sad news...viper plant shuttered until end June.

[VENOM V]

Some think 640 is underpowered but you can't say it underperforms. It's designed to kick ass on the road course, not drag strip, and it is unbeaten. One day it will be and maybe SRT will address that if and when it happens. For now it's mission accomplished. It uses minimal tech because that's the way SRT and Viper buyers have wanted it. They also wanted to keep it hand built in small quantities, keep it exclusive, and improve every aspect of quality (ie paint). They seem to have achieved all that at a WAY WAY lower price than any other car achieving these design and customer goals.

Give us any example of such a car that makes the Viper even remotely WAY WAY OVERPRICED.

Whether or not there is a future for the Viper I am glad I bought my TA. It is a wonderful automotive achievement and anyone who says differently has not driven the car and may be suffering from a cranial ****** insertion.

LOL, bulls-eye gentlemen, right between the buns

 

[johniew398]

At this point in time close to two-thirds of EVERY GEN 5 BUILT remain on dealers lots (500 SOLD 900 IN INVENTORY )At the current sales pace theres enough cars to last well over 1 year .Guys (for the thousandth time )this is a business accordingly no dealer is going to order more inventory (put on floorplan )if they cant possibly sell whats on hand .The car at the pricepoint it occupys was doomed from the start as it was underpowered ,underteched and WAY WAY OVERPRICED. .

Underpowered?

Do you own one? Have you ridden in one?

 

[goldcup]

Bobpantax and I are in the TA admiration society! Car is amazing and after spending time around the car I'm amazed any are available.
Wish I had room for two! The dealership just north of us in Gladstone doesn't seem to have a problem selling them. I wonder if many dealers price above sticker or won't deal? I don't know but the car I'm driving is amazing.

 

[Bobpantax]

All that the news item which is the subject of this thread means is that the same dealers who did not know how to order and sell the car; who still do not know how to order and sell the car; are not willing to buy more at this time because they still are clueless about how to sell the car.

Solution?

1. Each dealership that sells the car should be required to have a dedicated Viper Sales Specialist who knows everything there is to know about the car; who has driven the car more than just in the parking lot; and, who also understands the mentality of people who have the money to buy it. At the present it is clear that other than a relative few dealerships most of which are active on this site, that is not the case.

2. Remove the cars from those dealerships that do not have a Viper Sales Specialist by offering them an incentive to provide the cars to dealerships that do.

3. Provide some sort of financial incentive to dealers who allow "qualified" buyers to test drive the car with the Viper Sales Specialist. A qualified driver could be someone who signs a form ( marketing gimic) stating that they have prior driving experience in a manual transmission high performance vehicle; acknowledge the ultra high performance nature of the Viper;and, agree to carefully listen to the Viper sales specialist during the test drive. (Of course the Viper Sales Specialist would also scope the person out a bit to sniff out whether they had the where with all to buy the car or just wanted a joy ride.)

4. Ralph needs to appear is some non traditional venues to get the fact that the car is back and being made out there. Every week I am asked: "What year is that?" When they hear that it is a 2014, they always say: " I did not know they made the Viper anymore." Since Ralph has a bit of a rock star quality about him, he should appear on shows like "The View" in the morning and similar shows to speak about how he got where he is in the automotive world and during the interview the car should be shown. SRT has to get the fact that the car is in existence out to the masses. They need little kids to have the same fanaticism about the car that they had during the Viper TV show.

These are not complicated things to do. They just need to get done and done ASAP.

 

[BigDawg]

All the "trolls" here called it but were shooed out. No point beating a dead horse. Hopefully SRT has enough sense to lick their wounds, swallow their pride, re-tool, and come back with an early refresh. It doesn't matter what the blind faithful or Ralph think, what matters is reality. Reality is people want more HP. If the Viper can't muster a 3 second or sub 3 second 0-60 and new record ring time it will fail to get much attention outside of the Viper community. The Viper needs a revision to the rear fenders and back. It needs a 2-3" flare to balance out the aggressive front. I know some members here keep saying "the viper was designed to accommodate wide tires so it doesn't need a widebody". WRONG. If that was the case then why does the GTS-R have a 6" wider track? Further more, scrap the performance benefit, it needs it from an aesthetic benefit. Next, offer more custom interior options and NOT through prefix. Body color stitching inside for all exterior colors. Two tone interior for all exterior colors. And for the love of God get that ugly steering wheel out of there and get the new one from the GC in it. Last, speed up the ACR development. Of course a DCT would also win over new buyers but I don't see them doing that.

Or you can stay the course and watch the Viper die.

 

[goldcup]

In person the Car is amazing to look at, although a bit more "*****" would be nice ring record would say it all! Viper
has always been a slow selling car, coupled with early marketing problems is the problem the Viper is facing.

 

[Bobpantax]

Changed my mind about the usefilness of discussing this.

 

[Soul4Survivor]

Sad to hear here is to all the workers that well lose there jobs when this happens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0zdqeivGaU

 

[ViperSmith]

You consistently say this, but can you share some facts to why you do? Underperformed for this price range? underteched? Please explain how true for the 100-120k price range.

Over priced? sure, anything will sell better if lower priced. put it at 70k, and I am sure will sell much better. what do you think the price should be?

He has sold 50 cars, don't question him. He is an authority on all things automotive. He sat next to the guy that helped build the Ford GT after all one time.

 

[FLL-B/W-GTS]

They may say the Viper line will open in June.You can bet, if all these new Vipers continue sitting on lots,it will not. To save the Viper,SRT will have to offer some really good incentives to sell the inventory(give them away).Then, if they produce a 2015 model,it will have to have better performance on the drag strip to at least run with the other HP cars,The most important thing to sell new Vipers is offer a convertible and a DCT ,people do not want to shift anymore and many want a convertible.. Also unlock that computer so people can modify their car if they want..If SRT does nothing the Viper will be history..
Esp,with that new Z06 coming out...

The new TA is the best Viper ever produced,but the limited amount of people that want a car like that can not save the the Snake....

The VOI would be a good place to announce some real improvements..

Those of you that have Gen 5s,hang on to it,it will be worth a lot one day when no more Vipers are around....

 

[640bhpV10]

Sad, sad news. I really think some new wisdom has come to light here, that I want to affirm:

1. Forum experience. When I was shopping for my car, the VCA was imploding, the VOA didn't exist, and the alley looked like it was populated by a bunch of middle school students. I saw a thread where a guy who owned a Grand Sport came in inquiring about buying a Gen 4 Viper. He was being told he "likes to eat d**s" 2 posts later. That's not going to engender a growing population of owners.

2. The Gen V forums were full of trolls that not only can't afford a $100-140K car, but don't even know anyone who knows anyone who could. Nobody who has actually seen the G V hates on it. The worst reaction I've ever seen from actual potential buyers was a 911 Turbo S owner I know who said it "just didn't feel right." Hardly the kind of scorn I've seen from people online.

3. Visibility. Every, freaking, single, solitary, time I take my ACR to the gas station, I hear two things from the general public:

1. Is that new?

2. I thought they stopped making those a couple years ago...

The general public is utterly oblivious to the fact that the Gen V even exists. I've even heard low-level mechanics at the tire shop where I take my Corvette comment "It's too bad they're not making the Viper anymore." It needs more visibility from dealers, from SRT, and from general media. It's not treated like a Halo car. It should have been the Gen V animated in that Archer episode, not a Challenger. It should have been in movies instead of the muscle cars SRT is always promoting. Just do that a few times, and I bet sales pick up.

I whole-heartedly agree! I get the same comments from on my GenV - nobody realizes that the car is back. The first person who stopped and talked to me after parking the car, saw the temp tags and gave me a bewildered look..."are they still making Vipers?".

SRT needs some real marketing, not just the racing program. Look how heavily Jaguar is marketing the F-type in spite of all of it's magazine/comparo coverage.

They also need more non-Viper owners to experience the car. A good friend of mine (posts as Hawkeye on the forum), just bought a '99 Diablo from Roy Cats in Seattle. Roy is a Lamboghini collector/dealer and LOVES the Diablo. He daily drives a manual transmission LP-670 SV and has not bought an Aventador because he feels that the car is too disconnected and he doesn't like the mandatory automated transmission. He recently drove a GenV GTS and really liked it. He had never liked Vipers in the past, but the GenVs balance of brutality with drivability really intrigued him.

It has been said before here many, many times - the only people who seem to complain about the GenV have not driven it (and those who complain about the looks haven't seen it in person). More people need to drive this car, not just Viper owners, and people need to now that the car exists!

-Nick

 

[FLL-B/W-GTS]

Further,SRT needs to keep the SRT lines worker working.Layoff their Best people,what are the SRT Bosses thinking.....Good Guys seems to making lots of bad decisions....

 

[kdaviper]

Typically when CAAP shuts down or slows production, the workers are assimilated back into the general population, as they are the most-skilled workers FCA has. I doubt they will be layed off, but even if they are... that's what unemployment insurance is for.

 

[Tenney]

They went back a generation in styling, and tried softening the car to make it more appealing to more folks - this may've alienated the core customer, while simultaneously putting the Viper in a larger competitive set of cars; some of which do that balance better. And, of course, they had a difficult time providing properly-assembled cars to the press initially, with disastrous PR results … TA too late?

 

[ViperSmith]

"Laid off" with union auto workers isn't the same as anyone else getting laid off. They will be fine, though I assume they'd rather work.

 

[DMan]

Not to get of the doom & gloom theme, but just thinking ...

Is there are chance that the extended shutdown is just to do whatever re-tooling is needed on the line for the "refresh", like for a vert??

 

[SSGViper]

All the "trolls" here called it but were shooed out. No point beating a dead horse. Hopefully SRT has enough sense to lick their wounds, swallow their pride, re-tool, and come back with an early refresh. It doesn't matter what the blind faithful or Ralph think, what matters is reality. Reality is people want more HP. If the Viper can't muster a 3 second or sub 3 second 0-60 and new record ring time it will fail to get much attention outside of the Viper community. The Viper needs a revision to the rear fenders and back. It needs a 2-3" flare to balance out the aggressive front. I know some members here keep saying "the viper was designed to accommodate wide tires so it doesn't need a widebody". WRONG. If that was the case then why does the GTS-R have a 6" wider track? Further more, scrap the performance benefit, it needs it from an aesthetic benefit. Next, offer more custom interior options and NOT through prefix. Body color stitching inside for all exterior colors. Two tone interior for all exterior colors. And for the love of God get that ugly steering wheel out of there and get the new one from the GC in it. Last, speed up the ACR development. Of course a DCT would also win over new buyers but I don't see them doing that.

Or you can stay the course and watch the Viper die.

That sums it up nicely! Well done!

 

[1BADGTS]

In the price range the GEN 5 now ocupys the car MUST have it all to succeed .Horsepower sells ,when a 70 k Mustang Cobra outpowers a Viper costing twice as much red flags go up .Tech features sell cars .When EVERY other car in the Gen 5 price strata incorporates features such as mid engines ,carb fiber brakes,dry sump oiling, -alum frame ,7 speed paddle ship trannys and the Gen 5 DOES NOT red flags go up Service and dealer experiance sells cars .Pull into a Lexus ,Porsche-Audi or ANY OTHER MANU that sells cars iin the Gen 5 price range and compare the customer service aspect with that of a Dodge dealership (Does McDonalds try to sell steaks )When a car is priced in the 75k range a manu can get away with things that they cant get away with in the 100-150 k range .The Gen 4 sold terribly in the 90 k range so Dodge gave it 40 hp ,a nicer interior and a few body panels and expected it to sell at 100-150 are you kidding me Dodge wants the car to sell thats an easy fix dro the price to a range indicitive to where it should be 75 k for a loaded GTS and 65 k for the SRT.

 

[1BADGTS]

Some think 640 is underpowered but you can't say it underperforms. It's designed to kick ass on the road course, not drag strip, and it is unbeaten. One day it will be and maybe SRT will address that if and when it happens. For now it's mission accomplished. It uses minimal tech because that's the way SRT and Viper buyers have wanted it. They also wanted to keep it hand built in small quantities, keep it exclusive, and improve every aspect of quality (ie paint). They seem to have achieved all that at a WAY WAY lower price than any other car achieving these design and customer goals.

Give us any example of such a car that makes the Viper even remotely WAY WAY OVERPRICED.

The buyers dont care LESS THAN 7% OF ALL BUYERS WILL EVER TAKE A 100K CAR ON A RACETRACK (if someone wants to race-DESTROY a Viper they go buy a Gen 2 with a salvaged title for 25k not a 100k plus Gen 5) Bruce what exact mission (besides FOREVER ENDING PRODUCTION OF THE VIPER )did they accomplish with this car.Mission accomplished means the car was successful as it sold well

 

[steve e]

In the price range the GEN 5 now ocupys the car MUST have it all to succeed .Horsepower sells ,when a 70 k Mustang Cobra outpowers a Viper costing twice as much red flags go up .Tech features sell cars .When EVERY other car in the Gen 5 price strata incorporates features such as mid engines ,carb fiber brakes,dry sump oiling, -alum frame ,7 speed paddle ship trannys and the Gen 5 DOES NOT red flags go up Service and dealer experiance sells cars .Pull into a Lexus ,Porsche-Audi or ANY OTHER MANU that sells cars iin the Gen 5 price range and compare the customer service aspect with that of a Dodge dealership (Does McDonalds try to sell steaks )When a car is priced in the 75k range a manu can get away with things that they cant get away with in the 100-150 k range .The Gen 4 sold terribly in the 90 k range so Dodge gave it 40 hp ,a nicer interior and a few body panels and expected it to sell at 100-150 are you kidding me Dodge wants the car to sell thats an easy fix dro the price to a range indicitive to where it should be 75 k for a loaded GTS and 65 k for the SRT.

Mustang gt 500 start at 54.995.00 just my 2 cents.

 

[VRYALT3R3D]

In the price range the GEN 5 now ocupys the car MUST have it all to succeed .Horsepower sells ,when a 70 k Mustang Cobra outpowers a Viper costing twice as much red flags go up Dodge wants the car to sell thats an easy fix dro the price to a range indicitive to where it should be 75 k for a loaded GTS and 65 k for the SRT.

lol

So what is holding you back from buying the GT500? It seems it has everything you want.

 

[KB Viper]

i had a gen V, it was a LE and was bought back as a lemon. i would have then and still would today buy another they were able to be modded. I don't have a problem with the price, styling, or pressence i hated not having options to mod it. i am a modder and always will be.

 

[Jay M]

Do you think there is any truth in the last paragraph? If so, then there is nothing to worry about. I bought a Viper instead of a Corvette mainly because you don't see them every day. For about the same price, I could have bought a used Z06 that would perform about the same as my Gen III. But I wanted something special.

~Jay

“The ability to increase and decrease production at the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant allows the company to continue to meet our customers’ desire to keep these special cars exclusive,” she added. “Customer and dealer demand for the SRT Viper continues at expected levels. We will be able to take advantage of this transition to manage dealer inventories as we prepare for an exciting 2015 model year.”

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140318/AUTO0101/303180086#ixzz2wY0wqEbi

 

[Bruce H.]

The buyers dont care LESS THAN 7% OF ALL BUYERS WILL EVER TAKE A 100K CAR ON A RACETRACK (if someone wants to race-DESTROY a Viper they go buy a Gen 2 with a salvaged title for 25k not a 100k plus Gen 5) Bruce what exact mission (besides FOREVER ENDING PRODUCTION OF THE VIPER )did they accomplish with this car.Mission accomplished means the car was successful as it sold well

Exactly...the Gen V is not a purpose built race car...it's much more useful than that! It was designed as a world class high performance super car that's very capable on the road course, if not dominate it, and all models proved their success on the road course with all three finishing in the top 5 at Laguna Seca, iirc. That was SRT's performance mission, and it was accomplished...and rather convincingly. While it's unfortunate that more owners who bought it, in part for this level of performance/image, won't experience it first hand on the track, but you can be 100% sure they're proud as can be about it! But that's the car Ralph wanted to build, the buyer that he was targeting with the Gen V, and Ralph has stated it as clearly as possible. If and when it becomes viable, if not necessarily profitable, then he'll have achieved that very different corporate goal.

My mission was to find a car with the Gen V's performance packaged in classic sleek and **** '60s inspired bodywork, and I've fully achieved that with the Gen V, and it's obvious that the happiest people posting on this forum are also the ones who bought one...funny how that worked out!

You didn't address your wild claim by naming another car of this nature that even remotely makes the Gen V look over priced, never mind WAY WAY OVERPRICED. Let me...there isn't one.

 

[09 Venom]

I guess this makes my car more rare now!!! since I took delivery of my car LAST June 8th do you how many Gen V's I have seen on the street?? ZERO!!
NONE!

 

[09 Venom]

Wait a minute , I apologize. I am wrong, there was one Gen V blue/white at the NY/CT Viper club cruise to Oaklands in the Hamptons last summer. But does that really count?

 

[steve e]

Not if it came from NJ.

 

[MbnViper]

GM offer the corvette worldwide !

Viper ?

Locked ecu ?

Only 40hp from Gen 4 ? Fe fe fe ferrari ?

DCT ?

TA too late !

Even so it's the best viper built.

I skipped a brand new F12 And went Viper simple it's more beautiful and balanced to me yet it's no way near as fast as the F12 !

Maybe because I'm a viper fan and owner but to be competitive you need to reach for global markets and aftermarket.

sadly but I strongly believe Ferrari is holding the Viper back.

Bwt. I'm a ferrari owner and fan..just been honest

 

[kdaviper]

Well, when 50% of your development budget goes into programming government-mandated nannies, HP gains will suffer.

 

[Bruce H.]

When a car is priced in the 75k range a manu can get away with things that they cant get away with in the 100-150 k range .The Gen 4 sold terribly in the 90 k range so Dodge gave it 40 hp ,a nicer interior and a few body panels and expected it to sell at 100-150 are you kidding me Dodge wants the car to sell thats an easy fix dro the price to a range indicitive to where it should be 75 k for a loaded GTS and 65 k for the SRT.

You're right. In the $65-$75 k range you expect a tarted up version of a lesser mass produced car. But it's takes a big jump in price to get from there to a hand built supercar, intentionally produced in small numbers. I think the optimistic goal was upwards of 1600-2000 unit/yr. We're all disappointed with the current sales numbers. That big price jump unfortunately largely means a different customer demographic, excludes a lot of existing owners from being able to afford to buy a new one, while turning it into a world class car opens it up to a whole new demographic.

I'm sure if they had designed it to profitably compete with cars in that price range it would have essentially been a new model entirely, and competing with their own Challenger, and likely many who've bought the Gen V would have passed it up like all the others in that market segment. Lots of reasons why sales are slow, and while the pricing certainly eliminates the largest portion of the enthusiast market, SRT was aiming for a much less crowded part of it where it's a standout performer, and should be a standout success. Hopefully they'll successfully address the many reasons for slower than expected sales, and see the Viper become the success it should be.

I'm not sure how much of the answer rests with appealing to previous gen owners that are currently enjoying Viper ownership for a fraction of the investment needed to move them into a new car. Many of them bought used to start with, and haven't bought subsequent generations either when the cost to move up was relatively small. Hard to imagine them dropping the huge money to step up to a new Viper now, regardless of what features the car has. That means any new Viper has to appeal to those who are willing to spend the *** on a new toy that mostly sits in the garage. I have real difficulty picturing enough of those buyers coming from a group that largely thinks the new car is overpriced, even at the fire-sale prices we've been seeing for months...even if they gave it everything this group constantly demands. Can't imagine what they'd have to charge for that.