Questions about Vipers

[Zan186]

Hello, although I am new on these forum's and I have read just about all the posts over the last few weeks. I am currently saving up to purchase a 2002 Final Edition Viper and I have a boat load of questions.

I am planning to purchase my Viper in the late Spring of 2007. Simply put I have to save up the cash. (I plan to buy it just about outright with cash, banks can kill you with high interest).

I am guessing that the 2002 model's will be priced about where the 2001's are currently, in about a year? I am guessing 50 to 65k?

Ok on with the questions:
1) Purchasing: What is a reasonable offer? 90% of asking price? How flexible are the asking prices on expensive sports cars. I am assuming it has to be more like buying/selling a house than a normal car? (I mean the interest you can make on 50k is substantial)
2) Obviously, all Vipers are going to be raced a little bit. Seriously, how can you resist not driving them fast? (at least a little bit). How can you tell if someone beat on the car? What are the tell tale signs? Yeah besides no tread on the tires lol. I read on these forum's their is a how to buy a viper book, I have to get that yet.
3) From these forum's I have learned to stay away from [******]. I got the msg loud and clear that the guy is shady and can't be trusted.
4) When I purchase my Viper how much does it usually cost to ship it? I live in Buffalo, NY. More than likely I am going to be looking elsewhere to find my car. I am only interested in the Final Edition, (Red with white Stripes). Why? Cause that is exactly what I want.
5) What is the average cost of Insurance?
6) I have read a lot about modifications. Is the stock Viper not super fast car? How does a Stock Viper stand up to say a Corvette? or a Mustang?
7) How hard are Vipers to drive? I just have this bad thought of giving too much gas coming off a red light and smacking into the guy in front. Can the Viper roll without Gas in first? Or will it stall? Sorry my experience with Standards is minimal.

Well I think that covers my main questions, I will sit back and listen to the veteran's ramble away.

 

[n-mo]

I'll hit a couple, since I just bought a viper not too long ago myself....
1. Depending on how the car is priced the seller might want to get close to the asking price (as you put it, just like houses, the less expensive, USUALLY the less wiggle room). YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU GET -again, usually... Now, as for offers I would think vipers usually bring close to the asking price simply because they are vipers, and the people looking for them know exactly what they want (just like you) and usually have the funds to get them (just like you will) and when they find the right car, they get it (just like you should).

2. As you said, ALL vipers will be driven a little "too fast / too hard" at some point. Have a viper-tech check it out for you. Remember, you're basically buying a street legal racecar and the engine is designed for just what you will probably do to the car too... drive it hard. Another way is to look at as many vipers as you can before you buy your FE. --Even if it is a '94 RT/10. Since vipers are rare, sometimes its hard to have a comparison for the car you are looking at. I looked at a ton of cars before I bought, some of them I wasn't at all interested in the car going into the "showing". However, I learned a lot about the normal wear spots on the car and it gave me a basis for comparison.

5. Insurance is what you want it to be... low premium- classic car insurance policies are out there, except for the fact that usually there is a yearly mileage limitation. Or you can pay a normal car insurace Co. a higher premium (make sure you get a stated value policy) and DRIVE IT!!

6. Zan, do I really have to answer this question... With the V10 from the factory there is PLENTY of power w/o any modding... you will definitely "eat a V8" and "kill a stang"

7. If you don't have that much experience with manual transmissions, get some! Not only will it make driving your car more enjoyable, but.... the clutch pedal on a viper is VERY STIFF and nothing more would **** than to stall out a viper at some traffic light, or anywhere for that matter - you see, everyone is looking at you! As a side note, you can kill yourself in this car. There is so much power in that beast of an engine it's not hard to loose control. Remember... know every inch of your stick, before jumping on in!!

Good luck!

 

[joe117]

"How can you tell if someone beat on the car?"

Look out for a Viper that has been rebuilt after a wreck.
That is more important than the car being driven hard.
Watch out for repainted cars.
Take a very close look at the way the hood fits.

You really need a Viper guy to check it out. I'm sure that this site will give you some help. You can probably get someone to help you check out a car that is out of town.
Many cars for sale have been seen before by others on the site.

Since the Viper is an expensive car and since it is expensive to repair crash damage, there are quite a few rebuilt Vipers for sale.
Guys buy a wreck, "fix" it and put it on Ebay.
Often it isn't sold as rebuilt.
Often, they say it's a rebuild but they don't offer the car at a price that makes sense for a rebuild. A rebuilt Viper is worth much less than a normal one.
I believe avoiding a rebuild is the most important thing for you to watch out for.

There are dealers who will put beat Vipers on Ebay claiming great condition. If you buy without looking, you may pay good money for a rough car.
You really cant tell from pictures. Often, someone on the site will have the scoop on these dealers.

I wouldn't worry too much about getting a car that has been driven hard by a normal owner. Vipers are strong and a little drag racing isn't going to hurt anything.

A car with low miles is not worth paying much extra. Most Vipers have fairly low miles compared with other cars. If you pay extra for very low miles, it doesn't really get you much.

 

[KMODStang]

... you will definitely "eat a V8" and "kill a stang"

haha, take a look at this, and compare that to any Vette or Mustang:

http://www.internetautoguide.com/car-specifications/09-int/2002/dodge/viper/index.html

 

[n-mo]

KMOD, I believe in your response you were implying that a Mustang is on the same level as a viper as far as performance, and even asked me to "compare" the two. Well, here you go...

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2004/10/05/244450.html

I'm not talking about people who mod the heck out of their cars, one could build an '85 camaro with 800 hp. -Oh, that's right and they still wouldn't have the wheel base, or stance that the viper does. All I meant by that comment, was that a stock viper will rule pretty much anything on the road, with the exception of a few modded cars.

 

[red98RT10]

n-mo, I thought KMOD was saying that vettes and mustangs WOULDN'T keep up. Maybe I read it wrong.

 

[Klayfish]

I'll take a stab at answering the ones I can.

2. I don't think it's much different than other sports cars. Check for smoke, unusual noises, get a detailed service history, owner history. Get a feel for the owner. Is he the type that would likely race it or beat it? Insist that the seller take it to a local Dodge dealer for a thorough check up (offer to pay for it if you're really serious about buying the car).

4. Shipping will depend on where it comes from. My car went from Arizona to Pennsylvania, so it was basically across the country. It cost me $1700 door to door. Contact form member Ralph, aka Forged Horsemen. He's a Viper owner and does transport service.

5. Insurance is about the same as most others. With State Farm, we pay almost exactly the same for my Viper as we do my wife's 2002 Taurus. You can get collector policies, but read and follow them closely!! Trust me, I work for an auto insurance company.

6. The Viper is a very fast car. Many Viper owners would probably object or get mad, but the reality is that a new Z06 could keep up with a stock 2001 GTS. A very heavily modified Mustang may be able to keep up as well, but that's not comparing apples to apples. A stock Mustang would get blown away. If you've never owned a car with as much power as the Viper, it's something you'll have to treat gently and get used to, as it can be very dangerous. People modify Vipers for the same reason they do any other car. To go faster. My sports car before this one was a FFR Cobra. It weighed 2200lbs and had about 350hp. It probably would outrun my Viper because it was so light. But I was still looking for ways to make it go faster.

7. I've had my Viper about 3 weeks, after having owned my FFR Cobra for 4+ years. In comparison, I find the Viper very, very easy to drive. But that's not to say it's like a Honda Accord. If you don't have much experience with sticks, you'll have to be careful. As noted by n-mo the clutch is very stiff. I don't care if everyone is looking at me or if I stall it. I'll get over it. My bigger issue would be hurting the clutch. Unless you give it a lot of gas (the pedal is pretty linear) and pop the clutch, you shouldn't bump the person behind you, but it'll take some practice to get used to smoothly launching the car. But once you do that, you can drive it as docile as you want. I've cruised around in the car at a leisurely pace and it was nice and easy to do.

Steve

 

[n-mo]

Per red98RT10's post: KMOD, I hereby officially apologize for reading your post incorrectly. No hard feelings my friend.
I think it was the that threw me off... those dang little... always creating conflict.

 

[VENOMAHOLIC]

Hello Zan186,

1) You may want to consider buying in the early-mid fall instead of in the Spring. I did this and saved at least $4-5k when I got mine approaching 2 yrs ago. I got mine from a dealer that wanted to unload it for cash before winter and was lucky to find it 5 miles from my house.

5) State Farm is good to me with rates which are only pennies higher than my other cars. Also they let me take Viper off road for winter without needing to go to DMV and turning in plates every year.

6) Almost 2 years and I still get a rush when I hit it. In reality, the Viper is a detuned race car with the same engine that won LeMans in the 1990's.



7) The hardest part is the little things like entering driveways at an angle to not scrape front fascia. Learning standard shift on a Viper is a little risky only because of the power. I recommend learning stick on a different vehicle first. The transmission does have a skip shift you may consider disabling to have smoother city driving.

Good luck in your quest for the ultimate muscle car.

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

7) How hard are Vipers to drive? I just have this bad thought of giving too much gas coming off a red light and smacking into the guy in front. Can the Viper roll without Gas in first? Or will it stall? Sorry my experience with Standards is minimal.

Vipers are fairly easy to drive IF you can control your right foot. Many people get in a Viper and decide their driving skills match the abilities of the car. Most of the time, thats not true. Many good Viper drivers have wrecked their cars because they got on the gas at the wrong time or stayed in the gas too long. If you get on the gas on cold tires or with the wheels not straight, HANG ON for the ride of your life (in a bad way)!

 

[Zan186]

Well my thoughts on the hard to drive is the whole standard thing with a ton of power on the rear wheels. As for driving skill, lol let's just say if you take out the Standard and replace with an Automatic, I drove a 400hp TransAm with bald tires in Buffalo winter's. I am fairly good at dealing with fishtailing on every acceleration. (hehe that was 15 years ago when I was a all too hip Teenager.) But really it is my dad's fault. Told me the middle of the tire doesn't matter. Grr Should of known not to take advice about tires from a Dentist.
My concern is the stalling and shifting. I grew up on Automatic's. 77 Trans Am was an automatic, 81 Vette is an automatic and all my SUV's are automatic's.
I have driven a 56 Chevy Standard twice and it had a 1966 327 High Performance Vette engine in it and it was hard to drive because you had to give it the right amount of gas or it stalled, or too much and the wheels spun. That is where my difficulty of driving comes in. Not that I care, I will force myself to learn.

More Questions: How does the ground clearance compare to my 81 Vette? I always have difficulties with certain drive ways. How many inches is the front spoiler from the ground?

Seat Covers: Yeah Vipers have nice interiors, I would like to keep mine that way. I know that Jeep sells some nice neoprene seat covers, does Viper have any after market covers to protect the leather?

Sound Systems: What is stock, and how much room is their in the GTS for amps and a Sub? I would like to put a single 12" with a small Class D amp in the back. No I am not looking to vibrate the hell out of my car, but I do appreciate a deep base sound from my music. Can anyone post a pic of the inside of the back hatch area? Just out of curiosity is the battery in the back. 81 Vette has the battery in the back compartment. Always thought that was odd.

 

[Wild Bill]

I found it the easiest standard to drive of any car I've driven. As long as you have minimal cordination you won't have a problem

Ground clearence is about 4.5 inches-you will still have problems with driveways.

Never considered seat covers--I'll check with my grandmother and see who did her couch if you want.

Don't know much about the sound system. Mines ******* and I prefer to listen to that V-10 purrrrrr.

Battery is inside the rear wheel well (drivers side) total PIA to change

B

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

My concern is the stalling and shifting...That is where my difficulty of driving comes in. Not that I care, I will force myself to learn.

I would find a manual tranny car to practice on before you bought a Viper. No sense in tearing up a Viper tranny/clutch or possibly wrecking the car while you learn to drive a stick. One friend of mine wanted me to teach her to drive a manual on the Viper. I asked her what she was smoking and who her supplier was

 

[Wild Bill]

If you want to get a car to practice on go rent a manual transmission car for the weekend

B

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

If you want to get a car to practice on go rent a manual transmission car for the weekend

B

We can recommend a guy who will let you learn on a brand new yellow Z06

 

[KepRght]

We can recommend a guy who will let you learn on a brand new yellow Z06

LOL

 

[KMODStang]

Per red98RT10's post: KMOD, I hereby officially apologize for reading your post incorrectly. No hard feelings my friend.
I think it was the that threw me off... those dang little... always creating conflict.

No prob. To be clear, I was saying stock for stock, neither a Vette nor a Mustang could compete with a Viper. If you want to talk about worked cars, we would have to include the TT Vipers putting down 1,000-1,200 HP.

 

[joe117]

Another thing about the Viper is that the very large tires will often track grooves in the pavement.
A crowned road in the country or a worn city road will have the Viper darting from side to side.
Why they do this, I don't know.

The big tires will also hydroplane long before other cars wuth normal tires.
Take extra care if you get caught on a highway in heavy rain. Get in the slow lane till the rain stops and there is no more standing water.