Viper's aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

[luc]

Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

I don't know if I am the only one but it seems to me that because we drive a Viper,we are paying a "premium" on performance and/or aftermarket parts.
A good example is the little skip shift eliminator.
we all know the the viper tranny is basicaly the same that the Corvette or Camaro/Firebird.
Summit sell it for $29.69 but,when I bought one from a very well known Viper parts dealer, I had to pay $60.00.

Over twice as much for what it is virtually if not exactly the same part.
Same thing on headers,cat-back and yes even on brake fluid or water wetter.

When I decided to buy a Borla cat-back,I could not believe the price of it.
I was able to get a much better deal on the Mopar system (the same) through my friendly Jeep part manager.

I am sure that some people are going to say that it have to do with volumes/market size.
I don't buy it/believe it.
After all what do you need to do an exhaust system?

Tubing. Same price for a Mustang or Viper.
Mufflers. I don't think that they are custom made.
Fabication/welding. Do the hourly wage of the welder/fabricator
is higher when he work on a Viper system
than on a Mustang?

Any comments/ideas?

Luc. 2000 GTS

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

I agree with you Luc. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is. I would think some enterprising skilled craftsman could fabricate exhaust for half the price and still make a good profit.

 

[RECOIL]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

Pricing seems to be set on "what the market will bear".

I'm buying a Turbo for my daily driver (95 Honda Prelude VTEC) for $3,195.00 (the whole kit).

I don't even want to know what one costs for my GTS.

A set of headers, stainless steel, are under $300.00. A complete cat-back is under $300 too. It's really amazing.

There aren't that many people looking to add turbo to their Honda, so the demand is quite small -- and so is the supply, but the prices are more reasonable.

But hey, why should they drop the prices when we're all going to buy their products sooner or later? <grin>

Hurry up and fix the C/E light for 00 Vipers! I'm dying to get a Belanger complete setup.

Steve

 

[Kid97GTS]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

Dude, where have you been? The prices charged for Viper parts have always been outrageous. The only explanation is indeed that the Viper market will bear the gouging that so frequently goes on. I guess that's what happens when the customers for these parts generally have an excess of disposable cash and maybe not the most extensive experience with car mods or even cars in general. The only way around it is to find alternatives to the pricey parts (i.e., $50 green stripe smooth tubes vs. $200 Mopar tubes) and educate yourself on what parts really aren't worth your time or money (i.e., many so-called "performance" Doo-Dads that are hawked by various suppliers/tuners).

BTW - I used the Camaro skip shift eliminator (the JET one from Summit) on my Viper and it fit and works great.

 

[luc]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

Kid97gts.
I think that peoples/tuners believe that it is their duty to help us Viper owners to spend our money since we must have way too much of it to be able to do it by ourself.

Especialy when you go to the "illustrated Upgrade" under Skipshift disable and that the link to buy it is not the $29.60 but of course the $59.99.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BAKNBLK95RT:
And don't even get me started on the price of the only available wheels for the Viper(HRE, Forgeline etc... But you know what we seem to pay it so they sale it. It's a joke!!!!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Go to John Purner at Complete Custom Wheels for your Viper wheels. So far I have not had any problem with mine and they are the most reasonably priced wheels I've found. Much more affordable than the others!

You must be registered for see images

 

[PMUM]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

Chuck, either you squirt your Armor All out of hose or you're car has a nice amount of camber. Judging from those big brakes, I'll assume it's the latter.

As a business owner, those guys more than have the right to charge whatever they want. They've gotta make a living too. . Sometimes when you stay too close on the margin you don't leave enough room for unforseen issues.

In a free market the only way to lower prices is to refuse to buy the parts. If people are willing to bear the prices, more power to the tuners. Of course the other option is to have all prices "moderated" to protect us from ourselves.

 

[Brad Manhattan Beach]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

Luc:

It's called the BOHICA sales strategy...

 

[STOUT 1]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

BAKNBLK95RT, You hit the nail on the head.....

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

Working for a Dealer I am probably asking to get flamed with this response, but I thought some of the issues should be addressed. Use your VCA number as a sales tool, as we ( and many others ) give discounts to VCA members. We got caught in the MoPar price war on smooth tubes, when DC decided to raise the rate for this part. We sold them for $68.14 and then overnight our cost went to around $170. Sales plummeted on factory parts and enterprising aftermarket suppliers came up with alternatives. I was surprized one individual paid less for a MoPar catback, as there are numerous dealers/suppliers/etc. selling the Borla system alot cheaper - afterall the MoPar is a Borla system. Check around as many dealers and aftermarket suppliers are very fair on pricing, and try to be as competitive as possible. The problem we all run into is that there are so few Vipers in the world, so for a supplier to build something for us, his economy of scale and developemental costs are much higher than normal. We, personally, have a Viper Accessory Mgr ( seperate from the Parts dept. ) to try and keep costs in line and take out the middleman, but with the low number of aftermarket companies dealing in Snake Parts it is a tight market. Test the waters with the sponsors on the VCA site, and I think in most cases you will find that everyone is trying to be fair and competitive.

Respectfully,
Bill Pemberton
Woodhouse Chrysler,Dodge, Jeep
1-800-889-1893

 

[Marc Lublin]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

I have no doubt that the prices being charged are in direct relationship to what the market will bear. Not only parts, just look at what the tuners charge for their upgrades. Come on guys the Viper motor is not some extra special engine, it's just a motor. Actually with the easy access and the fact that most have low miles and have never seen rain (no rusted bolts), it is one of the easiest cars I have ever worked on. These tuners have found a good market and people with deep pockets. Don't get me wrong I'm not putting anyone down for their work, I'm sure most is good! The prices are just a little off.

 

[Jay Herbert]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

One of the fantastic thing about the VCA site IS its ability to disseminate information. Actually, that is what the site was started to do! I would bet that now many users would call places like Summit Racing, or check out sites like car parts.com, or jegs.com for more Viper products manufactured by people like Edelbrock, Borla, B&M, K&N, etc... for pricing. I have been buying from Summit for years. Many also call the Tire Rack and Zisser Tires when their Viper needs new tread.... The more the informed a customer is, the more likely they are going to get treated fairly.

Tony hit the nail on the head for the skip shift eliminator, we put that instruction up years ago, before others started offering the part at a discounted price, never got around to changing it.... (funny thing is people "laughed" and even "complained" about the "free" option illustrated in the instruction). Any time someone notices a way to improve an instruction, there is an on a address at the bottom of each..... so you can email us the suggestion, feel free to do so as we update the site (instructions, product areas, classifieds, events, etc.) daily. One point to be made here, maybe a supplier is making an extra $30 on a skip shift eliminator, but if that $30 is keeping a one man Viper specialty shop in business making parts you cannot get from a discounter.... parts that you do need (maybe like a specially sized sway bar?), wouldn't it make sense to still buy it from him? When you call a place like Woodhouse or the Parts Rack, you get to talk to a person that is 100% dedicated to Vipers, that costs the business owner some money, right? The question is it worth it to you? Something to think about.

A comment on Viper parts pricing, that really has nothing to do with the parts, really..... it is called Economics 101, supply and demand. The market price of any product will tend toward a price that meets at a point were the buyer is willing to pay for it, and the seller is willing to manufacture, market, and sell it. So, if everybody stopped buying Viper parts at the current prices, either the manufacturers would quit selling them, or the prices would go down. It is that simple. I've seen people here go after some suppliers or other users with a Vengence when they offer something at a much lower price, "It can't be as good", "We have sold hundreds, ours are better", etc., etc., etc. Something else to think about.

In many areas, we have seen the market working, does K&N charge a premium for its filters to Viper owners? No. Are there a number of suppliers selling parts at prices as much as 50% of the price of others? Yes. Of course when they do this, the folks selling the parts at a premium will complain, and make people think the parts they sell are "superior" because they are sold by "fantastically-stupendous-Viper brand" (for those in a bubble, this is called marketing

) , but if the "discounter" does a good enough job of 1) Delivering and 2) Proving to people that the same part IS the same part made by the same manufacturer..... the competition will have to lower their prices to stay in the market.

Of course, this is just one persons lengthy opinion.

 

[luc]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

of course,prices will be whatever we are willing to paid for.
Problem is that often we don't have a choice and as Paul said, the only solution will be not to buy the parts.

Also,if most Viper owners are like me,as soon that we got our brand new Viper we start to tinker with it and since we are new to the Viper market,we don't know yet that there are at least few choices of suppliers and/or parts that are cheaper.

What we do is look at the board "official" suppliers and start to give our credit card #.

A good example is the shift eliminator,I had no idea that the JET part # JET-61610 that Summit sell for $ 29.69 was the same that the $60.00 that I bought from one of the regular Viper supplier.

May be the Board administrator can open a section titled "Same parts,Better price" or "Cheap Parts" where Members can list/post all the informations and knowledge that you only learn with time and experience.

Like that the new,(or not) Viper owners will have a chance to have a better deal.
May be that will also put market pressure on the suppliers that are out of line.

I know that the Board has no control on suppliers'prices and I appreciate the fact that those peoples give their time to make this board possible.

To Bill.
The reason I was able to get a better price on my Mopar exhaust from my Jeep part manager is that I know him since 10 years and that he give me between 30% to 40% off the retail price with NO freight charge.

As an example,I bought a Mopar race controler,Part# P5007313 from him for $367.20.
As a Viper dealer you know what his cost was and I will guess at about $250.
Can you tell us what is Dealer cost on it?

If people are interested I can give them his name and phone #.

Luc.

 

[RED97GTS]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

Does any dealer currently offer the 5% over cost on factory parts like Hillsdale CPJE had offered to VCA members??

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PMUM:
Chuck, either you squirt your Armor All out of hose or you're car has a nice amount of camber. Judging from those big brakes, I'll assume it's the latter.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Great, now I'm on Mumford's smack list.

 

[BWoodbury]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

I don't understand the problem. I got a great price on my Borla cat back exhaust ($700 including shipping) and I thought it was well worth the money....

Oh yea, I bought it used... From Luc...

Bottom line. Viper parts cost more because:

1) Smaller market = higher mark-up to pay for development.
2) Vipers are not cheap and many owners will pay the price.

You can still get good deals if you investigate all angles and are patient. I just got a set of 4 Stainless Steel brakes lines for $100. (Oh no, did I just mention brakes? Ahem... I have 100% stock brakes and I love them. Really.)

 

[dtittle]

Re: Viper\'s aftermarket parts pricing.Too much?

Okay Guys,

Here's your assignment. Remember your economics and engineering classes from college?

First, pick one part of the Viper and make it fairly susbantial like engine, tranny, brakes, electronic or body and invent a new WIDGET for the Viper. Someone pick Carbon/Fibre body panels, somone else make wheels, Luc, you make brakes, Mark, you do the engine.

I want to stop in less that 100 feet from 60mph with no dust or noise.
I also want 2000 rwhp with Active Handling that will allow me to run a 7.00 quarter on Pilots with AC and my lovely wife in the car.
I also want a drag coefficient of .2?

Now, begin with all of those things that you learned in school and do ALL OF THE WORK necessary to make YOUR PRODUCT remarkably better. Don't forget your business plan, some money, lots of time, your lovely wife, a corporation, an office, full blown building that will let you work on cars, FLOOD INSURANCE, a computer, a credit card machine, a lawyer, an accountant, take your own car apart, and the time to take your own car apart just for starters. Get some more $$$ and then hire some people, build a website, get a phone system, placate your wife, get another attorney and accountant because the first bilked your naive a$$ dry. Get a doctor to give you some ulcer medicine and another to give you some Celebrex because your arthritis is acting up because you dropped your transmission while removing it because you don't have a lift because your lawyer took your money and you haven't sold YOUR WIDGET yet. Now, get another attorney to help with your divorce and a mechanic to put your car back together because she got it in the settlement, $2,500 dollars for the new transmission because you plugged in a skip shift from a Camaro and ripped the 4th gear forks out when it kicked in at the same time as your new wastegate on the turbo you've been testing. Get some more money then find a new computer because when the skip shift blew the tranny, it fried your computer and caused your fuel system to flip out blowing a hole in the #3 cylinder head and then caused the #3 main to flop out. Don't forget a new block. Go buy a welder and a plasma cutter and find a machine shop that will work on car parts and actually DO A GOOD JOB. Buy AutoCad ($5,000) or hire a draftsman ($95/hour) and document your widget. Then hire an attorney to draw up documents that you can take to another attorney regarding the confidentiality of your WIDGET. Don't forget $5,000 for each attorney as a retainer and don't negotiate a royalty agreement with them to lower their rates. Next, while your picking up your kids every other weekend and paying your wife alimony come up with $200,000 to actually productize your WIDGET and advertise it's existance. Don't advertise on internet sites as one PO'd customer will put you into bankruptcy. Don't forget the child support! Now go to all of the races and test your widget making sure not to forget insurance cause the IDIOT that you hired to work for you dropped your customers Viper on the ground while working on it and cut his hand off. Keep about $5,000 around in petty cash to fly him home. Give about $50,000 in sponsorship to the race circuit that your going to so they'll allow you to come sell there.

Now you might have pretty good widget!

Finally, add up all of the money that you've spent and compare it to an ACCEPTABE SELLING PRICE for your widget. Now divide it by the number of potential customers.

Aren't there around 12,000 Vipers in existence?

Well.

I made my widget in the form of the best brakes for the Viper. They're stronger last longer, work better than any other out there and have an ACCEPTABE SELLING PRICE! After all of that $$$, it's a good thing I enjoy my work!

WAR WIDGETS AND HOME OF THE NEWEST BRAKING CONCEPT EVER TO GRACE AN AUTOMBILE!

Please put the big automakers on hold honey while I'm on hold with Summit...