would you buy a salvage viper?

[borisshnitkin]

i saw a salvaged viper for sale and was wondering if i should trade my vette for it. the guy said it was hit from the right rear and no frame damage. it had a maryland salvage title and it now has a clear new jersey title. what do you guys think?

 

[dave6666]

Who did the work? Receipts? Pics before during and after? What part of the country you at?

 

[bmw2nv2000]

If they are fixed right then everything is oky doky. If you have a body shop you trust that can check it out, they can tell you in about 5 minutes if she has been repaired correctly. Best of Luck hope you get a Viper soon

 

[RPHJR]

personally. No.. There are just too many issues there.. How was it repaired? What "really" was the extent of damage? How will paintwork/suspension work,etc. hold up over time? Alignment ok? the list goes on and on..

and assuming all this is done correct... Which is a HUGE assumption..

You still have to worry about resale, Insurance (most companies will not insure salvage cars). And forget about financing. But Im sure most do not finance these..

With soo many ridiculous deals on NICE Vipers right now.. Why buy salvage??

For me to even think about salvage. It would have to be 40-50% OFF "market" (not book) value, from the duplicate non-salvage car..

So, if a Nice,clean GenII GTS can be purchased for low $30's (which it can). A salvage car is worth high teens.

 

[ViperTony]

It depends on the severity of the damage, how it was fixed, detailed receipts, pics showing before/after and an incredibly thorough tech inspection by an experienced and reputable Viper tech like Tator. In today's market, why bother with a salvage Viper when there are many deals out there on used Vipers with no stories?

 

[eucharistos]

vipers can be totaled for only skin damage, which is "rebuilt" by unbolting, bolting and painting.

if the car checks out ok just know you pay less on the front end and sell for less on the back end, so is a wash, but if the price diff is not a deal breaker, like VT said, "there are many deals out there on used Vipers with no stories"

 

[SquadX]

Depends on the repair and the price.

 

[plumcrazy]

It depends on the severity of the damage, how it was fixed, detailed receipts, pics showing before/after and an incredibly thorough tech inspection by an experienced and reputable Viper tech like Tator. In today's market, why bother with a salvage Viper when there are many deals out there on used Vipers with no stories?

unless its a BIG savings, dont bother. but i definitely would if fixed by a good tech. and there are not that many of them around

 

[Venomiss]

i saw a salvaged viper for sale and was wondering if i should trade my vette for it. the guy said it was hit from the right rear and no frame damage. it had a maryland salvage title and it now has a clear new jersey title. what do you guys think?

Many factors.
How much is your vette worth/year/miles/accidents?
Are you buying the viper to keep or sell in the future?
Pay a Viper Tech to look at it on a lift. Talk with Chuck Tator.

Buy one without the salvage if you are serious. Good luck with it.

 

[JonB]

i saw a salvaged viper for sale and was wondering if i should trade my vette for it. the guy said it was hit from the right rear and no frame damage. it had a maryland salvage title and it now has a clear new jersey title. what do you guys think?

The portion in RED should be an eye-opener to folks here.......

I have driven beautifully-appearing-repaired Vipers on a TRACK where they begin to reveal at 80-100mph+ that there are some SCARY-BAD fixes out there..........



I buy salvaged Vipers as often as I can....or can afford to.....
[But I have them dismantled for parts.]

 

[BullRider]

I would... and did.. but wouldn't again in this market. Too many great deals out there for clean cars. Mine was fixed right, as I oversaw every step personally and contracted the best shops in the area to do the work that I couldn't. What I ended up with is the same car that I could have bought outright right now (except the other one would have clear title).

I have no regrets, as I love my car. I got to personalize it at every step. I just wouldn't do it again (in this market).

 

[mbccenter]

I have owned many of them. There is nothing wrong with them as long as the repair was done correct. I have seen clean car fax, low mile Vipers selling cheap but they have been damaged and repaired poorly. You have to have a car checked out either way so if you can save some money over current market the I say yes but there is no way it will be %50. But still 5-10k off is still a lot of money to put into mods to make it go Faster

 

[Bonkers]

With soo many ridiculous deals on NICE Vipers right now.. Why
buy salvage??

A few years back I could have given you a nice long list of "Nice"
vipers with clean titles that were once wrapped around something
unmovable. If you are comfortable with the car and trust the
history then there is no reason to avoid a salvaged title car -
regardless of what you are buying though have it checked out by
a trained tech or knowledgible 3rd party, 10min on a lift and a
trained eye can tell you volumes more than carfax ever would.

 

[hemibeep]

I have a salvage viper. Did repairs other than frame myself. anyone else with their "clean" title can tell me if their car is within +/- 1 mm of spec at frame points?????

Yes, horrible market to sell a salvage title.
Would you like me to tell you how many "clean" title B/W if have looked at with frame repairs with welds made by a mud wasp?

Bottom line, I know my car was done correctly. I also know it does not hold the value of a clean title. BUT, buyer be wise and really be smart in any car you buy.

I would love to sell my car now, but it would be too ugly$$.

 

[QUICKSRT10/SRT8]

I would never

 

[MDoe8]

Unless capable of perfecting it like hemibeep, i'd stay away. I bought a salvaged turbo supra back in the day and it was put together professionally. Ended up being a huge lemon. If you have the tools or connectiongs to get it inspected properly and it checks out...go for it!

 

[triplexotica]

Heck no HECK NO and.... HECK NO!

But then you do have a VETTE. A "dead snake" is better than a vette any day in my book.

If you were buying it with cash no vette. I'd say heck NO!

 

[DodgeViper01]

If the price was right and the repairs were done correctly, I might venture over to the Salvage side. I have been seeing a few "totaled" cars come up with damage that would not be expensive (no frame) but due to the newness of the vehicle they were just totaled out. You HAVE to do your research on this. The probability that I would ever by one is VERY slim but if the right deal came along one day, I would think about it.

 

[michaelnouri]

do research, vipers are written of by insurance companies for very minor damage, rebuilt vipers insure the same, if had a salvage title, it can only change to a rebuilt status, some states call that clean with prior history.

 

[Zrxpilot]

Depends on how much money you have to spend. I wanted a B/W and nothing else. Unfortunatly I didnt have 35 to whatever thousand to buy one. Not today and probably not ever. Found a salvage car for half that money needing some work and I am now driving it daily. In my case, this was my only way I was going to get one.

When it was all said and done, I could have had a REALLY nice vette for what I have into this. Too bad I didnt want a corvette. I could be driving something much more popular that nobody notices.

 

[99 R/T 10]

On that note, can anybody do a carfaks check for me

 

[gen2lover]

I would... and did.. but wouldn't again in this market. Too many great deals out there for clean cars. Mine was fixed right, as I oversaw every step personally and contracted the best shops in the area to do the work that I couldn't. What I ended up with is the same car that I could have bought outright right now (except the other one would have clear title).

I have no regrets, as I love my car. I got to personalize it at every step. I just wouldn't do it again (in this market).

what he said!

 

[ViperTony]

On that note, can anybody do a carfaks check for me

You cheap SOB it's $10: http://forums.viperclub.org/2613513-post1.html

 

[bmw2nv2000]

Michael is right on. Tennessee is clean title with prior history state. And I have never had a problem financing or insuring one nor have I known anyone who has(except for people who just did not have the credit to buy) and I have dealt with more than 100 re built autos in the past 10 years.

do research, vipers are written of by insurance companies for very minor damage, rebuilt vipers insure the same, if had a salvage title, it can only change to a rebuilt status, some states call that clean with prior history.

 

[GTSnake]

I would only if I was going to use it as a track car....

 

[ViperGTS]

Never. Except for taking it apart and reusing usable parts!

That attidude may change in 30-50 years...but than I am buried anyway

Carfax etc. does not show (all) accidents - my 0.02 cents

 

[Mad Max 93 RT10]

I would... and did.. but wouldn't again in this market. Too many great deals out there for clean cars. Mine was fixed right, as I oversaw every step personally and contracted the best shops in the area to do the work that I couldn't. What I ended up with is the same car that I could have bought outright right now (except the other one would have clear title).

I have no regrets, as I love my car. I got to personalize it at every step. I just wouldn't do it again (in this market).

I completely agree! I have done the same thing however my car was never salvaged. It was always a clean titled car. My car is also the 334th Viper ever built. It would have been a shame to dismantle her. I got very lucky with the title not being salvaged and I wouldn't do it again.... unless its one hell of a deal that is!

 

[slysnake]

There's a difference between salvage and rebuilt title. You have to look at the car and see if it's worth it to you. If your goal is to re-sell it someday then maybe salvage/rebuilt is not what you want. If you plan on keeping it then it can be a good deal if you get the right car at the right price.

If I was in the market there is a white mamba at x2vipers that looks like a pretty good deal .

 

[99 R/T 10]

You cheap SOB it's $10: http://forums.viperclub.org/2613513-post1.html

I did that, and I got no report. What a rip