A current nationwide search on CarGurus reveals that the cheapest Dodge Viper is listed for sale at $32,999. That’s a sweet deal, but there’s another one on Facebook Marketplace that’s listed for only $15,500. That’s a much better deal, however, there’s one very important catch.

Why does this 2002 Dodge Viper GTS only cost $15,500?

If the price of this special 2002 Dodge Viper GTS has enticed you, then it’s time that you know the truth. It was posted about a week ago on Facebook Marketplace and is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. But that’s not the catch. That catch is that it’s in pieces, a lot of them.

According to the listing, the Viper has been completely dissembled, but the good news is that the parts only have around 14,000 miles on them. Score! However, the bad news is that there are no engine, transmission, axles, or suspension components included. The owner states that he has the title in hand and keeps all of the parts in a storage unit.

As Road and Track pointed out, there are photos of every part, ranging from body panels to exhaust pieces. That means for a price of a used Honda Civic, you can have yourself a life-size Viper kit to put together. It’s just too bad that it’s only half of a Viper.  

How much would all of those Viper parts cost?

For anyone that wants to take on the gargantuan task of hauling all of those Viper parts back to their own garage, we have tracked down more pieces for you. A few listings on eBay reveal that most Viper engines cost around $10,000 to $17,000 depending on their condition, year, and mileage. That’s not cheap, but those prices are for the engine, transmission, and a few other parts that are needed for a complete swap.

Of course, you would still need a Viper suspension to go along with it. Fortunately, you can turn to the aftermarket for that. A quick Google search reveals that a set of KW Suspension V2s costs around $5,000 for the set. If you would rather go with OEM parts, then it looks like you would need to piece that together. Another search on eBay reveals that many sellers are pricing Viper struts individually for around $349 apiece. That’s a much better deal, although, who knows what shape they’re in after all of those years of use.

Overall, the lucky person that buys this parted-out Dodge Viper could end up spending around $30,000 or more to bring it back to life.

That other Viper doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

Now that we have kind of figured out how much it would really cost to buy the $15,500, the aforementioned Viper doesn’t sound so bad now, does it? For anyone interested, that specific example is a 2002 Dodge Viper RT/10 (not a GTS) and is listed for sale in Montgomery, AL. According to the ad, it only has around 20,000 miles on the odometer and no accidents on the history report. We have to admit that’s still a mystery as to why it’s priced so well, but at least it’s not in a bunch of different pieces that the new owner would need to put back together.