Afraid to buy a Viper that's been tracked?

[Catwood]

Someone walked away from mine at $39990. To that I'd like to say thanks for not taking advantage of my moment of madness....what the heck was I thinking?

I've attached a few pics of it. For those of you afraid to run your viper on a track are really missing out on what the Viper's about. If your into waxing and keeping it a garage queen....buy a model car...it's cheaper


For those that have run on a race track you know what I'm talking about

The Viper really shines on the roadcourse...yeah, you'll need to do some extra maintenance and work switching brake pads back and forth....big deal I say.

You'll learn as you go, meet some great folks and be humbled, excited and appreciate the Viper even more. You'll also learn about yourself.

For those looking to buy a Viper...don't shy away from a car that's been tracked. Inspect the same as you wolud any other purchase. Chances are it's probably as good or better than one of those sitting, rotting, in a garage waiting for the next coat of wax.....

Use the Viper for why it was made...life's to short to do other.

Have a nice week.

[RedEnuf93]

I understand fully walking away from a tracked Viper. When I bought my first one, I would have never considered one with ANY track time, 1/4 mile or road race.

Later I learned that's what this car is all about. Track time!

[99 R/T 10]

Well said, it is def. their loss. You have TON of upgrades too.

[cudavip]

You know the "its a jeep thing if you have to ask you would'nt understand" well vipers should have "its a track car with a license plate if you have to ask you should'nt own one" two, three... ok I know its a bit much but true, a ton of people have no clue where the battery box is or why its where it is.

[DrumrBoy]

Actually, cars that see some track time are usually better sorted than garage queens.

Who wants to go really fast on wheels or suspension parts that aren't 100% correct?

If it stays cool after 10-12 laps at high rpm on a hot day, it probably won't overheat around town.

Its important to inspect thoroughly and even get some additional eyes on the thing, but a car that's been really worked hard is likely to be a car that the weak points have already been taken care of for you.

[Catwood]

Originally Posted by cudavip

You know the "its a jeep thing if you have to ask you would'nt understand" well vipers should have "its a track car with a license plate if you have to ask you should'nt own one" two, three... ok I know its a bit much but true, a ton of people have no clue where the battery box is or why its where it is.

Having owned several Jeeps that is a good comparison. I sold my WJ with long arms and a real transfer case to get something to use to tow. Most folks never understood the QC sway bars......LOL

[AZTVR]

Originally Posted by Catwood

Someone walked away from mine at $39990.

It's funny. The same guy probably would have no problem buying an 8 year old Viper with 5000 miles on it that never had it's brake fluid or engine coolant changed.

[Dom426h]

+1 on that,


I personaly was happy to here that my viper had been on a track and was driven a decent distance to work on occasion. It let me know that the car Ran good, and with service records letting me know the car was up to date it was a no-brainer. Last thing i would want is to buy a car that sat its whole life to take it to a track(or road for that matter)and start having things go wrong.

[InjectTheVenom]

That guy was probably as blind as a bat, having seen the pictures I can only say your car is in pristine condition!

[Catwood]

It's not perfect but it's 8 years 3 months old.

I've enjoyed the track time and if I had to do it over....I'd do more.

[detroitdave]

As for the track thing, I will say this, the next one I get will be a street legal track car.

[mad0953]

Gee kind of biased to day the least. If I would have wanted a car for the track I would have bought one. You guys crack me up sometimes.....a bunch of middle aged old farts bragging about how they are cooler because they track their cars....lol. I wanted a B/W that I could drive when ever I wanted to so I did and yes I have waxed it, but that shouldn't give you the right to critisize me or anyone else that doesn't track their cars.......lighten up......aren't we one big happy family. BTW when I bought my latest turbocharged Miata track car I bought one with 153,000 miles on it because it is sorted out and has all the right stuff on it, and oh yeah I waxed it last night. Go figure.



BTW#2 Very nice looking car too.
BTW#3 If we ever meet up at Thunderhill, Laguna Seca, Sears Point or PIR I'll show ya what a 300 hp Miata can do.

[dave6666]

Originally Posted by mad0953

Gee kind of biased to day the least. If I would have wanted a car for the track I would have bought one. You guys crack me up sometimes.....a bunch of middle aged old farts bragging about how they are cooler because they track their cars....lol. I wanted a B/W that I could drive when ever I wanted to so I did and yes I have waxed it, but that shouldn't give you the right to critisize me or anyone else that doesn't track their cars.......lighten up......aren't we one big happy family. BTW when I bought my latest turbocharged Miata track car I bought one with 153,000 miles on it because it is sorted out and has all the right stuff on it, and oh yeah I waxed it last night. Go figure.

I'm with Mad on this one. I agree with him. My sheep are his sheep.

Make me stop.

But seriously, I won't disagree that the Viper is a street legal race car. And for those that don't want to track their car, who gives a sheep.

Besides not giving a sheep about tracking the car, I've seen the cosmetic wear and tear on cars at the track when I'm hanging out posing.

I'd rather keep it shiny.

[Catwood]

You guys must wear windbreakers?

Why bother owning one if you don't' track it?

Comfort?

Gas Mileage?

Easy to park?

Image?

I mean really.....it's got a purpose, like a tool.....folks shouldn't be discourage from using it.

[dave6666]

Originally Posted by Catwood

You guys must wear windbreakers?

Why bother owning one if you don't' track it?

Comfort?

Gas Mileage?

Easy to park?

Image?

I mean really.....it's got a purpose, like a tool.....folks shouldn't be discourage from using it.

Questions?

[terminator02]

Originally Posted by Catwood

You guys must wear windbreakers?

Why bother owning one if you don't' track it?

Comfort?

Gas Mileage?

Easy to park?

Image?

I mean really.....it's got a purpose, like a tool.....folks shouldn't be discourage from using it.

Thats like asking why a family of 4 lives in a 12,000SQ mansion...

[ViperJon]

Since there is no shortage of used Vipers to pick from, NOBODY is going to pick a tracked one over a babied garage queen unless the price is really right.
The market will tell you what the car is worth.

[Catwood]

Originally Posted by terminator02

Thats like asking why a family of 4 lives in a 12,000SQ mansion...

No..it's like buying a 12000 sq foot house and being afraid to get the carpet dirty.

[Catwood]

Originally Posted by ViperJon

Since there is no shortage of used Vipers to pick from, NOBODY is going to pick a tracked one over a babied garage queen unless the price is really right.
The market will tell you what the car is worth.

Absolutey a fair statement. But the ROI is well worth it.

I just don't get the idea of a garage queen. It's like getting married and not...well, you can imaging where I'm going.....

[FATHERFORD]

Originally Posted by Catwood

No..it's like buying a 12000 sq foot house and being afraid to get the carpet dirty.

My mother in law is like that, has a 4500 sqft house and EVERYTHING is bed sheets or paper towels.

[musicncars]

we have a 5500 sq ft house, and it gets lived in.
especially the bedroom

[dave6666]

Originally Posted by Catwood

No..it's like buying a 12000 sq foot house and being afraid to get the carpet dirty.

My Viper is a 2001 with 28K miles, and is a wee bit dusty right now with dirty carpet too, because it is in pieces undergoing a non-poser exhaust conversion.

Be tough to call it a garage queen.

It has also never been tracked.

You can play with these words any way you want to , and you still won't convince me that just because I don't want to do with my car as you want to do with your car, that I have any less of a Viper, and am any less of a car enthusiast.

So where do all you "track experts" catalog me?

Huh?

I can take it. Name what Dave is in your world of autos.

[Sellshomesdrivesviper]

Call me a garage queen, but in high school my nick name was tripod.

[Affatica]

Originally Posted by Sellshomesdrivesviper

Call me a garage queen, but in high school my nick name was tripod.

Did you work for the school newspaper?

[DrumrBoy]

Hey now. I only saw one post that suggested that you need to track your car to be real.... and that wasn't the point of the initial post anyway. The issue was, why would someone be afraid of a car that had been tracked.

Like anything, there are advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes, weak links are well sorted by the process of breaking stuff and replacing/improving said stuff. I guaranty that a roadcourse car is going to have alot more paint imperfections than one who hasn't followed 20 feet behind another car kicking up crap at 150!

Track is fun, but doesn't make you cooler. There's nothing cool about getting smoked by a 93 Mustang with a huge double shot of N20 at the strip....and quite humbling to have a Lotus Exige all over you on a slower road course with lots of turns. Fun if you like it, but that's about it.

We buy perhaps the coolest hotrod on the planet and live in the Yew-nited States, so we can use 'em however we damn well please!

[Dom426h]

do as you will with your viper,
that last statement about the coolest hotrod on the planet was money

However, if its an ACR i expect...

[mad0953]

Originally Posted by Catwood

You guys must wear windbreakers?

Why bother owning one if you don't' track it?

Comfort?

Gas Mileage?

Easy to park?

Image?

I mean really.....it's got a purpose, like a tool.....folks shouldn't be discourage from using it.

Why can't we use it the way we want to without getting crap from someone who looks down on people that don't do things you don't understand? It's called diversity....look it up and take a chill pill. I belive milk crates are to be stood on for getting some leverage when taking on a big ewe and I won't give you crap if you use them to store stuff in. Does that simile work for ya?

BTW I would buy a Viper that had been tracked if that's what I was going to do with it.

[jamie furman]

Originally Posted by Catwood

Someone walked away from mine at $39990. To that I'd like to say thanks for not taking advantage of my moment of madness....what the heck was I thinking?

I've attached a few pics of it. For those of you afraid to run your viper on a track are really missing out on what the Viper's about. If your into waxing and keeping it a garage queen....buy a model car...it's cheaper


For those that have run on a race track you know what I'm talking about

The Viper really shines on the roadcourse...yeah, you'll need to do some extra maintenance and work switching brake pads back and forth....big deal I say.

You'll learn as you go, meet some great folks and be humbled, excited and appreciate the Viper even more. You'll also learn about yourself.

For those looking to buy a Viper...don't shy away from a car that's been tracked. Inspect the same as you wolud any other purchase. Chances are it's probably as good or better than one of those sitting, rotting, in a garage waiting for the next coat of wax.....

Use the Viper for why it was made...life's to short to do other.

Have a nice week.

In some cases cars that have been tracked are torn up and the paint is chipped and so on, I drag race, road race you name it and sometimes I want to be in someone elses car so I don't have to beat mine up but it is what it is! I have cars that I have had on the track that look like trailer queens and run like a stocker because I am anal about my cars. On the other hand I have a friend who doesn't ever track his car and it is a rag with rock chips and paint swirls and such so it really depends on the car, not weather its been tracked but how much its been tracked and how well it was maintained.

It looks like in your case they did you a favor! You ought to send them a bottle of wine or something with a thank you card! I could understand walking away from a POS ragged out racer, but not from that car! Under 40k for a GTS that looks like that, your moment of madness has passed so now you can enjoy the car again. The same thing has happened to me in the past, and I almost let a good one get away, be glad you didn't.

[Catwood]

Originally Posted by jamie furman

It looks like in your case they did you a favor! You ought to send them a bottle of wine or something with a thank you card! I could understand walking away from a POS ragged out racer, but not from that car! Under 40k for a GTS that looks like that, your moment of madness has passed so now you can enjoy the car again. The same thing has happened to me in the past, and I almost let a good one get away, be glad you didn't.

Amen...my overall point from this weekend. I washed it and said to myself "WTF are you thinking?" I'll keep it to track again...those new slicks are begging to get used.

YMMV