Would you buy this Viper?

[boostedsupratt]

Hello all. I'm getting pretty close to pulling the trigger on becoming a viper owner. I've made a couple poor decisions in buying used sports cars in the past by not completing a good enough check on the car's background or not knowing what to look for so I don't want to do that again. Unfortunately being picky and my budget only leaves me to a small group of cars, 127 to be exact (2006 Coupe black no stripe) so usually there is only 1 of these for sale at any given time. So any help or advice would be appreciated. So here are my questions.


Do vipers have VIN stickers on each panel, door, hatch, etc? This is what I looked for when buying some cars since every panel had a vin sticker on the inside of it which if this panel was ever replaced the sticker would always be missing since new panels don't come with it and it is virtually impossible to pull it off and move it to another panel so you'd know if the car was hit and repared outside of a insurance claim (not reported to carfax).

Should I do a compression check or is driving the car and making sure it sounds normal and pulls solid in terms of power good enough?

Anything else I should look for?

Here is the car I found:

2006 Dodge Viper SRT-10 Coupe Black

VIN: 1B3JZ69Z66V100941

Mileage 14,178

Link to for sale ad here

I ran a carfax and found out that there have been 4 owners, no accidents, no odo fraud. The only concern I found is that the car was a previous fleet, rental and/or lease use. The report doesn't differential whether the car was a rental or just leased from a dealer.

Will a rental/lease history hurt future resale value if I ever decide to resell?

The car is priced at the low 50's which I feel like is a good deal. My budget is $60k but I would rather spend $50 so I have money left for some light mods I want to do (wheels, exhaust, 1" drop)

I know it's a long shot but Vipers are rare so does anybody by chance know this car? Would you buy it? Thanks!

 

[The_Greg]

Get it inspected by a dealership with Viper Techs AND/OR ask the local VCA chapter if they know of the car or where they would have it inspected. I bought mine from CA and made the non-mopar dealership take it to a Chrysler one with Viper Techs (called them to verify they were trained on Viper work). The dealership was able to tell me that it had a rear trans seal and oil line leak (slightly common for '06... Mine had 45k mi when I bought it).

Looks pretty well detailed, that's for sure. Its missing the nose badge on the front bumper, a $90 part. Could be a sign of repair or a simple debadging.

As far as lease/rental... Most of the Viper community could care less about how the car was owned as long as it checks out well in inspection. These are, in general, very robust vehicles

 

[witz323]

I'm pretty sure there is a black '06 coupe in the VCA Classifieds right now. I think there is value in purchasing from a VCA Member.

My 2 cents.

 

[boostedsupratt]

Get it inspected by a dealership with Viper Techs AND/OR ask the local VCA chapter if they know of the car or where they would have it inspected. I bought mine from CA and made the non-mopar dealership take it to a Chrysler one with Viper Techs (called them to verify they were trained on Viper work). The dealership was able to tell me that it had a rear trans seal and oil line leak (slightly common for '06... Mine had 45k mi when I bought it).

Looks pretty well detailed, that's for sure. Its missing the nose badge on the front bumper, a $90 part. Could be a sign of repair or a simple debadging.

As far as lease/rental... Most of the Viper community could care less about how the car was owned as long as it checks out well in inspection. These are, in general, very robust vehicles

Ah good eye, I didn't notice the badge. I will have to look for paint/body work around the bumper and get it professional inspected, thanks for the good advice!



witz323 - I agree with you but this Viper is the only black 06 non stripe coupe that I know of for sale on the planet. There are a few striped but that's not what I prefer.

 

[Scottsviper]

That looks like a nice ride. Have it checked out and you should also shop around a little more. You can get a Gen V with less miles for under 60K I found a hand full of them for 55-59K when I was looking just 4 months ago. And you can't get 100 horse out of the Gen III for the little extra you will pay for the Gen V .. Just my two cents but its also what you want. Here are a couple ads to check out http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...[]]&listingId=343085337&listingIndex=17&Log=0 and here is another that if you make a offer in the high 50's you would get it http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...[]]&listingId=326415251&listingIndex=15&Log=0

 

[FrgMstr]

Buy a Gen IV unless you have expectations of heavily modding the engine to above 700hp, then the Gen III is the way to go. And Scott is right, there are some Gen IV cars out there in your budget. Good luck!

 

[98intrigue]

Are you located in Florida? I have one of those black (no stripes) '06 coupes you are looking for...but it's not for sale. I know of an '08 for sale in Sarasota for $56k I believe.

 

[Hotrodder00]

I would definitely have it checked out by a viper tech. It's not a guarantee that the car will be flawless, but they can pick up on the smallest clues to see if any worm was done, etc. Looks like a nice Viper though!

 

[blackandblue01]

Front fascia look like a repaint. The sheen in the clear is different between it and the rest of the car. Fascia repaints are not uncommon, heck mine needs it. Just make sure it was scrapes and rock chips that called for it. Try to get previous owners info. In KY we are allowed to request this from a dealer.