Thinking about buying Viper GTS advice please

[iceman385]

Hi ive finally saved enough money to buy my next car after 4 good trouble free years ownership of my BMW Z3M Roadster bought with 15k now has 25k on the clock.

I will be looking to keep the car for the long term 6 years + as this will probably be the last performance car ill buy, i will use mainly for weekends and will do about 1500miles a year

Ive got around 35k and have been looking at Porsche 911 996 turbos (good reliability,performane yet not much of an event to drive and doesnt really get noticed) and Ferrari f355s or 360s (great performance, real event to drive gets noticed, yet worried by huge running costs,and questionable reliability) and as abit of a wiled card a Viper gts . i would just like to know a few things about the Viper gts.

1 How reliable are they
2 what are the running costs like ( not fuel costs )
3 where would you get one serviced
4 insurance costs
5 performane compared to above cars.

any info/advice you can give will be greatly appreciated as this is the most ive ever spent on a car and will probably be the most ill ever spend on a car. unless i win the lotto
Rob.

[GTSDave]

iceman385 said:

1 How reliable are they
2 what are the running costs like ( not fuel costs )
3 where would you get one serviced
4 insurance costs
5 performane compared to above cars.

Short answers:

1 Extremely
2 Negligable
3 Dr-Bob (Pistonhead Username) Link: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?mem...
4 Dependant on too many factors to be able to guess I am afraid
5 Comparitive/Comparable

It'll turn more heads too!
There is a Club known Blue & White GTS for sale in the Pistonheads Classifieds, which is well worth a look

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1716198.htm

You will not regret Viper ownership

Edited by GTSDave on Wednesday 14th July 17:10

[Chemical Matty]

I'll second that. I've had mine for nearly 18 months now. I was looking at Ferraris, 308 / 328 & Testarossa. So glad I didn't go down that route. Don't get me wrong, they are fantastic cars, but when you weigh up the pros and cons of each,fibreglass against steel (italian steel), running costs/servicing/parts, performance, the big yank took it each time for me, then I went in one and, well that was me hooked. The Viper can be easily maintained at home, oil changes, grease nipples etc and the support from the club is second to none. Bits are easy to get, even from the USA, from where there is also good support.
Listen to the voices.



Doooooooooooo iiiiiiiiiiiiiit

[Dr-Bob]

You bought it yet????????????????????????

A few known club cars in the classifieds at the moment....

[GTSDave]

Dr-Bob said:

You bought it yet????????????????????????



A few known club cars in the classifieds at the moment....

Including the one I mentioned, there are currently two, Lee's Blue & White, and Bjorn's Yellow

[neilsfishing]

there the nuts

[fishboy]

where abouts in london are you ?

[pete is pistol]

I sooo badly want one of these... my dream car,, i will have one, one day

[neilsfishing]

go for it

[iceman385]

Hi all thanks for the replys and advice, much appreciated.

The viper gts i want would have to be one of the blue with white stripes made between 1996/97.

what sort of price should i be looking to get one of these. the link to one on pistonheads seems to no longer exist?

Whats the difference between official uk cars and american imports? i like the idea of an official uk car.


(ps to fishboy im in north london cockfosters.)

[ViperDave]

Differences between official UK and import are minor but can have major implications

off the top of my head the euros had

Air box restrictor (has probably been removed on 99% of them now)
twin back box silencers (again probably been replaced by aftermarket on 90%)
claims of different ECU program
possible different EEM (electric entry module)
says chrysler on the back not dodge
Side indicators
KPH speedo and other gauges in metric

Big difference is some insurers wont touch imports but are happy to insure UK spec. on later models (SRT) the imports are PLG road tax band whereas the UK ones attract the big co2 tax bracket

Edited by ViperDave on Friday 16th July 09:51

Edited by ViperDave on Friday 16th July 09:52

[VIPERpete]

Iceman - have a look at Ray Stacey's GTS for sale on eBay classifieds (it was previously listed on Pistonheads). One of the original 1997 UK spec models and he has owned it for 13 years. Well known in club circles, the car is worth viewing. His contact numbers are in the ad.

[vipernut]

treat yourself like i did with my 97 blue/white gts,had mine 6 months now and over the moon with it,never thought my dream car would be in my grasp..still grinning now