salvaged vipers???

tim721

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what are your thoughts on salvaged vipers??? came across a few that look nice but have either a salvage or rebuilt title...prices were significantly lower than clear cars, but i want no future headaches...

anyone drive a solid one???
what should i look for???
or should i just stay away???

any feedback would be great

thanks
 

cratica

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Speaking from experience with other salvaged cars (not the viper), I would say STAY FAR FAR AWAY.

I would only consider a salvaged vehicle if I needed a work truck or farm truck or something to that effect. NEVER a high performance sports car. Alignments almost always will be skewed and even a degree or two will cost big$$$ in tire wear as well as road manners, especially in a viper. They tend to squeek and rattle a lot, which seems like a small problem. Let me tell you, those squeeks become annoying. Squeeks can even be hidden for a while with a blast of a mixture of kitchen soap and water. I would never feel safe at a high speed either. No matter what the cost, I wouldn't buy one. Then you also have to think about resale. It would be hard to move one. If a viper normally sells for $55K and you can get a salvaged one for $30K, I still wouldn't buy it. Once you've owned one salvaged vehicle, you will never buy another. Anyone I personally know who have owned one feels the same way.

btw, do not trust carfax. My previous salvaged vehicle showed up clean as a whistle.
 
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tim721

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Cratica - thanks for the input. Deep down inside I feel like I really knew the answer, I was just looking for thoughts like yours to get the idea out of my head. I must admit that saving a buck or two would be nice, but I figure I'd probably end up putting the amount saved back into the car as parts started to prematurely go.
Your comment on high speeds and never feeling safe is scary. The more I think about it, it bothers me that I could never feel safe there. Or just simply cruizin on the highway you always gotta wonder if everything is where it should be...

thanks again for the reply, I'll be sure to stay FAR AWAY...

tim
 

snowmann

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No reason to buy, you can get a Viper for cheap these days. Biggest problem with then is they will shake at speeds over 65 mph...
 

dansauto

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Speaking from experience with other salvaged cars (not the viper), I would say STAY FAR FAR AWAY.

I would only consider a salvaged vehicle if I needed a work truck or farm truck or something to that effect. NEVER a high performance sports car. Alignments almost always will be skewed and even a degree or two will cost big$$$ in tire wear as well as road manners, especially in a viper. They tend to squeek and rattle a lot, which seems like a small problem. Let me tell you, those squeeks become annoying. Squeeks can even be hidden for a while with a blast of a mixture of kitchen soap and water. I would never feel safe at a high speed either. No matter what the cost, I wouldn't buy one. Then you also have to think about resale. It would be hard to move one. If a viper normally sells for $55K and you can get a salvaged one for $30K, I still wouldn't buy it. Once you've owned one salvaged vehicle, you will never buy another. Anyone I personally know who have owned one feels the same way.

btw, do not trust carfax. My previous salvaged vehicle showed up clean as a whistle.

That's a very skewed opinion. Alot of cars are wrecked and you won't even know it. Salvage means the insurance companies wrote them off as it cost more to repair than the car is worth. I rebuild salvage cars. Been doing it for 10 years, have many repeat customers. All my repairs are documentated with before and after photos. I am SAE certified and have a complete shop with frame machine, laser alignment machine, spray booth and mixing station. I would not sell something that was unsafe!! I typically sell cars for about the wholesale price. My labor rate, and acessablilty to used parts allows me to fix them cheap and still make a profit. My Viper was wrecked and I rebuilt. Vipers are about the most expensive cars I have had to work on. Parts are very expensive and rare. I have just about as much into mine as it would have cost to by one straight. But I also have alot of aftermarket parts (HRE rims, NOS, Vmaina top/windows, splitter, ect..)

Point is if you know who rebuilt the car and what was done, then it's ok to buy a salvage vehicle. Just remember it will never be worth its full value.
 

ViperJoe

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When it comes time for YOU to sell the salvaged Viper, folks will be as skeptical then as you are now......

I personally would not buy one no matter how cheap or "good" it may look.
Good luck!
 

Craig 201 MPH

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I would buy one to fix it myself as a project but I wouldn't buy one that had been done. Of course I would be keeping it for a long time (track car?) and would make sure it was done right.
 

RavenFan_94

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I can't speak to a Viper specifically, but I owned a 1971 911 that was a salvage car. Labor alone made the repair not worth the cost of the claim. The car was stripped down and sent to Ruf for a 935 modification.

At the end of the day, the car was featured in "9" magazine and was an outstanding work of art.

If you know who did the work and it is well documented (as DANSAUTO put it eloquently), than you can really score with a salvage car.

Granted my old Porsche was not nearly as sophisticated as the Viper, but I made over $15k when I sold that car.
 

Bill B

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Speaking from experience with other salvaged cars (not the viper), I would say STAY FAR FAR AWAY.

I would only consider a salvaged vehicle if I needed a work truck or farm truck or something to that effect. NEVER a high performance sports car. Alignments almost always will be skewed and even a degree or two will cost big$$$ in tire wear as well as road manners, especially in a viper. They tend to squeek and rattle a lot, which seems like a small problem. Let me tell you, those squeeks become annoying. Squeeks can even be hidden for a while with a blast of a mixture of kitchen soap and water. I would never feel safe at a high speed either. No matter what the cost, I wouldn't buy one. Then you also have to think about resale. It would be hard to move one. If a viper normally sells for $55K and you can get a salvaged one for $30K, I still wouldn't buy it. Once you've owned one salvaged vehicle, you will never buy another. Anyone I personally know who have owned one feels the same way.

btw, do not trust carfax. My previous salvaged vehicle showed up clean as a whistle.

That's a very skewed opinion. Alot of cars are wrecked and you won't even know it. Salvage means the insurance companies wrote them off as it cost more to repair than the car is worth. I rebuild salvage cars. Been doing it for 10 years, have many repeat customers. All my repairs are documentated with before and after photos. I am SAE certified and have a complete shop with frame machine, laser alignment machine, spray booth and mixing station. I would not sell something that was unsafe!! I typically sell cars for about the wholesale price. My labor rate, and acessablilty to used parts allows me to fix them cheap and still make a profit. My Viper was wrecked and I rebuilt. Vipers are about the most expensive cars I have had to work on. Parts are very expensive and rare. I have just about as much into mine as it would have cost to by one straight. But I also have alot of aftermarket parts (HRE rims, NOS, Vmaina top/windows, splitter, ect..)

Point is if you know who rebuilt the car and what was done, then it's ok to buy a salvage vehicle. Just remember it will never be worth its full value.
I have a friend that does rebuilds and I would trust him. But there are to many "backyard" re-builders out there that buy it at an auction bang it back into place and paint it. These guys don't give a rats a$$ about your safety if fact they busted a group in Miami (big surprise) that were just gluing the dash and steering wheel back together and NOT putting a new air bag!
 

cratica

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"Alot of cars are wrecked and you won't even know it."

sure, you may not know it the first day you bought it, but after you have driven it a while, it will become painfully obvious.

If the car truly was rebuilt properly, it would cost more in terms of $ and labor than a new one or what you could purchase a comparable used one for. If it's had any frame damage and that damage has been repaired (and not replaced, replacing an entire frame would cost more than the car is worth), it has been weakened. You drill holes to pull a frame back to spec. Those holes weaken the frame. If you don't drill holes and the mangled metal is pounded back into shape, then it will never be the correct shape or length as there will be some metal compression as well as weakening. Doors never line up the same, hinges squeek, camber kits often times need to be installed to allow for somewhat proper alignment and they almost always squeek. If you weld metal to a frame to strengthen it, then you add weight an possibly upset the balance of the car. Etc... A lot of these issues aren't an issue for a sedan or a econo box when it's just used for basic transportation.

There clearly is a market for rebuilding salvaged cars, it's just my opinion it's not at all worth it to the purchaser, especially for a high performance vehicle when safety and handling characteristics are crucial.
 

SNKEBIT

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I agree w/ dansauto. I also own a bodyshop, if you know who did the work it should be fine. by the way, drillin' holes and beatin' the frame to death is not the way ya do it! :smirk: alot of vipers are salvaged because the parts cost so much, doesn't mean the basic structure of the car was bad :laugh: if you do your homework, you can find one that's just as good & alot cheaper :) that way, you wouldn't have to sell it! :D
 

Bonkers

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Piece of advice - don't think that the first person to respond here speaks for the group. There's not a danm thing wrong with getting a salvage if you're willing to put in the time to getting it right...

I drove my Salvage 200 miles home, all it "needed" was a tailight and some interior work. I like the charactor the salvage title can give to a car (mainly because you don't worry about devaluing it,) but if you're looking for the cheap way out with a viper this isn't it.

I know of hundreds of rebuilt vipers being driven daily, but you're gonna loose the money you saved in the rebuild process...
 

joe117

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I agree with dansauto. A car can be brought back from the dead. The problem is, you can often buy a good car for the same final price.

My Viper wasn't a wreck or salvage, just a high miles car that hadn't been treated like most people would treat a Viper.
It had a new engine but everything else needed fixing. Well, everything got fixed or replaced, mechanical, body and interior. It look's and runs great but I could have bought a normal Viper for what it cost me to fix up this one.

As usual, there are a bunch of guys on this board that will turn up their nose at anything other than a perfect, low miles, Zainoed, show car.
Let those guys have what they want and you get what you want.
If you can get a low price on a salvage car that has been rebuilt, if it drives ok and look's ok, and the price is low enough to be a deal. What the heck, buy it.

If it's the only way you can get into a Viper, do it. Just make sure you are paying quite a bit less than a regular car would cost.
The problem I see is that the rebuilds are not selling at much of a discount.
A salvage title is a big deal and a car that has one should be selling at a real discount.
 
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tim721

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after reading more of your comments I understand that rebuilt/salvaged Vipers, or any car for that matter, can be brought back pretty close to their original condition.
the risk of getting a lemon, and having problems in the future will still always be higher than that of a clear titled car.
that reason alone makes me much more hesitant. they aren't even priced that much less which suprises me.

Like Joe just said, the salvaged Vipers should be at more of a discount. Some are discounted only 3-4K. For me, that little of a difference is simply not worth it...

I appreciate all the input from everyone...

tim
 

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