No more ACRs

[Martin]

Heard back from the 1 of 1 concierge, and they assured me that my recently ordered car is "100% definitely going to be built". So, that is a relief... Now, we just need to hear if this order system stoppage is going to get unclogged.

[ACRSNK]

Might be spreading more rumors here.....but.....My local dealer that I was working with called me this morning, He spoke to James (from the Viper 1 of 1 program) that was helping us with my build last Monday. According to James, my dealer said 95% of what is being said is not true, and they are reassessing the situation and will have more info on Wednesday"......that's it.

Take that for what its worth. I'm not trying to spread rumors, I want my 1 of 1. It just gives me 2 more days of hope of potentially positive information.

I have spoke to a very reputable dealer over the weekend who is convinced its over. I do tend to believe him.....crossing my fingers that the 1 of 1 program will be back shortly....

Hopefully some positive news comes out. Keeping my fingers crossed for both of us.

[The_Ruski_Driver]

Not a pro or "expert" here but my opinion is as follows:

It's the end and anyone holding their breath can stop. FCA is axing 4-5 other cars this year and downsizing, it's not just the Viper. If you had the chance to clean out inventory wouldn't you? They don't care about who buys them... look at how they are handling warranty claims. Obv the dealer in question bought it in cash as an investment, and I think it was a smart play. Imagine next year it's the ONLY place you can get a NEW acr? You better believe he can charge whatever he wants.

What 20k off? Keep dreaming! With all the records this monster is setting and the most TQ you can possibly buy in stock from in an NA application there is no alternative. It was poor marketing that got the discounts moving cars in the start, but now, it's a different game. I see the values ballooning on these fast and then will fall back and even out at around 180k for an ACR loaded up and the TA around 145, special editions like the LE settling around 110-120 and the rest in the 85-100 range.

It sucks the enthusiasts couldn't order them and now it seems they can't. It's sad but it's a reality and I'd suggest browsing inventory to find one with a color and options that are the closest match.

As a side note, I'm diggin the 'crazy' colors you guys are complaining about. The pink viper they have? I'd 100% buy that for my wife if 1)I had a wife 2) I had the 125k or whatever they want burning a hole in my pocket

[Martin]

I don't know - almost this same scenario happened back in '09 and '10 during the Chrysler bankruptcy. People were panicked that they couldn't get an ACR, and some of the dealerships really stocked up on them. At that time, I didn't think the Viper would survive, and I was absolutely astounded that I kept seeing deeper and deeper discounts for really cool cars. That Gen IV ACR was also getting a ton of good press for its track performance - just about as much good press as the Gen V is. When it hit $20k off MSRP, I almost bought a second ACR.

Same thing may or may not happen here. With the grumbling about the engines blowing, the various recalls, warranties being denied, and now this ordering debacle, people may just say "screw it" and start looking at different brands. There are other options out there at similar price points, and many people aren't planning on using the car as a regular track car - so the track record bragging rights may not be a big deal to 75% of potential buyers. I can see that dealer getting stuck with a lot of cars, especially if they get delivered in wintertime. Come June, if 100 cars are still in inventory, they'll be freaking out big-time.

[RedTanRT/10]

It would be great to hear/read comments from Bill @ Woodhouse or Bernie/Courney @ Tomball.

As to sold orders, it's the honor system, submit a name on a car order (no one is going to verify) Over the years my name has been on a number of vipers orders, '96's, '03's, '15's.

Gerry Wood dealership, they've been selling G5 vipers on an off. Maybe they decided to take a shot and order a bunch on speculation. The big 3 vipers dealers could have done the same, and to some degree have.

$10-15K dealer cash, I'll bet won't happen again this time. I'm sure dealers ordering viper on spec are on their own, this company is now FCA, not the old Chrysler/Dodge.

Again, for folks interested in ordering a '17, it would be great to have one of the big viper dealers set the record straight.

[Murpowa]

It would be great to hear/read comments from Bill @ Woodhouse or Bernie/Courney @ Tomball.

As to sold orders, it's the honor system, submit a name on a car order (no one is going to verify) Over the years my name has been on a number of vipers orders, '96's, '03's, '15's.

Gerry Wood dealership, they've been selling G5 vipers on an off. Maybe they decided to take a shot and order a bunch on speculation. The big 3 vipers dealers could have done the same, and to some degree have.

Again, for folks interested in ordering a '17, it would be great to have one of the big viper dealers set the record straight.

Seriously, 7 pages and not one comment from the big boys...

[Martin2000GTS]

Seriously, 7 pages and not one comment from the big boys...

There is no comment because there is simply that. No solid information. No need to comment if they don't have SOLID information. The big 3 dealers are "the big 3 dealers" for a reason. They don't screw us around, they have always been there and done the right thing. We know the average person will be posting negative reviews because one of them said one thing wrong that may even have been out of context. I don't blame them for not saying anything yet. There is simply no SOLID information yet. Lets just hold tight and see what happens. I'm crossing my fingers for positive information. And a shout out to Bill Pemberton for spending hours on the phone with me.

[Martin2000GTS]

Also a shout out to many more guys on the forum that I have been speaking with on the phone to try and help me out. Don't want to name names, but the viper brotherhood is great.

[Mbccenter]

Heard back from the 1 of 1 concierge, and they assured me that my recently ordered car is "100% definitely going to be built". So, that is a relief... Now, we just need to hear if this order system stoppage is going to get unclogged.

I received the same call today. Very nice gentleman. Could not answer if they would be off of hold again or not? So if they don't know I don't think any dealer will.

[Martin]

I received the same call today. Very nice gentleman. Could not answer if they would be off of hold again or not? So if they don't know I don't think any dealer will.

Sounds like they're getting swamped with complaints from really pissed off people who can't order what they want, or are in our situation and just got orders entered. I don't think anyone but top brass at FCA know whether they'll open orders up again or not. My impression is that this is like an overbooked flight - some people get bumped, and anyone that tries to get on the flight at the last minute is screwed.

[SharpMan]

Hey, any idea what was cancelled? I ordered a special edition model and even got my VIN assigned, I'm from Toronto. Do you know what got cancelled exactly? Are any 2017 coming to Canada? wtf is up with this?

All I know is that 80 Canadian orders were cancelled. I was offered a special edition but turned it down. I imagine that they had to make room for special editions out of the overall commitment they made to their supplier. I don't think they anticipated the demand for the ACR-E (why would they) and it's not like you can just order up twice as many wings and shocks and all that on short notice and even if you could they don't have the manpower to build them.

[Martin]

All I know is that 80 Canadian orders were cancelled. I was offered a special edition but turned it down. I imagine that they had to make room for special editions out of the overall commitment they made to their supplier. I don't think they anticipated the demand for the ACR-E (why would they) and it's not like you can just order up twice as many wings and shocks and all that on short notice and even if you could they don't have the manpower to build them.

Some of the special edition cars are pretty cool - I really like the 1:28 car, and the GTS-R Commemorative. I didn't even think it was possible to get any of them anymore.

[Coloviper]

I have no knowledge of anything on this but when your best big Viper dealers the past few years are basically out in the cold on the big orders at the end and someone else steps up like they did to secure that kind of an allocation, that usually means something is up. I am just an observer and not a big conspiracy guy but what stands out for me is this, the big Viper dealers of the past were also the ones selling modifications, Prefix convertibles and targas, Arrow Phase I and II mods, suspensions changes, brake changes, etc., etc.

With the stance FCA is taking on modifications and warranty voids, it is a little suspicious that the very same dealers who have been the savior of Dodge and Viper, who participated in these mod programs are in fact now sidelined or penalized for it. Maybe there is a lawsuit for those big 3 dealers against FCA. That would not surprise me as if those owners left out in the cold are not made whole by FCA, you can bet your ass their attorneys are going after those dealers. The sold modification programs will be for off road use, but nowhere in there does it state you will lose your warranty if you modify by installation of those packages. I suspect this is just the tip of a huge iceberg which has a lot of weight underneath the water.

Now you can not blame FCA for selling the remaining allotment to a single dealer. Their "problem is solved in two ways, one it sells out their run so no worries about selling the remaining stock and two, I guarantee conditions for buying from this dealer is the dealer makes zero mods on the cars before selling them. No more issues with mods that way. FCA then controls the situation. Bet the dealer got a hell of a deal to buy them all at discount from the bulk buy. Good for them and smart if he had the cash!

This will invariably get ugly before the end of the line car roles off. The whole thing is an exercise in what not to do. Starts with FCA in not producing a car with the highest HP in their line up. Produce a Viper with more than 707 HP and chances are most would have stayed stock, except for those outliers who mod everything. Those guys accept there is no warranty once they play anyway. The entire problem has been FCA all along. You could not write a more screwed up chain of events.

[BlueAdder]

If FCA did agree to sell those 135 Vipers, it's a good commercial move. Chances are that by the time they closed the order book, they would not have had to make all those cars.
If someone at FCA got approached by the dealer and was told: Here's $17M, I need 135 Vipers. How would you refuse that?

It does suck big time for the people who want a 1 of 1 and can no longer order it. Now, if you want one you'll have to go buy it from that dealer and hope that they have whatever you wanted to in the first place.

That hot pink viper though

[46hemi]

Makes total sense. Certainly much more risk on the dealer side depending on the deal he cut. I recall in 2006 when Woodhouse bought the complete allocation of Ram SRT (100+ if memory serves) at a significant discount and sold them fairly well. Maybe they just put it out to the highest bidder and this guy won. Its not the first time SRT selling large lot of outgoing model although at the time the rams were not selling so this is a bit different. I hope he does well with them its a significant investment! My guess is early on a decent selection should be available on showroom floors for those who missed order.

[Eugene Lee]

There are like 600 of the damn things. Call one of the big 3 dealers and buy one off the lot

wow thats a lot for a car like this. I thought the built numbers where like in the 300s

[Larryskillzs]

I guess it was lost in the thread, but I'll say it again.

About 6 weeks ago I got a text from the Gerrywood manager. He told me they were buying out the entire allocation of remaining Viper orders and he was wondering if I was interested in trading my 15' I purchased from them.

This is real guys. Gerrywood basically cleaned out whatever orders were left.

I was shocked when I received the text and knew it would be a big to do in here.

It sucks that people that were waiting to order got the shaft. But the saying, you snooze you lose comes to mind.

[ACRucrazy]

I guess it was lost in the thread, but I'll say it again.

About 6 weeks ago I got a text from the Gerrywood manager. He told me they were buying out the entire allocation of remaining Viper orders and he was wondering if I was interested in trading my 15' I purchased from them.

This is real guys. Gerrywood basically cleaned out whatever orders were left.

I was shocked when I received the text and knew it would be a big to do in here.

It sucks that people that were waiting to order got the shaft. But the saying, you snooze you lose comes to mind.

Yup. I bet if the was one of the big name dealers no one will bat an eye..

[ek1]

I'd 100% buy that for my wife if 1)I had a wife 2) I had the 125k or whatever they want burning a hole in my pocket

But that's just it..the "IF" part. I have been following the market since Gen V came out and the biggest problem always was always that there was a large amount of people who loved the Viper, but only a tiny amount of people who actually spent money on one. The fact that a fully loaded new Gen V was priced similarly to 1-2 yr old exotics did not help either, because majority of shoppers in the $130K+ price range are looking for things that the Gen 5 does not deliver - prestige / brand equity / snob appeal), ease of daily use, high-end dealership experience, etc. In fact, a recent Motor Trend's "Best Driver's Car" feature is a great example of what majority of people in the $130K+ market are looking for (and will pay for). It is NOT the ACR and definitely not a regular Gen V.

The ACR may currently hold production car records at many tracks, but you can count on these records to be shattered as better chassis, powertrain, suspension and tire technologies are developed. Case in point is Gen 4 ACR, which had record-shattering performance when it was released.

IF this story about one dealership buying up the remaining 2017 ACRs is true, I can definitely see $20K off on a $160K car with some "wonderful" black and gold paint scheme, because someone can just buy it, spend $5K and wrap it in any color they like. After all, a discount of $20K on a $160K car is only 12.5% off and is not unheard of in that price range. As far as the pink car is concerned, the same logic applies. How many people out there are willing to spend $153,580 (it's not $125K) to buy their girl a present in a form of a street-legal race car with a manual transmission, non-existent ground clearance, tiny fuel tank, poor rearward visibility, weak air conditioning, etc. Better yet, how many women would spend $153,580 on a car like the ACR? Not many. And if the person looking for a pink ACR takes a few years to show up, the car will be sitting. And if the money borrowed to buy millions of dollars worth of Vipers must be repaid before the car is sold, this is when the $20K discount will come in.

I dont have a dog in this fight anyway since my car is sitting in my garage, I bought it for fun and enjoyment and could not care less if ACRs appreciate, depreciate, lose or keep value, etc, but based on historical facts I would not count on Gen V ACRs becoming "the next Ford GT" or some other rarity du jour with crazy appreciation. It's sad that some dealership decided to try and gouge people that have been delaying their ACR purchase, but their dick move is unlikely to create anything but a short-lived jump in ACR prices.

[EZ 2B Green]

If there is any truth to this dealer buying up the remaining inventory, why did they have to make up bogus VINs and display them on their website? It doesn't seem necessary and the real VINs aren't going to be anything close. The only thing that's possible is if FCA let them create their own VINs as long as they fit into some general guidelines. Even that seems far fetched to me.

[MK2_Viper]

Apologies if this has been posted already but the explanation right here says they purchased the remaining inventory, if it is not true and they are publicly posting about it then you figure someone would say something in contradiction .

http://www.gerrywood-dodge.com/blogs...viper-dealero/

[EZ 2B Green]

It would be one thing if they purchased the entire remaining allocation, but according to their advertising, they also configured them all. This is contrary to what the 1 of 1 program was supposed to be about. It apparently has caused a lot of dissatisfaction among customers wanting to submit orders. What a PR mess.

[Martin]

It would be one thing if they purchased the entire remaining allocation, but according to their advertising, they also configured them all. This is contrary to what the 1 of 1 program was supposed to be about. It apparently has caused a lot of dissatisfaction among customers wanting to submit orders. What a PR mess.

My feelings exactly - if they had just bought up all the stock standard ACRs and ACR-Es, it wouldn't bug me so much. But, they seemed to have really gamed the one of one system and flooded the market with one of one's. What's the use of having a unique car if all the cars are unique? In essence, Dodge let them dilute the value of a very good program.

[drivingdutchman]

I'm off to return the color books I borrowed tomorrow and will ask VE what's going on. The fact no one has mentioned anything here officially means they don't know or it's true. If true there's no rush to buy a Gen 5 ACR E IMHO (no Ford GT effect here) and it seems I'll be exotic shopping instead. A sad day for the true enthusiast. I hope Gerry Wood loses their ass on this.

[skydeals]

I dont know.. I think it was a bold and possible a smart move of what Gerry Wood has done... They now will be able to have some control on the ACR market..Now if someone wants a ACR they are going to have to possible buy one of there cars... Wood can control the price a bit, maybe sell a few at a time. If they control market share they could keep the price strong...Look all the other dealers including the big three could have took Woods leap of faith on the ACR and bought more inventory as well but they didn't. Wood must think very highly and have a strong faith in this car or he would not have taken such a big risk.. I know this really sucks for those who have not got there 1 of 1 order in , but everyone still has the opportunity to purchase this great car..Its just going to be from dealer inventory, just like we have been doing all along...For all of us that love the Viper this could be a good thing if he can keep the price and demand strong......