Hello All,
I am a new viper owner and was going to post my first thread when I saw this one. It ties in real good as I bought my first and only viper from the Elite Auto Group in Phoenix.
I had been looking for my dream car, a Graphite Grey GTS for a couple of years now off and on, when I stumbled on one on ebay from the EAG (Elite Automotive Group). I emailed them a received a prompt reply from Cable, the owner.
Here is the ebay auction link so you can all see what I was looking at.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4522146599
I drove out to look at the car and instantly fell in love.
I agree with PhoenixGTS that something was different there and had something in the back of my brain saying "warning warning" but refused to listen... the car was so nice.
First thing I should have clued into was that they would only start it for me, not take me for a ride even until I bought it. Car started fine, sounded awesome, and appeared to be running really rich.
I was told by Monty, the manager I believe, that the car was the personal viper of the owner Cable, and that he had had all the work done, supercharger etc.. Gave me a stack of papers that were supposed to show the work being done on the car etc...
I bought the car and drove it across town to a trailer place as I planned to buy an enclosed trailer to haul it back to Texas. On the way to the trailer dealership (10 miles approx.) I noticed a ticking noise which I assumed to maybe be a header leak and on the way there the check engine lights came on. I tried to call the EAG and got a message. Left a message for someone to call me back. Concern was overcome a little bit by driving this awesome machine.... bought the trailer and hauled it home. Received a call from Monty saying that the owner was the only one who knew anything about the car and that he would get back to me.
A week later, I had not driven the car due to bad weather, I still had not heard any replies from the "owner".
Bear in mind I am not a complete dumby even though I may sound like it in this post. I checked it out on carfax and the car was immaculate inside and out. No scratches or paint chips, interior was perfect etc...
I took a customer out and we cruised around for about 1/2 an hour before taking her out on the hiway to stretch it out. While in Phoenix I had to fill up the tank as I got the car on empty. I put in premium and octane boost from autozone. Anyway, I was putting the car through its gears and at about 4000 rpm in 3rd gear I heard a loud BANG underneath what seemed like my drivers seat. I pulled over and checked under the car and hood and everything seemed normal. Took off again and the same thing occured. Pulled over and shut it off checking all fluids and temp etc... Everything from what I could tell was the same as the day I bought it. Took off back to my shop to check it out and on the way, cruising at hiway speed, I noticed a long white smoke trail in my rear view mirror. Pulled over immediately and called a buddy to bring my trailer. We pushed the car on the trailer and I started calling.
Could not get an answer from EAG. I was getting worried they had gone out of business! Still had not heard anything at that time.
Talked to [******], RSI and Roe racing before deciding on taking it to David Weaver. He was more than accomodating and fit me in the next day. I hauled the car down to Austin and he tore into it. He found that the pistons were stock and shot up from detonation. Many of the things advertised were not true. Cam was stock from a 97 GTS, not custom CNC ground as I had been lead to believe. The heads were not CNC ported and polished. Fuel system was stock and not suited for the mods that were put on the car. He asked me for a dyno sheet as he did not believe the power ratings as well.
Long story short ( i don't want to bore you all with my sob story) - I put 70 miles on the car when it cratered. I finally received an email from EAG to which I replied and still not heard back from.
I have spent over 15,000 just to get the car in the shape I thought I had bought it in. I cannot get EAG to help.