First of all I'm OK

[FinalEd357]

Sorry to hear of the incident. Thank God everyone is alright. Enjoy your next Viper - drive safely...

 

[Venomiss]

Sorry to hear about your accident.
Wow, glad to hear you are OK . I remember your great pictures of your car.
Let us know what happens. Fingers crossed.
Maybe buy some raffle tickets and just win a new ACR...
or think about yellow and black in a different way-what my hubby did when I asked...


And since the lovely Venomiss thought it would look good with a yellow driver's stripe, what the heck...

​

 

[JonB]

PETE ! I was away a bit, and glad to hear you are unscathed. {Damn runcraps!}

If you decide to rebuild, we do have a lot of yellow panels....and if you retire the organ donor, we would offer you a fair price

 

[mike & juli]

Thanks Aaron, we'll see how my sense of humor holds up when I deal with the insurance company.
I like the green but I may be partial to the orange and black. We'll see what happens.

Orange and BLACK...yesssss!! Pete...sorry to hear about all of this. I sincerely hope that all goes well with the insurance company and that you get a Viper ASAP. ~juli

 

[DII]

Very sorry to hear about the accident, the run-craps claim another damn car. I got them off my car as soon as I could. The Nitto Invo's are great in the cold. I have given it full throttle in 1st and 2nd in 30degree weather with NO sliding.

Something to think about if your car is replaced quickly.

 

[SnakeBitten]

Damn..Sorry to hear Pete....At least you both walked away from the incident in good health.....So sad for the car man...It was one of my fav Vipers at Captree to snap pics of....Hope all works out and I wish you the best in the new year...

 

[Pythonpete]

Thanks yet again to everyone for the kind words. Happy New Year. i am lucky to be unhurt starting off the new year.

Venomiss that Black with Yellow ACR is AWESOME!!! Too much black for my polishing skills but if they made an ACR in Yellow, I'd be first in line.

Time will soon tell what I will do.

JonB I will most definitely be contacting you for insurance advice as well as a quote on EVERY body panel for a 2006 Coupe.

My hope is that the insurance company will be smart and total it but I'm sure the real struggle lies ahead.

 

[Venomiss]

Here's to wishful thinking.... also from my hubby
One of my personal favorites

​

 

[Pythonpete]

Here's to wishful thinking.... also from my hubby
One of my personal favorites

​

THAT CAR IS OBSCENE!!

 

[Dave Moore]

Pete,
I'm just getting back from being away and can't believe what I'm reading. I am glad to here everyone was OK. It must have been scary. It's one thing to be flying and accepting that there are consequences...but humming along at the speed limit and driving conservative...it's just not expected.
Good luck with the insurance co.
Dave

 

[InjectTheVenom]

What about turning it into a Street Serpent with the panel package from Jeff Lemke as mentioned earlier? It would be the first SS Coupe

 

[Pythonpete]

What about turning it into a Street Serpent with the panel package from Jeff Lemke as mentioned earlier? It would be the first SS Coupe

Thanks Venom, I'm more of a stock guy although if they try to fix it the value will be shot anyway.

 

[pteam]

My viper has runflats on it, would PS2s make that big of a difference? I heard they give you a little bit more traction but does it make a difference with the pulling? It seems to want to pull both ways with the way the road dips, I just had an alignment, and it seems a little better but still does the same. Any suggestions?

 

[DII]

Yeah the cop had some serious attitude but what is done is done. Clearly he had a chip on his shoulder for some reason. :

The one thing that I can tell you is, exotic cars have a dramatic affect on people. And people process exotic cars in different ways. Some people simply exhibit admiration / adoration and leave it there, some ask 1million PERSONAL questions and attempt to undermine your perceived success.

People like the officer are simply envious, and not happy with themselves, so they act mean and nasty towards you because you have a 90k vehicle. They assume your some arrogant ***** that can't drive. Meanwhile you could the most kind, down to earth race car driver in the world!!

I keep these things in mind when I talk to people, like a cop that once asked me where did someone my age get the funds to afford a Viper. (I replied MAN-***** baby! lol)

P.S. your car really was/is beautiful, love that avatar pic

 

[Pythonpete]

Just came back from the morgue (body shop), the car may not be as bad as I thought. Still waiting on the insurance company who screwed up the day. They are now coming later today. I am doubful that they will total it. I still need a ton of new body panels. JonB we'll be contacting you. I hope you've got Yellow!! I still need 4 new wheels and tires. This time I'll be getting PS2s!! No MORE RUN FLATS for ME!

 

[Bobpantax]

If you have not done so already, make sure that you carefully check the suspension components. If the wheels are shot, it means that considerable lateral force acted on the suspension. Also, take a good look at the frame. In particular, the front subframe assembly and the right rear frame area. From the photos it looked like the car was sitting lower on one side and the body panels at the rear were a little out of alignment. Did you have any fluid discharge from under the engine area? Good luck with whatever happens.

 

[JonB]

...........
JonB I will most definitely be contacting you for insurance advice as well as a quote on EVERY body panel for a 2006 Coupe...........My hope is that the insurance company will be smart and total it but I'm sure the real struggle lies ahead.....

Pete, we have a very successful track record of helping our customers with 'come to Jesus' reality checks with their insurance adjustors. We can almost always get a 2+ year old Viper totalled -if that is your goal - or Rebuilt, if THAT is your goal. But PLEASE TALK WITH ME BEFORE you talk too much with your insurance adjustor! I would call you, but your profile is anonymous...I cannot remember your last name !

360-837-3937 Pacific Time Zone

 

[JonB]

My viper has runflats on it, would PS2s make that big of a difference? ...........Any suggestions?

YES.


PS-2s

 

[Janni]

If you have not done so already, make sure that you carefully check the suspension components. If the wheels are shot, it means that considerable lateral force acted on the suspension. Also, take a good look at the frame. In particular, the front subframe assembly and the right rear frame area. From the photos it looked like the car was sitting lower on one side and the body panels at the rear were a little out of alignment. Did you have any fluid discharge from under the engine area? Good luck with whatever happens.

Also - the A Arms - ball joints at the top and bottom of each corner of the suspension - they are probably loose / bent / bad. Last time i checked they are not shown as being "serviceable" in a Viper and they require you to get new uprights / control arms. Also - most likely the upright "arm" where the steering arms connect (and rear sway bar) are either loose or bent or both - as the aluminum upright bends fairly easily and distorts...

Then - check the steering rack mounts, suspension mounting points, rear subframe as was recommended, etc.

But of course - first call JonB......

Glad you are OK and so is the girl in the Jeep. Accidents happen.

 

[AviP]

Glad you're O.K.. I agree with those saying it was probably the runcraps that were the problem especially since 2 GTSs travelled the same ground before you without a problem.

Isn't that because the GTS is a better looking and better handling car! Am I biased?

 

[AviP]

I was in an accident this morning coming home from Captree. I was driving at the speed of traffic, maybe 50-55. I was in a turn following two of our Viper brethren, when my car started to slide into a Jeep that was next to me. I'm not sure if it was the wet pavement, loose asphalt or what but my car was determined to hit that jeep.

Glad that you are OK.

The car doesn't look all that bad in the camera phone pics but I'm obviously mistaken. I'm guessing this was on a freezing day. Was there a "BRIDGE ICES BEFORE ROADWAY" sign?

 

[PDCjonny]

It wasn't that cold really, mid to upper 40's. There wasn't any standing water or ice that we could see. Definitely could have been sand or loose gravel though.

 

[Viper X]

Tough break.

Glad you're OK.

I had a close call driving through the canyons around Malibu last summer in my VOI 9 coupe. I hit a patch of fresh rocks that had fallen from the side of the cliff into the road. The rear end slid towards the guard rail. I was very lucky that day but ultimately, Viper Days driving school and what I learned there saved my car from hitting a guard rail that day and then going off of a cliff. My wife still can't believe how quickly the car got out of shape and then back under control. It's still all kind of a blurr to me as there wasn't any time to think, just react.

The run flats were gone the following week.

What ever you do, loose the run flats.

PS2's make a big, big difference. No issues since.

Good luck,

Dan

 

[Pythonpete]

Run flats are definitely gone, still not sure what I'm going to do.

 

[XXX BLK]

Pete, just saw the post glad to hear you're okay...Adrian

 

[oufan2929]

The bumblebee is my favorite viper! I hope it turns out ok either way for you. The same EXACT thing pretty much happened to me in Jan. of '07 in my '03 SRT/10. It was a 12k mile car w/the original stock runflats. I new the runflats were bad, but I had no idea they were THAT bad. At the time I also owned a 800rwhp vette, so for me the viper was the "slow" car. I figured it would be impossible for me to lose control of the viper under any circumstances because I could throw the vette around all over the place w/ease and recover w/zero problems! For some reason vipers are totally different animals! I guess mostly in part to the tires (I always turned tc off on my vette). Anyways, I was going down a 4 lane road in 15* weather, doing about the speed limit of 55 and simply switched lanes and as I did I him a bump in the road and it sent me sideways across all four lanes of traffic! The witnesses said I hit the curb w/both wheels at the same time tossing me up into the air and when I was upside down in the car I got tangled up in some trees throwing me into a 360 turn while flipping! God had his hand on me and my friend as I landed on all four wheels! I opened the door and walked away w/only a tiny scratch on my hand. My friend that was riding w/me had a broken left elbow, so he couldn't put on his seatbelt! Had we of landed upside down there's no telling what would have happened considering the vert. top was ripped nearly completely off!!! He walked away w/only 14 stiches in his head! Moral of the story, runflats are like iceskates!!! I feel very blessed! Insurance hooked me up too! Good luck w/yours!--Andy

 

[DodgeViper01]

The bumblebee is my favorite viper! I hope it turns out ok either way for you. The same EXACT thing pretty much happened to me in Jan. of '07 in my '03 SRT/10. It was a 12k mile car w/the original stock runflats. I new the runflats were bad, but I had no idea they were THAT bad. At the time I also owned a 800rwhp vette, so for me the viper was the "slow" car. I figured it would be impossible for me to lose control of the viper under any circumstances because I could throw the vette around all over the place w/ease and recover w/zero problems! For some reason vipers are totally different animals! I guess mostly in part to the tires (I always turned tc off on my vette). Anyways, I was going down a 4 lane road in 15* weather, doing about the speed limit of 55 and simply switched lanes and as I did I him a bump in the road and it sent me sideways across all four lanes of traffic! The witnesses said I hit the curb w/both wheels at the same time tossing me up into the air and when I was upside down in the car I got tangled up in some trees throwing me into a 360 turn while flipping! God had his hand on me and my friend as I landed on all four wheels! I opened the door and walked away w/only a tiny scratch on my hand. My friend that was riding w/me had a broken left elbow, so he couldn't put on his seatbelt! Had we of landed upside down there's no telling what would have happened considering the vert. top was ripped nearly completely off!!! He walked away w/only 14 stiches in his head! Moral of the story, runflats are like iceskates!!! I feel very blessed! Insurance hooked me up too! Good luck w/yours!--Andy

That is one bad accident. Glad you walked away!!

 

[Pythonpete]

Oufan2929 your car makes my car look like it just has a small scratch! WOW!! Thank god you are ok

 

[Pythonpete]

UPDATE:

The first quote, from the insurance company came in low. They know that its going to go up and I will re-discuss totalling out the car if/when we get closer.

As of now I am starting the re-building process.

A special shout out to Bill Pemberton, BJ Motors and JonB of Partsrack for their offers of help. I actually spent 15-20 mins talking to JonB yesterday on strategies for dealing with the insuarance company.

Of course Chuck Tator offered help as well as he always does.

My hope right now is that there is not much more damage than what was discovered. I want MY car back and I want it the way it was before the accident. If any major damage is found, I will push to total it out but right now, most damage is just cosmetic.

Thanks for listening

Pete

 

[InjectTheVenom]

Sounds good. Hopefully there is no major damage to suspension and/or frame.