You want to see a VOI.10?

[8 0f 200]

I may suggest you post some positive statements about the fun you had and stop complaining about what may not have gone just right. In my opinion The staff at JRT did a great job. Did everything go the way we have been use to... maybe not. But the main reasons we come to VOI's are to enjoy our Vipers, meet with friends we have made over the years and to make new ones, and the track events. I say they did a great job and I for one appreciate what they do.

They don't owe us anything.

[Warfang]

I may suggest you post some positive statements about the fun you had and stop complaining about what may not have gone just right. In my opinion The staff at JRT did a great job. Did everything go the way we have been use to... maybe not. But the main reasons we come to VOI's are to enjoy our Vipers, meet with friends we have made over the years and to make new ones, and the track events. I say they did a great job and I for one appreciate what they do.

They don't owe us anything.

For the amount of money... they owe an attendee quite a bit, especially all the things you've listed. But you left out the part where you get treated with respect for that kind of money. What they did constitutes either an absolute ignorance of public relations, or a complete disregard for the people in the Viper community just so they can make a quick buck.

The respectable thing would have been to announce day one that there won't be any discussion on future products at this event (but look out for us in the near future, blah blah blah).

But what did they do? Hoped no one would notice the deafening silence and that no one would complain to their face. To top it off, some genius puts a Vette behind a screen to tease the attendees, only to do some lame @$$ magic trick... then wave and goodnite!? No one at JRT thought that was a bad idea considering there was no heads up on the lack of announcements? Sorry, but that's just inexcusable for people that think they know anything about marketing, public relations and conference/event planning.

[Dimitrios]

i totally agree with warfang. they spent hours the first day explaining about dodge cars that one one really cares about. explain about the viper. it is a viper event isnt it? the the second night the food totally sucked. buffet style pastas? third night "the big dinner" totally sucked. for hours we were thinking that there was a new viper or some modded future viper and wait around for them to show us a vette? you know what? to me it felt like they were saying the future of the viper is the vette. the track, and viper owners were the BEST part of this whole trip! so if there is no future VOI's i really dont care. im sure ill attend the vette owners invitational next time around. that zo6 is starting to look better and better

[OPHITOX]

I enjoyed it, first time to a VOI, and at first I thought no way am I staying around when I could be home working. But the event turned out great. It is what you make of it. If you want to sit around and complain that no one kissed you enough and let you see the "08 Vipers", then I guess you can complain. I for one, don't dine at big events, I paid the money but I went to the Wynn hotel Country Club grill, had an awesome meal, and then met my fellow So Cal Viper friends later. They all seemed to be having a great time. I don't recall hearing anyone complain about the event. Wednesday night, Pinot Brasserie and Phantom, no pizza. So if you sit around and complain about eating pizza, and you don't have the initiative to do something exciting, your life is a drag.

A Life's Lesson is you make you own happiness, don't depend on an organization to make sure your butt is well positioned on a soft seat cushion. When you are around other excited viper owners, it is your choice to complain or have a good time. I suspect several of these owners would be hard to please under the best of circumstances. Nothing is 100% satisfaction, except perhaps smoking a vette owner,

Bring VOI 10 on, maybe I'll sell my 01 GTS and buy a new 08 viper or bring my Ford GT to the event. Now that would piss these grumpy viper owners off, eh?

[Bonkers]

From most of what I've been reading everyone paid $850
($1700+ for families) to be part of a dodge ad campaign.

I'm really no knocking it, I plan to attend VOIX, it just
that at least when the timeshare people want me to come buy
their stuff they're willing to pay my travel and admission
into disneyworld. I would have been sorely upset to take
two weeks off and about $4,000 in secondary expenses to not
even get to see the new challenger.

[FASTFUN]

From most of what I've been reading everyone paid $850
($1700+ for families) to be part of a dodge ad campaign.

I'm really no knocking it, I plan to attend VOIX, it just
that at least when the timeshare people want me to come buy
their stuff they're willing to pay my travel and admission
into disneyworld. I would have been sorely upset to take
two weeks off and about $4,000 in secondary expenses to not
even get to see the new challenger.

What does it cost to rent the Las Vegas speed way for 3 days with all the staff and all the other stuff like dinners etc.. Please don't get me wrong,I just wanted to point out that I think this event cost Dodge a lot $$. I also did not like the selling of trucks and cars.

[8 0f 200]

I say... if you don't think you got your money's worth, it may not be the event for you to attend next time. Everyone from our region had a great time... and all of them said they would return for a VOI.10!

By the way... before you post that they made a killing, it would be nice to have all the facts on what was made or lost putting this event on. I'm guessing you are guessing on what was spent and/or made on this event.

[Dimitrios]

for $850 you are getting a deal and dodge still pays millions out of their pocket. you get to use a world class track, ok food and all you can drink at the bar every night. dont forget the $200-300 goody bad. so ya 850 is a bargain but please dont kill us with advertising on other dodge products other than viper related stuff, then showing us a corvette instead of a viper when you know 90% of the people in that room were expecting to hear about the future of the viper

[Warfang]

What does it cost to rent the Las Vegas speed way for 3 days with all the staff and all the other stuff like dinners etc.. Please don't get me wrong,I just wanted to point out that I think this event cost Dodge a lot $$. I also did not like the selling of trucks and cars.

Someone did the math for me and looks like the take was a bit over $1 million dollar. In the events and conference game, a 25% markup is standard, so we can assume the costs came out to about $750,000.00. You can buy a couple days at the track and rent convention halls with food AND the people running it for that amount... and get change back! The 25% is EXTRA money, because the people running it have already paid themselves as part of the costs. I invite anyone to prove me wrong and show me the actual spreadsheets.

If this was a money-losing event, there wouldn't have been a VOI2. You think they mailed you those expensive die-cut invitations 3-4 times over the year because VOI couldnt go on without any one of us? No. They wanted your money.

$850 is fair, but not the steal of the century.

[MoparMan]

My only complaint was the sales pitch of every vehicle BUT the Viper. I was there for Viper talk, not Sprinters and Ram 3500s. Everything else was first class...the drag strip would have been better if it had been prepped, but it was great getting all the passes we wanted. The roval was awesome too - a very rare opportunity.

Hey, Dodge: want to sell some more gen 3's? Why not give VOI attendees some sort of incentive on the purchase of a new '05 or '06 Viper?

[Camfab]

We had a great time! The best money ever spent period. Ya they did the whole advertising thing, ok that was a little annoying. Otherwise the event was well planned and yes I loved beating the snot out of all the SRT vehicles. Those that are complaining, have you ever tracked your cars? Do you realize what that much fun would cost you anywhere else. Thanks Dodge for providing such a great event. Where else could you meet up with a bunch of like minded great people and make new friends.

In our case group B, if you went to the first "Viper Legacy" sales pitch, we were clearly informed on Tuesday that there would be no news about future products! Yes it was a bummer, but anyone here should have the business savy to realize they aren't going to disclose anything when product isn't moving.

What I also noticed was that many did not take full advantage of all the driving events. We tore up the track all day yesterday with no waitng! Most left early Thursday morning.

Meeting Herb Helbig was a treat, as well as Jeff Morys of JM Cylinder Heads and many other vendors that I had spoken to before.

Thanks again VCA and Dodge, it was an AWESOME week.

[Warfang]

From most of what I've been reading everyone paid $850
($1700+ for families) to be part of a dodge ad campaign.

I'm really no knocking it, I plan to attend VOIX, it just
that at least when the timeshare people want me to come buy
their stuff they're willing to pay my travel and admission
into disneyworld. I would have been sorely upset to take
two weeks off and about $4,000 in secondary expenses to not
even get to see the new challenger.

HAHA... join Ponch at California Pines! Free trip and all! Not VOI, but it's free.

http://www.calpines.com/

btw- I've seen the Challenger... it's awesome.

[SRT10]

......im sure ill attend the vette owners invitational next time around. that zo6 is starting to look better and better....

HA HA .. good luck! GM still hasn't had one in over 50 years!

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

that zo6 is starting to look better and better

It didn't look so good today at Road Atlanta. It was the lonely vette in the top ten finishing 6th, behind two Vipers.

[Y2K5SRT]

Sigh...

This was the first VOI I didn't register for (as a Viper owner) because:

A. My car is still at Doug Levin's, which knocks down the "fun factor" considerably for me as I wouldn't have a Viper to drive.

B. It was scheduled during a work week and I simply can't take a week off when I save those vacation days for family trips.

C. As it was also a school week, my wife had to stay home with our son. I enjoy sharing the Viper ownership and Club experience with her.

Regardless, several of our second-time attendees (Dallas was their first), said it was even BETTER in Vegas. The parking was better, the track events were better, the cruises were better (despite some gravel), and everything seemed to flow smoothly. People got to meet and hang out with hundreds of fellow Viper owners and that is what truly makes these things special.

VOI's are NOT about big announcements nor have they ever been. People got spoiled in Dallas when they unveiled the SRT Coupe. And guess what? That was a disaster. What? It was GREAT - or wasn't it? As an owner, sure, it was fantastic getting the early "inside scoop" on the new car. But for DC it was a mistake and they apparently learned from it. But I will get to that in a minute.

First off, how many manufacturers underwrite a huge party for their ownership group? Let's see, counting Ferrari, Lamborghini, AMG, Porsche, Chevy, and every other marquee out there: NONE. Does anybody besides Warfang (who I am not sure even attended) honestly think that their $850 covered the actual cost of this event? Try renting a full NASCAR facility for four days (or more). Then throw in 20-30 factory cars to drive. Bring in just about every Skip Barber instructor they have (paying them, their transportation, plus room & food). Hire security for your garage 24/7 - not to mention the cost and logistics of clearing out two full floors of parking well in advance of the event. Transport buses for those without cars. Food for everybody. Open bars (where many can easily drink half of their entry fee). Goody bags with lots of customized stuff. Viper hoods to sign (and transport). SRT & JRT personnel all over the place. Meeting rooms, giant ballrooms, stages, lighting, professional comedians (Jon Reep will set you back $10K alone for an appearance), expensive centerpieces, concept cars on display, etc, etc, etc. The $850 didn't begin to cover the cost, of that I guarantee you.

So who paid the difference? It wasn't the VCA and it wasn't JRT, so it must have been those folks at DC and SRT. And what did they get out of their generosity besides some disgruntled attendees? The opportunity to push some other product and keep the division alive. Make no mistake, with over a 1.5 billion dollar loss in the last quarter alone things like VOI have probably come under scrutiny. Do you think the bean counters are saying, "Hey, let's go throw a huge party for a bunch of people that aren't necessarily even buying our cars right now!"? Probably not.

Was the lack of a new product announcement a disappointment to many? You betcha! Does DC or SRT "owe" it to us? Don't be absurd. No other manufacturer does this for their buyers. And they sure don't cater to folks that didn't even buy them new - never spending a dime with the actual company. Hell, if I were Bonkers I would be sending SRT a thank you note once a week for the rest of my life: They created a one-off Competition Coupe that he won in a VCA raffle. I wouldn't be telling them that they owe me because I bought a salvaged Viper long after it was out of DC's hands - and profits.

So that brings us full circle to the "announcements" and that thing called "profits". Neither DaimlerChrysler or SRT is a charity. They have to be profitable to stay in business. Have they made a few missteps with the Viper? Sure. The design has been questioned by some (mostly a handful of "purists") while over-production has undoubtedly caused other problems. The Z06 didn't help matters. But what really slowed down Viper sales was their generosity: Unveiling the Viper Coupe at VOI 9 in 2004. Don't believe me? Then consider this:

Besides the 1994 RT/10, the SRT-10 outsold every single model year of each model Viper ever made. That's right, more 2003 Vipers sold than any '96 or '97 GTS, etc. Even 2004, with a much-publicized recall history (and probably more than a few buybacks) was a decent seller - until the Coupe was announced at VOI 9. Oh, the factory kept producing the roadsters, but speculation about a Coupe was slowing down sales considerably. By announcing the Coupe at VOI 9 - a full 16 months before they started shipping - it slowed those new orders to a crawl. And it wasn't just the "new" bodystyle, but more speculation on the horsepower, weight, etc. As a direct result, remaining 2004 units were unsold and 2005 sales were far below expectations.

So why weren't people knocking down the door to buy the new Coupes? Well, some people started floating rumors of a 550-750 HP Viper for 2008 - about the same time the Coupes started coming off the line. "Inside information" from SEMA, unnamed moles within the DC or SRT organizations (depending on the rumor), or local dealers from Nowhere, USA that supposedly had the inside scoop. All indirectly told potential buyers to wait for a better mousetrap. One that may not even exist and was NEVER officially confirmed by the manufacturer.

So with an unknown number of unsold Vipers out there currently, why would a company that is losing BILLIONS of dollars tell a group of potential buyers that they may (or may not) be changing the formula? And more importantly, why would a group of owners, many of which haven't bought a new DC/SRT product ever, feel that they are entitled to the inside scoop from a manufacturer when no other marquee does it for ANYBODY?

Bottom line: Even though I didn't attend this year's VOI I am grateful that our manufacturer takes the time and money to offer an event like this to Viper owners. That they send their staff and engineers to personally meet and greet us. If we happen to get a hint of things to come that is just a dollop of icing on a very large cake. To diss the entire thing because that little icing rosette wasn't on there seems pretty ungrateful. Is that really the message we want to send?