Membership in the VOA Enthusiast vs Membership

[BJG32]

Litteraly get nothing but a sticker for the money. Our local club used to be pretty fun until about 2012.... then Mike K stopped running, most of my friends left, and it was just never the same.

I used to pay the membership so i could talk about some custom services i offer in the forums, but the mods made me stop unless i paid an outrageous sponsorship fee. Its a very small hobby...not a business... so just not worth that kind of investment. Now i mainly advertise on Facebook free and stay plenty busy there.

[1HOTV10]

I'm a VOA member #51. When I stepped down as president at the end of 2017 my e-mail was closed so I changed it to my personal instead of president@... I wen't in and changed my profile and nothing changed. I contacted Viper central and Admin still no change.

[Schen]

Question is do you want one?

Of course I want one George, just haven't gotten the stars to align just right yet.

And we were semi-active for a while in Jersey. Englishtown, Sommerville, Warnock, Pocono, etc. Joey does a good job with email updates, just a lot of people moved out of state and I don't blame them. LOL

--RS

[ViperJon]

Question is do you want one?

There is no one on this forum or any other who has done more to promote and publicize the Viper and its heritage than R. Schen. With no financial interest or gain to himself just out of pure love of the car and it's place in auto history. He's one person who I truly wish someday to see owning one more than any other.

[ViperGeorge]

There is no one on this forum or any other who has done more to promote and publicize the Viper and its heritage than R. Schen. With no financial interest or gain to himself just out of pure love of the car and it's place in auto history. He's one person who I truly wish someday to see owning one more than any other.

Obviously I don't know his financial situation but you can now pick up a Gen 3 for not a lot of dough. Camry's are more expensive and as long as you can support having more than one car a Viper is now within reach of many people. I hope he eventually gets into one.

By the way our region accepts associate members, they do not have to own a Viper. Not sure how the fees with National work though

[Schen]

There is no one on this forum or any other who has done more to promote and publicize the Viper and its heritage than R. Schen. With no financial interest or gain to himself just out of pure love of the car and it's place in auto history. He's one person who I truly wish someday to see owning one more than any other.

Well jeez, I'll have to catalog that one! I appreciate the kind words Jon! It'll happen, sooner or later it'll happen.

Obviously I don't know his financial situation but you can now pick up a Gen 3 for not a lot of dough. Camry's are more expensive and as long as you can support having more than one car a Viper is now within reach of many people. I hope he eventually gets into one.

By the way our region accepts associate members, they do not have to own a Viper. Not sure how the fees with National work though

Thanks George! I have my heart set on getting a Gen II RT/10. At least at the moment! I change my mind every now and then, that extra trunk space a GTS has is nice but I'm a big fan of the original design, got to drive 1 of 3 Gold Package 97' RT/10's to Carlisle and just feel in love with it. I've driven at least every gen at least once except for an Gen V ACR.

The perfect balance would be a 97' B/W RT/10, but there's only 53 of those. As much as I like the Emerald Green cars, I think I'd be more comfortable with something between 97'-99'. That's the goal.

But things are a bit slow now for obvious worldly reasons. Lost my job as a professional driver back in December. I'd drive press cars to and from all the journalists and VIPs in the tri-state area, work events too like the NY Auto Show. Loved it, was a dream job I didn't know existed but I'm okay at the moment. Doing prints and a little graphic design work in the mean time. Got hooks out there, just waiting for the fish to bite. Nothing just yet.

--RS

[braunstein82]

I was going to be quiet, but since you mentioned this I had the exact same experience for me in NC. Doesn't inspire a desire to join when no one makes the effort to acknowledge and get back with you (Although clearly that person wants people to pay money to support VOA). Fortunately, I've found 4 other Viper owners locally and we do our own thing.

Slightly different scenario than his. His region has very little gatherings. He reached out regarding that and didn't get the attention that maybe it should have. Unfortunately that region has lost several members due to that from what I understand. However NC is one of the regions with the most events. I'm not sure if you don't think we do enough events each year or if it was a isolated situation where you contacted someone and didn't get a reply. Either way message me (Matt) or the Jon (who started this thread) and we will try to resolve it.

Note: I only go on the website a couple times a week. So sorry if I'm slow to reply.

[MoparJohn]

I was going to be quiet, but since you mentioned this I had the exact same experience for me in NC. Doesn't inspire a desire to join when no one makes the effort to acknowledge and get back with you (Although clearly that person wants people to pay money to support VOA). Fortunately, I've found 4 other Viper owners locally and we do our own thing.

Viper NC. I'm sorry what you experienced in the past, but as of January we have a new club president and I am the new VP. I would love to have you join the VOA and participate in some of the events we have planned. I am currently working on one down in Charlotte / Concord. It should be a pretty good event if the state moves onto phase III. Please send me a direct message or you can call me at 561.862.7786 if you would like to discuss this issue further.

[Herrsss]

Zero club activity here. I've reached out to the CFL president and even briefly with Beth, but nothing came about it.The only reason why I renewed for 2020 was because of NVE4. I know of at least 10 Viper owners in the Tampa area that I/we coordinate events with other makes/models, but it's obviously never club-affiliated so there's no motivation for me to renew for 2021.

Brian Willey said ya'll have chatted about options for CFL so please keep me posted on your progress.

[Whitemamba]

Well I will add my 2 cents for what it's worth. I personally loved the magazine but that seemed like that was all I was ever getting out of it. Hurt my back pretty bad so I find it difficult to drive the car more than about 30 minutes to pick up my son when school was going on. And after driving those 30 minutes I would be down for a day or two. I am unable to work on my cars anymore and as a result, I have lost that interesting part of my cars as well. Also, I have to admit that with Dodge getting out of the Viper business I think it was more about Dodge letting the enthusiasm die down than anything else. It is hard to get excited about something when you don't have new models to stoke the fire of enthusiasm. When the club here in Dallas lost a lot of it's members, we also lost the local meetings and gatherings. Now it just seems like the long distance to drive to events isn't worth it as well. When we had our meetings in the Dallas area, it was close and people could attend without the long drive. Maybe it's just me but the enthusiasm is just not there anymore. We are a fractured family and without old friends to meet and hangout with, it just isn't the same any more. Once again I think for me it has alot to do with Dodge hanging us out to dry without any Sponsorship nor being represented in any of the races such as Le Mans, IMSA, etc. I love the Viper and always will but each year with other models coming out, it is hard to feel that excitement anymore. I was a Mamba member from the minute I joined so it isn't about the money.

[ViperNC]

I'm not sure if you don't think we do enough events each year or if it was a isolated situation where you contacted someone and didn't get a reply.

I'd consider it an isolated, but repeated situation with one person.

Viper NC. I'm sorry what you experienced in the past, but as of January we have a new club president and I am the new VP. I would love to have you join the VOA and participate in some of the events we have planned. I am currently working on one down in Charlotte / Concord. It should be a pretty good event if the state moves onto phase III. Please send me a direct message or you can call me at 561.862.7786 if you would like to discuss this issue further.

No worries. Since the question was brought up again I figured I would comment, but elaborate a little more this time. When things get back to normal, I'll be interested in meeting you both along with other people locally.

[Loud]

I've been lucky to be part of two busy regions [IL from 2005-2017 and AZ from 2017]. IL was very busy with monthly meets, events [track, drives, dinners] and perhaps did more events in the 6 months of good [if you can call it that] weather we had than most regions with year round driving weather.

AZ is also very active with events planned every month. I have participated in most and planned a few as well. It helps to have folks running the show who are interested in putting in the time required for the members. In both regions, I've noticed members chipping in all areas as well and that makes a huge difference.

Personally, I don't care about the mag. I just smile when someone says the mag itself is worth it.

[Hootie]

Digging up an old-ish thread but wanted to chime in.

I picked up my first Viper in June. Been reading these boards for years. Officially joined VOA yesterday. Small price to pay just for the tips and tricks members have passed along to me. If owners don't step up and support the club, who will? Anyone want to have a problem 10 years from now and have nowhere to turn?

I don't track the car (maybe soon?) and with 3 young kids getting out to even local shows is tough. My reason for signing up is to support a resource that may be the only thing left in the future. People have taken their time to speak with me over the phone, emails, and in the forums. So while I might not get any tangible benefits from being a paid member, the intangibles are well worth it.

I bought this car with the intent of taking it to the grave, and without the VOA I'll be dependent on Facebook for info which is often bad advice.

I support the vendors as they are the ones keeping these cars going. Got my tires from JonB, plug wires from DSE. Sure I could've price shopped those items but their community support is more valuable than a few bucks. But, pretty sure they are great resources AND save you some money. Win win.

[MoparJohn]

Digging up an old-ish thread but wanted to chime in.

I picked up my first Viper in June. Been reading these boards for years. Officially joined VOA yesterday. Small price to pay just for the tips and tricks members have passed along to me. If owners don't step up and support the club, who will? Anyone want to have a problem 10 years from now and have nowhere to turn?

I don't track the car (maybe soon?) and with 3 young kids getting out to even local shows is tough. My reason for signing up is to support a resource that may be the only thing left in the future. People have taken their time to speak with me over the phone, emails, and in the forums. So while I might not get any tangible benefits from being a paid member, the intangibles are well worth it.

I bought this car with the intent of taking it to the grave, and without the VOA I'll be dependent on Facebook for info which is often bad advice.

I support the vendors as they are the ones keeping these cars going. Got my tires from JonB, plug wires from DSE. Sure I could've price shopped those items but their community support is more valuable than a few bucks. But, pretty sure they are great resources AND save you some money. Win win.

Welcome to the VOA and thank you for sharing your story also congratulations on purchasing your Viper. What did you get?

[Hootie]

2013 GTS, Black/Silver. Track pack, 18 speakers, Black Laguna interior, SWII's in matte black. Absolutely love it. It's in the garage now taking a relaxing pee (diff and trans draining). Hurricane rolling through right now so she's staying put. Might as well get some preventative maintenance done!
I don't know the history of the car, so when I picked it up, it got fresh oil, new belt, plugs and wires. I'll tackle the clutch/brake fluid next but it's gonna take a little research first. Also have fresh coolant on hand to swap out. I'm not a mechanic so I'm learning as I go. I kept saving money and skipped right from minivan and Camry to Viper. Only performance car I've ever had, and only one I ever wanted.

[Bill Pemberton]

..............sorry for the play on words , but from Minivan to Camry to Viper , I have to say I am sure you will find the Snake to be a Hoot!!!

Welcome and to me Membership is key to just keeping this valuable tech tool, history library and advice catalog alive as the the years go by. I know many get their Club Dues out of just all the information and helpful assistance provided by the Forum. Eventually if folks don't feel the need to contribute monetarily , this valuable asset could die, so I will send in my membership even if we didn't have activities in my area --- I am lucky because we do have an active Region.