and I love the car. Get in it and drive it, The one big problem you will have with it and any years is your face will hurt from smiling so much. We are the 3rd owner of our car as well.

 

[adg44]

The 03's have the 7/70 powertrain warranty on them. just call and get it transfered into your name. I have an 03 that my wife bought for me and I love the car. Get in it and drive it, The one big problem you will have with it and any years is your face will hurt from smiling so much. We are the 3rd owner of our car as well.

Great, thanks. Now I just need to see if I'm ok with being the third owner...

 

[Joseph Houss]

Wow, I feel like a celebrity (cut it out 1badgts!).... "Joe Houss, .... Joe Houss ... Joe Houss"

JoeC (1badgts),

I love your enthusiasm, but chill out!

We ALL know that price is dependent on market conditions, geographic demand.... AND, most importantly BOTH sides of the deal (in other words, whether the vehicle is being traded for a new Viper...and what discount is being offered on THAT side of the deal).

Bill P, and Darren B (and all of our VCA sponsoring Viper oriented dealers) offer incredible savings, fair trade-in values and most importantly, professional and lifelong friendship, customer service and Viper enthusiasm. YES, your 06 was perfect.... but there were many other factors (timing, 08 Viper, etc) that were involved in the trade-in price that was set.

Joe, let's focus on what's important! When did you say you were going to Raceway Park so that you can get that bad boy into the 10's?

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

Buhler are nice guys and it is fine if they use Galves, but your statement was every Dealer uses this guide. One Dealer does not make it everyone, and that was what I was taking exception too. We have 7 stores, do around 25,000 cars a year, and we do not use Galves --- nor do quite alot of our competition.

There are plenty of guides out there, and frankly most Dealers use numerous sources. The idea that going to a Cadillac store for top values on a Viper makes no sense to me, as no one would expect folks to go to a Volvo store to get top value on a Dodge Truck. Car Franchises , regardless of make, usually put more into vehicles they sell or have a market for.

Your quality Dealers , who deal in specific market niches will quite often put more money into vehicles due to color, model, towing capacity, etc. , as that is the area they deal in. We are the second largest heavy duty Dodge truck store in the Nation --- hence we often will put more into a Dodge Diesel than the next guy, simply because we have more people looking here for said product. This is just common logic and is not something that is in a guide , but it lends itself to good business practices if one has built a reputation, market, service dept., etc.

Market dynamics are constantly changing and one often has to know things outside of simple pages in any guide, as they can influence pricing. When one dumps a ton of Skip Barber cars on the market ( Mazda took over as their marque school car ) it was reflected by a drop in used prices for 03-06 Vipers. This was compounded by quite a few SRT Driving Experience cars also being fed into the wholesale market. Were these vehicles quality pieces that exemplified most Viper owner's machines --- the answer is an emphatic NO!! But guides , auction prices , etc. showed a drop and many assumed that was due to slower sales. Who knows all the reasons , but a car that this gentleman found , with low miles and an apparent pedigree, in a color that was done in small numbers , sounds alot better to me , and the price is fair.

Nuff said, but my comments were just to illustrate that blanket statements can often hurt the consumer in how he views things, and often would limit what he/she feels is a reasonable purchase situation.

Just ask yourself if a 1500 mile Chrysler Executive Viper ( how many of the racing school cars are listed ) is worth the same as a 3000 mile one owner , VCA member , machine?

I will pay more in trade for number two, and the guides , etc. will not differentiate.

Respectfully Submitted,
Bill Pemberton

 

[chimazo]

I wouldn't worry about resale just because you're the third owner. A lot of these types of cars go through owners much more frequently than your everyday sedans. Guys get bored, want the newer model, get divorced, get a fat bonus, and BINGO, it's on to a new ride.

 

[adg44]

So what do you guys think is a good deal for this car, being that the ownership is a little high and one of the wheels has a curb mark? Yes, I know it may not matter to some people about ownership, but selling a Viper seems to be tricky, so points against you don't help.

 

[ulllose]

Give him the 45 he asks.......for god sake the car stickered for 86k thats almost half price for a barely used car

 

[SRT10]

So what do you guys think is a good deal for this car, being that the ownership is a little high and one of the wheels has a curb mark? Yes, I know it may not matter to some people about ownership, but selling a Viper seems to be tricky, so points against you don't help.

Are you serious? The car is brand new (2800 miles) and except for a curb rash on one wheel you think 45k is too high?

My advise is DON'T BUY IT. You would probably be happier with a C6 that has heated seats

 

[Nader]

At 45k that is a steal even with a little curb rash. You can buy another rim and still be ahead of the game.