I have been driving high performance cars my whole life. Got into racing in my late teens. Raced professionally briefly. Had several no-fault wrecks over the years, and had one or two near misses that were my fault. If you do get a Vette, do yourself a favor and start autocrossing it immediately. Learn to drive the Vette in a safe environment. It is easy to THINK you are a great driver when behind of the wheel of a Vette since the limits of the car are so high, but you need to really learn the limits of the driver.

I somehow survived driving a BMW M3 at your age, so you can do it as long as you respect the car and your (lack) of driving skills.

 

No idea, I dont know you Could be fine, may not be fine....its really up to you. Hell I have some 50+ y/o friends I wouldnt like to see in a vette They're knuckleheads....cant change that.

Cost? Well we do like to tell people that they get 30 mpg on the highway, and they do....if..<=== thats a big if ...you keep your foot out of it. When you enter a toll lane and accelerate out of it, you can get the instant mpg down to 3 mpg without much pushing. But you can probably get like 20 combined if you drive it conservatively, and in the infrequent times you are in a place thats safe to get less, the pleasure of doing it outweighs the cost of the gas.

I do have to tell you that for the most part, they are a pain as a DD. They can be a pita to park. Even if you are not manic about keeping the car spotless its 47 inches high, you look back from a regular sedan and you cant see how close you are to the vette behind you and from an suv...well you just cant see it at all. Sooooo....some of us tend to drive around to find a spot that works for us. Parking at a shool or college can be a mixed blessing. Pull in spots and definitly affects the "Big man on campus" thing (and there is nothing wrong with that but....being 17.....you already understand about how some people can be jealous of what others have.

Its also quite low (ground clearance) but you may be familiar with that as a lot of the ricers the young guys drive are lowered...so that may be a wash. Just dont think that even one time where you forget or slow down and cross a speed bump or enter a steep incline is going to be a no cost event Its not that bad, and once you are used to it you know what you can safely drive over. I usually tell people if you see it in the road and it wont fit in your mouth, be careful how you go over it

The only other thing is the two seater part. Again....a mixed blessing. Great for "Ok....so Wendy can ride with me and Gus, Wilber and Zeek can ride with you" But at least from what I recall, at 17 we enjoyed the heck out of haveing a car and a lot of that was with friends along, its just a little different when you always have to pair that number down to one.

Also you're going to get stopped in it by law enforcement, get used to it. Forget about what is "right" or "fair", its gonna happen, thats just the way the world works. Learn how to get stopped, what to say, what to do (and not do) and you'll be on your way without a problem. Make sure that there is never (yes never) any contraband in your car because as sure as god made little green apples you're gonna get stopped and it is the type of thing that will haunt you for years.

Aside from that, its a great car. Not that expensive to run, very durable and it has a lot of benefits that other cars dont have.

The good part is that you can get into one for not a lot of money. Try it for a while and as long as you dont beat it to crap, you can sell it and get something else. If you do decide to keep it....by all means...withing reason and with due regard for safety....do beat it You're only 17 once .

 

I'm 18 and got my first corvette this past February. Respect its power. Dont overpower it when turning. I suggest keeping on Active Handling. They're fun, but you have to know its limits.

 

I'm not gonna play dumb with it..I've already done that in a 650hp mustang and almost wrecked like 7 times but always maneuvered right out of the way in time..I'm a pretty good driver for my age I'd say and I'm not gonna try to drift or anything in it haha I just want to know about how much annually maintaining it would be if it were used as a daily driver.

 

I had to spend over $6K on mine in the first 6 months of ownership of mine which had 40K miles on it when I bought it.

 

On what? what kind of issues?

 

Other thing is your location. If you have to drive daily for school, work, etc and live in an area that has snow this is crap for your only car. Can be used as a DD, but if snow is in your area I would recomend getting a beater for that purpose. So, there is another 1-3k instantly, plus more insurance and tags.

 

From memory, but I am probably forgetting stuff:
EBCM failed (had complications with this and required a new harness!)
Valve Springs replaced
Tires replace with Nitto NT-05s
Replaced serpentine and A/C belts, squealing above 4K rpms
Water pump replaced, leaking
Clutch failed, replaced with LS7 Clutch
Fluid Swap (all fluids)
Alignment/Corner balancing
Brakes bled

I knew the car needed tires when I bought the car. Nothing else was caught when I took the car to a top Corvette mechanic/tuner to pre-inspection on the car. Clearly he should have caught some of this stuff.

 

I use to think just anyone could afford a corvette.

Im Now 22 (I was 19 when I got the Vette), I learned how to drive manual on this car too! I will say you need to be willing to accept paying for stuff. Clutch swap will run your over $800 (Id only go with someone who knows corvettes btw.) IF you decide to mod it, EVERYTHING IS MORE EXPENSIVE. I have a friend who recently moved into the Corvette scene and the first months of ownership all I heard him whine about was how expensive everything was. Now his 3rd gear syncro is going out and he's flat broke.....

Food for thought.

 

Clutch swap will cost WAY over $800. More like $1,600 unless labor is really cheap in your area or you are doing the work yourself.

 

That was labor only. Its a very well known friend here. He did the swap for me, installed my pfadt trans brace, and C6Z shocks for maybe $850?

Either or, the OP is still looking at a boat load if something WERE to happen and he cant do it himself. Thats the realization my friend hadnt came to.

 

depends if and when you need to replace the

main balancer pulley 700

accessory pulley

a/c pulley

ac / accessory tensioners

Window regulator pulleys 150 each

clutch

at 17 you most likely should avoid a corvette unless you have deep pockets for the unknown fixes that pop up over time.

 

Bought my 03Z two years ago at the age of 23... I wanted to buy one at 16, but decided to save up to pay cash...and I am glad I did.

I pay around $500/year for insurance through State Farm.

I get around 270/300miles per tank of gas. Which costs around $60 to fill up.

My tires are Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas, costed $1000 for a set. I think they are great, but I have yet to take it on the track yet. I have 382rwhp and they hook up pretty darn good.


What year, color, body style, are you looking at getting?

 

1997-2012= 15yrs

 

While there certainly are 17 year olds capable of handling the car, I'd not put one in the hands of a 17 year old unless he could foot the insurance "and" the cost of operating it.

The cost of operating it are about the same as any other car. The cost of insuring it are higher than many/most other cars. Since this seems "not" to be an issue, enjoy the car.

 

It is hard to say what the annual cost is going to be - depends on how well the car has been taken care of, how you drive it, how many miles you plan on putting on it per year, and the fact that it is a machine and things go wrong at unexpected times.

 

I dont see where the vette is any more expensive to own than any other car besides the fact I like modifying it. I have an 02 with almost 111000 miles on it now and about hte only thing I need to replace was the shocks which is just normal wear. Now I have o4 z shocks, springs and sways along with A4 seats, lg super pro headers, PFADT trans brace and a few other small things but I do all my own work so I dont have to pay anyone 100$ an hour for labor. Just as long as you take car of the car it wont be expensive and dont cheap out at the pump and try and save 3 dollars by putting in regular.
BTW I have a tendency to drive pretty hard in the corners and the tires break traction fairly often I guess but I have gotten over 15k out of them and Im not sure how many miles the previous owner put on them. They have a treadwear rating in the low 200's too.

 

I wouldn't want to be on the road anywhere near a 17 year old in a Vette. Just from what I've seen of 17 year High school kids near here............

 

if I were you, no. first of all, its only two seats so cant take any buddies anywhere safely. gas and tires and insurance will cost you/somebody. Not enough practice or respect of this cars capability in putting you 6 feet under in less than 2 seconds if you are not paying attention. Get a car you can learn on and master before you move into a very fast corvette. You need the experience and the respect of a corvette to be able and wise enough to handle one. Almost every young person I know have always tried to do stunts in there cars when they were young but the stunts will be much faster and much deadlier in a corvette. fyi.

 

they arent alot to maintain and fairly easy to work on. I do all of my own work on my cars to keep costs down. The cops will most likely be jerks to you being young.... i know. as far as the lady problem goes the hood is big and doesnt dent