New to the Viper forums, looking to knock on this guys door and give him a offer for this 8 year yard ridden gen 2

Hey guys!

First want to say this is my first time to the viper forums, been a viper fan sense the test drive video game series on ps1 days LOL, and I'm 34 now. so I'm reaching out because for the last what seems like 10 years I've been driving by this person house and seen this viper in his front yard, I have seen it drive back in the day around town. but I haven't been by this person house in years and yesterday noticed it is still there. I want to go knock on his door and give him an offer but first kinda want to get quick advice on if it would even be worth it.

I've been a auto tech for 10 years although I'm not now but would be doing most the work myself. I'm interested in track days and have been to a few and was thinking of instead of taking a beautiful road car to the track and beating on it a little to much, take a car in this condition and bringing it back to life for the track. So the idea is to not restore this car to be in a showroom which I think could make restoring it for the track not as much of a burden with finding parts and whatnot.

What are some of your guys opinions on something like this? What do you think it is worth? Is it even worth trying to bring back to life? More of a headache than its worth? this is in the northeast so there could be rot, maybe engine problems.

I'm adding a small a picture because I want to the keep the owners place private for him and I only have this one picture.

Thanks in advance.

Poor car!
Hard to tell what it worth because of condition. Is Motor Seized? Whats the rest of the condition?
You would have to take a much closer look to determine value.
First thing I would do is approach him to see if he is even interested in selling and go from there.

At least is isn't the burned up and abandoned abomination that someone else around these parts decided needed the Phoenix treatment. There are lots of track-worthy cars out there at pretty modest entry costs. I suggest you cast your net a little further out.

Anthony, I am new to this forum and to Viper cars. But I spent a lot of time with select corvettes, recently building a C2 restomod Coupe in my home shop. Sold it and bought a Gen 4 Viper with part of the funds. As I have started looking at these cars to modify (and maintenance) I've found that Vipers, as great a car as they are, the parts availability and prices associated make the "Corvette Tax" seem modest. I don't know what condition that car is in but if sitting for 8 years you know it needs everything. Now, it would be cool and interesting to know what's really under that tarp, but like was said above, might not even want to sell it. Another "I'm going to restore it someday"...if it doesn't pan out, its does seem like a high mileage older Viper might be something for you to consider.

vjjack04 said:

Anthony, I am new to this forum and to Viper cars. But I spent a lot of time with select corvettes, recently building a C2 restomod Coupe in my home shop. Sold it and bought a Gen 4 Viper with part of the funds. As I have started looking at these cars to modify (and maintenance) I've found that Vipers, as great a car as they are, the parts availability and prices associated make the "Corvette Tax" seem modest. I don't know what condition that car is in but if sitting for 8 years you know it needs everything. Now, it would be cool and interesting to know what's really under that tarp, but like was said above, might not even want to sell it. Another "I'm going to restore it someday"...if it doesn't pan out, its does seem like a high mileage older Viper might be something for you to consider.

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That tends to happen when they build more Corvettes in a single year than they do Vipers... Ever.

The whole "tax" thing drives me insane. Low production parts have high price tags. Period. No way around it. If there was actually that much money to be made in the Viper market, vendors wouldnt be dropping like flies and bailing out of the market... they would be coming in and building up, but thats not happening.

The Viper market is a weird one, and its in danger of implosion. The cars are WAAAAAY too cheap now in many cases for what they are, and they are sitting in a odd place. Cheap enough that people who have no business owning one can afford them, but yet collectible, known and rare enough to keep from certain implosion. Its bizarre, and its driving the whole "viper tax" thing and fleeing vendor issues. Spending Viper part prices on 25-35K cost Vipers is crazy... but those cars should never have been that cheap to start with. They somehow became the "working mans" exotic, and as a result are owned by a number of people that are one broken part away from a "For Sale" sign. It wasnt until the Gen-5 Fever that one generation was able to pull itself north of that BS.

One thing is for sure... the Viper market is its own worst enemy, and always has been. Infighting, which generation is best, snobbery, and the constant need to "I know a cheaper guy" and "I paid far less for the same car" BS that plagues this market is the #1 cause.

Sorry for heading off topic... LOL

Dan, of course I'm not the OP, but you comments are right on. I am slowly learning that some of the things I'm used to are out of reach. Heck just going to the Dodge or Mopar parts departments is futile. Mine is an 08 and I thought I'd still be able to get things there; not so much. So, getting back to the point with the OP, It surely would be an expensive task to bring one back to life that's been sitting for 7-8 years.

vjjack04 said:

Dan, of course I'm not the OP, but you comments are right on. I am slowly learning that some of the things I'm used to are out of reach. Heck just going to the Dodge or Mopar parts departments is futile. Mine is an 08 and I thought I'd still be able to get things there; not so much. So, getting back to the point with the OP, It surely would be an expensive task to bring one back to life that's been sitting for 7-8 years.

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Cliff notes: unless it's a Gen5, you are better off parting it out than putting it back together. It won't be worth enough when it's done to justify the cost of doing it... and thats CRAZY for a car that there are so few examples of left.

Vipers should ALL be north of 100, and it would all make sense if so...but thats not the case. Until things start making sense, it's going to continue being a mess of a market.

My philosophy - if you're going to own and drive a Viper, you ought to own 2 or 3 of the same Gen.

These cars are definitely for the love of ownership more than the financial sense in most instances. The Viper is a contender for restoration assuming you get it at the right price, and can do the work yourself. Many parts are still very available and affordable, but other parts will test your resolve and wallet to source out.

I guess all of this applies to many enthusiast vehicles, of which the Viper will always be worthy. For classic cars, breaking even on build cost to appraised value is a good place to be. If that logic applies to you and this car then fly that freak flag. If she is too far gone for any reasonable effort beyond passion of project, her parts donation would always be welcome in the community.

Viper Specialty said:

Cliff notes: unless it's a Gen5, you are better off parting it out than putting it back together. It won't be worth enough when it's done to justify the cost of doing it... and thats CRAZY for a car that there are so few examples of left.

Vipers should ALL be north of 100, and it would all make sense if so...but thats not the case. Until things start making sense, it's going to continue being a mess of a market.

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We all should have bought the old NSXs, sh!!!t-ass Acura worth more than a big American V-10....................crazy. Here is a good example, sorry for the FB post:

99RT10GTS said:

We all should have bought the old NSXs, sh!!!t-ass Acura worth more than a big American V-10....................crazy. Here is a good example, sorry for the FB post:

Exotic Cars For Sale By Owner | 1993 | Facebook

1993 ACURA NSX Price: $227,500 Mileage3,522 ExteriorWhite InteriorBlack Engine3.0L NA V6 double overhead cam (DOHC) 24V Transmission5-Speed Manual VINJH4NA1156PT000546 One owner All original...

www.facebook.com

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Shoot, why not both?

99RT10GTS said:

We all should have bought the old NSXs, sh!!!t-ass Acura worth more than a big American V-10....................crazy. Here is a good example, sorry for the FB post:

Exotic Cars For Sale By Owner | 1993 | Facebook

1993 ACURA NSX Price: $227,500 Mileage3,522 ExteriorWhite InteriorBlack Engine3.0L NA V6 double overhead cam (DOHC) 24V Transmission5-Speed Manual VINJH4NA1156PT000546 One owner All original...

www.facebook.com

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Sad thing is... I literally went in to buy one. The Acura dealer shrugged me off, so I went and ordered a Viper.

hindsight 20/20.

The 'Viper tax' is the problem but being ripped off by 1000x mark up.

For example, the seat pump bulb. They are just standard bulbs used in blood pressure pumps, door break in kits, etc. Absolutely nothing special about them but they are $40 or $50 a piece from a 'viper vendor' yet you can buy a pack of 3 for $10 from Amazon. Forget about buying them fromva supplier or from china in quantities. That means they are buying them at $3 a piece with shipping and charging you $40 plus shipping for the same part. That's the problem.

Goggles Pizano said:

The 'Viper tax' is the problem but being ripped off by 1000x mark up.

For example, the seat pump bulb. They are just standard bulbs used in blood pressure pumps, door break in kits, etc. Absolutely nothing special about them but they are $40 or $50 a piece from a 'viper vendor' yet you can buy a pack of 3 for $10 from Amazon. Forget about buying them fromva supplier or from china in quantities. That means they are buying them at $3 a piece with shipping and charging you $40 plus shipping for the same part. That's the problem.

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I think you are looking at it the wrong way. And for the record, this has nothing to do with me.

First, how much time was spent by someone to track down the exact bulb used? Thats not free.

Secondly and most importantly, Viper parts businesses aren't Amazon. We dont make money on 10$ orders, even though customers would love to think that. Between the time to track an item down, stock it, process the paperwork, pack, and ship? I wont even touch an order under 50 bucks these days. Its a HUGE waste of my time. If you want me to process 10$ items, you will either be paying a big markup, or buying a pile of them. No two ways about it.

Nothing is stopping people from taking the time out of their day, tracking these basic things down, and figuring it out themselves. But, to many people, time is money. You have to either pay what we need to charge in order to actually make a living, or you need to figure it out for yourself so we dont need to waste our time with it.

I realize this post was written with more of an attitude than I intended... but this stuff is literally making me want to walk away from the market these days. Start a business and start selling all that stuff, my bet is inside of 90 days you will either raise your prices or bail out. The only people who dont value time spent, are people who are doing it for themselves, or those trying to get a discount. Even the Corvette and Mustang markets arent this squeaky, and thats beyond ridiculous. What has been done to the Viper market as a whole is a crying shame.

/End soapbox special

My advice. Dont.

Ignoring the lack of class of walking up to someones house and
knocking on the door to ask about their property, if you have no
previous experience with Vipers then you would be diving into a
very deep pool on one of that condition. Your "experience" as a
mechanic is meaningless - with a few exceptions, everything on
these cars can be maintained by the most novice of tinkerer - the
problem is going to be sourcing parts and the above-mentioned
"tax." If you dont have the connections and sources youre going
to be forced to pay 2x-5x as much for even basic parts which will
turn that $15k lawn ornament into an $80k money pit.

Find a nice worn out running version of the Viper you want, pay the
few grand more up front, and learn. After a few years youll
understand.

Lots of truth bombs being dropped here. I'm a hard-headed DIY'er, but I generally enjoy the the hunt, the takedown and the messy bits. It adds to the personal satisfaction of a job well done. OTOH, I also deeply appreciate those folks who make a business of keeping the community supplied with scarce parts and expert knowledge. I fully get where they are coming from. When time is short, they are the Go-To's.

My latest case-in-point is rebuilding my 40mm rear calipers. Not sure I'd want to do that for anyone else but myself. The market price is reflective of the complexity and low volume.

Thanks for the input, seems like the biggest problem with these cars are sourcing parts and although i believe that, that is true. its no different than other 90s car. my favorite car is the skyline and the main reason I stay away is just that.. cant get parts.

I asked a friend and joked with another and asked for advice from another just like I did here and one guy said he knew the guy so he called him up, " He's not selling with guilt in his voice. Its going to the shop soon" So my goal was accomplish. I figured out that it was not for sale... I had no problem going up and asking about the car. you never know unless you ask.

Thanks for the update. Hopefully the guy follows through and gets it into the shop. Hurts my soul to watch cars needlessly fall into disrepair. If I had a dollar for every car I have seen falling apart with the "I'm going to fix/restore that car" excuse...well I would have taken those dollars a saved at least a few if them.

Goggles Pizano said:

The 'Viper tax' is the problem but being ripped off by 1000x mark up.

For example, the seat pump bulb. They are just standard bulbs used in blood pressure pumps, door break in kits, etc. Absolutely nothing special about them but they are $40 or $50 a piece from a 'viper vendor' yet you can buy a pack of 3 for $10 from Amazon. Forget about buying them fromva supplier or from china in quantities. That means they are buying them at $3 a piece with shipping and charging you $40 plus shipping for the same part. That's the problem.

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Business 101 you can not run a viper business selling a $3 item. I don't car what my parts cost i just want to be able to find them. Just did window controls in my 2013 and spent $2000 by the time it was over. You want high value cars it comes w high price parts and service.

There's something to be said about being creative and curious when it comes to parts as well. I had some weird stuff happening with my fog lights that was coming from my turn stalk where it was basically shorting contacts in a way that they weren't supposed to be able to do. Something like the fog lights being able to come on when the parking or headlights were off, which the computer was never designed to handle, so it caused some weird things like my A/C light would come on the dash without the button being pressed of all things. I noticed it would light the fog light indicator when I would click the stalk for a turn, so one day I just took the whole unit out of the car and took it apart to find out that it had worn a little groove in one of the plastic pieces that was allowing stuff to move when it shouldn't have. A little epoxy and it was all back together and has been working fine ever since. Most other people would probably just replace the whole turn signal assembly, but if it's already "broken", I figured there's no hard to trying to take it apart and fix it myself. Realistically there is one small broken piece of plastic in that assembly that is causing the issue, but you'd never be able to buy it independently. I don't expect parts suppliers would ever attempt to remake it either. But that doesn't mean it can't be fixed. I have the original fan module off my car still sitting on a shelf because the steering relief valve on it was sticking open and causing issues. I had to replace the whole assembly because I couldn't get just a valve, but I figured if I really wanted to try I could probably have someone remake the shuttle part that is actually broken.

Long story short, every part was made once, so it can be made again. The question is how much you want to spend to have it remade. Of course you'll be paying way more money than Dodge ever did to have a single part custom machined or formed or whatever, but it's not impossible, maybe just impractical for most. I'm hopeful that 3D printing can advance more to the point that it can help fill that low volume gap better to make things more affordable, but it's still pretty limited in what you can make with it.

I think my biggest pet peeve is people buying cars as "investments". Buy the car because you want it and use it, don't save it for the next guy. You don't have to get your money back out of it for it to be worth it. I've done lots of things and met lots of people because of my Viper that I never would have otherwise, and there's no price tag on that. I'm not advocating making horrible financial decisions like buying nothing more than a VIN tag and trying to build it back to showroom stock, but I wouldn't tell someone to part something out just to break even if there was hope it could be saved by someone.