Florida Viper moving to Vegas. Advice appreciated.

vvvviper

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Looks like I'll be calling Henderson, NV my new home at the end of '04. I'm going to miss it here alot and I'm admittedly a bit nervous about the change. I grew up down here in Ft. Lauderdale, went to UF for 4 years, came back to S. Florida and have lived in Broward or Palm Beach counties ever since. I've been here basicly my whole life. It's the greatest place to live period. - Work and family however are going to take me somewhere completely new.

As far as my car is concerned, I know alot is going to change also. I mean I'm going from one of the most humid environments to one of the driest/hottest places in the country. How does this affect "drivablility" and what times of the year (times of the day) are bearable to drive hard top / soft top / *******?

Currently, the Viper is my daily driver. (has been since I got it from the factory 3 yrs ago) From a practical standpoint, I'm going to need another vehicle when I get out there. I can't imagine driving the Viper on a daily basis (in the summer) in Vegas. Any thoughts? What's a good second vehicle out there? Truck? SUV?

I read in a thread that a thin layer of dust covers the roads there and will break the rear loose pretty quickly. Can anyone else confirm this? - Any thoughts about a good trailer company to take the car out there?

Is there a local/regional Viper club? Can you recommend a good Dodge Dealer and /or Viper Tech in the area? What's the drive like to LA?

My dream car would be nice out there. White SRT-10. Guess for the time being I'll be content keeping it as a screensaver. Thanks for your help with the questions. Any additional thoughts also appreciated.
 

kARLUG

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I have lived in Henderson for 15 years and really enjoy it.
Its a relatively safe, quiet, conservative community only
about 15 minutes from the strip. Today the high will be in
the low 60's, great ******* RT-10 driving weather. The roads
are fine, no dust problem. There are many great lonely desert highways
around the area to drive on. Nice long straight aways with no
traffic or police. The summer weather is extremely hot in July
and August. Almost unbearable to drive *******. The summer weather
will test the best of air conditioning systems. Driving at night is
ok but still temps in the 90's.
Brad Mcdaniel is the Viper Tech at Desert Dodge and knows his stuff.
He's a great guy, very helpful, and tries to keep the bill within
reason. There is a VCA Chapter in Vegas but I haven't ever attended
any meetings. Look me up when you get to town. Hope that you
enjoy your move.
 
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vvvviper

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Red 93 RT:

Thanks for the input. So how often do you acutally drive your car out there? Sounds like in the summer its' pretty much evenings only? Is it OK to valet up front (park yourself) at some of the casinos? Any dead battery issues out there with all that heat or do you just make sure to fire it up once or twice a week? Is Desert Dodge in greater Las Vegas area?

Thanks again.
 

MoparMan

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I live on the other side of town in the Summerlin area and love living in Las Vegas. I lived in the L.A. area for about 18 years before moving here and don't regret the decision at all. We have a small but decent VCA chapter here - the president (Marko) is very energetic and we get involved in a lot of cool stuff. check out the club web site at http://www.nevadavipers.com

I have a GTS, so I can't address your concerns about driving with the top off your RT/10, but I can tell you that I drive my car here year round. The only time I had any sort of problem was one day when it was 122 on our side of town (that's VERY rare) and I got stuck in stop and go traffic coming up the hill from the strip. At one stoplight the car was running pretty damn hot, but a quick flip of the heat to max took care of it within a minute then I had the air back on and was ok.

If you feel like you have to get a second vehicle then you'll probably end up with a truck or SUV since just about everyone here drives something big. However, if you're used to driving your Viper as a daily driver I think you'll be fine.

As for the casinos, alot of them will leave a car like the Viper up front because they feel it's good for business. Usually, giving the valets a decent tip goes a long way towards them letting you park in front. My wife works at the Palms and they always have a couple of high end cars sitting in the valet area in front of the main casino entrance.

As for the roads, RED_93RT is right. However, it's like living anyplace. I'm sure there are roads that are and aren't in great shape where you live as well. The same is true here.

I've never used the Viper tech at Desert Dodge (which is on Sahara about 3 miles west of the strip) but I have used Phil the Viper tech at Chapman Dodge (which is east of the strip on Boulder Hwy and much closer to Henderson). Phil is a great guy and I can't complain with the service I got at all - note that they did the Arrow rebuild on my car.

BTW: are you set on living in Henderson? One piece of advice for real estate is to get in to a development before the models are built and reserve your lot then. The prices do nothing but go up from there. We did that with our house and one week later they raised the price of our model $20k! If you get in early, you'll do well value-wise with real estate here.

Also, be prepared to pay California type rates for insurance and registration. One bonus: we don't pay state income tax, although I think you don't in Florida as well, right?
 

Sam 01 RT10

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I've driven my RT/10 ******* in the 110 heat, and it isn't too bad. The cockpit heat is greatly diminished if you have some high flow cats. I've been here for almost 10 years and love it. I also live in Summerlin, and prefer the West side of town over Henderson(where I work). I agree about Brad, he's always taken care of me over at Desert Dodge, and my friend Chad works in the bodyshop if any other repairs are needed. I've attended one meeting of the local VCA here, and they seem well organized. I work in Finance at one of the local dealerships, so I help you if you decide to purchase another vehicle.
:)
Oh, and my Mom is a realtor.
:laugh:
I look forward to seeing another RT/10 in town, too many of those GTS things around....
;)
 

kARLUG

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I DRIVE MY CAR JUST ABOUT YEAR AROUND BUT IT IS NOT MY DAILY DRIVER.
I'M 6'4" AND CAN'T FIT INTO THE CAR WITH A TOP SO I ALWAYS DRIVE *******.
YOU CAN DRIVE IN THE SUMMER HEAT BUT AT 55 YEARS OLD WITH NO TOP OR AIR,
I DON'T REALLY ENJOY IT. NEVER LET ANYONE AT ANY HOTEL VALET PARK YOUR CAR!
I ALWAYS PARK IT UP FRONT AND PAY EXTRA. I PARK THE CAR MYSELF. I'VE KNOWN GUYS THAT WORKED IN VALET AND THEY LOVE TO HOT ROD YOUR CAR. BRAD AT DESERT DODGE CAN ATTEST TO THE VIPERS THAT GET TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP WRECKED FROM OVER ZEALOUS VALET GUYS. DESERT DODGE IS LOCATED IN GREATER LAS VEGAS, NEAR SAHARA AND DECATUR BLVD. VERY EASY TO FIND AND ABOUT 10 MINUTES WEST OF THE STRIP. CAN'T SAY ENOUGH GOOD ABOUT BRAD THE VIPER TECH. ALWAYS WILLING TO HELP AND HAS EVEN MADE A HOUSE CALL ON OCCASION. I'VE NEVER HAD A BATTERY PROBLEM BUT ALWAYS USE A TENDER WHEN THE CAR IS GARAGED. I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL GOOD TUNERS IN CALIFORNIA, ABOUT 4 HOURS AWAY. DC PERFORMANCE, DAN CRAGIN, DID SOME
MOTOR WORK FOR ME AND I VISITED HIS SHOP IN L.A. AND WAS VERY IMPRESSED. NICE CLEAN SHOP WITH ALL THE LATEST EQUIPMENT. HE CAN DO EVERYTHING FROM A TUNE-UP TO SUPERCHARGERS. I THINK THAT YOU WILL REALLY ENJOY DRIVING YOUR CAR IN VEGAS.
DON'T HAVE TO WORRY MUCH ABOUT RAINSTORMS AND THOSE HUMID FLORIDA DAYS. YOU HAVE ALL THAT VEGAS IS FAMOUS FOR ON THE STRIP AND YOU CAN GET AWAY TO THE DESERT FOR SOME GREAT SCENIC DRIVING. BEST OF LUCK!
 

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