What's wrong in this undercarriage picture?

[Lawrenzo]

This is a 1999 GTS that I am considering, and I just wanted some extra eyes on this undercarriage shot. The area of my concern is where the cross-member hooks up to the frame. What's going on in this picture? Is it simply corrosion or some form of damage/repair? Also, are the bolts on the bottom right the correct type? They seem to be of two different materials.

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[Fatboy 18]

OK the bolts holding the rear bumper look the same as mine but Im not sure whats going on where the cross member meets the frame? It could be corrosion or a bad weld but the photo is not that clear? Sorry. Have you personally inspected the car up close, or are these pictures someone sent you? That's also an after market exhaust.

 

[plumcrazy]

almost looks like mud ? id ask for a close up of that

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

All the pieces look the same as mine.

 

[CEJ]

Almost looks like something is out of kilter in that photo. The odd angle doesn't help. If that is only mud, how'd it get there in the first place?

 

[Vipuronr]

Would definitely ask for closeup shots of both sides, as Plum mentioned. If you are not seeing the car in person, a must is to have someone inspect the car. Nice stainless exhaust! My only issue with it being mud rather than something like surface rust, is that there isn't any other spot with the same "stuff" on it.

That said, the left side does look more like rust.

 

[v10enomous]

It's a blue 99 ?

 

[DrumrBoy]

Parts look right.....rust or mud. If its mud, shame on the owner for not cleaning it off before taking the pic, sliding backwards in the grass or dirt would put mud there. Hard to tell but my bet would be mud.

If its rust, then there's been some bad welding done there....the pieces are all 90 degrees and the welds are very small.....if thats a weld it either is because a piece has been put in at a non-90 degree angle or the weld was done by a blind first-timer.

Either way, it doesn't seem like a big deal - except aesthetically.

 

[CEJ]

It's a blue 99 ?

Good catch! No blue GTSs produced in '99.

 

[LifeIsGood]

Your picture is too blurry to tell...as a reference...here is what my 2001 looks like down there (has a Corsa exhaust)...

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[DrumrBoy]

Wow, very very clean LifeIsGood. On second inspection, it seems like there is also mud-like stuff in a bunch of places (to the right of the center hanger, above the hangers just ahead of the heat shield, etc)

 

[v10enomous]

There seems to be something round above the outer end of that little cross support just above the mud or rust.

 

[Green Viper]

This one would require a closer inspection, if you look at the absolutely great picture of a well maintained car by "life is good" it appears the angle of the part on the right on the blue car is off a little. While it is hard to tell for sure since one if straight and one picture off angle, it does appear that the two sides are different as well, worth at least a follow up question and a carfax report, IMO.

Also agree with the comment about the color, Blue cars on Gen2s were only produced in 96-97, not 99, so that would lead to more questions.

A couple of features that would help determine year, power mirrors, air bag switch, remote trunk release. It would have all if it was a 99.

 

[Lawrenzo]

Definitely a '99- It's Silver with blue stripes. The owner advertises it as "Pristine", but after seeing Lifeisgood's pictures, I'd say "good" at best. Getting clear pictures from the owner has been difficult, so the only way I'm going to get a better understanding of what's going on with this car is with a plane trip.

I'm curious about that round piece sticking up on the passenger side as well. Could it simply be a difference from a '99 to an '01?

The engine bay looks clean-

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[Joe Dozzo]

Deleted by poster... Wrong / bad info

 

[v10enomous]

Just checked. No round things on my 98. I suspect it's been curbed hard. The surface of the control arm looks much newer and is not consistent with the rest of the underside of the car.

 

[CEJ]

"Pristine"? Maybe the seller needs to look up that word in a dictionary.

Check out the brake reservoir...dark fluid is not a good sign, unless he used that blue stuff. Makes me wonder when the coolant was last changed too.

There are better GTS's out there for sale. Methinks this Viper has not had an easy life.

 

[TowDawg]

You can't tell for sure form the pics, but it certainly does look like it was in some kind of accident and repaired. I put some notes in the pic to show what I'm talking about. It could be coincidence, and the angle of the pics, but I would tell the seller that I wanted a specialist to look at it in person at the seller's expense. Then you'll see how confident he is of his prestine condition. Tell him if it passes inspection, you will reimburse the the cost of the inspection. If not, he's out the cost of the inspection.
With a possible issue like this, I wouldn't want to spend the money to fly out and see it in person without a qualified inspection first.

 

[Mopar Steve]

Looks like tabs from a frame rack.

 

[Tom Sessions]

Got A VIN for this car? It might help tell a story.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Just checked. No round things on my 98. I suspect it's been curbed hard. The surface of the control arm looks much newer and is not consistent with the rest of the underside of the car.

Agree, looks like passenger rear had some type of repair done to it. Shop never repainted the repair area and has now rusted.

 

[georgethedog]

Looks like tabs from a frame rack.

Great catch TowDawg, and I agree with Steve. You can really tell that tab is different when you look at LifeIsGood's pictures. By the way, you guys must be champs at the child's game "what's different in these two pictures?"

 

[georgethedog]

On the second engine bay picture... Is it normal for the air duct on the hood to be painted on the underside? I don't have my Gen 2 anymore, but I thought that was just all black?

 

[vancouver-gts]

Something's not right... Silver with blue stipes would not result in a solid blue around the exhauts tips - you'd see some silver down the middle... Give me a few and I'll upload a picture of my old 98 silver / blue GTS.


Hmmm... Uploaded picture but tells me it's an "invalid link" when I try and get its properties to paste in here...

Still... Car in the picture isn't a factory stripe car

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here's the picture of my 99 with original paint.Can't be seen in this picture but the blue goes across below the tips not over it.Got another picture where I can clearly see the blue but can't link here only URL's would show.
So the OP's picture looks legit to me.

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[georgethedog]

Something go wrong with the picture?

 

[vancouver-gts]

I'm too lazy to remove the cover off my car in the garage but I'm almost 100% it's painted the same on the underhood on my car.

 

[goldcup]

My 02's hood underside was all flat black and it. Was original paint.

 

[Lawrenzo]

Got A VIN for this car? It might help tell a story.

1b3er69e8xv502718 Thanks.

 

[Jeebs]

Well im not sure if its mudd or bad welds but i wouldn't count bad welds out. The place that use to make/weld the Viper frames is a factory 15 minutes from my house. I used to work their about 10 years ago. Scretchy to say the least. All though they did quality control, there was some stuff that got buy. Im being nice when i say some!!!!
BUT i still bought my Viper, but i did do my own very extensive inspection.

 

[Camfab]

I can tell you for a fact, that Vipers have HORRIBLE welds. They look like they were and I'm sure were welded by a bunch of drunks. Corvettes on the other hand have the finest welding that I've seen on a production car. (Actually the Ford GT has excellent welding as well) I hope I've offended the Weldor's that worked in that facillity, because they deserved to be fired. Better yet shut the whole facillity down, it's places like this with non caring useless people that have made North America the laughing stock of Automobile manufacturing. Jeebs tell me you weren't a weldor, and hopefully that place went under.