Kehraus

Any source that ends in 'pirg' typically presents things in the way they benefit their viewpoint. They are a political action group.

The same people that think gas prices should be about $10 a gallon to promote less driving.

wesoz

You make a good point, Joe. I've been reading about the "old" average age of Corvette buyers for several years now. But I wonder if anything has really changed. Is the average age of buyers of new Corvettes increasing?

Let's face it, Corvettes are, and have always been expensive. When one thinks of $15,000 or so for the cheapest Chevy and 60,000 and up for a new Corvette, then a great swath of new car buyers are automatically eliminated. That leaves the super wealthy, the moderately wealthy and the "almost wealthy" left to buy 60 + thousand dollar vehicles. Break that down futher to those who can afford any automobile they want and that puts the Corvette at the bottom end of the price scale. So that high - high end of the buying public would probably rather drive a $100,000 (and up) import than a "low-priced" Corvette, UNLESS THEY APPRECIATE WHAT A CORVETTE REALLY IS AND REPRESENTS.

Thus, I think, that leaves the "almost wealthy" to buy new Corvettes. Who are they? Well, they have their kids through college, the house almost, if not, paid off, an above average income and want a vehicle for driving pleasure and pride of ownership. THESE PEOPLE HAVE GREY HAIR (OR NONE) AND WRINKLES! They are the older demographic.

Younger folks of moderate means simply can't afford a new Corvette. So they help make up the portion of people buying USED CORVETTES (a good thing).

GM and the Corvette planners have to be very careful with how the go about making Corvette more desirable to the younger demographic. Get real exotic in materials and they can drive the cost and price up and out of the "almost wealthy" range and still not capture enough of the "other" market segment to make up for the loss of the thousands of us who have bought their new Corvettes and have enjoyed every moment of ownership as our Vettes have aged and we have become more wrinkled an grey!

JoesC5

I agree with you on some wanting brighter colors, but look at the past 60 years of Corvettes built and the percentages of bright colors vs the dull colors.

GM has come out with brighter colors for the Corvette and they didn't sell well enough to keep in production. Saturday, I had to walk through the showroom to get to the storage area where the dealer keeps his private collection of vintage Corvettes. I walked past a Spark, and I would never be seen in ANY car(much less a Corvette)with the color that was smeared on that car.

When I left, I walked back past that Spark, and sure felt like I was in my comfort zone when I got in my Ermine White '64 coupe to drive home. And when I got home I sure was glad I parked it next to that boring Cyber Gray C6 Z06. Oh, and if I get caught in a traffic jam with too many bright colored cars, I floor it and get the hell out of there as soon as I can.

RJRSW

All the Porsche owners I know are not likely candidates to switch to a Corvette, even if they have to spend 20-40 grand more additional. I think that the problem with trying to lure them is the Corvette just doesn't have the same prestige factor that the Porsche does when you pull up to the front door valet at the golf and country clubs.

When I went to visit my daughter with the vette her boyfriend that she lives with is 49 and he politely complimented me on the vette but I could tell he was not crazy about it. His daily driver is a Porsche.

JoesC5

^^^^^^^^
Truth

RocketGuy3

If all those grey and brown cars were cars like Z06's, it wouldn't be so bad.


"Prestige factor". That's a friendly euphemism if ever I've seen one.

But I agree. It's going to be very hard for Chevy to convince people who are willing to pay $40K extra for a badge to buy a Corvette as long as it still has that bowtie in the crossflags emblem.

u00mem9

I gotta laugh at all these threads by 'betrayed elder owners', heretofore BEO's.

Is it really hard to understand that they had to target the next generation of buyers to sustain sales?

Also, I crack up when I read, "how are these youngsters going to afford these expensive cars?". Stop believing what you watched on the evening news. This economy has been hard on lots of young people that thought they could get a 4 year degree in communication or philosophy and sort out their career path later. It's been just fine for those of us in finance, science, engineering, etc. Sorry to break it to you, but $65k is not an expensive car anymore. Frankly, the days of 30 years of blue collar labor followed by a corvette retirement purchase are over. That buyer is not being replenished, and if you like seeing the Corvette product continue, you better warm up to the kind of buyer that has the means to purchase in the decade.

We like the styling

RocketGuy3

The numbers don't lie. There are fewer young people making enough money to afford new cars than ever before. And I'm not just basing that on this article. $65K (adjusted for inflation) is more expensive than ever.

I say this as one of those young people who majored in engineering and is doing fine. People who studied those fields have been doing pretty well for decades now.

Davidl81

That is the challenge for the C7, how do they steal some of that Porsche crowd? The Porsche is a great car, but the 58k C7 (Base +Z51+NPP+MSC) is just as fast and as good on a track (if not faster) than the 110K 911. But by just making a faster and maybe even better car will they be able to steal that many P-car owners?

Most P-car owners are not buying them to track, they are buying them for the badge and to "show off". I think the C7 needs to be proud of what it is, a great America sports car that can run with almost anything south of 120k. Of course the Z06 will pick up the slack and it should be able to run with almost anything else in the world.

JoesC5

My 25 year old nephew graduated two years ago with a BS in Nano Engineering from Louisiana Tech. He is living at home because he hasn't been able to find a job. He is a paraplegic(ATV accident in high school), but that shouldn't hurt his chance of finding an engineering job.

In 1966, I had no problem finding employment as an engineer, and I still couldn't afford a new Corvette, so I bought a new 1966 Olds 4-4-2(in boring silver with a black vinyl top).

genv6.2gm

I was a NEW P-car owner that will be buying a C7.

You see broke kids buying old used vettes because they are fast for the money and cheap to repair. The kids with money around here have c63s, M3s, S5s, and Maseratis. The C7 will steal some of those sales.

Big Dan 427

Really David, Porsche buyers just buy them for the badge and to show off? Have you ever been to a PCA event? Do some research before you start hurling nonsense!

JoesC5

Of course there are always exceptions. I've heard rumors that some Corvettes hit the track every once in a while. When my PCP got a divorce, she bought a Porsche Boxster(and kept her SUV for her daily driver). She didn't buy the Porsche to track. I asked her why she didn't get a Vette(she knew I have three Vettes),and she just rolled her eyes.

She did join the local Porsche club for it's social events, not for it's track days.

Racer X

I have to laugh when people talk about the birght colors of today. I guess they weren't around for the late 60's early 70's.

Plum Crazy anyone? How about Grabber Blue? I remember passing a Plymouth dealership in 1970 with all the Superbirds, and 'Cudas you could want, in shockingly bright colors.

JoesC5

I remember that the Plymouth showroom looked like a popsicle factory.

RJRSW

I watched the American LeMans race a little while back in Long Beach and in the Corvette's class the final results were the first 3 places went to new cars recently entering the class. First and second place went to the BMW Z4, third went to the new Viper and fourth and fifth went to Corvette.

I'm not a Corvette basher and if anything I would be classified a Corvette fanboy. I have been driving them since I was 17 and have owned 25 so far from all 6 generations to date. My concern is that if they turn off the main source of current buyers with the C7 there probably will not be a C8. Most people that I know that are in business are not worrying about who will be buying there product a couple of years or more from now they are worrying about what they can sell this month.

tolnep

my take on this, one aspect.

i grew up in the 60s, 70s. you wanted to get together with your buds or find womenz, you had to have a car. a car was necessary to 'connect'. cool cars, hot rods, muscle cars and so forth, especially muscle cars which were cheap (for the most part) cars with no frills but lots of performance played to that well. those who's daddy had the bucks bought their kids vettes. while cars made in other places like p-cars were 'OK', nothing came close to american muscle.

i was in europe in 69 and remember seeing a new GTO parked on the street in france. the person that had that car had something cooler than a p-car as far as im concerned (at that time) and i bet as far as that french owner was concerned too.

well im older and all the nephews and nieces, especially the nephews really arent into cars much at all. some didnt even get their license for a couple of years. they use their laptops, iphones, facebook and similar to stay connected. the car isnt necessary as much as it once was to stay 'connected'.

what with the price of fuel and cars and the alternatives to staying 'connected' the days of the auto as a central part of life is fading somewhat. my guess is that within 20 to 30 years, you will be able to get into your 'car' and it will use automation to take you wherever you want to go on autopilot. you will be able to drive it in some roads but the car will become more of an appliance than a statement.

thats where its heading. and manufacturers will either march or die.

genv6.2gm

I bought my Porsche because it felt like I was driving a race car.

Plus it was just really nice. Sport seats with stitching in white matching the outside paint. Navi, Bose, 19" wheels. It was just effing nice car inside and out.

I drove the car in 10" of snow with a set of blizzaks too and the car didn't skip a beat.

I hope the C7 will have that really nice solid feel.

I didn't think the C6 would be as fun as a daily as if it would have been a 2nd vehicle. I didn't know if the C6 would compare to the p-car as well for dual purpose.

TTRotary

As in, me and WhiteandBlack C7, AKA AVette and a few other multiple poster IDs by the same individual.

The mods really need to crack down on this...

JoesC5

Joined 7-6-2013 with three posts. Quite an expert on Corvette owners, he thinks he is..........