MY new (to me) Red 2001 GTS

Templar

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Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to stop by to say hi and share my recent purchase experience.

I'm happy to say I'm the new owner of a Red 2001 GTS. The car is all stock with 16k miles. I like to give a huge Thank You to Mopar Steve (Virginia/MD VCA VP) for making the 6hr trip with me to Ohio to purchase the car. Your time is greatly appreciated.

Our trip from Maryland to Ohio was pretty uneventful other than the closer we got to Ohio the harder it was raining. We found the dealer, met the salesman and walked out into the service area to see the car.

Moment of truth....was the car everything the dealer promised or did we just waste 6hrs driving for nothing...

For the most part the car was what I was told, nothing that was a deal breaker. First item of interest was the paint. I asked several times before traveling to Ohio how is the paint? Swirls/scratches etc... I'm picky with paint so this meant a lot to me. Of course I get the "the paint is perfect" reply. The paint was not perfect, nothing that was a deal breaker but it will take some TLC to get the paint where I want it to be. The interior was in excellent condition, no complaints there.

Over the phone the dealer had mentioned a few times that he had new tires installed on the car. Even though it was on the tip of my tongue for some reason I never asked what brand of tires he went with. I guess in the back of my mind I figured that there are only a few selections that even fit the car properly so it had to be the right tires. Well, he did have new tires installed but he went with Nitto Drag Radials. Really??? (Remember it's raining) And to be honest if I were replacing the tires Nitto DR's would not have been my choice. Not that there is anything wrong with the tire, I just don't have a need for DR's. I will changing the tires very soon.

Perhaps the worst line of the day from the salesman was his comment about the Fuel Filler Door. This is my 2nd GTS (first was a 1996) and both of them ended up having the Fuel Filler door that was partially missing the protective covering and had oxidation to the point of looking like crap. His line about the appearance of the door was "the first owner never took the plastic off of the door." Steve and I looked at each other like "wow, you're sticking with that line?"

Anyway, the rest of the walkaround went well and everything else on the car was what we expected to see.

Most of the ride home was in the rain. We spent a good part of our time on I76, we had to maintain a reasonable speed so I was white-knuckles for a good portion of the ride. Steve would remind me occcasionally to wiggle my fingers (lol), I've known Steve for about 10 years I guess he could read my behavior and knew I was stressed/up on the wheel trying to mentally pay attention to what those DR's were doing.

All went well on the ride home, thankfully there was no drama. Since then I've had my car on Steve's lift (Thanks Steve) going through and changing all of the fluids and getting the car back to basic.

Thanks for listening everyone, it's great to be "back home" in a Viper. :)

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Mopar Steve

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I enjoyed every minute of the trip. I would do it with you again tomorrow.

One part of the trip was left out, possibly the most entertaining. We got in for the test drive, the ground was wet. Bob slid the car in gear....eased out the clutch....and immediately the car slid sideways out of the parking space. Bob's head spun around, looked at me and said, " I didn't do anything" .... a moment passed and he said " how are we going to get this home? we can't even get out of the parking space?"

Armorall and a seal coated parking lot, along with rain, made it slick as ice.

It was obviously a safe trip and Bob scorred a great car.

Thanks for including me.
 
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Templar

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Oh yeah, drifting out of the parking space was fun up until I realized we had a 6hr journey home. Although sliding in the parking lot was probably a good thing, it kept me focused on the way home! :)
 

eucharistos

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congrats

Oh yeah, drifting out of the parking space was fun up until I realized we had a 6hr journey home. Although sliding in the parking lot was probably a good thing, it kept me focused on the way home! :)

best to have that moment early and safely :drive:
 

MikeG

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Very much like the way you "Profiled" your Viper in the photo you posted. Awesome pose.
Congrats on the new to you Snake.
 
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Templar

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Thanks for the compliments on the pic guys. My wife took that as I was pulling into the driveway, it's one of my favorite shots of the car.
 

swexlin

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I finally saw Bob's car in person last week at C&C, and it's gorgeous. I've driven the PA Turnpike myself in driving rain (in the Viper) on the way to Carlisle, and it's actually OK, at least with PS2s. Now with Nitto Drags.....!
 
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