At the request of a few, I started a new thread to present this suggestion to the club! While the club is in a very good place and gaining members, I believe we can be doing so much more to further our brand (it will truly be OURS if FCA kills the Viper for good in 2017, to never return) and providing value to our members. I believe we need to really ramp up the documentation side of our cars, the parts, the cross referenced parts (to bring down the Viper tax), the maintenance and how to sections, etc. We have so much knowledge that is hidden, lost, unknown that could help out the owners of this club AND attract new owners to our brand and this club. Right now the car is very misunderstood by the overall general car community (all brands). It has a stigma that nobody knows how to work on it, you can't find people to work on it, you can't get parts, it is horribly expensive to work on and it is just misunderstood in general.

We need to relieve these risks and "reasons for saying no" for current owners and new buyers alike. Let me provide the best example of what I am referring to and the effect. I apologize for the references to Porsche but this is a living example for me that best describes what I am referring to. My wife and I own a couple of daily driver Cayenne Turbo (S) in an 04' and an 06'. 04' has 85,000 miles and 06' has 129,000 miles. Tired of paying Porsche service an arm and a leg for every little thing so used it as my excuse recently to start stocking up on EBAY Snap On Tools and get back to servicing my own vehicles myself. Once I started looking, there was a wealth of good knowledge at my finger tips:

1. Great YouTube videos with very detailed how tos, etc. for maintenance and common service items, diagnostic.
2. Pelican Parts website, with even more details how tos with pictures, tips and all parts needed. It is broken down into major sections and subsections so you can get to the right procedure or issue quickly, efficiently and by your year and model. (NOT just lumped into an every generation, search and find a needle in a haystack How to section as the VOA has it now.
3. Major discount on authentic Porsche parts with parts and part numbers through companies like Suncoast Porsche Parts Warehouse.
4. Diagnostic and serviceable codes/settings software and cable in Durametrics. Allows everything to be serviced at home.

These gave me all the confidence to maintain the Cayenne Turbos myself and that is what I am doing. Saved myself $1000s of dollars though probably spent that on the Snap On tools I purchased but hey, I have Snap On tools now for life. The point is, can do it all mostly myself.

My point is, whether it is the "life with a Viper" items above or very detailed (we have never had these before in our community by car, by year, etc.) restoration guides and "approved" upgrades for safety and longevity, like the IPSCO Power steering pump pulley and bracket; we NEED these things documented and accepted by our community. How else are we going to bring up the car values, remove the risk and stigma to attract new owners and members? Hell this is for ALL years. Anyone that has been through exhaust mods or battery change and then emissions issues would have died to know the Dodge procedure to set all the internal program flags to have that PCM program ready to go prior to emissions testing. That is even for GEN V cars. This information is somewhat here in the site but so buried and lost at times that you never find it. We can do better for our owners and members. It is NOT all about the events and racing. It requires some changes to the site and structure of data.

We have to do this as every year more and more members are kicking the bucket, more cars are being modded and more salvage cars are being band-aided together to get back on the road. We are losing this correct heritage, this knowledge and it will have an affect on the cars, the value and ultimately the club as people maybe choose to stay away because they don't understand the car. The Tatros, Cragins, etc. we need to get this information on paper on video and in pictures now not regret it later on when too late.

It is a huge undertaking and a lot of effort over many years but this is exactly how SAAC jump started the Shelby revolution back in the 80s with the resurgence. Will the club get all the build sheets from Dodge for every Viper built so we can track the value and heritage of each car once orphaned by FCA? Will the club start a true car registry so owners and their cars are tracked like the lineage? If not, then why?

I am proud we are at 2,000 members again but can we really feel that good about ourselves knowing we are not doing these things above. Let's make a difference for the long run, not just collect the dues, have a few events and whatever. There is major work to be done with Dodge axing the Viper for good. As a club, we owe it to our members and to the community to do this.

I would appreciate someone bringing this up at the next BOD meeting and seeing if we can do something. I am not talking overview videos. I am talking very detailed videos and how tos that take ALL guess work out of the car. That is the impact the VOA needs to make. Hopefully this is well received.