I'm selling my 99 Lightning (black). This makes my third SVT vehicle, and my last one too. Trying to get SVT to fix something is like trying to ask your wife to show financial restraint while shopping for shoes...........I will admit that my Cobra was a strong runner, as is the Lightning. What I'm tired of is the run-a-round on parts, diagnostics and availability of consistent advise from the SVT hotline personnel. They have been trying to fix the miss in my engine for more than two months now, with no progress. We have asked for tech support on-site, but they don't think that is needed right now.....Anyway, I took it to the dealer again yesterday in response to their call that the parts were in to try once more to fix the problem. It was discovered at that time that the spark plugs had not come in, and had not yet been shipped (even though the SVT hotline people swore thay had left a week prior.) The part which had arrived was the air snorkel which ties the air box to the fender. That took ten minutes to fix, and only cost me a wasted trip to the dealer, since this fix could have waited until the plugs came in. Anyway, as of last night, SVT now says the new plugs are not available at this time, and they will ship a set as soon as they get some. All of this sounds like crap to me, and I'm too old and too tired of waiting for an answer from SVT. (besides, I have my eye on a red viper at my local Dodge dealer) The real sad part of this is that the truck runs great at all throttle positions, except for WOT. My problem with this is, that's why I bought the damn thing !! In closing, the price for my black, less than 6,000 miles, mint condition Lightning is - $28,000 first come, first serve - (daddy needs a new viper)...........Perhaps some younger, more patient person can buy it and then wait for SVT to fix it. After all, it's under warranty, and the miss is not a real problem, according to an SVT spokesman, since it only happens at WOT, a condition which "puts you in violation of local speed laws".....That's a direct quote straight from his mouth.....

 

Boy, that would really **** me off...violation of local speed laws!! What is up with that?

Well, I have always enjoyed your posts on the other SVT website, and will miss your input if you bail out. Of course, if you buy a Viper, we will allow that. It's definately the very top of the automotive food chain, and should offer you what you seem to enjoy so much...hauling butt!! Take care and good luck.

Jack Snyder

 

Mark,

CAUTION!!! I understand your distress with the truck (and as you know I have had my own share)...but let me provide you with some info to think about.

I have dimantled three Vipers over the past couple of years (for high end stereo installs) and it's amazing what you find once you take something apart. The Viper is a beauty to look at, and with 450HP and 12 second quarter mile times, it's impressive....BUT...to me it seems that Dodge put most of it's money into the engine and NOTHING else. The physical construction of the car is CRAP! The interior is cheesy, the plastic body panels are cheap, squeak and crack all too easy. The "fit and finish" is not too good either.

Yes, I would love to own one, but I believe that you are like me, and expect for $50-$80K
perfection. I'm afraid that with the Viper, you would be back to the dealer twice as much as you are now, for little annoying details.

I don't want to see you trade one problem for another. Just giving you something to think about....shop smart



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-Dominoe

'99.5 "White Lightning", CD Changer, tow, tonneau, GTS Omni-Guard, Vent Visors, GTS headlight covers, tint, Steel Horse bed-rug, PIAA driving "Whites", Snug Lid on order.

'94 Pontiac 25th Anniversary Trans Am GT Convertible

 

A short but interesting survey:

If you had $80k to spend on a car, what would you get? and why? Keep in mind it can be under 80k if you like, but if you know what mods you would make to equal 80K please list them.

The first thing that comes to my mind would be a Viper, although I don't know about that anymore.

Mike

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99.5 Black Lightning
PowerSurge Cone Filter
JBA Jet-Hot coated headers
Flowmaster muffler

 

Well, at least with the Viper he won't have to worry about running WOT, because then he
"would be in violation of the laws of nature".

 

If I had $80K to spend, I would probably build my T-Bird into a 9 second monster. There aren't many vehicles out there right now that I would want to spend the money on (that I can fit inside of). The only one that comes to mind might be the NSX (hate rice-burners though).

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Chuck 'Wyldman' Shelton
wyldman@houston.rr.com
Black 99.5 Lightning Build # 1273, DOB 5-14-99, NLOC #315
CD Changer; Tow Pkg.; Lojack; Sal's custom nitrous chip; G-Tech/Pro; SnugLid; BedRug; Invinca-Shield, full kit; NOS KIT 80 hp shot (currently); Clear and smoke Lexan fog light covers; 3M Ti Window Tint; Bel radar detector (shouldn't be an accessory); PowerStack cone filter (a.k.a. supercharger waker upper); American Auto Designs ram air hood; Cal-Tracs traction bars

 

Hey Mark, Sal here. I'm sad to hear you are selling your Lightning, if that does in fact occur, but I can understand your reasons. I really wish you were closer to me, so I could work on your truck personally at my dealership. Something like a miss at WOT is not difficult to find using the proper Ford tools. I am curious as to what ever happed with the mass air meter voltage thing. As I recall, you said the tech told you he was seeing a max of 4.7 volts from the meter. I then responded by telling you that in the stock software, the maximum MAF voltage is in fact 4.7volts, which your truck should never reach. If the meter is pegging it's range, then it will cause a miss at WOT. Did they try a new MAF? I do have the capability to raise the voltage range of the MAF in my chip, if you wanted to try that as a last resort. Also, just for your knowledge (and everone elses), don't ever take anything too seriously that SVT tells you or anyone else. Many people do not realize this, but SVT is an outside company (Campbell and Co.) hired by Ford for no other reason than to market SVT vehilces. They are not engineers, and have little technical knowledge other than what they have been told. You will not get SVT to become involved in the repair of your truck, since they have no authority or resources to do so. If the tech at the dealer contacted SVT for tech support, then I'm kinda surprised he doesn't know this already. The only tech support for dealer techs, is the Ford Tech Hotline, which is actually manned by some engineers, although many times it is of little use personlly. I know I could fix your truck, just wish you were closer

------------------
SAL
13.35@103mph
All stock with PSP 99 Lightning Chip and Filter Kit

Power Surge Performance--- Your SOURCE for SVT Lightning EFI Tuning and Performance!! http://members.aol.com/NLOCsvt/svt.html

 

For those of you who have not read my posts before, let me tell you, cars are just objects, something to buy, trade and/or sell. I never get attached to them, although I did like my Cobra. My wife and I have bought, sold and/or traded the following cars since 1994: 1993 Cadillac Allante (and Doris has since replaced it with another red 1993 model)1995 Mustang, 1996 Mustang GT Conv. 1997 Lincoln Mark 8 1998 Limited Edition Explorer, 1997 Mustang Cobra, 1997 Ford F-150 & a 1999 Lightning. Doris works for Ford, hence the pattern of Ford cars. We have both test driven the Viper, and love the power & acceleration capability. But, most of all, we love the looks you get and the "can't look you in the eye" from all the other performance car owners. The NSX is okay, but hard for me to drive - and besides it's Japanese.....no offense, but it's Japanese for God's sake...And as far as not being well made, you mean kinda like my Lightning? The Lightning is my weekend car anyway, since I have a company owned vehicle to drive. I am blessed in my old age with the security that affords such toys, so what the hell....Besides, look me up on the Viper bulletin board in about 6 months, and you can probably pick up a good deal on a used Viper........Don't worry, I'll still be looking in from time to time. Some of you already know that I LOVE to flame other boards...Like those wanna-be performance cars, I think Ford SVT calls them Contours? That string led to one of history's all time flame wars, kinda like the one some of you started with the LS1 crowd. (Yea, you know who you are....) Okay, for those of you who have not heard this,,,there are three (3) kinds of SVT buyers. First, there is the manly, testosterone dripping kind of man who walks into the Ford store with his head held high, and his wife waiting for him out in the car. He walks straight up to the SVT salesman, plunks down his $30,000 + and says give me a Lightning ! Hell, we all know that..... Then there is the second kinda man. He is still manly, walks with his head up, but his wife just has to go inside the Ford store with him....(it's all in the training, if you want them to stay in the car, you have to work at it..) He gets the checkbook from her, and writes out a check for a Cobra. Hell, we all know that.....
Then there is the third type of SVT owner. He loads his wife, four kids, the family dog and his mother-in-law (at that point, it becomes confusing which one got in first) into his minivan, drives to the Ford store where they go shopping. He immediately begins throwing a temper tantrum after seeing the Lightning, cries loudly as he is dragged past the Cobras, then begins to give up hope until the salesman points out that the Contour has a back seat....Now that's what every performance car needs, four doors AND a back seat. Wow, the car really sells itself. Anyway, he proudly drives away in his new SVT Contour, which comfortably houses his wife, four kids, dog & mother-in-law (not necessarily in that order) And boy, is he excited by the way it handles.......Just ask one of them.....Bye for now.

 

To Lightning Tuner: Thanks for your feedback, and I did respond to you on the issue of the Mass Air Meter, it probably got lost in the other strings. Ford told me that the 4.7 volts was exactly where they wanted it to run. I challenged them, even mentioning that I knew of a case where they replaced one for that same reason, to which they again reiterated that the high voltage was not the problem. Believe me, all kidding aside, I really like the truck, but I just don't have time to run back and forth to the dealer so they can play russian roulette mechanical games. I have always said, I am no mechanic, but I have the greatest respect for those who are, of which you, of course are one, as are many of the members here. What I do have is many years of street cop smarts which gives me a good deal of common sense. I think Ford is at a loss of what to do, and are not willing to admit that there are many after-market, independant wrench men out there who CAN solve the problem. I'm just tired of messing with it. Just no fun to stomp on the "go pedal" and have it respond by bucking and missing.

 

As I have posted before , I was also having the same problems Mark. But in by case It was water in the fuel tank. Sad to hear that you are going to sell your SVT, personally I would`nt sell without a fight..Good Luck with the Viper..

------------------
99 SVT Lightning
BLK. #1476 5/20/99
2 Chamber Flowmasters
Superchips
A-pillar Phantom Boost Guage
Sportmaster Flip tonneau
Tow package
CD changer

Best run to date 13.52@102.4
N.O.S. (on order)

"Empty Pockets Racing"Drag Race Team NJ-DE

 

I have to wonder how much of this is your dealer. I had a HORRIBLE experience with my last F-150 that bent a rod at 20K miles. The dealership I purchased it kept claiming abuse (not so, it died on a legal-speed road trip to NM). I finally got them to fix it after constant complaining. Yet with my Lightning, the dealer I've been taking it to has gone out of their way to fix problems quickly and adjust to my unusual scheduling constraints. Sorry to hear your experience has been more of the former and less of the latter. Enjoy your Viper, I sure wish I could afford one of em. :-)

 

Have you tried youre local auto parts store?
I have always said ford dealers suck but to buy a dodge? Have you ever owned a dodge?
Dont give up on the best svt Ive ever owned becouse the dealer cant fix ****.
Give you local ford repair guy, a real car nut a try. If there is a way, I'll bet they can fix it.




------------------

 

Don't buy the Viper, if you can afford to outlay around 80K for a Viper, go another 10-20K for a 96-97 Twin Turbo 911 Porsche. It handles better, accelerates harder, corners better, is better constructed, is more reliable, and it depreciates WAY slower. It may have higher payments initially, but it will depreciate slower, so there will be more of a return later. Just remember to get a warranty, because parts aren't cheap on a Porsche!

 

Man....you guys are killing me!!! Vipers, no way.....yep you get one bad *** 450 hp baby that will kill almost anything thats ever been on the road, but thats about it. No creature comforts at all to speak of. And no I've never owned one, just listened to a neighbor that's had one for several years.....Now here's the idea....buy a C5. You get stock 365 hp (about $45,000) that can be upgraded to about 400hp for less than $1000. Or if you do have the big bucks to spend go to Lingenfelter (www.lingenfelter.com) and get their 500hp and 500 ft/lbs tourque twin turbo charged package for about $23,000 plus the price of the C5 ($45,000). So for about the price of the Viper you get a Viper Killer ( I would say Snake Killer) that really will kill anything on the road. And at the same time you get all the comforts of a luxury car. The stock C5 even gets about 28 MPG on the road. Yep I know I'll get flamed, but you guys are killing me here.

By the way, the C5 just like every other car made today has it's share of disgruntled owners. There will always be lemons, we all hope that were not the next one to get one.

Good luck MSWAIN in whatever you decide to do!!!!!!....later.....

------------------
TybeeC5
99 Red Lightning #1134
95 Blk Lightning #0737
99 Red C5
87 Red C4
tpetrea@worldnet.att.net

[This message has been edited by TybeeC5 (edited 11-18-1999).]

[This message has been edited by TybeeC5 (edited 11-18-1999).]

[This message has been edited by TybeeC5 (edited 11-18-1999).]

 

Have to go with the Lingenfelter Vette. I think the C-5 is one of the best values in the marketplace and with the Lingenfelter upgrade, YEEEOW!

[This message has been edited by sixpipes (edited 11-19-1999).]