CriticalmassGT

If you have to think about it, sell it. No car is worth squeezing your budget for. Save up some cash and get yourself a C5.

ALEXAMES

I hate to rub salt in your wound but here's my story... I sold my 2005 Z51 C6 in 2012 and regretted it as soon as I saw it drive off. I thought about the car a lot over time and bought another one a few months back. If I was worried about debt then I'd sell it and pick up another one when the time is right financially. One thing about a C6 Corvette is they ain't rare and there will always be one for sale when you're ready.

michaelod

In my case this is my 3rd Corvette, having previously bought them both new and used. This time around I bought a very well cared for 2008 vert with 15K miles on the clock. In addition the previous owner had installed approximately $20K in performance mods that I would have chosen myself. Note that these mods contribute little to nothing to the sales price when it comes time to sell the car. I paid for the car in cash and thus have no financial burden associated with it. This would not be the case had I bought the car new. I drive the car when the mood strikes me as it is not my daily driver, helping to keep my level of enjoyment high. The bottom line is there are Pro's and Con's to owning these cars and if one can eliminate as many of the negatives as possible prior to purchase, the experience of ownership can be much more satisfying.

cartop2

It is hard to advise someone with so little information. Perhaps by 'just a car', you mean that it is only something temporary and there are more important things in your life - family, health, etc. If there are more important things that require the money, selling may be the right thing to do if additional income or reduced other expenses is not possible.
Only you probably know the needs in your situation, and you will probably make the correct choices to meet the fundamental needs first. It is great if things work out to where you can keep your Vette. For you, I hope the future is brighter than you anticipate when you say there will never be another. Of course, that also depends on many things that only you may know. I hope your health, age, and future financial situation will allow you to again have a luxury like a Vette in your future.
If you do sell it to make other more important things possible, then enjoy those things and be happy that you made a mature decision.
Best wishes to you.

RagTop69

Someone in an earlier post referred to his Corvette as "the infamous Z06". Do we all know that infamy is no a good thing? It implies a notorious reputation for bad activities. FDR referred to December 7, 1941 (the attack on Pearl Harbor for all you California educated folks) as a day of infamy. That means it was BAAAAD!

rkm812

I don't know about you guys, but I had my first Vette in 1970, 63 Roadster. Had to sell it due to a divorce. Now I'm a whole lot older and bought my C6 and wouldn't turn loose of it for anything. Going to enjoy evey mile till they won't renew my license anymore.

Cor430vette

From a purely financial standpoint here is an angle to consider:

I have thought this over from many angles. The positive with the Vette ( which makes it hard to sell) is it holds its value very well. Especially if you have low miles on it. Its a performance car and an American Icon so there will always be a demand. For example in 2009 I bought a 2008 Corvette with 5k miles on it for 34k...used. A low mile 2008 still is worth around 28 to 32k! ( Note this is not the case if you bought brand new Vette..buying new especially the trumped up prices of the newer vettes obove MSRP is financially a bad move. Typically buying an older Vette with 2 to 3 year ++ is the best deal which I believe Donwil did ).So if you go and buy a different car you have to make sure it is a car you are going to keep for a long, long time. Because if you buy it and just turn around and sell it in a couple years you probably will not be saving what you think.

The key is not what you pay for the car but what you are able to sell it for in the future. Unless the new lower priced car you keep until the wheels fall off.

For example, lets say you buy a lower priced car. Take any car for around 25k. Lets just say you owe on your Vette 40k. Sounds like your saving 15k doesnt it? Well....In the future your Vette holds its value well and you sell it for 33k ( you may get more ...depending on the amount of miles etc I am merely estimating to make a point.) So you lost 7k. That's what it actually cost you. Not the 40k ...( deal with the interest below )
The other car at 25k probably drops from a percentage basis more in value ...and then when you sell it you get 18 to 20k. So you lost approximately 5 to 6k......you actually only saved 1k to 2k NOT the 15k.
Now if we get more complicated we can look at the interest you have to pay on a larger loan but without knowing how long you are going to keep the other car etc. it gets more complicated....if we estimate your 15k difference you saved 25k -40k = 15k 3 years of interest ( you end up selling the other car in 3 years) at 3.5% then you save another 1.6k ...but then again you are going to have to incur the sales tax and closing costs of a new car which makes this almost a zero savings... Nonetheless, the question you have to ask in our estimate was it worth selling your Corvette for a savings of 2.6k to 3.6 k?
Hard to give up a Vette for anything else, especially when the savings are less than 4k ......

Now if you bought the new car and kept it forever your total cost was 25k versus keeping the Corvette forever 40k ..+ interest saved on loan difference...so you would save around 15 to 20k due to interest etc saved ...but you sound like me. You get bored and want to buy another car every 3 years...or less.

The only risk you take is that you get back the money you pay monthly into the Vette in the future when you sell it. The only thing stopping you from getting your money back from your Vette ownership is an accident, blown engine, or tons of mileage. However, with mindful driving, good maintenance and not driving it thousands of miles a week you can avoid that risk as they are highly reliable IMOP.

I am sure there are many other angles to look at the costs like insurance costs, maintenance costs, etc etc.....but now were counting pennys without knowing the future ....in the end stick with the Vette...

Or go buy a lower priced high performance car with a following like a 2006 Pontiac GTO I bought one in 2008 for around 20k and they are still selling at around 20k!! WRX STI and EVO s also keep there value amazingly well...now you have a lower priced car that does not depreciate much and its still a performance car so you have a higher probability of keeping.... Im am starting to confuse myself...

dbirdhouse1

......as much as I love it (and that's an inanimate object), it's also the source of my "dark side"; I'm so damn **** about keeping it clean, parking it away from others and everything being just so, sometimes I step back and shake my head at myself for expending so much concern for a car......yes it's my daily driver (all 18 miles/day) but the energy I expend keeping it "right" is the source of my joy and frustration......can I get off the couch now doc? when I had my '72 Pinto I washed it twice a year whether it needed it or not!

Don-Vette

Sure you can say the corvette is just a car. But to me it is much much more, it's an American icon, history making in the ***** of automotive history! ! Growing up around cars my whole life (always 60's 70's American muscle) the corvette was the top of the line best. And so my desire to own one began as a young teenager. It took me 48 years, divorce, addiction, long past me I bought my GS. At 52 now I can not see ever getting anything else. This car will be in my family long after I am gone. I raised two great sons 30&28 now who also have the passion. Hold onto your dreams for the time you have.

phileaglesfan

Thank you. I will get one again someday. I should have probably kept my first C6 longer as it would have been paid for now, but I wanted to try a convertible (2011 GS), then I found out my skin/wife's also hates direct sunlight so we bought the 13 GS coupe in my avatar. Lost a good amount of money on each one. I found out you can usually figure on losing 50% of the MSRP in 3 years for just about any C6. Of course those that sit in a garage forever will be worth more but not much more.

I have an interesting conversation going with C7 owners on their forum, with them thinking their C7 is rare and will hold its value. Even some stated they could sell their C7 for MSRP if they wanted to because of the very high demand. So high demand you can call one of the dealers here and have a brand new C7 in a few months for around 7-10% off .

Dano523

Sell it,
When you have to use term "Reduce debt" and free up some income, then the choice to finance a toy was a bad decision to begin with.

Instead, get out of debt, start saving up money, and when the time comes that pulling a small amount of money from savings will not put a dent in that amount to buy a vet, then it's time to spent the cash on another toy to play to add to the collection.

And make no mistake, a Vet is just another toy to own for most of us.
It only driven when it not raining in the warmer summer months, and spends most of the year stored during winter months when there is snow.

JerriVette

People always ask me how come I'm always smiling and the simple fact isi live by the motto NEVER LET THE THINGS YOU OWN YOU.

One other motto my wonderful dad taught me is NEVER SAY NEVER.

If the vette is complicating your life right now. And you never know what the future has in store for you.....I 'm Sure you will always be able to buy another one.

Good luck deciding what's best for you at this particular point in life...

Never say never because you never know what the future holds.

donwil

Thank you.

Johnny_B_Good

If you consider the Vette as “just a car”, there is no reason to sacrifice income to support it. If you don’t have the passion just sell it and move on.