Buying & Shipping a Viper

[verynicechap]

All

I'm hoping for a bit of advise on purchasing and owning and running a Viper. My Sis lives in the USA and her friend is selling a 2000 Gen2 Viper with about 60k on the clock. It looks like a really nice piece of kit and is located in Arizona and the asking price is approx $22k which looks very reasoble even after i've forked out for duty, shipping, registration etc.

Can anybody provide any help on:

What potential problems i need to look out for with the car?

Shipping costs, potential issues etc?

UK conversion requirements, costs, SVA test etc?

Running Costs?

Resaleability / popularity in the UK? should i have to sell? not that i's want too of course!!

Cheers

VNC

[GTSDave]

verynicechap said:

I'm hoping for a bit of advise on purchasing and owning and running a Viper. My Sis lives in the USA and her friend is selling a 2000 Gen2 Viper with about 60k on the clock. It looks like a really nice piece of kit and is located in Arizona and the asking price is approx $22k which looks very reasoble even after i've forked out for duty, shipping, registration etc.

Can anybody provide any help on:

What potential problems i need to look out for with the car?

Shipping costs, potential issues etc?

UK conversion requirements, costs, SVA test etc?

Running Costs?

Resaleability / popularity in the UK? should i have to sell? not that i's want too of course!!

Cheers

VNC

Take a look here for info from one of our Club members regarding Purchasing/Importing etc http://www.ukviperclub.co.uk/page21.html

Our Club Technical Director (Dr-Bob on PH) has assisted with many imports and SVA's (Now IVA) so he would be the guy to discuss this with.

Regarding resale, it's one of those how long is a piece of string type questions, there are many for sale over here which have been sat for some time, in a couple of cases we have seen cars advertised for a year or so, possibly due to colour choice or other issues, so it may come down to who is looking for what and when, on the other hand I sold my last Viper in two days earlier this year. It all comes down to timing, who is looking for what, and whether the car is more saleable than the rest on the market at the time.

You will need to factor in, shipping costs, import duty/tax, and VAT on the total.

And make sure the car is CARFAXED not HPI'd before you purchase, if you can provide us with a VIN we may be able to find out a little more on the car from one of our US sources.

You are in the right place for info on these cars, the UK Club has an extremely good base of knowledge and information at our disposal and we will assist where we are able.

We have three members who I can think of who have imported from the US within the last twelve months or so.

Edited by GTSDave on Wednesday 21st October 10:31

[verynicechap]

Hey thanks Dave

I'll spend some time trawling through this info and i will try and get some more detail on this car!

I must admit i didn't realise VAT was applicable to import of 2nd hand cars!!

[Viper]

a 60K mile viper isnt desireable and will be quite hard to resell over here

with all the other costs adding another 1/3 to the purchase costs is usually a good rough guide, by the time its on the road on the UK

Edited by Viper on Wednesday 21st October 13:20

[viper paul]

Also Arizona is about 700 miles from the sea so road transport can be expensive.

[acrman]

If its a 2000 model car you may find the build date being late 99 or early 2000 which means it's 10 years old and won't need an IVA test by the time it gets here. Also get her friend to invoice it for less then save some money on the duty.

[verynicechap]

1/3 extra for getting the thing on the road sounds ok and doesn't put me off getting one especially if i can get this one for under 15k all in. These cars look unreal even the older models and i've dreamed about having one since i first set eyes on a picture. I must admit i've yet to drive one, or even see one in the flesh yet though! What are these cars like to drive. I know mr Clarkson doesn't seem to rate them and i've been told they are a real handful?

I did also find a few cheapish Vipers on ebay usa. There is a 94 supercharged version at about $26k dollars, yellow with black stripes, yellow and black interior which i think looks good. not sure if a added supercharger is the way forward with one of these motors but the owner quotes it has 100+HP on the standard output.

btw I'm a bit surprised about the addition of VAT how can mr Brown justify VAT on a 2nd hand car? I though VAT was only for new motors forgive my ignorance.

[GTSDave]

We love them! They handle much better than many people would have you believe, and they have the racing pedigree to prove it.

Clarkson is a BIG fan of Vipers, trust me on that... From what I can gather he used a White RT/10 with Blue stripes as his wedding car as well.

[GTSDave]

Regarding the VAT, it is chargeable only on new cars which are bought IN this country and not on second hand cars bought IN this country... Import it and VAT is still chargeable whether it is new or old... age and number of owners is irrelevant.

[zubair]

$22 thausand sounds very cheap for a 2000 gts i am sure they could break it for more.i think more then likely it will have a salvage title and hidden stuff it sounds to good to be true.plz dont take it the wrong way i have been importing american cars for a long time and have been done more then once.

[fatboy18]

Vin No?

Build sticker on drivers door?
Colour?
Stripes?
History?
How many owners?
How old are tyres and how much tread?
Pilot sport 1s or 2s?
Any aftermarket extras on the car? IE Exhaust system? wheels, Brakes, rotors?
Is the person selling the car a member of the Viper Club America?
If so maybe you could ask local members on the forums to check out the car for you (I did when I imported mine)

A 2000 Car is not the most sort after, in 2000 they changed the pistons which if you ever think of doing BIG performance upgrades you will have to change.

Don't get me wrong, I own a 2000 GTS and I LOVE IT, but many like the 1999 cars for that reason.
In 2001 they introduced ABS. Again this is something to think about

We need to see as many pics as possible, then we could give you some more constructive input. Try and get pics of the engine bay, wheels tyres, interior. Is there a crack in the centre console? (that's fairly common).

I would not rush into this, there is a lot to find out, you can also get hold of a book called the Viper buyers guide by Maurice Lang. The secret is REASEARCH RESEARCH REASERCH.

You can also check out Specifications and build numbers for pacific years here

http://www.theviperregistry.org/

Also check out the Classifieds on the VCA Site, this will give you true indications of prices on good cars

http://classifieds.viperclub.org/index.php

Edited by fatboy18 on Wednesday 21st October 22:15

[fishboy]

dont bother with all that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
just buy the thing and get it over here for next summer

[GTSDave]

Despite using three different ways of spelling it, Fatboy is right, Research is the key, make sure what you are buying is the right car for you, and that everything is right and that there are no stings in the tail waiting for you.

As I said above a Carfax is essential, and if you can provide us with the VIN and some pics we may well be able to find out alot more for you.

[neilsfishing]

fishboy said:

dont bother with all that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
just buy the thing and get it over here for next summer

[verynicechap]

Hey thanks guys, i have a lot of research to do but i'm determined to get one of beasts!. I must admit i didn't realise there were so many variations, and differences and allways looked at Vipers as: the 'original version' with sidepipes and the new model with the higher power output and more streamlined bodyshape etc! There is obviously a whole science behind these motors!

[fishboy]

verynicechap said:

Hey thanks guys, i have a lot of research to do but i'm determined to get one of beasts!. I must admit i didn't realise there were so many variations, and differences and allways looked at Vipers as: the 'original version' with sidepipes and the new model with the higher power output and more streamlined bodyshape etc! There is obviously a whole science behind these motors!

no science, just barn door technoligy
thats wots so good adout them ,big lump at the front,big tires at the back
big kid in the middle

[GTSDave]

fishboy said:

verynicechap said:

Hey thanks guys, i have a lot of research to do but i'm determined to get one of beasts!. I must admit i didn't realise there were so many variations, and differences and allways looked at Vipers as: the 'original version' with sidepipes and the new model with the higher power output and more streamlined bodyshape etc! There is obviously a whole science behind these motors!

no science, just barn door technoligy
thats wots so good adout them ,big lump at the front,big tires at the back
big kid in the middle

[verynicechap]

Ha ha ha I like the 'big kid in the middle' bit! That is certainly true in my case. I had a 1974 350ci and a 1975 455ci firebird plus a 1977 400ci transam....back in my misguided youth....so a Viper is the Logical progression and there is only so many years of driving a '97' Mondeo a full blooded, testosterone frenzied male can be expected to tolerate!

In my defence the Mondeo is the 'SI' model with recaro style seats etc and i've even de-catted it to squeeze out a couple of extra ponies!!

Sorry for the miriad of questions and apologies in advance for the rest but what year did they bring out the 500hp engine? I hate to say it and this aint going to sound good from somebody about to purchase a Viper but i do have a budget to work.
I'm looking for the cheaper end of the market but want the 500 horses minimum and don't want a crate of cr@p. This will probably pose a bit of a challenge i'm sure but would appreciate a steer on what model/year etc to look at.
Budget i guess is £25k top which won't get me what i want here i'm aware of that.

[GTSDave]

There are 4 main Viper Engine variations:

Gen I : 8.0Litre (1992 - 1996 RT/10)
Gen II : 8.0Litre (1996 - 2002 GTS & RT/10)
Gen III : 8.3Litre (2003 - 2006 SRT)
Gen IV : 8.4Litre (2008 - to date SRT)

The Earlier generation 8.0Litre cars (GenI & II) were advertised as being approximately 450HP, and this is easily increased close to 500 with very little in the way of modification, air intake, exhaust etc.

The 8.3Litre GenIII (SRT) was advertised as 500HP, and again can be very easily increased, with the same type of mods.

The 8.4Litre is over 600HP as stock and as above can be increased easily.


There are other major power increases available with the use of Superchargers, Turbos, ported heads etc, but these aren't cheap.

Edited by GTSDave on Friday 23 October 12:08

[verynicechap]

Thanks for that:

I just came accross this little gem:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1999-Viper-RT-10-60...


What do you think at first glance?