28k is not a little high, it's a lot high.
Would this be your only car for the winter?
I wouldn't want to be driving in much (although some people do) if any snow.
Even cold temps you will need the correct tires.

 

The price is too high. I bought my 2002 Z06 with 22000 miles on it for $ 22K in December of 2009. Check out the Craigslist ads for Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Sacramento. I got mine in Sacramento. I live in Puyallup, Wa. and drive mine year round, although it is not a daily driver.
For daily driving you should probably make sure the car has all season tires on it as the high performance summer tires start to lose traction when the temps get down to about 40 degrees. The colder it gets the less traction they have. In snow they are worthless.

 

Corvettes are fine daily drivers unless there is significant snowfall. I know there are some, a small minority, that drive in the snow and will tell you that it is no problem but the facts are that on a non-lowered C5 Corvette the front spoiler is 3.5 inches off the ground and the rockers are about 5.5 inches off the ground. Add wide tires and a torquey powerful V8 engine to a light weight sports car and you will have trouble. Once the snowfall is over 3.5 inches, the front spoiler will act as a shovel and scoop up the snow and compact it into your radiator. This past winter in the NE the snowfall has been so high that many of the regular passenger cars on the road had clearance difficulty and they have twice the ground clearance of a C5-C6 Corvette. The car is very low so you will not be able to see over the drifts and mounds at every corner/intersection. A good set of new snow tires, rims and sensors balanced and mounted will cost you around $2,000 and will be necessary for winter driving but after 3.5 inches of snowfall you will not be able to go anywhere until the roads are clear and the mounds that accumulate at the intersections from the plows after a heavy snowfall are removed or melted.
I daily drove my C5 in Florida, but even the occasional heavy rainfall was a threat due to ground clearance and I would have to wait for it to let up and subside before travelling. Fortunately they were very few and uncommon.
If you lived in an area with light to moderate snowfall then I would say no problem but anywhere that you get a full 3-4 months of potentially heavy snow storms like the NE and NW then IMO you really need to have a 2nd vehicle for that time period or else rent a car or commute with a fellow employee when the snow hits.
I agree with the others that $28K OTD is a bit high for an '04 with 26K miles. Negotiate the price down some more on that Corvette and get it then buy a cheap beater during the winter and sell it in the Spring.

 

Tell the wife it gets 30mpg on the highway. Not much else beats that with more than 150hp. The price is too high as well. I have dealers here selling for low 20's, private high teens with similar miles. Good luck.

 

Bought my 04' over two years ago with 6k miles(basically brand new) for $24k to be used as a daily driver(120 mi a day) Now has 40k miles

So yes that price is WWay tooo much IMHO, that is a low $20k car at best so keep looking, just look on the forum here to guage prices. I bought mine off Ebay from the original owner with the remaining GMAC warranty.

Tell the wife:
-Gets 30mpg highway, I've averaged about 26mpg combined(mostly hi way)
-They will keep their value better then most vehicals at their current age
-Very dependable, I have had 0 problems so far
-You will let her drive it to work every once and awhile

 

Mine is a daily driver approx 100 miles per day. I've put about 65K miles on it that way over the last 3 1/2 years. Only problem is it is not good in snow and it only has 2 seats.

There are also considerations like not parking in malls or plane/train stations which are self imposed limitations. It is best to have a second car as a backup.

 

If you get ANY snow regularly, you will definitely want to get a 2nd car for winter. Also, as everyone else said, that price is astronomical! I would think maybe 22k for that car?

 

Another daily Corvette driver here - I've put 103,000 miles on my '99 FRC in the past 4 years. In my opinion, if you are buying one for DD service, then buy one with some miles for a lot less money. The LS1 will hold up just fine - my stock short block has 218k on it and I still don't have to add any oil between changes (every 7,000 miles or so). The only major work I had to do was fix a leak in my steering rack and replace the clutch master cylinder. The rest of the parts replacement I did to add more power.
A Corvette is not the ideal daily driver for most point A-to-B folks, but it's great for a car guy. Even with 470 rwhp I still knocked down 28 mpg cruising the interstate to FL last month. And humbled a Dodge Challenger driver somewhere in south GA as a bonus.

 

Four years ago I bought my one owner 99 with 22k for 22k.........it was pristine with all options except for mag suspension. 28k sounds way high for the current market. I drive mine as a DD except for snow/ice. Costs no more to drive than my wife's MINI, well maybe a bit more for gas. No major issues in the 4 years I have driven it. Yes quality tires can reach 1k but since I drive the Vette daily plus on very long road trips (6k trip in 09) I value quality tires.
No advice on the wife, mine loves the Vette and may get one for herself.

 

Magnetic suspension (F55 option) was '03+
You have the F45 option.... which is "Adjustable Suspension".

Two different things.... the F45 is *coughBullSh*tCough* and the F55 is a gem until it's time to spend the money on GM shocks.

 

Serious wife suggestion. I was getting ready to buy a new car. Twas thinking about $30K type machine, maybe a Nissan Z type dealio. Drove my wife nutz with comparisons. Then I hit on the idea of a Z06 used for less money.

I did the usual arguments. Mechanically dependable, since I'm an older gentleman....the insurance is not an issue, and it got really good gas mileage.

Still, got the arms folded, suspicious eyes, and toe tapping.

Took her for a ride in the Z, and she was sold. Mind you, she's driven small Hondas all her life. This was like a major upgrade in luxury for her.
After buying it, she really enjoyed it on a long ride from Dallas to Birmingham, Alabama. She thinks it's the perfect travel/road car too.

Surprise of all surprise, she walked behind it one day and said it sounded cool.

(On the other points, $28K way too high, look around, I drive daily 50 miles round trip, in the rain, on ice, and all other conditions.)

 

The price on the car is 26,500 - the extra was tax an license which brought the price up over 28,000 - is that more in the ball park
Jim

 

I was on here 2 years ago asking if the C5 was a good daily driver and the resounding response was "Yes!". I bought.

2 years and 33,000 miles later, with a 52 mile daily roundtrip for work, the C5 is an AWESOME Daily Driver, just awesome.

I have not had a single issue, yet, with the car or any of its systems. I did have to clean all my grounds early on but since then, I've had nothing but fun. Granted, I did put about $2,500 in maintenance that I did most of myself but I'm good for a long while with new transmission fluid/coolant, shocks, tires, belt, diff fluid twice.

Get a C5 and drive!

 

Though my '99 coupe is not a daily driver, years ago had a number of sports cars as DDs - Triumph TR6, Opel GT, Datsun 240Z and 280Z. It can be done. Am surprised at the amount of stuff I could get in those old Z cars.

 

Th eonly draw back I can think of is if you mod the suspension so that its stiff... its will get old after about a year.. add in daily traffic... there are better cars.. so dont mod teh suspension and short of weather.. your gonna love it

BTW my wife was thesame way.. A Corvette.... why do you want a Corvette.. I told her ...."Because the Camaro (had a 2002 at the time) isnt a Corvette!"

After I got it home... she loves it

 

I've had 3 C5s as daily drivers.

That price seems a high. I would think you could find a late model C5 with that mileage closer to $20k if not a bit under from a dealer. Look around and see what else is in the market similar.

 

Just tell the wife its good on gas, most get are 30mpg on the highway.

Price is ok, a little on the high side yes but if its what you want buy it. I did even though it was a couple thousand more than I wanted to pay.