Suggestions help buying first gen Viper

[84venom]

Hi. Looking to buy a 92-94 for the first time. Can you give me some good information on what to look/look out for when shopping? Typical problem areas etc... Thanks!

[dave6666]

Well there's this video out that someone spent a lot of time on. That I correctly guessed would get bypassed. Along with hundreds of other threads / posts answering that exact same question about buying a Viper.

Anywho, good luck, an what kind of mileage and price range are you looking for?

[Steve-Indy]

Dave has made good points. For instance, there were less than 300 Vipers made in 1992...while there were 3,000 made in 1994. So, prices are usually quite different for these two cars of presumed equal mileage and condition. Mileage also concerns many folks.

Do you want a collector car or a driver (in my opinion, go with a driver).

Maurice Liang's book "Viper Buyer's Guide" is a great tool when getting started...but hard to find and expensive.

Contact the business office of this club and ask for the back issue of "Viper Quarterly"...VQ 15-Winter 2018 as it contains a "Gen I R/T 10 Buyers Guide".

"...call 888.778.1545, email admin@driveviper.com. You may also review, and order back issues here! Back issues are $17.50 ea plus postage."

[84venom]

If there's a video, where can I find it? I've been looking around this forum but haven't seen anything.

Mileage / price isn't a big concern. Finding a solid clean car is.

[Evil v10]

Papas dodge has a clean red gen 1 Viper for sale they are in New Britain ct 860 225-8751 ask for Dom papa looks like 1992 or 1993 hope this helps your search

[LifeIsGood]

Here's a thread that might help a little. It's for GEN IIs...

1996 2002 Dodge Viper Buyer's Guide Video (https://driveviper.com/forums/threads/23520-1996-2002-Dodge-Viper-Buyer-s-Guide-Video)

[Robertk]

Hi. Looking to buy a 92-94 for the first time. Can you give me some good information on what to look/look out for when shopping? Typical problem areas etc... Thanks!

Welcome... just purchased a Gen 1 "95" in January out of California with 30k for $23.5 (needed tires) wanted a 95 as I just figured the last year of the 1st Gen would have some of the bugs worked out... I've had lots of muscle cars, cobras, corvettes but this is the best car I've ever owned and for the dollars to fun value can't be beat, there is just something about the Gen 1 vipers, I take the car out 3-4 times a week and absolutely love the car, best of luck in your search... it's fun searching and it just gets better from there

[mackzilla]

Not sure where you're located but I know of a co-worker selling his in Ohio. It's the red 94 for sale in the classifieds.

[VOI9]

I have a 1995 Gen I since new so I can tell you a few things. First the Maurice Liang book is excellent and so is the "Viper Quarterly" article which seems to be pretty similar to the book. Both list pro's and con's, that is very helpful. Here are my thoughts: 1. Check the tires and their build dates. Lots of opinions on tire aging but I don't think there is a tire company or car company that recommends that you can drive on tires older than 10 years. After 5 years you'd better be thinking new tires down the road. Sometimes you can find the correct sizes and sometimes not, so don't think you can pop down to the local tire dealer and have them put on a proper set. Jon Brobst is a good source for tires an just about anything else. Look for newish tires on the car. That will save you big bucks in replacement costs. 2. Head gasket leaks. I don't know why they happen, but they do. Look for coolant running down the sides of the engine and anywhere else. I have followed the Viper Service Manual of using the Mopar green coolant and changing it every 2-3 years and have never had a problem. So like a lot of things, good maintenance and records of such are important. Gaskets are easy to come by from the vendors on this site. Some are better than the OE paper gaskets. 3. The fuel pressure regulator fails at a high rate and it is no longer made by Dodge and I don't know if it has ever been reproduced. It's a big job to replace it. You can do a search on this site. The remedy without replacement is to turn the ignition key to on, off, on off, on off. That "wakes up" the fuel pressure regulator and the car starts right up. My car has had this problem for 10+ years. Not a big deal. 4. The soft-to-the-touch paint on the instrument panel and the door handle bezels can be ruined very quickly with any type of rubbing or cleaning. The paint just comes right off. I am not aware of any replacement paint available. I dust my panel with a feather duster as I had some paint come off of the door handle area after spraying it with a well-know brand name automotive interior cleaner. It just seemed to melt away. Now that area around the handle is shiny black plastic. Not bad, but not the look the designers wanted. 5. If the car has AC make sure it works. if cars sit to long the refrigerant can leak out. 6. Battery: it's behind the left rear wheel. A pain to change, so a record of a newer battery would be good. I have changed over to an AGM battery on my car. I hope I get the 7 years of life they said. 7. Drive the car, see if you can get it up on a lift. Take another "car person" along for his or her observations even if they are not Viper experts although that would be better. Check service records. If it's not written down, you have no proof it was done. off the top of my head those are the things I would look for in a new Gen I. I love my car and it's never let me down, never at the side of the road, never had to get towed. A blast to drive. a real fun time. Good Luck in your quest.

[gfviperman]

Recommend going with a later '93 (no antenna), '94 or '95. Great changes made ...

Had a late '93 #796 ... still miss it ... put 70K miles on it ...

Drove it coast-to-coast twice .... but was younger then ...

[99RT10]

94's in the classifieds:

https://driveviper.com/classifieds/gen-i/p2643-1994-gen1-w-2f-venzano-interior.html

https://driveviper.com/classifieds/gen-i/p2605-94-viper-for-sale.html

https://driveviper.com/classifieds/gen-i/p2599-1994-viper-red-r-2ft-10.html