Hello Corvette fans. Apologies if you read this twice, I posted in "intro's" first and was advised this section might be a better place.

I am a newly registered to the forum and hope I can gather some insight, advice, and opinions on buying a corvette. I've wanted one since I was about 5, definitely been a dream of mine for some time. When I was in college I bought a new 06 Monte Carlo SS. It was good to me for a while, but it's giving me a bit of grief now and I'm not sure if I'd rather spend the money on it or something else. The kid in me wants to sell it and upgrade to a C5, maybe early C6, but the responsible adult says maybe it's not the right time. *sigh*

If there's any "optimal age" I'd want to have a corvette it's definitely now, late twenties / early thirties. Maybe that's silly.

The reason I hesitate to jump into one right now are 1) I have no idea what kind of maintenance a 11-16 year old corvette would require. Is the maintenance rough? 2) My husband and I also want to start a family soon. I've read so many mixed opinions on a baby in a corvette, but I guess I'd like to hear more. Personally, I don't know if the baby in the front seat worries me too much as long as it's safe and legal, but it would also mean we could never use "my" car for trips. (Maybe I should just get my husband to upgrade his ride for trips )

Thanks in advance to anyone who wishes to chime in with their opinion.

 

Given your current situation a Corvette purchase would be better if it was purely a pleasure vehicle. Babies and Corvettes would not be a good combination if the Vette is your primary vehicle. I say this as I am a new grand dad of twin boys and my son has a 370Z. He traded his standard cab pickup for a Porsche Cayenne so he could keep his Z.

 

f6john, Twin's oh boy! that's awesome... would definitely be a curve ball if the corvette was a daily driver though. Thanks.

 

C5's can be extremely reliable cars, so long as they've been taken care of. I do agree with the previous post though. They only fill one role well, and that's "pleasure vehicle". What they lack in practicality though, they more than make up for in smiles per miles though.

The best starting point would be to test drive as many examples as you can find near you. You'll get a better idea of how the cars hold up over time, and the options you'll be set on finding. Good luck.

 

I do not believe it is legal typ have a car seat in the front in most states. I would not do it. I'm a father of two ( second one just this morning!) and would not even consider it. Nothing wrong with ac5 as a dd...they are pretty reliable...but not for a car seat

 

Have you thought about maybe GM sedan performance car? 04-07 CTSV 400HP or G8 GT/GXP 360-415HP, I can see why the fun factor would be down in the monte carlo FWD + V8 = crazy torque steer and understeer. C5 corvettes are sort of reliable. As a point of reference one of my buddies Mike had a 01 artic white C5 coupe then one night found out he was going to be a father, a few months later he traded his c5 in for a clean grey 2006 CTSV he doesnt regret the decision one bit neither does his son.Little Joshua rides comfortably in his recaro baby seat in the back of the V.

 

I was actually looking at the CTSV online this weekend. There's some pretty nice ones out there for sure, but it just doesn't make me light up inside. hah That G8 GT though, maybe something there. Thanks for the tip. I am open to alternative suggestions if anyone has good recommendations for non-mom, mom cars.

 

A C5 is a specialty car and not really family friendly. You might want to consider a back seat car or wait until you can have a C5 as a hobby third car.

 

Go test drive one preferably a 06-07 V you'll change your opinion afterwards. The G8s are nice but are hard to come by very few V8 trims made.
Other cars to mention but depend on your budget and affinity to GM,

05-06 GTO 2 door four seat LS2 400HP
2009-13 GEN 2 CTSV 556HP
2014-15 Chevrolet SS 430HP The G8s replacement

SRT8 426HP-470HP challenger, charger, 300c.

BMW E60 M5 507HP great sound and nice but expensive to maintain.

Personally I love my C5Z, but if one day I were to have a family I would gladly get rid of the Z and pick up a gen 2 V or Chevy SS. A Corvette and a baby don't mix, a lightweight fiberglass sports car that easily crumples from impact is not the viable option. As mentioned before a toy car that can easily DD sure but as a main option for the family no.

 

How about a 2005 to 2010 Mustang GT. Good price, good power and has a back seat, kind of.

 

Thanks for your input! I would be all over one of the new SRT Chargers! I didn't care for style the pre-2015, but minor mods to the body really did the trick for me. Ya, I'm a looks kinda gal and if it's got something spicy under the hood even better! That said, I really don't want to take a new car payment and would prefer to stay below like 18K at absolute highest if we were to replace my MC right now.

 

Oooo, he picked a black one. Score 5 points. lol I could be happy with something like that. My MC has a backseat too, bigger than the mustangs. I could just fix it but part of me feels like it's just putting on a band-aid. Maybe it would last another few years and be fine. Maybe not. I would have been wiser putting my money in a car that hadn't just came out on the market with major changes. Lesson learned... I still think it's pretty

Anyway, a mustang, that's intriguing. My father/brother in law would definitely be on board. My father in law has a blue 69 in perfect condition.

 

When you said you wanted a C5 I assumed your budget was under 20K. You can get a nice Mustang GT for that money.

 

I have had a bunch of mustangs. My latest and favorite was my BULLITT. It was a terrific car. That being said as a man with four kids married to a woman with 4 kids, the two door thing gets really old when you are wrestling a car seat. My corvette and all my mustangs were third cars. Great for me to drive to work but not much fun when trying to coordinate family. We currently have a highlander and a focus ST turbo as well. Both of which are great with kids. The ST is a kick to drive too. Oh, and a 2002 Sierra with a back seat too. So I guess it's a 4th car.

 

You are right. A Mustang is not a whole lot better family car than a Vette. But it can be done.

 

You'll know when your ready I don't think your there yet..

 

I traded my c5Z for a 2012 Challenger because of the need to ferry grand children around. I'm now getting another C5, keeping the SRT8(which, btw, has a real back seat) but would never put a car seat in a Corvette.

 

I would put it this way. Back in college I sold Hondas for a while. The prelude was a big deal at the time. In the prelude owners manual it flat out said that the back seat was "for emergency and storage use only". We thought they should have amended that with a statement that specified that it did not include lifestyle emergencies. The mustang back seat is a lot like that. Not quite as bad. If you had small kids but not needing car seats, you'd be ok until they got bigger. But trying to load and strap an infant in properly in the back seat of a two door will be a real inconvenience unless you are a contortionist or very skilled yogi.

 

Newer car seats have a solution for that. They have two piece designs where the base stays permanently attached in the car, and the seat portion just snaps in and out.

 

Performance cars & children don't mix well
Friend of mine had a 442 vert, decided to take his 3 year old for a nice Sunday drive strapping him in the back seat 20 minutes into the ride a GTO pulled along side and wanted some action, after a short race
my friend realized his son was in the backseat he turn to look at his boy and tears were pouring from his eyes he didn't know if it was
the wind or if he was frighten