Looking at a 94 with some issues. Need opinions.

[meshies]

There is a 94 Dodge Viper near me that is for sale. It has 65k miles and previous front end damage with a shoddy repair and paint job. Apparently the title is clean. The AC is broken. The hood was bondo'd and painted poorly, the paint has cracks in it. He wants $24,000. If there is nothing else wrong with the car is that a fair price? It went to auction and fetched a $20k bid and he declined. I want to drive the car and enjoy it, I'm not looking for a showcar but I would like to get it in proper order down the line. I know getting parts for these things is the hardest part, that is the main reason why I am hesitant. Is it worth the plunge?

What else should I look for if I decide to pursue this further? Head gaskets? Are there easy indicators of bad head gaskets? Bent frame? Anything else major I should look at? Thanks in advance. If you guys want more pictures ask, I can go look at it and take more specific pictures. Here is the only one I got of the rear...

 

[daveg]

Pictures of hood. Besides the hood being painted, how is the rest of the paint on the car? Was the entire car repainted and looks like crap?

 

[GTS Dean]

In addition to Dave's comments, early Gen 1 hoods required A LOT of body filler from the factory to pass muster. Mid-'93+ were better, but still had a noteworthy factory rejection rate.

Buying a 30 year old Viper with issues will require time, patience, money and mechanical knowledge. They are exceedingly simple vehicles, but parts are getting scarce. You should consider your level of mechanical competency.

 

[MoparMap]

I'd say you have to consider how much you care as well. I know it might sound a little odd, but if you enjoy driving it and don't care as much about the looks, go for it. I have never bought a car with the intent or even remote idea of selling it later. I just buy them to enjoy myself and have fun with. The only real concern I'd have with a car that has some shoddy repairs is more whether there are other things hiding underneath. Body and paint repair I can understand being less than perfect more often than not as bodywork is really an art and not something as many people are good at. Mechanical work tends to be "easier" to get right if you're not talking major surgery type stuff like cutting out and rewelding frames.

As others have said though, parts are getting scarce, so you would need to be prepared to either pay a decent amount for replacements or accept that you just may never be able to get it back to a "like new" condition. That being said, if the car is solid other than just bad bodywork $24k doesn't seem way out of line for that car. It feels maybe just a tad high for a gut thing to me, but without seeing the car in person it's hard to really say. The gen 1s have just sort of lagged in the market as far as coming up in prices, though I think they have made a little progress lately.

 

[GTS Dean]

The Aussies are coming after the Gen1's now. They're just about at an age point they don't have to be converted to RHD to put on the roads.

 

[redtanrt10]

A really nice 20-30K documented '94 can be bought for $35-$40 if your look hard and are a little patient.

You might be into that $25k Viper in the end for $30-$35k getting it right, and it has 65k

 

[TEALLIFE]

if it has headlights and a decent drivetrain, that's about 20k in parts, so you cant really go wrong.

If it drives well, is straight...seems ok to me depending on what you want.

 

[99RT10GTS]

If you pass on the car, let me n=know the contact information. I have a good hood I can replace the bondoed one with.

 

[SYDWNDR]

If you are buying it to have fun, I say go for it. It should never decrease in value. You can fix or replace things at your own pace, while still enjoying the car.