I have noticed how dirt cheap vipers are in the USA (I live in Canada). I am curious how they are for being reliable and what the maint. cost of owning one is like. Every viper related forum says they are AWESOME... every non viper related forum says they are money traps. So... perhaps people of 6speedonline can give a mixed review.

Anyone wanna give me non-biased comments?

I posted this in the off-topic forum and no one responded back. So please dont harass me for posting in two places.

 

I dont own one but my best friend does. Its basically the lowest matience slightly exotic car in the world. Change the oil put gas in it and drive it nothing more. I think why they are money pits is because they are so much more fun when modded.

 

I don't own one, but I was looking into them seriously for a while.
While stock, they are relatively trouble-free. The engine is undertaxed so it will likely last long if you take care of it. Most of the rest of the car is shared with other dodge products, so they're not too expensive to replace. You're biggest costs will be gas, tires, and insurance. So, figure those out first.

other dvice: lose the runflat tires and it'll handle better.
lose the cats, or go high flow, and the cabin heat issues will go away.

 

Anybody that says their money pits has never owned one, let alone driven, or pry been within a 100 mile radius of one. They are hands down the most reliable and low maintenance sports/exotic type car. Engine is bulletproof and unstressed even when highly modded. And no techie gizmos and electronics like stuffed in every other car to go bad or glitch up etc.

Incredible car if you love a raw, connected feeling car. I'd swing for at least an 08' as the engine is incredible with vvt and the changes to the suspension already made an incredible handling car even better. Just a few bolt on's on an 08'+ and you can have a 600+ rwhp car naturally aspirated.

Run flats suck, but that goes for any vehicle with them.

 

Ha ha rented one for 2 days and put about 400 miles on it. It LOVES some gas... I think I got somwhere around 11 MPG. Also the guy I rented from had just put new rears on the car and spent a bit north of about $1000. Now, that having been said, sports cars are more expensive than a typical ride, but the guy I rented said this one was cheaper to maintain than most sports cars. Guess everything is realative...

 

I have a friend that has made a good living repairing them and the parked cars in their way.

The rearend has a propensity to step out quickly.

...so there's that additional cost of ownership... if you own one and are not quick to react... .

 

Yup, there is traction control in these... it's called your foot

The old clamshell hoods were expensive, about 10-15k to replace from factory.

 

I loved mine no issues. Only had it for 9k miles though. Most of these cars are such low mileage anyhow. Much cheaper than other cars in this class.

 

The Viper is hands down the cheapest sports car to actually own/maintain/drive. Even with the newer SRT-10 generation cars, body panels are still really expensive in the event of an accident. But, other than fluid changes, there is like zero maintenance involved, outside of any other vehicle you daily drive.

Sure tires are expensive, but they are for a Z06/P-car etc. 2008s and up are perfect for a near stock car, but step back to a Gen III (03-06) to seriously mod.

The RT/10s and GTS's are a little more finicky, but not by much...parts are still available, but they do seem to be increasing some.

 

Vipers are cheaper than diesel trucks to maintain...ask me how I know

 

Very low maint....I have had over 30 of them

 

Have owned a 98 GTS and an 08 SRT Coupe...both cars were trouble free and had no issues with either of them. They can be money pits if the previous owners have not properly maintained them...but, that goes for pretty much any car. Unfortunately, they are so affordable, that a lot of them end up in the wrong hands and get abused/neglected...so, you have to shop wisely.

 

I see some familiar names have already responded, so I'll just add a little bit. I went through the research myself just a few months ago and bought an '08 this past Dec. So far I've put about 6k miles on it, so I can give you a few examples. I bought a new set of tires from Viper parts of America $1100 for the shipped set (Nitto Invos). Oil change from the dealer was like $120. Pretty easy to do yourself though. I had my rear diff replaced under warranty in Feb. It would have been about $1500 if I had to pay for it. It has been waaaaayyyy cheaper to run than the BMW Z4 we had. I just bought a new set of wheels for it (stock sizes) for $2100. Insurance is about $90 a month I think. So far, so good. I wouldn't recommend it as a daily driver (just try it and you'll quickly learn way), but you COULD do it if you wanted. I would challenge your claim that every non-viper forum says that they are money pits, but regardless, where do you think you'd get more accurate information - viper forums or non-viper forums? Listen to the people who actually own them. Believe me they are a vocal, no BS kinda crowd.

 

If we can be of assistance with the insurance, please let me know.

 

great car. i had 2 of them both 97 gts one was all motor with no problems. the other was supercharged again with no problems. just oil changes, insurance wasnt anymore then my supras, vettes. i was only 27 at the time i had these