Looking into Viper ownership

[bmangold]

Greets, name is Brandon and I live in Houston, TX. I have been looking around your forums doing some research into Viper scene. I love sports cars and I have been an involved member in DSMTuners.com and my350z.com. My first tuner car was a AWD turbo Eclipse GSX then I moved into a BMW M3 and currently I have a Nissan 350z.

I have been thinking about rewarding myself with my lifelong dream car (VIPER!) when I complete my CCIE (Cisco IT certification), hopefully by January. I am currently looking at a second gen, leaning towards GTS but an R/T would be nice. I have always had hard top cars so an open top would be a nice change but I just hate the idea of sacrificing any performance.

Either way I certainly look forward to getting my Viper and getting involved in the community scene. I would appreciate any heads up on quality used viper dealers and tuner shops, leads on vipers for sale and any gotchas I need to know with buying a used Viper. I am doing my research now on the forums.

I just want to say thanks so much for providing these community forums and feedback is certainly appreciated!

 

[Next Phase]

GTS FTW! Good luck in your hunt for Viper. Lots of reading to do....

2001-2002 GTS is my suggestion due to ABS, but 96 to 99 have forged motors.... depends on what your needs are.

 

[Venomiss]

Welcome to the fun!

If you haven't seen this already:
Page 1

I'll also send you a PM with some contact information for your area too.

 

[bmangold]

I like to do some auto cross in my cars and I really don't like ABS to be honest. I was leaning towards a 99 GTS since they seem to be one of the more mod friendly from what I hear.

I will probably focus on suspension, drive train and braking. 450hp is plenty sufficient for auto cross but I would eventually like to be in that 600hp, high 10 second 1/4 realm.

The other question I have is insurance? Is there a steep premium for Vipers in comparison to say an M3 or 350z?

 

[bmangold]

Welcome to the fun!

If you haven't seen this already:
Page 1

I'll also send you a PM with some contact information for your area too.

Thanks a bunch for the link! That's awesome.

 

[viper067]

Good Luck on your CCIE ... had mine for almost 10 years now. After you complete that we'll get you started on your Juniper certs

As for car insurance, mine actually went down after shopping around .... I had suspected that I was overpaying previously but was way surprised by how much I was able to drop while adding a viper to the mix.

 

[10BamBam01]

Insurance isn't so bad. I pay about $750 per year for full coverage with $1000 deductible. This is through State Farm. I have a 2003 SRT10. I'd think a GTS would be comparable if not a bit less due to age.

Good luck with your search!

 

[Venomiss]

Helpful threads on insurance:
http://forums.viperclub.org/srt10-srt10-coupe-discussions/629900-need-car-appraised-insurance.html

and this one you might like best:
http://forums.viperclub.org/srt10-srt10-coupe-discussions/620312-insurance.html

Grab a drink and start reading!

 

[bmangold]

Wow, you guys are an awesome group. Thanks so much for all the excellent feedback. Yah, I have a lot of reading to do it seems haha. I have 3 or 4 months until I am ready to buy some hopefully I will have a good idea of what I am looking for by them. I honestly spent almost a year saving up and shopping for my 35th anniversary 350z. I suspect it will take me about that long to settle on a Viper.

One more question, you guys seem to rag on Vette owners a lot, example:
"HOCKEY PUCK TIRES – Are fun for burn outs and figure eights. They will kill you for road racing. Change your tires when they turn hard no matter how much it costs. If you can’t afford tires, you should be driving a vette."

That is too awesome. I have a bunch of buddies who are into the F-body, LS1, vette scene. I cannot wait to drive up in my Viper, that's going to be the best day moment for me I think. Although my Z will smoke a stock LS1 vettes I still get pulled by stock 2nd gen+ Vipers.

 

[bmangold]

Good Luck on your CCIE ... had mine for almost 10 years now. After you complete that we'll get you started on your Juniper certs

I assume this means you prefer Juniper? I have never been in a Juniper environment so I really don't know one way or another. I have always been Cisco/Microsoft with a enjoyable stint in Asterisk and VoIP.

 

[Smokin' 2]

The Houston VCA group is active and would welcome you aboard. I love my 97 with 'a few' mods. Take some time finding the right one. You should get a good deal in this environment.