All said, it certainly has some dying off. Slowly, but it's there.

 

How about 56 years.... same gal too! I blew into town thanks to the USAF (Lincoln Air Force Base... long gone).... soon met and married a local Cornhusker. My mother-in-law was aghast.... told family members the marriage would never last.

Anyway, ET, thanks for years of help and guidance. I typically do a search when I need help, and can usually find what I need without actually posting. Your posts have often been my source of problem solution.

Bought my C5 13 years ago..... first, and only Corvette. I've thought about "upgrading"... but I just love everything about my '02 Vert. When I get the urge, just looking at my car sitting in the garage usually squelches it. A gorgeous piece of auto machinery. And.... taxes are low, no payments, and it still gets lots of envious looks. Oh, and last of all, I still think Mag Red is the best Corvette color ever..... maybe I'll consider a newer Corvette when, and if, Mag Red ever returns.

 

Well I hope that some of the patriarchs of this forum, ET and others continue to participate and help other newer members AND hopefully have and will still pass that knowledge along so that a new group of experts are still here to guide and advise. The additional interaction that takes place, the humor, the squabbles, the interesting and good folks that you meet on here are priceless and I enjoy getting on here and reading and posting every day. Having come from a couple other forums that I had been a member for over 10 years I have something to compare to and this is still a great forum.

 

Some of these stories like yours, are what help make this forum so interesting.. Thanks for the Thanks.. and your story. Just one thought.. I've added some subtle modifications over the years. It has helped to keep the car relevant, and also exciting.. The Navigation and head unit touch screen has done this for me.. its nice to have hands free communications.. help to find gas or a restaurant or someone's house via turn by turn audio navigation without taking your eyes off the road. I get a text read back, all automatically and without loosing focus on the road. I can get an emergency phone call, have the head unit pick it up and be able to converse wit the person n the other end. safety.. ??? No different then having a conversation with a passenger in the car.
Bill aka ET

 

I've owned several different generations, so I would usually go in what ever corvette section I owned at the time. I really like the c1 section because it seemed a little more technical. Since I'm on my fourth c5, this is where I've hung out the most. I can remember when I first started coming on here, it seemed like the biggest controversy was the size of the cup holders! It didn't matter how good the car performed, some people were ready to sell because their giant slurpee didn't fit in it. It's always been entertaining, though. It seems like the crowd is getting younger because I know I'm not getting any older.

 

I have been reading on this forum for about 3 years. I have always wanted a corvette and a C5 seemed to be a perfect fit. I spent 1-2 hours a day learning all I could for over a year before I got my car. The info I got from this forum helped me narrow down exactly what I wanted. I give big thanks to all. I don't post a lot because there are so many that are so much more knowledgeable than me that I don't really feel qualified to give advice.

 

IM not ignorant of anything I have an opinion on.. I have been on twitter, Facebook and see what goes on .. I see a lot of stupidity. I see people giving our way too much personal information.. in a world that is only getting more dangerous. I don't need to see or share where I will be for the next week. or where I will be tonight. Or how drunk I got. because these admissions can cost you your job, or worse, yeti see people doing it all the time.. and reading about it and the dangers of social media.

You can enjoy that practice as I may be called ignorant but you can be stupid.\ for participating in a very dangerous practice.. many many identity theft schemes are rooted in social media.. home invasions rooted in social media. jobs lost in social media.. you wont find any of that rooted in the C5 corvette forum.. Ive been here 16 years and only two people on this forum know exactly who I am and where I live. Ive talked with thousands of people here both in open forum and in private message..

 

This forum is more than a give and take information center.. Ive found many friendships here over the years.. Ive known some here for 16 years.. we socialize through texting outside this forum..

 

Social media is driving people away from Forums and Forums are shared knowledge so its a sad backwards move to stare at memes. I am 32 and I find my generation fairly cliché millennial.

But Corvette Forum in general is alive. My caving forum, cavechat.org is almost fully dead and 300zx forum is close behind. I hope Cavechat comes back around but thanks to FB I doubt it anytime soon. And that is a good and bad thing for the protection of caves vs the need for new cavers for land acquisition and preservation.

 

A couple of observations.
I came to this forum a year and a half ago. About the time I realized I could finally, maybe afford a Corvette.

I'd always wanted a Vette since I was a kid. I honestly can't fathom a young person in 1957 or 2017 who lays eyes on one, not wanting one someday.
But for me, price wise they were always out of reach.
Then when I was in my 30's I noticed that used C3's could be had at a price I could handle. I was excited....but then I called my insurance agent and got the cold, cruel dose of fiscal/actuary reality...and crushingly Corvette's were instantly beyond my budget again.

Fast forward to 1998. I see the new C5's and am stunned by their singular beauty...I tell myself "one day....one day". And at that point all previous generations don't interest me like they once did. The C6 is introduced. The C7 is introduced. I appreciate them but they do not speak (scream) to me like C5's do.

So sometime in 2015 I again get the itch. Now, every day I pass a Corvette place (Buyavette) on my drive home. There is a yellow C3, 60 feet off the ground....floating...beaconing...next to the interstate, luring people in. But I guess after seeing it every day I finally actually SEE it, and something in my head clicks.
I decide to stop by just to look. The place was a sea of C5's and C6's. The prices were within my budget but I assumed the insurance would again be a deal breaker.

But....lo and behold...I'd failed to realize that 60 year old folks get way lower rates than 30 year old folks. Insurance dude informs me that 60 year old's seemingly drive mostly on weekends, in dry weather, at a somewhat moderate rate of speed. (Unlike younger me, who would doubtlessly total the car in week one of ownership.)

So after 18 months of looking/weighing factors like transmission choice/color/coupe vs. Vert etc. (you all know the drill) I now have my C5.
Now I"M the guy with the big smile on my face.

All this said, with respect to the current perceived demographic, when I hear that "young people" aren't interested in Corvette's, or "these days even fast food employees can buy them", I weigh these mindsets with my own experiences of youthful desires, insurance related setbacks and take them with a rather large grain of salt.

Regarding the decreasing popularity of the forum, I agree that a slow decline is probably inevitable, but with the treasure trove of information present, and a never ending passion for the car, I think there is both an "old guard" and "new blood" aspect to the forum that I find healthy and positive, and this place will be here for a LONG time.
(And I think we need to tip the hat to this "old guard" and attempt to exercise a degree of tolerance when they get grumpy/snippy/defensive...I think they have earned our understanding, gratitude and especially our respect).


Now if I can just get the turn signals to quit causing my passenger window to be intermittent.......

 

The lack of participation is likely related to need as much as anything else. C5s are 14-20 year old cars. Chances are no matter what question you have it has been covered a dozen times and in some cases hundreds. I come here a lot but do not post much because I almost always find my answer just by searching. There is very little that needs a new thread.

I also have a 2006 GMC Canyon and I am a member of two separate forums on Canyons/Colorados. I have never made a post in either because I have always found my answer just by searching and we are talking everything from brakes to stereos to water leaks and everything in between.

And might I also point out how many times has a newbie come here a posted a question like "Can you put a double din radio in a c5" only to be chastised and told to use the search feature.

 

Perhaps hypocritical would be a better term then. If you don't believe there is any knowledge to be had outside of this forum; ignorant is the best descriptor. Commenting on things you have no construct on = ignorant. You can't come on and tell people you never do or use a platform and then try and tell them daily ins and outs aren't correct. That's almost close to just telling lies. Your argument is mind numbing...which should be expected by now. My apologies for thinking it might be constructive conversation for once.

All of those things still happened long before social media. Anything you post public is exactly that - public. Social media made it easier to single someone out; but if you don't think forums can't be breached then I just feel sorry for you. There's been IP trackers and security issues for the past 20 years online. Cars stolen and targeted off of forums, locations tracked by posting of general routine, etc etc. All facebook has done was narrow that window down.

 

I am a Vette newbie and was looking at Mustang verts (08 GT CS and a 2010 six banger as a nice weather cruiser. Test drove both and truthfully they were pretty nice. Saw a C5 close to home and drove it, not expecting a big difference, it was game over. In six weeks i've added 2K to the odometer and subtracted $1K from my wallet.

Love this forum and all the helpful folks and I am on here daily asking dumb questions and learning about all of the generations of these cars.

I don't get some of the folks who go out of they're way to crap on other older generations, not sure what they get from that. If you own a Vette chances are when you come back out into a parking lot you have the nicest looking car in the lot.

Most folks here are very helpful and are willing to answer the same questions over and over and not get to annoyed. I've been on car and truck forums for years and theres never been a better one for helpful advice and conversation.

I don't know where I'd be on the passion meter, but I certainly have Vette on the brain.

Mike

BTW, I hope passionate 2nd ammendment folks don't need the 5th ammendment.

 

Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat seem to be where most the people are nowadays. I prefer the online forums, as info is archived and easily searchable, but they seem to be on the decline unfortunately. One exception I've noticed is that places that have an older crowd, like the watch forum I read, seem to still be pretty active compared to the car sites that tend to have a younger crowd. One other issue seems to be that a lot of millennials just aren't interested in cars, which is sad, but the way it is.

 

Amen!!!

 

I think it's very active here ( I have noticed less in the C5 performance section though ..)

Some other forums it's just crickets chirping. This one still does pretty good.

 

And welcome to do so. Glad you are aboard

 

I personally like this place much better than other options for Corvette Forums. Nothing against them, I just think this forum has a better layout, and more active and helpful people.

A month back when I started my search for my C5, I posted on 3 sites. This is the only place I got any kind of hits. I asked questions, and I was responded to promptly, respectfully and intelligently.

Going forward, I'll probably browse those other places if I am in need of parts, but this is where I will be active.

 

I don't post as I am still reading thru the 3500 plus pages. I have learned so much over the past 3 years. Every time I read something that I am not sure of, I usually go out to my 04 Coupe to see what someone is talking about. It can be anything from replacing the "fangs" ( skid plates ) to seeing the Service Parts Code tag in the glove compartment. Or making sure the glove compartment light goes off so as to not drain the battery. I am not a DIY person anymore, but searching this site certainly comes in handy prior to taking it to a dealer. I can converse with them on an almost equal level. I have bought some items based on the recommendations on this forum. So if posts are down, maybe a count of the number of logins would be a better indicator of the forums use..

 

I used to post a lot more on the CF. I got my car were I wanted and stopped modifying crazily. So now I just read as much as I can or search the CF site, then I usually pick up the Les Paul.