Solid Blue GTS and Solid Black GTS on Autotrader and Ebay

[JLorello]

Here is what I do not understand:

Why is it a good business decision to schedule the most important allocated vipers to be built LATER in the build schedule?

Why is it good to place unsold product in dealer show rooms BEFORE your most loyal customer base you have? Your previous viper owners!

Why is it a good idea to produce (150?) of the SAME spec vehicle first when your production has been delayed for 6 months knowing that your launch and marketing strategy is for CUSTOM product that your customers can build any way they want.

I don't know, maybe we are just venting from frustration... or maybe all these questions can be answered with some quick "official" SRT responses. Were there problems in some of the LE customer purchased cars that prevented them to ship before dealer cars? Were there setbacks in the supply chain for some interior materials? Leather colors? Paint?

Much frustration could have been spared...

 

[ACRucrazy]

I always chuckle when the limited edition or special editions end up being the most common.

 

[01sapphirebob]

I have personally never had the pleaseure of ordering a brand new car where I went in, sat down with my dealer, and optioned it all out, then had to wait for it. I could see how it would be very frustrating especially if there are dealers that are not to far away that ended up with one of the cars that was like mine. However, dosent everyone think the car will be well worth the wait (as paul mentioned)? I know everyone is getting impaitent since the driving seaon has now gotten underway for most of us but don't you guys think its a little premature to just up and cancell an order on a car or say I may never buy another american car again?

Look...there have been quality issues. There have beed supplier issues and set backs which is/was the biggest hold up for production if i'm not mistaken. Yea there are some who will say "well ferrari and porsche don't have these holdups." Maybe so, but they have been building their cars a lot longer with their suppliers then SRT has with the Viper. Pratically EVERY PART ON THE GEN V HAD TO BE RESOURCED. That takes time and then SRT has to make sure that the parts they are producing are up to their standards. I believe they were having problems with the Carbon hoods early on. From what I remember Ralph saying the supplier they had chosen for the hoods has never done carbon parts for cars. Plus, our carbon hood on the GEN V is the largest single carbon part on any car if i'm not mistaken. So I guess what i'm saying is cut SRT some slack. They want to get them out to you as much as you want them in your driveways.

 

[46hemi]

I am willing to bet dollars to donuts that there are many dealerships who are sitting on multiple Vipers that would be willing to make a fair deal below MSRP for a serious, no nonsense buyer. I know if I were in the market for one I would be doing just that.

If I had an open order for a car with no assurances of a delivery date, and I was able to find one on a lot that I could potentially negotiate a better deal on and start driving tomorrow, I would be cancelling my order and buying out of inventory. The driving season is short in many places. Couple a late season delivery with the late model year delivery and it starts to be a real concern. Maybe getting the deposit back is a problem?

 

[Nine Ball]

The unanimous point here is that SRT hasn't done anything to communicate with buyers who have ordered cars. Zero explanation about all the concerns mentioned above. These cars are just luxury toys, not necessities. The market is very small. We have this forum to communicate easily with, but SRT has failed to use it. Look, we all know new products of any kind are subject to delays or supplier/quality issues. Well, TELL us about them. We are generally professional people that can understand reasons why things happen. The main issue here is that SRT is silent and doesn't provide any customer feedback. Why not have an SRT spokesman here that gives a weekly update on the factory progress? Corvette forums have quite a few GM employees that are tasked with doing this, and those guys build 20,000 cars a year. It takes very little effort.

The LE cars being first doesn't bother me. That is just tradition. I own an '06 FE, I get it. However, I gotta be honest and say that the red track pack cars kind of pissed me off. Those should have never been built before custom orders with deposits down. Inventory cars should be LAST.

Tony

 

[ViperSmith]

The unanimous point here is that SRT hasn't done anything to communicate with buyers who have ordered cars. Zero explanation about all the concerns mentioned above. These cars are just luxury toys, not necessities. The market is very small. We have this forum to communicate easily with, but SRT has failed to use it. Look, we all know new products of any kind are subject to delays or supplier/quality issues. Well, TELL us about them. We are generally professional people that can understand reasons why things happen. The main issue here is that SRT is silent and doesn't provide any customer feedback. Why not have an SRT spokesman here that gives a weekly update on the factory progress? Corvette forums have quite a few GM employees that are tasked with doing this, and those guys build 20,000 cars a year. It takes very little effort.

The LE cars being first doesn't bother me. That is just tradition. I own an '06 FE, I get it. However, I gotta be honest and say that the red track pack cars kind of pissed me off. Those should have never been built before custom orders with deposits down. Inventory cars should be LAST.

Tony

If SRT Engineers can login to tell us that the SRT Marketing team incorrectly put up info on the remote start system http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/663685-GEN-V-remote-start - someone from SRT should be able to communicate with everyone what is going on.

The fact they aren't even communicating with dealers is troublesome.

Perhaps Ralph's car should have been last to roll off the line, instead of 2nd - it would have given him some impetus to get things sorted.

 

[ViperSmith]

I have personally never had the pleaseure of ordering a brand new car where I went in, sat down with my dealer, and optioned it all out, then had to wait for it. I could see how it would be very frustrating especially if there are dealers that are not to far away that ended up with one of the cars that was like mine. However, dosent everyone think the car will be well worth the wait (as paul mentioned)? I know everyone is getting impaitent since the driving seaon has now gotten underway for most of us but don't you guys think its a little premature to just up and cancell an order on a car or say I may never buy another american car again?

Look...there have been quality issues. There have beed supplier issues and set backs which is/was the biggest hold up for production if i'm not mistaken. Yea there are some who will say "well ferrari and porsche don't have these holdups." Maybe so, but they have been building their cars a lot longer with their suppliers then SRT has with the Viper. Pratically EVERY PART ON THE GEN V HAD TO BE RESOURCED. That takes time and then SRT has to make sure that the parts they are producing are up to their standards. I believe they were having problems with the Carbon hoods early on. From what I remember Ralph saying the supplier they had chosen for the hoods has never done carbon parts for cars. Plus, our carbon hood on the GEN V is the largest single carbon part on any car if i'm not mistaken. So I guess what i'm saying is cut SRT some slack. They want to get them out to you as much as you want them in your driveways.

I fully get and appreciate how complicated rolling something out like this is. I absolutely don't dismiss it, believe me.

But lets be fair, we were told production would start in December and I was told my car would be built in Feb and I'd see it in March.

Here it is half way through May and I know I am no where close to being built.

What is grinding peoples gears is, non-LE cars (well even LE cars in Brian GTS case) are showing up on show room floors, while us that ordered on a hope and a prayer are sitting here with our thumbs up our posteriors.

I've never driven a Viper, I've never been in one, I never saw a 2013, and I ordered it sight unseen.

But hey, I guess dealers got their cars, drop a $20k add on to them, and they will sit and rot in dealerships across the country.

 

[HyperViper]

I am dumbfounded by the fact that the LE cars weren't built in order and someone who put their name on (ordered) a lower numbered car has not received it while higher numbers are delivered to dealers.

I think most of this frustration will be forgotten once orders are filled and more cars start hitting the streets unfortunately the sour taste in the mouths of some may never go away completely.

 

[Solid Red 98]

Wow, did not realize this would turn into a let's all bash on SRT thread. Oh well. I thought it was nice to see a few non red or LE cars out there for a change.....

 

[madninjaskillz]

If I had ordered my car back when these guys did, and it wasn't here, I would be pi$$ed too on that end. SRT dropped the ball on marketing/ sales... again. Beautiful car, great improvments, pi$$ poor marketing and customer service.

 

[ViperSmith]

Wow, did not realize this would turn into a let's all bash on SRT thread. Oh well. I thought it was nice to see a few non red or LE cars out there for a change.....

God forbid those that put money down expect something.

 

[bluesrt]

nice car, the non stripe cars come out first

 

[Brian GTS]

Well, my dealer (John Gastman @ Roanoke) took it upon himself to pass along my frustrations to SRT that I have with my Launch Edition ordered back in October and still not here.....while LE unsold inventory sit everywhere.

If it makes anyone feel better, I am convinced that SRT DOES care and recognizes the logistics problems that occurred....and are correcting them. So, they are listening. He also made arrangements along with SRT so I can get my LE sooner than later. I am very grateful to SRT and John for their efforts. I'd encourage any of you in a similar boat to hang on a little while longer. It's encouraging to know SRT at least recognizes the issue so it can be resolved next time around.

 

[ViperSmith]

Bruce, nice. Like you, I just want info. The lack of dialogue from SRT had been disappointing to say the least.

Vacuums aren't great

 

[FLL-B/W-GTS]

Please,I would have gotten my deposit back long ago.Have friends that have given dealer Hard Dead line to get car,if not they will demand $$$ back and buy one of the many choices of performance cars out their.Crazy holding someones 5000.00 for over a year and then new cars are sitting one lots not sold.I could have bought 2 LE at the Dodge dealer in Tamarac last week.When ,if I deal with them,they will sell under MSRP for the cash..SRT not treating VCA Member with respect...

 

[MoparMan]

Look...there have been quality issues. There have beed supplier issues and set backs which is/was the biggest hold up for production if i'm not mistaken. Yea there are some who will say "well ferrari and porsche don't have these holdups." Maybe so, but they have been building their cars a lot longer with their suppliers then SRT has with the Viper. Pratically EVERY PART ON THE GEN V HAD TO BE RESOURCED. That takes time and then SRT has to make sure that the parts they are producing are up to their standards. I believe they were having problems with the Carbon hoods early on. From what I remember Ralph saying the supplier they had chosen for the hoods has never done carbon parts for cars. Plus, our carbon hood on the GEN V is the largest single carbon part on any car if i'm not mistaken. So I guess what i'm saying is cut SRT some slack. They want to get them out to you as much as you want them in your driveways.

This is all part of the engineering process-working with suppliers, getting parts and systems set so they work together and meet the required specs, ensuring vendors will be able to meet requirements, etc. If they weren't through most of these issues then they never should have debuted the car over a year ago and promised production late in 2012. They'd have been much better off delaying the debut of the car from the NYAS in April 2012 to a later show such as the LA Auto Show and using the extra time to sort some of these development issues out. They could have then taken orders either early in 2013 or into spring 2013 for delivery in the spring into summer (which is what we're getting now anyway). There'd be a lot less upset customers right now and they wouldn't have felt compelled to rush engineering mules to media outlets for review and later having to make excuses for the criticisms of those cars. As far as I can tell, there was nothing gained by having reviewers pan the car regarding panel fit, hardness of seats, track performance, etc then trying to explain that away by saying these were just prototypes and to not worry because it'll all be fixed in production. I'm sorry, but it seems to me that this product has been mismanaged and overly rushed from the get-go and now it's doing some damage (at least among those of us on here) to the Viper's and SRT's image.

 

[01sapphirebob]

I am dumbfounded by the fact that the LE cars weren't built in order

They were built in order. 1-150 rolled down the line one after another. Special edition numbers matched the VIN. Example....Car number 1 of 150 was VIN number 001 and so on. How they got shipped out to dealers is another story.

 

[Brian GTS]

They were built in order. 1-150 rolled down the line one after another. Special edition numbers matched the VIN. Example....Car number 1 of 150 was VIN number 001 and so on. How they got shipped out to dealers is another story.

With all due respect Bob, not sure this is correct. My #101 was on the line in Trim stage while a customer bought #144 off the showroom floor. I'm pretty sure they were built out of sequence unless my case was extremely special. Odd, I know...but that was my observation.

 

[VENOM V]

With all due respect Bob, not sure this is correct. My #101 was on the line in Trim stage while a customer bought #144 off the showroom floor. I'm pretty sure they were built out of sequence unless my case was extremely special. Odd, I know...but that was my observation.

Same thing happened with the 2008 Challenger SRT8s, which were a numbered limited edition of 6,400, if memory serves. They were built in a pretty random order. I got one of the early ones, and it was something like number 4,298.

 

[01sapphirebob]

With all due respect Bob, not sure this is correct. My #101 was on the line in Trim stage while a customer bought #144 off the showroom floor. I'm pretty sure they were built out of sequence unless my case was extremely special. Odd, I know...but that was my observation.

At least this is what i remember being told. They were probably BUILT in vin/number order but that doesnt mean they went through final inspection at the same time? Just guessing on the last part.

 

[sween]

I just want to see pictures to see what the Solid Blue car looks like. Can anyone post it?

 

[ViperSmith]

At least this is what i remember being told. They were probably BUILT in vin/number order but that doesnt mean they went through final inspection at the same time? Just guessing on the last part.

Seeing that custom orders are being built in a Hap hazard order, I put no stock into they built the LE in order

 

[chorps]

Don't see why they'd need to build the LEs in order, they are all supposed to be identical build sheets?

 

[01sapphirebob]

Seeing that custom orders are being built in a Hap hazard order, I put no stock into they built the LE in order

Theres pictures of them coming down the line in order at CAAP. I.E. the latest issue of Viper magazine. So you're suggesting that because the custom orders are built in any order that they couldn't have built the launch editions in order? It has been done before. Another example of this and the only other time it was done in the Vipers history is the 1998 Viper GTS-R replicas that they built 100 of. They went down the line 1-100 and their VIN number matched the car. I.E. car number 1 of 100 was VIN 001 and so on.

 

[01sapphirebob]

Don't see why they'd need to build the LEs in order, they are all supposed to be identical build sheets?

The number of the car matching the VIN is suppose to make it more collectable down the road. The First edition cars or the VCA edtion (red w/ white stripes) while numbered didn;t have their VIN match the number on the plaque that was on the shifter bezel. SO for example you could change car number 1 of 50 to number 50 of 50 and nobody would be the wiser.

 

[Viper808]

I just want to see pictures to see what the Solid Blue car looks like. Can anyone post it?

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here you go....

 

[mnc2886]

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here you go....

Would love this with an SRT hood!!

 

[Viper808]

Would love this with an SRT hood!!

I agree ..I think they all should have the SRT hood...especially the LE

 

[sween]

Looks awesome, thanks Viper808.

 

[NHL2133]

They were built in order. 1-150 rolled down the line one after another. Special edition numbers matched the VIN. Example....Car number 1 of 150 was VIN number 001 and so on. How they got shipped out to dealers is another story.

After reading your post I did a search to see if dash plaques matched Vins on the cars listed online. Every one I found does, but I also noticed something interesting...
The auction car was Vin #001, and if all dash plaques match Vin numbers, there is also a LE with 001. So, it seems there is more than one Viper with a vin ending in 001 out there. A quick search on E-bay shows differences in the first three digits of the last 8 of the Vin. All of the LE cars have Vins that match dash plaques and have the last 8 that begin with DV3 (DV300XXX). Other cars on E-bay have the last 8 that begin with DV1, DV2 or DV4. If each one of them has a 001 ending then you'll find at least four 001 in's out there. To me that takes away from any special-ness the auction car or LE #1 have.