WTF is going on with Viper Parts

[Martin]

So if some moron hits my car, you're going to sell me the body panels off your car right? Sell it?...why?... I don't need to. Why don't you ask all the car collectors of the world that same question? Being nervous to drive a car automatically warrants a sale? I'm sure many other Viper owners have that same reservation.

Yup - I'm in that boat, too. After having my car sit at the dealership for weeks (outside and uncovered) waiting for a simple part (I think it was a bolt for the battery hold-down), and then seeing the value of these cars skyrocket, driving them is definitely a worry. I'm to the point now that I am definitely not going to sell it, but I'm reluctant to drive it more than to just keep everything from decaying. It seems like the safest place to drive them is on the track where you don't encounter idiots who are messing with their phones, road debris that could cause a flat (and then need to rely on Joe-Bob's towing company who will tear up the front splitter and anything else that's vulnerable to damage), parking it somewhere that an idiot will smash into it, etc. It's a shame - I've enjoyed the car, but I don't want to get into a situation where it's sitting at a repair shop for six months waiting to get fixed.

EDIT: I'll add that I just bought a Rubicon 392 with the Extreme Recon package and I'm starting to feel the pain with that one. The stock oil filter is crap, so I wanted to put the proper SRT filter on it. Some searching on the usual sites yielded nothing. That's another "instant collectible" that will probably have parts issues. They made so few of them, and then stopped production so quickly, that it's going to definitely be a pain. A LOT of parts for that Jeep are "392 Xtreme Recon" specific, and that Jeep is the rarest of the rare. It is an absolute blast to drive, so I'll worry about parts later

[ViperGeorge]

Yup - I'm in that boat, too. After having my car sit at the dealership for weeks (outside and uncovered) waiting for a simple part (I think it was a bolt for the battery hold-down), and then seeing the value of these cars skyrocket, driving them is definitely a worry. I'm to the point now that I am definitely not going to sell it, but I'm reluctant to drive it more than to just keep everything from decaying. It seems like the safest place to drive them is on the track where you don't encounter idiots who are messing with their phones, road debris that could cause a flat (and then need to rely on Joe-Bob's towing company who will tear up the front splitter and anything else that's vulnerable to damage), parking it somewhere that an idiot will smash into it, etc. It's a shame - I've enjoyed the car, but I don't want to get into a situation where it's sitting at a repair shop for six months waiting to get fixed.

EDIT: I'll add that I just bought a Rubicon 392 with the Extreme Recon package and I'm starting to feel the pain with that one. The stock oil filter is crap, so I wanted to put the proper SRT filter on it. Some searching on the usual sites yielded nothing. That's another "instant collectible" that will probably have parts issues. They made so few of them, and then stopped production so quickly, that it's going to definitely be a pain. A LOT of parts for that Jeep are "392 Xtreme Recon" specific, and that Jeep is the rarest of the rare. It is an absolute blast to drive, so I'll worry about parts later

I'm not sure using the SRT filter is the best idea unless your 392 calls for it. Remember the SRT filter has a higher bypass spring because of the higher oil pressure the Viper runs. If your 392 were to use it the filter might not go into bypass when it is supposed to. This is speculation on my part but worth considering.

[Gen5snake]

Yup - I'm in that boat, too. After having my car sit at the dealership for weeks (outside and uncovered) waiting for a simple part (I think it was a bolt for the battery hold-down), and then seeing the value of these cars skyrocket, driving them is definitely a worry. I'm to the point now that I am definitely not going to sell it, but I'm reluctant to drive it more than to just keep everything from decaying. It seems like the safest place to drive them is on the track where you don't encounter idiots who are messing with their phones, road debris that could cause a flat (and then need to rely on Joe-Bob's towing company who will tear up the front splitter and anything else that's vulnerable to damage), parking it somewhere that an idiot will smash into it, etc. It's a shame - I've enjoyed the car, but I don't want to get into a situation where it's sitting at a repair shop for six months waiting to get fixed.

Amen brother....my thoughts exactly...across the board. Joe-Bob's towing company....LOL Totally true.

[AllAboutViper]

Same thing here, with the seat raiser, and the rear differential, this would make the Viper owner feels insecure owning an expensive car without spare-part replacement

[viperman4125]

This has been going on long before COVID. I would never buy another FCA product again...this was my second and last Mopar The sad reality is that they can care less about their customers...it's all about the dollar. Wasted money on a warranty. No dealer within an hour and a half drive would service my car...you mention it's a Viper and they scramble because they know sourcing parts is a shit show. You call FCA to let them know that no dealer will work on your car, they say, "well, all the dealers are independently owned and we can't force them to work on your car". Okay...???? What about parts? "Sorry, but we don't know when or if the part will be available. We have changed vendors that manufacture the part. Hopefully they will manufacture the part soon" Say what? 3 ring circus. I don't understand the brand loyalty here.

Just wait! When the EV's really hit the road, There attention will be on those cars. We are F--ked, now, just wait. Q: who will buy a car that they can NOT get parts for ? Unless you are Jay Leno. He makes is own, and he Museum his cars.

[sadil]

I'm not sure using the SRT filter is the best idea unless your 392 calls for it. Remember the SRT filter has a higher bypass spring because of the higher oil pressure the Viper runs. If your 392 were to use it the filter might not go into bypass when it is supposed to. This is speculation on my part but worth considering.

I concur. The 392’s engine wouldn’t care but if you have additional oil cooling for engine/trans built into the system (or a lack thereof, and the cars have it) the bypass valve would have been adjusted for the Jeep application.

[efnfast]

Man, you Gen V guys sure like to complain a lot.

If a part doesn't exist then repair the broken part or machine a new one.

e-z

Just wait! When the EV's really hit the road, There attention will be on those cars. We are F--ked, now, just wait. Q: who will buy a car that they can NOT get parts for ? Unless you are Jay Leno. He makes is own, and he Museum his cars.

there will be solutions for the forseeable future.

it just won't be cheap.

for example, I can still get tires for my Countach (345/30/15) .... it only costs $1,600/tire .... yaaaaaay

[Scott_in_fl]

Man, you Gen V guys sure like to complain a lot.

If a part doesn't exist then repair the broken part or machine a new one.

e-z



there will be solutions for the forseeable future.

it just won't be cheap.

for example, I can still get tires for my Countach (345/30/15) .... it only costs $1,600/tire .... yaaaaaay

Thank you!

Last time I checked, there were plenty of old collectible cars running around just fine. Yes, it may be difficult and/or expensive to get parts for an F40 but I'd still love to have one.

[ViperGeorge]

Thank you!

Last time I checked, there were plenty of old collectible cars running around just fine. Yes, it may be difficult and/or expensive to get parts for an F40 but I'd still love to have one.

There will be some solutions to the parts problem for sure but not for all of them. Some parts will be too complicated for someone to make for such a low production vehicle. Remember too a Lambo or Ferrari was sold at a much higher price new (in today's dollars) than a Viper. Lambo, Ferrari, et.al. are able to produce parts for low volume vehicles because the upfront price of the car was high and it is part of their brand promise. Not so with FCA. Mustangs, Camaros, GTOs, Chevelles, Cudas, Challengers, and other collector cars were made in great numbers. Most of the basic models share body and other parts with their high performance editions. I had a 1968 Shelby GT350 and it shared many, not all, components with a base 6 cylinder Mustang.

Body parts also come to mind. Who will make side sills for an ACR or hoods or fenders or grilles or bumpers or rear deck lids, etc.? These would be expensive to make. Some other parts like electronics might be hard to recreate in the aftermarket. Body controllers, PCMs, Door nodes, and more. Window regulators can be repaired in some cases but not all. The company in AZ can fix a lot of problems. Trim items may also be hard to get. What about other electronic pieces or throttle bodies, IAT sensors, etc. Yes, some parts may be replaceable with parts not originally designed for the purpose.

I've been looking for a knee bolster (under the steering wheel) in alcantara for my ACR. Not available but also not discontinued so maybe there is hope. Anyone have one? PM me. I have a throttle blip switch in mine which I would like to move but I would also like a spare bolster for when I eventually have to sell the car since my original will have multiple holes in it.

Bottom line is I would not expect some of these parts to be discontinued on a 5 year old car. FCA is screwing the pooch on this.

[efnfast]

There will be some solutions to the parts problem for sure but not for all of them. Some parts will be too complicated for someone to make for such a low production vehicle. Remember too a Lambo or Ferrari was sold at a much higher price new (in today's dollars) than a Viper. Lambo, Ferrari, et.al. are able to produce parts for low volume vehicles because the upfront price of the car was high and it is part of their brand promise. Not so with FCA. Mustangs, Camaros, GTOs, Chevelles, Cudas, Challengers, and other collector cars were made in great numbers. Most of the basic models share body and other parts with their high performance editions. I had a 1968 Shelby GT350 and it shared many, not all, components with a base 6 cylinder Mustang.

Body parts also come to mind. Who will make side sills for an ACR or hoods or fenders or grilles or bumpers or rear deck lids, etc.? These would be expensive to make. Some other parts like electronics might be hard to recreate in the aftermarket. Body controllers, PCMs, Door nodes, and more. Window regulators can be repaired in some cases but not all. The company in AZ can fix a lot of problems. Trim items may also be hard to get. What about other electronic pieces or throttle bodies, IAT sensors, etc. Yes, some parts may be replaceable with parts not originally designed for the purpose.

I've been looking for a knee bolster (under the steering wheel) in alcantara for my ACR. Not available but also not discontinued so maybe there is hope. Anyone have one? PM me. I have a throttle blip switch in mine which I would like to move but I would also like a spare bolster for when I eventually have to sell the car since my original will have multiple holes in it.

Bottom line is I would not expect some of these parts to be discontinued on a 5 year old car. FCA is screwing the pooch on this.

step 1 - go to upholstery shop

step 2 - done

*shrug*

[PkB2014]

step 1 - go to upholstery shop

step 2 - done

*shrug*

I love this having no expectation that the manufacturer should support a 5 year old car. haha. (like bruh you don't make your own parts? go to upholstery shop, duh!).

Meanwhile Porsche over there spending a hundred million bucks to figure out a synthetic fuel to keep all of its ICE cars running in the new EV world.

[Pappy]

What are your thoughts about future parts availability for the new Corvette Z06? One-of-a-kind dual overhead cam, flat plane crank motor that probably won't show up in any other GM model, and GM pushing hard into the EV market. My younger brother has 2X 1990-1995 ZR1s with the Lotus/Mercury Marine dual overhead cam motors - ask him about the parts supply and service availability for about the last 20 years. About like his Range Rover with air suspension and the factory BMW motor. LOL

[ViperGeorge]

step 1 - go to upholstery shop

step 2 - done

*shrug*

Yes, as I said there will be solutions to some missing parts but not all. I would rather have a new bolster but yes I can go to an upholstery shop to get mine redone. Having some body parts for an expensive 5 year old car does not seem unreasonable. Shit happens. What do you do if your toddler grandson runs into your ACR side sill with his big wheel or something else bad happens to it like if you go off track and crunch the side a bit on a tire wall? Do you total the car if a body shop can't straighten it out? Also wear items like ball joints and control arm bushings should be available from the manufacturer or at least they should tell go buy this Moog part. And yes I know that some vendors have Delran or Poly bushing for control arms but they tend to be on the noisy side. And what about window regulators? They have been hard to find for months.

FCA is just not customer focused. Too bad really.

[SRT_BluByU]

FCA is dead and Stellantis seems to be indicating theyre most interested in clean, safe, inexpensive mobility devices. Blah

[daveg]

What are your thoughts about future parts availability for the new Corvette Z06?

Many more cars made and that equals more totaled cars equaling more used parts available.

[Martin]

FCA is dead and Stellantis seems to be indicating they're most interested in clean, safe, inexpensive mobility devices. Blah

Yeah, and the former SRT engineers are pretty pissed off with their new assignments from what I hear. They are still getting put to somewhat good use here and there, but the fun projects are drying up. Stellantis is going to end of life the Hemi line (except for a few exceptions for trucks) and they're going to focus on that time-bomb of a Hurricane engine. From what I understand of it, it'll be a great engine for around 90K miles, but from there, it's just a matter of time before it turns into the Grenade engine.

Let's be happy we have what we have. In 20 years, the ACR-E will be looked upon like the Charger Daytona. In the grand scheme of things, there are just not many of them out there, and they're over-the-top outrageous. I might just put mine in a temperature controlled plastic bubble and visit it every day just to marvel over what a great car it is.

[SRT_BluByU]

better yet drive the sheck out of it.. and keep it in great running condition, fix what breaks, do the maintenance and when ya die the next guy can do the same.. its not a painting!

[Scott_in_fl]

^^^ Amen!

Really, are you expecting to sell it and retire one day? Probably not. And if you are, then you should sell it today and buy some real estate instead as so many on this forum have proven is a much better use of your passive investment dollars than car collecting. If you're going to keep it, then why not enjoy it???

[est8esq]

I've been continuing to have problems with my ABS locking up where my brakes keep locking up. This time (3rd time), I wasn't able to save it. Fortunately, it's mostly non mechanical parts and I've learned FCA is no longer supporting nor manufacturing parts. This is going to be problematic.

Nonetheless, here's a link where you can buy parts for our cars. https://www.dougshelbyengineering.com

Good luck.

[Scott_in_fl]

^^^ Things like ABS are also generally used across many different models of cars, and even different MFG's. Likely a Bosch system that uses sensors, actuators, etc. that are common with other vehicles. Of course, learning how to cross reference those items to see what other vehicles use the same parts may not be easy.

[SRT_BluByU]

F-car fellas do it all the time.

[Gen5snake]

A statement from FCA - Stellantis comes from the Latin verb ‘stello’ which means ‘to brighten with stars’. That says it all. I'm sure a non-binary identifying individual came up with that one.

[Dan Cragin]

If anyone is interested, I have a perfect gen 5 ACRE used hood. Its discontinued and MSRP was about 23k when available. 11.5kIMG_2255.jpg

[GTS Dean]

What a beautiful piece of art!

[StrokerAce]

Nice hood. Wish I had space available. Probably would buy it. Can you deliver to Florida? Haha I'll put $20 of gas in your tank!