Need strong advice on selling price -Sapphire '01 GTS w tasteful mods

[Cop Magnet]

Well, I have seen the flux in prices for our cars, and am not sure what would be a fair asking or selling price for mine. Not even sure if I will sell it if the market takes a tumble, or if I should wait till spring. A realistic "appraisal" will really help me decide what to do, so I appreciate all input. Here's what I am working with:

General:
2001 Viper GTS
Sapphire Blue with Silver Stripes
Bought from original owner in 2003 with 4500 miles
Now 20,000 miles
MaxCare warranty to 4/2008

Interior:
Black
GenIII seats
Team-tech 6-point harnesses

Brakes:
Dave's SRT brakes in front, powdercoated fronts in rear
SS lines
EBC Greenstuff
New Eradispeed dimpled/slotted front and back

Management:
VEC-1
Raptor Shift Light
Roe Fan Kit

Driveline:
Mopar (T&D) Roller Rockers
New Valve Stem Seals
RPS flywheel
Newer clutch (replaced with flywheel for the hell of it)
Hurst shifter (with old-school Hurst T-shifter handle)
3.55 gears

Exhaust:
No cats (have ‘em if you want them)
Belanger cat-back
(Sounds wicked!)

Wheels:
SSR-RC’s (very lightweight!)
Kumhos (305 in front, 335 in rear)
(I also have a set of chrome HRE 541’s with Pilots, stock sizes, straight but need refinishing)

Other:
HID headlamps (5500k?)
Dave's Oil Catch Can
Mobil1, Motul, K&N's, smooth tubes, and the usual assumables

Let me know what you guys think. I would advertise it here first, of course, where people speak my "language". The car has been tracked, yes, but never abused. Only drivers schools like ViperDays, nothing competitive, never drag raced. I think all of us here know these cars can handle it with the right attention to detail.

 

[Purdue_Boiler_Viper]

Just my 2 cents. It will be hard to convince anyone that this is not a track car. You've got track parts all over it. In fact, everything about it is track. Only a VCA guy who wants a track car can appreciate the car as is.

If you are going to sell it, take off most of the track stuff and sell it here. Refinish the HREs, and put them on. Even though the SSRs are better wheels, they are not as attractive as the HREs. Leave the "hot" brakes. That will help sell it.

Good luck!

 

[Cop Magnet]

Just my 2 cents. It will be hard to convince anyone that this is not a track car. You've got track parts all over it. In fact, everything about it is track. Only a VCA guy who wants a track car can appreciate the car as is.

If you are going to sell it, take off most of the track stuff and sell it here. Refinish the HREs, and put them on. Even though the SSRs are better wheels, they are not as attractive as the HREs. Leave the "hot" brakes. That will help sell it.

Good luck!

Hmmm. You may be right. My poser status does me in .

 

[Purdue_Boiler_Viper]

When I was looking for my Viper, I looked at one that was similar to yours. All the track stuff in the world. For a guy with no Viper experience, no tuning experience, and no track experience, it was pretty intimidating and scary in the sense that I had to trust that this maniac had installed all this stuff correctly and the car would not fall apart and kill me. I ended up going for a stock 01.

Now I am that maniac.

 

[Cop Magnet]

Yup, that's what I mean by "speaking my lingo"!

 

[All Blue ACR]

When I was looking for my Viper, I looked at one that was similar to yours. All the track stuff in the world. For a guy with no Viper experience, no tuning experience, and no track experience, it was pretty intimidating and scary in the sense that I had to trust that this maniac had installed all this stuff correctly and the car would not fall apart and kill me. I ended up going for a stock 01.

I can speak from recent experience; 2 days ago I bought a 2001 Sapphire GTS ACR 12418 miles, no stripes,original except for a chin guard, some gauge trim rings and a shifter. My first Viper. I was ready to make a deal on another car a week prior for significantly less money that looked as nice, had stripes, some wicked HRE wheels that cost a fortune and some mods; belanger exhaust with headers, SRT brakes, Penske shocks etc. I had the bank draft literially prepared until (on someone's recommendation)I looked at the owner's posts here on the VCA. The references to track use, proper heel-toe technique, track tires etc. totally scared me off. There is probably nothing wrong with that car and the term "racing" can be subjective. He assured me that the car had not been thrashed. It comes down to a serious level of trust on the buyer's part. In my case, I passed and opted for an original car owned by an Artsy fartsy guy with a good dealer service history. PBV's comments are dead on for the "novice". Your car is awesome, and there's a buyer out there right now. You'll have to build trust in your buyer to max the dollar value IMHO.

 

[jpa99acr]

low to mid 40s is good estimate from my experience, + value for mods, - some value for track history.

 

[Cop Magnet]

I think you guys have some great insight. I think the thoughts about putting the HRE's back on are especially good.

Cars are like women, you lust after the hot ones. But you want to take the low mileage ones home for good.

But, I do think low to mid 40's is LOW!

 

[All Blue ACR]

I think you guys have some great insight. I think the thoughts about putting the HRE's back on are especially good.

Cars are like women, you lust after the hot ones. But you want to take the low mileage ones home for good.

But, I do think low to mid 40's is LOW!

I agree, and I was just shopping hard

 

[Yellow32]

I think a realistic retail price would be $51K.

-J

 

[Cop Magnet]

Well, I make no secret of the fact I track the car. Hell, all the photo's I picked are at the track. But, like I said, I don't think that should scare anyone in the know completely off. Maybe a newbe wouldn't understand, but most of the guys here I think live the same kind of life.

In the end, a lot of mods come down to pride and joy 99% of the time. The few total hours you spend on the track each year are negligible with the right attention, like oil and brake fluids.

Appreciate all the input!

 

[Limit]

high 40's to bottom 50's. Of course you'll get little money for those upgrades, and as mentioned above, some people frown upon them due to tracking. It's hard to say though.

 

[Cop Magnet]

So I've got a range from low 40's to low 50's based on three posts. That's quite a spread. Any more estimates?

 

[TAXIMAN1]

So I've got a range from low 40's to low 50's based on three posts. That's quite a spread. Any more estimates?

The miles, and mods will keep it out of the 50's, no offense. But low 40's is too cheap, especially for the color. If it were solid red, I'd say low-$40's... Price it @ $46k, and leave a little room? I have bought and sold 5 GTS's in the last year.. Mid-$40's is good for this car..

 

[Zan186]

Unless you really need to sell it, I would keep it. The Gen II's are getting rare. Only 11k made and every year a few get wrecked. That is not that many cars and Dodge only pumps out a little over a thousand each year and those are GEN III's

 

[DodgeViper01]

Why the sale? Another well known car can't go away!!!

 

[redtanrt10]

Very nice car! I'd say upper 40's this time of the year, winters' coming. Price really depends on how long you have to sell. I also think that you would be ahead by selling the Gen III seats and the SSR's. to get a sense of the market look at autotrader and other places. I saw a stock bumblebee w/23K for 44 or 45K. All the track stuff has good value, but to a smaller group of buyers. You have a much rarer color that some will pay extra $'s. Good luck!

 

[Cop Magnet]

Why the sale? Another well known car can't go away!!!

Have been thinking about an '06 coupe, but if the value is really that low I don't think I can swing it.

Funny thing is, as much as I love my car, once you really get fixated on another it is hard to let go of the notion.

 

[dun4791]

Have been thinking about an '06 coupe, but if the value is really that low I don't think I can swing it.

Funny thing is, as much as I love my car, once you really get fixated on another it is hard to let go of the notion.

You mean you arent thinking of selling to step up to an 08? There are probably going to be a lot of 06 owners trading to 08s. That might make the 06 values come down some. You might be better off waiting until spring, sleep on it for a few months.

 

[Cop Magnet]

I could see spending some coin to move up to a GenIII coupe. I always liked those. But I can't see trading my car and a whole other car just like it for an '08. It's just not worth twice what I have now, especially with teething pains and the first-on-the-block tax.

 

[TAXIMAN1]

I could see spending some coin to move up to a GenIII coupe. I always liked those. But I can't see trading my car and a whole other car just like it for an '08. It's just not worth twice what I have now, especially with teething pains and the first-on-the-block tax.

agree 100%. For this reason, I can't imagine ever selling my GTS. There is just no better bang for the buck, out there...

 

[RTTTTed]

I bought my '01 Sapphire/silver GTS for $55,000 2 months ago. Of course it has cam, rockers, Roe 10#, headers, brakes, exhaust, etc. When I handed over the Bank Draft the car had 20,030mi. on it. I'd say you're looking at 45-49,000. My car took home 5 of 6 V10 Nats trophies and went 10.5@139mph in the quarter on stock tires. The rwhp is 720! The suspension also has Konis and Eibachs with 1,000hp axles. Z06 = breakfast of champions!

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Ted

 

[Cop Magnet]

Nice car! You're the kind of buyer I need to find...one that sees a fast car not as a negative, but a positive!

 

[RTTTTed]

I like your car, it would be too slow for me, but it would be perfect if I wanted a Viper with all the safety mods (big brakes & HID lights) and more power than stock - of course.

I presume that your car can be driven without an inexperienced person crashing the car. Mine's too fast and a handful for me to drive. With the small amount of traction I know to wait until the car is perfectly straight, lots of width to the road, no dust, etc. etc. But if I let my 20 year old drive it, I wouldn't expect him to live.

Looks to me that all the improvements you've made are mostly about safety and improving the performance without going too radical. I think it's "Tastefully modified" and would pay an extra $5,000 for it because of the mods. That it's been on the track only means that it's a proven car - that works well.

Ted

 

[rmani]

curious with the 3.55 gears does that make 6th gear useable? what is the theoretical top speed of the car?

If you still have it in a couple of months I'll definitely be interested.

 

[RTTTTed]

I have a Roe sc and use my 6th gear all the time. My car gets about 20mpg/us and has so much torque that it has no trouble passing from 1400rpm in 6th with the 3.08's.Previous owner tried 3.55's but they slowed the car down.

Ted

 

[rmani]

I have a Roe sc and use my 6th gear all the time. My car gets about 20mpg/us and has so much torque that it has no trouble passing from 1400rpm in 6th with the 3.08's.Previous owner tried 3.55's but they slowed the car down.

Ted

what the stock gearing ratio? what are the most common upgrades? 3.55 and what else?

 

[RTTTTed]

Once you have "too much power" for the street tires, lower gearing only spins the tires farther and loses ET.

I can't go 9's as I won't put a funnycar cage in my GTS, ever. If I wanted to go faster I could hook a bottle up to my NX Nitrous System, but it would be less than useless under 110mph with P Sports. Since Vipers don't come with 'paddle shifters' they lose a lot of time shifting.

Yes, I have the stock 3.08's back in the car for lower ET (10.5@139mph).

Ted

 

[Cop Magnet]

The 3.55's are great for a non-SC car. You do have to watch for wheelspin, and you do a lot more shifting. But overall worthwhile! And 6th gear is finally useable.