I think the Viper is Dead.

mazdeuce wrote: That's bizarre. The estimate for a light dent to the door and front fender of my truck is $1400. Someone sucks at estimating.

Someone is a moron. I have called them on the carpet over it and they are not involved in the process anymore.

It will get fixed. Its just been almost a month with no movement. Plus I got a email from my adjuster that he is out on vacation till the 11th now.

And we are still fighting this. Right now its if they are willing to cover the shipping charge to the shop up in LA that is Viper specific and can handle the repair.

I am not amused, I am getting litigious.

In reply to wearymicrobe:

Damn that sucks. Do you even want to repair it at this point?

Pics of it after the wreck??

Looks just fine on the outside. Body panels have moved as much as say 3/4-1 inch in some places though. Its all the mounting points under the skin and two shops are saying its really bad.

I have offered yet again for them to just cut me a check and walk away but not going to happen it seems. I have no issues turning it into a track car.

I just watched the YouTube video, I really figured the frame would be more substantial than that.

So finally found a good shop with a Viper specialist who has space and who can repair the car. Got picked up today, now if it gets repaired is the question. They are on the fence about it. Short answer is I want the car fixed and back in my hands. I have looked around and I cannot find another car as modified as mine or as low mileage OEM stock period. All the 2010's have gone to collectors.

I just want the diminished value check, loss of use and registration covered while it is being repaired.

I'm really not that much of a green car guy, but that Viper just looks awesome.

So it goes on the rack today to make sure the frame is straight. They did confirm what I saw which was that the passenger side wheel which is where I got hit was pushed in. Same with the body work. Shop says they can do the cosmetics real cheap but if there is any movement on the rack with the suspension pickup points the car is 100% gone.

In reply to wearymicrobe:

Well fingers crossed for straight frame.

Everything looks good for the fix. No real damage under the car so far. They are awaiting the original appraisal so they can addendum it and then its going to get fixed over the next two months or so.

Wooo. Feeling good. Almost makes up for the fact that I it something on the road yesterday in my 55 Thunderbird and blew the radiator up which is another 500$ out of pocket. But at least I am getting the green monster back.

Awesome! Glad to hear its straight underneath

congrats!!!!

That is great news indeed.

Ordered the standard spring sets so I can swap out the ARC-X challenge set I have on the car and about 300$ worth of dynamat and I am really thinking of using this monster as the real DD. Its not perfect and the value is not there as a collector car anymore, once I get the check for the diminished value its not like it is going to matter when I sell it if it has 10K miles or 40K miles.

NMeed to raise it up another 1.5 inches as well so I can clear speeedbumps. Already called insurance, they are down for covering it for only another 720$ a year over the collector coverage I already have.

From a guy dailying a C6 Z06 in Wisconsin, love it.

Collector cars are only worth money if you plan on selling them. Drive that bitch hard forever. Plan on being buried in it.

I'm glad she's coming back.

Look into air cups for getting over speedbumps rather than raising it.

GameboyRMH wrote: Look into air cups for getting over speedbumps rather than raising it.

I am running like 2.4-2.7 inches from the ground at the lowest end on the street right now. Got plenty of adjustment in the shocks to go up and I will still be lower then stock. Vipers come form the factory looking like monster trucks.

Oh I didn't realize it was set that low. 4" is a good minimum ground clearance for first-world street use.

I've been thinking about getting air cups myself because my Corolla's at 3.5" right now due to an underbody chassis brace eating up over 1.5" of ground clearance, and third-world speed bumps are often close to 6" tall.

GameboyRMH wrote: Oh I didn't realize it was set that low. 4" is a good minimum ground clearance for first-world street use.

Around here, I would use a dead skunk / possum width as my benchmark for 'too low.'

^That depends on what killed them in the first place. I guess the width of a naturally dead possum would be the safe choice?

4" will clear a regulation speedbump and matches the ground clearance of the lowest, properly streetable production cars (I mean high-end sports cars and supercars - not counting barely streetable race cars like the Caparo T1, Praga R1R etc.)

GameboyRMH wrote: ^That depends on what killed them in the first place. I guess the width of a naturally dead possum would be the safe choice?

Nah...you have to account for bloat. You just don't want to drag them for a mile or so before they pass safely under the vehicle.

Either way, glad the Viper is back in action.

Tyler H wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: Oh I didn't realize it was set that low. 4" is a good minimum ground clearance for first-world street use.

Around here, I would use a dead skunk / possum width as my benchmark for 'too low.'

One of my greatest fears is cutting a piece of roadkill in half with my splitter. I hit a bird once in the 911 and it got past the mesh protecting the radiator it is was a horrible job to clean out.

wearymicrobe wrote: One of my greatest fears is cutting a piece of roadkill in half with my splitter. I hit a bird once in the 911 and it got past the mesh protecting the radiator it is was a horrible job to clean out.

First world problems, my friend. One of my greatest fears is if my wheezy little Elantra can outrun soccer mom in her Honda Pilot when trying to merge onto a highway. The answer is...no...no it can't.