mikegaan

Brought up in a previous thread, this in Autoweek Today:

<Just 91 examples of the sports car were sold during January and February of this year, and as of March 1, dealers reported an unsold stock of 756 cars -- a 412-day supply.
Some are pointing fingers across town blaming modest SRT Viper sales on the Chevrolet Corvette. The Vette recorded 2,261 sales in January and 2,438 in February, for a total of 4,699 units over that same time period>

Think the Z-06 might have something to do with that?

Hemi Dave

They need to make a 60k Viper....put a 392 hemi in it....that would sell better than what they have now......

They listened to what the Viper Club owners wanted and got screwed by doing so......

Its not good for any of us if SRT doesn't get things right with it.........

I am glad GM did their own thing with the C7......

ivanjo11

Bad to hear that

ALLANB

Its their own fault. As said make a 500 hp or so viper price it like 80k tops.
Where is the vert? Should have been out already. Where is an auto option? Big reason I am not buying a Viper is no auto option like z06 or c7 have. And if they only have manual why no hill assist feature like Vette has, Challenger has, and pretty sure new mustangs have. Might consider a manual with hill assist.

But hoping Viper will stick around. I do want one someday. If they do what said above.

rrm

I also hope they can make it. The competition for GM is a good thing but the base care needs so much more than just a price reduction. I almost bought one three years ago but looked at the ZR1 and a used 911 tt and ended up buying the 911. The zr1 was too expensive for me at a discounted 112k and imo the Viper was not close to the other two in "fit and finish" and internal materials. But it was close because of the Viper's viral magnetism. I have not been in a new one but I have read they are much improved. Not a good day for car guys if the Viper goes away..rrm

TurboJunky

yes they do

The original Viper was 50k or when the Vette was about 35k. Factor in some inflation and the Vette should be around 60k and the Viper closer to 80k

Reality is that the Corvette has held the line pretty good and continues to sell. The Viper is pricing themselves out of the market.

The V10 is great but where else does Fiat/Dodge/SRT use it? The Drag Pak uses it and a replacement motor is 40k!!!!!!!!

They need to scale this car back down to run with the Z06. And i think with GM putting a blower on the new C7 that probably has the SRT guys kicking themselves over not using the Hellcar or Hellfire (whatever that SC Hemi is called).

It sucks but forced induction is now a requirement if you want to win the HP wars

TurboJunky

Possibly

But i think its more of - Z06 performance for ZR1 pricing.

There is also a video out there of Larry Probst running both the ZR1 and Viper and he basically said the out going ZR1 was the better car for the money

Now put your bias aside for a second - if you are looking for the best track car at that price level what are you buying?

The only thing a Viper offers is that it is somewhat exclusive. But that can be seens as good or bad.

harlold

Look at it this way, only the first two years of the ZR1 had 1500 sales. After that it averaged out to 500.

SRTs problems are multifold. Most of their dealers are garbage (For instance, I wanted to order a '13 before production. I put my name down at two dealers, neither called me when ordering banks opened. Both ordered cars with $20-50k ADMs on them when they arrived. Both are sitting on their show rooms almost a year later). Open up the ECU and I think it would do a lot better.

In reality the market for the type of car isn't huge and perhaps Ralph overestimated what demand would be. I think they've sold around 700-800 total over a years period. Not great, but I don't consider it "terrible." I don't think comparisons to the base C7 are in reality - they are different vehicles - the Z06 and outgoing ZR1 absolutely.

I love mine and drive it almost daily. There is nothing wrong with the car, the issue has been SRT, dealers, and its marketing of it, IMHO. Without those things you can build the best car in the world and no one would know.

NytmereZ

The Z06 has nothing to do with it, how can it , does anyone know anything about it other than the name, look, and that the motor is called the LT4.

It's supercharged but does anyone know anything about it? , real hp #'s, weight etc....

SRT/Fiat, made the car to expensive pricing the viper WAY over its previous model, add ZERO marketing, zero tuning ability =FAIL.

How many vettes would sell at 150k? Just look at the previous ZR1, it came in at an average of 20-30k less, didn't sell very well.
That being said the Viper will always be a class above the mass produced vette, regardless of performance.

NytmereZ

SRT dealers are horrific, SRT screwed SRT, I don't see the Viper lasting much longer, and that is bad for Chevy , regardless of the people who still have pent up anger of the Viper always beating the vette going back a decade, when corvette finally caught up, viper comes back with the beat down , ZR1 comes back takes a record, viper ACR comes back and slaughters it.
A seasoned perfectly equipped ZR1 beats a 1st year model in some tests, a few months later the TA takes it back , as much as I don't like what SRT did to the new Viper, it still beat Chevys best vette.

Enter C7 Z06, if it beats the TA, and of Viper is still alive, an ACR will be released to beat the Chevy , and so on, makes for great cars, and very durable cars, you won't see many motor failure threads in any year viper, I think Chevy got it right with the C7.

Kracka

Would you mind elaborating on this? I am curious.

Snorman

Unfortunately, I don't think Viper is going to be around for SRT to release an ACR to compete with the Z06/Z07.
At this point, one has to wonder if 2015 production is in question internally at Fiat/SRT.
S.

forensicsteve

I may not be your typical viper owner??? I am on my third one (2013 base with track pack)...obviously like the viper a lot but not a fanatic. I do like the exclusivity associated with a really low production car (about 29,000 since 1992).

There were no vipers produced in 07, 11, 12, and I just see this as the way it is and going to be with vipers. The srt viper is nothing like the 06 Gen3 or 02 Gen2 that I had. Looks like a Gen2 but the ride, the power, the feel, the quality are significantly improved.

I bought mine about 2 months ago, as prices were dropping and paid $20k below sticker. As many have stated viper is healthy for a car like a c7z06 and also the other way around. I suppose it's more expensive to produce a very low production car and typically viper owners pay for that...still the srt was way overpriced and took it into a unfamiliar market which backfired.

Kurac

A SoCal dealer advertised a new '13 base SRT for $85K. At $85K, the new Viper is sweet and very tempting.

Bodyguard

If I had to pick the three main reasons why I thought the Viper is not doing well in sales it would be: #1 price #2 no automatic offered #3 upcoming ZO6

EdwardETraylorIII

The Gen V is truly a bad *** car. Alas, it will soon be a relic as the Viper Moniker will soon be something of the past. Probably due to sh!tty marketing, delivery (crappy dealerships) issues and the exorbitant MSRP.

Ultimately the Corvette name will suffer because of the competition dying off.

I suspect that this last batch of (Gen V) Vipers will not depreciate very much given that they are in their final production number (and it's just such an amazing car).

raj

While many reasons (price, marketing, Z06 competition) have been cited for the Viper's lack luster sales, I believe technology or the lack thereof is a major factor. Cars in the 6-figure price point have to showcase the latest technology and here the Viper comes short. Yes, there is a lot of performance for the money, but how well does it use technology to allow the driver to exploit that? Absence of a DCT or an equivalently sophisticated automatic is a negative, as is the absence of a state-of-the-art magneto-rheological suspension. Dedicated sports cars in this segment like the 911, GT-R also offer superb torque vectoring drivetrains and intuitive AWD systems, something that is not part of the Viper's DNA. One can rightfully argue the Viper is a pure sports car and these are not part of its mission statement, but that puts it into a very limited market that gets even more rarefied once you consider the near-exotic price point.

Ralph has defended the issue by stating that the Viper was intended to be a low-volume hand-built American supercar; of course, he is right - so SRT should simply deal with the resultant sales! As it sits, the car doesn't have enough sophistication to lure well-heeled buyers into its ranks beyond the faithful few for whom there will be no substitute.

EdwardETraylorIII

Raj,

While what you say is true regarding it's lack of DCT and it's particular suspension technology - the truth of your post just about ends there. I'd gamble to say that you haven't driven an SRT Viper around the track?

It's got a LOT of sophistication! On par with the new Z06!

Ontario Orange

The price is too high for a Chrysler and the dealers were piggish with their add'l mark-ups. Some cars are sitting on showroom floors are approaching the two model year mark. And, these boneheads still don't budge on their prices.

Bodyguard

I AGREE, bottom line is: no matter what it is or what it has, everything will sell if it is priced right.