SRT owners who traded their GTS...

[knuk]

For those of you who traded a GTS and now own the SRT, do you regret the move or are you happy with the SRT? My dealer has told me that my SRT should be here in March but I am not 100% sold on the SRT and not sure I want to give up the GTS! I am about 99% sure that I want the new Viper but would appreciate any more comments on the car that you have, good or bad.
Please help!!!

 

[fred]

Do not give up your GTS! You may regret it someday. It is a Classic!! IMHO

 

[Daffy Duck Viper]

You can always get another GTS,
but you'll never be able to be a first owner of the introductory year of the first SRT-10. Think about it.
-Daffy

 

[Wayne Finch]

Now having both (but not a lot of miles on the SRT), I'd say it is a tough choice. They are totally different cars. I'd say I still like the look of the GTS better (more of a brute), but the SRT is more refined and I think it drives much, much better. If you drive a lot, get the SRT. DDV is right, you can get lots of GTS's but it will be a few years before you see as many SRT's on the road.

KEEP BOTH!!!!

 

[Frank 03SRT]

So far I still have both. It won't hurt me greatly to get rid of the GTS. I didn't know what I'd feel until the SRT arrived. Once I got it and compared, there was not much to not like about the SRT.

BUT, maybe I'm only brave because the GTS is still in the garage.

 

[JCT]

The SRT is everything I hoped for.
It is an absoutely KILLER automobile!
The coupe,as you know also gets into your blood and just keeps stirring things up every time you look at it.
My plan is to keep both through the twenty-year rule at least.

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Well, I was one of those that had to sacrifice the GTS to buy the SRT. Let me say first off that until VOI, I was 97% sure that we would not keep the SRT and would sell it instead. While the ride at VOI was brief, I was shocked at how different the SRT behaved under pressure. If you know my history with my GTS, you know that I DROVE that car. Cruises, drag strip, road course - it saw everything. I buy them to drive, with some Zaino just to show I am not a complete *********.

Do I miss the GTS? Undoubtedly, but more in looks than anything else. That bruising, sinister look (black with silver stripes) got stares from even the most jaded passerby. It looked every bit the part of an exotic. Does the SRT? Not really. Oh, it still pulls the looks and the thumbs ups, but it is not as visually striking. So if you like that movie-star attention and that feeling of driving a hand-built exotic, the GTS (especially with stripes) is the way to go.

Now, if you bought your car to DRIVE, the SRT wins hands down. It just feels like a much tighter car and more capable in a clutch. The brakes stop like no other Viper I have ever been in. The comment from many Viper owners is, "A Viper with brakes - imagine that!" The GTS never had factory side exhaust. That rumble on either side is absolutely HEAVENLY. The seats, the stereo, the gauges, the climate control - all make for a more pleasurable driving experience. And while there is no question (in my mind anyway) that the lines of the coupe are better (and I include the SRT-based Competition Coupe), there is a lot to be said for throwing that top down and enjoying the full symphony that the engine and exhaust has to offer.

Bottom line: I miss my GTS for the looks and the looks it got. I would not trade my SRT for it based on the pure driving enjoyment this car provides. That's why I bought a Viper to begin with, and this car embodies it 100%.

Chris

 

[knuk]

You guys have made it even harder to decide! I think based on what I have read that the SRT is the one because of the performance - I agree that the looks are not there but what the hell.
I have a guy from Cyprus (spelling?) coming to look at my GTS - can you imagine a gts on an island in the Medditrainian !!!

 

[snowmann]

Life is short, if you die at the end of this year wouldn't it be nicer to know that you owned both?

 

[knuk]

I owned 2 Vipers for several years and stored one in my neighbors garage, it was a great situation but now they have moved and I lost my half of their garage! I have to go down to 1 Viper (worse things in life!) but sure wish I could convince another neigbor to give me half of their garage - no such luck! AHHH...the choices one must make in life..

 

[snakebitdave]

I generally agree. I'm fortunate to have a 93 RT10, 96GTS, 98GT2 and the SRT. I wouldn't give up my GTS's for the SRT based on looks alone, they are simply one of a kind. There is nothing like them even from long distances. The SRT's interior is superior to any of the others. I can't vouch for the performance yet as the SRT still has the factory 9 miles on it. Based on what everyone is saying I am sure to be pleased when comparing performance. Keep the GTS if you can but be the first to have the SRT and get another GTS later.

 

[Tom Shapiro]

For me, the rush of a new car normally wears off in about 3-6 months. My father was a car dealer so I've had a lot of cars. I've had my GTS 4 years and I still get excited driving that car. I just couldn't trade it in on the SRT. My SRT is almost 2 weeks old and I driven it about 350 miles. I'll be brief, it is one awesome car! They sit side by side in the garage and I'll tell you what, I love um both. It definitely has a stiffer ride then the GTS. Overall the SRT is superior to my GTS. The jury is still out as far as an attention getter. So far I'd say it's about dead even. The real problem is going to rear it's ugly head in the next 3 to 4 years when the new Coupe hopefully comes out. Man o man which one am I going to trade. I got a feeling I'm going to seriously start looking at lifts!

 

[Russ Oasis]

Lifts? Go for it...what's the question.

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

SRT is the better car right now for driving, GTS is unquestionably the better car for collecting down the road, they will be like waterfront property, GOD ain't making any more of it or them, unless you believe the global warming folks about the water rising. Keeping a GTS depends on the rarity to me, red with silver stripes, look up the numbers in the VIN registry, under 30? Silver with blue stripes under 40? ACR graphites, under 20? Other ACRS with interesting combos. And RT10s with connelly interiors= low production numbers Black with silver stripes, 2 year production, 99-00 under 130 total. Now SRT production one year only, 2003, about 1500? Based on presentations I heard at VOI7.....3 colors, black, silver, red...500 each. Now even after only one year, almost any GTS color combo is rarer! Nobody cares right now, but The GTS is a collectible car already. It is out of production, and has not been replaced as the RT10 has by the SRT. None of this makes ANY difference at all if driving pleasure is all you care about..I too drove the SRT, it is absolutely a better car...and that is exactly what all the guys said in the late 60's when they traded in their original owner Shelby Cobras on whatever the latest exotic was! Sorry, don't mean to mess anyone up, but this was my thought process when I decided I just could not give up the GTS.

 

[doctorbob]

I have decided I am confused. I like my GTS. I drive my GTS. If I continue to drive my GTS, is it really going to retain any value? (my 2001 has 16,000 miles) My SRT is coming(my fourth Viper) and frankly I do not plan on making it a garage queen either. In addition(no flames please) I think the next generation coupe will be the car to have. I have a great 1966 Cutlass convertible(my father's oldsmobile and best in class in the Southwest Zone Meet of Oldsmobile Club of America several years ago) and I just don't enjoy it like the Viper. Technology moves on and why not be on the edge rather in the past. I guess the only answer is your personal opinion and options.

 

[knuk]

I agree doctorbob. I have 30,000 miles on my 97 GTS and am not sure what value it will have in a few years when I have double the mileage. I don't think buying a car and holding it for 40 years is a good investment , although it may be a better investment than the market these days! Time to move on and hopefully they will come out with the new GTS soon.

 

[Jerry Dobson]

Daffy Duck....Let me go the other direction, soon you won't be able to be the original owner of a GTS, but you will be able to buy a new SRT.

Not sure having the first year SRT will be worth any more. Look at the original 1992 RT10's that sold for $250k. Today with no mileage, they bring mid $60's.

 

[SRT10]

SRT is the better car right now for driving, GTS is unquestionably the better car for collecting down the road, they will be like waterfront property, GOD ain't making any more of it or them, unless you believe the global warming folks about the water rising. Keeping a GTS depends on the rarity to me, red with silver stripes, look up the numbers in the VIN registry, under 30? Silver with blue stripes under 40? ACR graphites, under 20? Other ACRS with interesting combos. And RT10s with connelly interiors= low production numbers Black with silver stripes, 2 year production, 99-00 under 130 total. Now SRT production one year only, 2003, about 1500? Based on presentations I heard at VOI7.....3 colors, black, silver, red...500 each. Now even after only one year, almost any GTS color combo is rarer! Nobody cares right now, but The GTS is a collectible car already. It is out of production, and has not been replaced as the RT10 has by the SRT. None of this makes ANY difference at all if driving pleasure is all you care about..I too drove the SRT, it is absolutely a better car...and that is exactly what all the guys said in the late 60's when they traded in their original owner Shelby Cobras on whatever the latest exotic was! Sorry, don't mean to mess anyone up, but this was my thought process when I decided I just could not give up the GTS.

You would have to keep you Gen2 Viper for about 20+ years to see any type of profit.And that is a big MAYBE! Cosidering how prices of Gen1/Gen 2 cars have been dropping even though Dodge doesn't build them anymore. Why compare to a Shelby Cobra? Why not the early Barracuda's (1964-1969) which aren't as valuable as the more powerful e-bodied 'Cudas (1970-1971). I say drive it and enjoy it. Consider yourself fortunate to own a Viper but if you expect to see your $80k back when you sell your GTS you may be very disappointed.

 

[Daffy Duck Viper]

Well, personally, I think any purchases of a sports car, particularly an exotic one, solely based on its possible future worth is lame. Sports cars are created to be the ultimate of driving machines. Instead of them being used for what their designers created them for, they end up being babied and driven more delicately than any mundane car on the street. It's completely stupid. Exotic sports cars, and sports cars, in general, are created to be driven, not babied like they are made of spun sugar. Nothing irritates me more than seeing an awesome sports car driven like it's some fragile antique. Oh please! Having said that, I think you should keep the one you think is the most enjoyable, not which one you think has the most collectible value...because, in the end, everything becomes dust.
-Daffy

 

[Big Medicine]

Where exactly did he say anything about making money on his GTS? All I saw was a great statement on collectibility. For that matter, if you intend to keep your car for 20 years and it IS worth some money at the end of that period, that's a bonus, not an investment strategy.

SRT is the better car right now for driving, GTS is unquestionably the better car for collecting down the road, they will be like waterfront property, GOD ain't making any more of it or them, unless you believe the global warming folks about the water rising. Keeping a GTS depends on the rarity to me, red with silver stripes, look up the numbers in the VIN registry, under 30? Silver with blue stripes under 40? ACR graphites, under 20? Other ACRS with interesting combos. And RT10s with connelly interiors= low production numbers Black with silver stripes, 2 year production, 99-00 under 130 total. Now SRT production one year only, 2003, about 1500? Based on presentations I heard at VOI7.....3 colors, black, silver, red...500 each. Now even after only one year, almost any GTS color combo is rarer! Nobody cares right now, but The GTS is a collectible car already. It is out of production, and has not been replaced as the RT10 has by the SRT. None of this makes ANY difference at all if driving pleasure is all you care about..I too drove the SRT, it is absolutely a better car...and that is exactly what all the guys said in the late 60's when they traded in their original owner Shelby Cobras on whatever the latest exotic was! Sorry, don't mean to mess anyone up, but this was my thought process when I decided I just could not give up the GTS.

You would have to keep you Gen2 Viper for about 20+ years to see any type of profit.And that is a big MAYBE! Cosidering how prices of Gen1/Gen 2 cars have been dropping even though Dodge doesn't build them anymore. Why compare to a Shelby Cobra? Why not the early Barracuda's (1964-1969) which aren't as valuable as the more powerful e-bodied 'Cudas (1970-1971). I say drive it and enjoy it. Consider yourself fortunate to own a Viper but if you expect to see your $80k back when you sell your GTS you may be very disappointed.

 

[fred]

Right On Daffy!!

 

[kickinasp]

Here is the issue on keeping a car for many years. PARTS! While I like the GTS better than the current SRT-10, keeping a GTS much more than 10 years is going to be an issue. Chrysler will slowly run out of parts. The ones that concern me is the engine. Gaskets are $650 today... what will they be in the future after the quarterly increase in the price of parts... Even today, Gen I Viper owners are facing issues with parts no longer being available. So I guess the life is short.. enjoy it while you can phrase is the best to live by.

 

[Big Medicine]

The market is there; someone will make them. If all else fails, Hemi.