The beginning of the end for me - need a better car
#21
Instructor
Thread Starter
I'm sadly getting into the same mindset as the OP. Have had my 2004 for 5-1/2 years and I think the honeymoon is almost over. A Corvette has always been my dream car, and I was fortunate to get it at 35 years old. As much as try to drive it everyday for three seasons, I'm finding myself not as interested to move cars around some days to get it out of the garage. Then there is the winter storage. And the driving excitement is just no longer there.
I'm already preparing to pull the LT headers and xpipe from the car in a few weeks. Then over the winter I'm thinking of putting the rest back to stock and sell in the spring. As for what's next for me, I really don't know. I've considered a 2015+ Mustang, 11-13 C6 GS, or simply nothing at all.
I'm already preparing to pull the LT headers and xpipe from the car in a few weeks. Then over the winter I'm thinking of putting the rest back to stock and sell in the spring. As for what's next for me, I really don't know. I've considered a 2015+ Mustang, 11-13 C6 GS, or simply nothing at all.
You just aren't a corvette person. They are far from perfect, but saying that...I don't know what I would do without one. Every time I get rid of one, I end up with another. I have been fascinated with them ever since I can remember. As a 5 year old, I knew I would have one some day. I'll probably be buried in one. I'm one sick puppy.
In fact most people are not cut out for this car, but then there are a lot of people who are satisfied with it. If you are a sick puppy, you likely find yourself in very good company. Corvettes, new or old, are not perfect cars--- but then perfection is boring (I know, I've owned Toyotas in the past and I currently own two Toyotas). Are Corvette's fun cars? Anyone who says not, should have their pulse checked.
Today I drove by the "Corvettes and Classics" dealership where I bought my Corvette 6 months ago. They had only 2 C-5s in their inventory, while having eight C-7s, five C-6s, nine C-3s, three C-4s, three C-2s and a single C-1. The manager said, "owners are simply not letting go of the C-5s, I hope to get more later in the year." The C-5 is not rare...but these less than perfect cars are obviously desired and prized by many "Corvette people."
Since buying my Corvette and joining this forum, I think I see a pattern. Some owners who are expert at modification bring their cars to personal perfection. Hard not to admire this group of owners. Others manage to take perfectly good cars and turn them into monstrosities--- such that the only hope they have of recouping a fraction of their good money spent after bad is to return their car to stock for resale (pity the buyer of that car).
To modify a car to increase performance and then complain that the car has more performance than the owner could possibly exploit, that's an interesting circumstance.
I'd wager most cars sold these days have far more performance than the owners will ever need.
I actually love my "notchy" 6M; I'd not argue with anyone regarding its agricultural feel--- on the other hand, it takes talent to operate well. This car lets you know when you do things wrong and it rewards you when you do it right. You drive this car, it is "on all the time". I plan on keeping mine as long as I am able to drive it.
Today I drove by the "Corvettes and Classics" dealership where I bought my Corvette 6 months ago. They had only 2 C-5s in their inventory, while having eight C-7s, five C-6s, nine C-3s, three C-4s, three C-2s and a single C-1. The manager said, "owners are simply not letting go of the C-5s, I hope to get more later in the year." The C-5 is not rare...but these less than perfect cars are obviously desired and prized by many "Corvette people."
Since buying my Corvette and joining this forum, I think I see a pattern. Some owners who are expert at modification bring their cars to personal perfection. Hard not to admire this group of owners. Others manage to take perfectly good cars and turn them into monstrosities--- such that the only hope they have of recouping a fraction of their good money spent after bad is to return their car to stock for resale (pity the buyer of that car).
To modify a car to increase performance and then complain that the car has more performance than the owner could possibly exploit, that's an interesting circumstance.
I'd wager most cars sold these days have far more performance than the owners will ever need.
I actually love my "notchy" 6M; I'd not argue with anyone regarding its agricultural feel--- on the other hand, it takes talent to operate well. This car lets you know when you do things wrong and it rewards you when you do it right. You drive this car, it is "on all the time". I plan on keeping mine as long as I am able to drive it.
I agree with others... sounds like it's time for you to move on.
For me, owning a Corvette goes far beyond just driving one (which I love to do as often as I can). I enjoy looking and reading about other generations of Corvettes... I am absolutely thrilled/excited for the next revolution/generation. I frequent the other generations' forums here and enjoy learning more, and contributing my 2 cents on occasion.
I love looking at my Corvette when I'm not driving it... I love the legacy of the car. I'm blessed to be able to have other vehicles that fill the practical needs that I sometimes need in a vehicle, but at the end of the day, I always want to have a Corvette to drive, and to enjoy the entire Corvette ownership experience.
For me, owning a Corvette goes far beyond just driving one (which I love to do as often as I can). I enjoy looking and reading about other generations of Corvettes... I am absolutely thrilled/excited for the next revolution/generation. I frequent the other generations' forums here and enjoy learning more, and contributing my 2 cents on occasion.
I love looking at my Corvette when I'm not driving it... I love the legacy of the car. I'm blessed to be able to have other vehicles that fill the practical needs that I sometimes need in a vehicle, but at the end of the day, I always want to have a Corvette to drive, and to enjoy the entire Corvette ownership experience.
My C5 has almost 500 whp and if anything it just gets me into trouble. 90% of my driving is literally city/ traffic driving and there is simply nothing more power could do to make that a better experience (unfortunately). I know the Golf R is a far cry from the Corvette but the reviews I've seen regard it as one of the best all-around daily driver performance-oriented cars. When you're looking for a manual transmission, newer car with a backseat, the options are extremely limited. I'm not quite sold on European vehicles for reliability just yet however.
#23
I was expecting some push back as well! Lmao. But to your point, I don't race the car ...we have quite a few drag strips in the Houston area and I haven't even attempted to take the car out in all 3 years. When I was younger I would even take my Maxima to the tracks so I feel like that is kind of a telling sign that things have changed for me.
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koreanbeefcake (05-31-2018)
#24
Instructor
Thread Starter
I know drag is big around here, but if that's all you do then you've experienced maybe 20% of what the car is capable of. These are sports cars, with tremendous braking, cornering, balance, oversteering fun. Give autocross a shot sometime, and then you might thing about doing an HPDE event. So much fun.
As a side note. More often than not when I find the opportunity to do a spirited drive, instead of the car putting a smile on my face for being blistering fast, I actually come out of the experience frustrated. Either I miss a shift because the clutch and shifter give me some issue resulting in an embarrassingly rev to redline in neutral. Or traction control kicks in and holds me back, or if it's turned off and the car gets too out of control.
Last edited by chillin014; 05-27-2018 at 09:13 AM.
#25
Safety Car
Buy one of each of your choice and pick one to drive each day, thats what i do! But i would not sell my vettes to hard to replace unless the price was right. Every car i sold in the past i regret except the Pinto.
#26
Drifting
How about giving the Chevy SS a look? LS3 powerplant, available with a manual, and decently priced sports sedan. It just lacks the level of luxury and prestige a Cadillac, Mercedes, or BMW has.
I thought the C5 Corvette was a great practical daily driver, the trunk has so much room, especially the coupe. I have hauled things in it that people wouldn't be able to put into a sedan, the only thing it lacked was the rear seats. Being single, that doesn't bother me. The only reason I am not driving it is because I received a company car and don't have the option of driving my own car.
I thought the C5 Corvette was a great practical daily driver, the trunk has so much room, especially the coupe. I have hauled things in it that people wouldn't be able to put into a sedan, the only thing it lacked was the rear seats. Being single, that doesn't bother me. The only reason I am not driving it is because I received a company car and don't have the option of driving my own car.
#27
Instructor
Thread Starter
How about giving the Chevy SS a look? LS3 powerplant, available with a manual, and decently priced sports sedan. It just lacks the level of luxury and prestige a Cadillac, Mercedes, or BMW has.
I thought the C5 Corvette was a great practical daily driver, the trunk has so much room, especially the coupe. I have hauled things in it that people wouldn't be able to put into a sedan, the only thing it lacked was the rear seats. Being single, that doesn't bother me. The only reason I am not driving it is because I received a company car and don't have the option of driving my own car.
I thought the C5 Corvette was a great practical daily driver, the trunk has so much room, especially the coupe. I have hauled things in it that people wouldn't be able to put into a sedan, the only thing it lacked was the rear seats. Being single, that doesn't bother me. The only reason I am not driving it is because I received a company car and don't have the option of driving my own car.
I actually haven't experienced any cargo-related issues. I agree the coupe has a surprising amount of room and I've done my fair share of home depot runs for long pieces of wood and trim that had no issue fitting in the vette. Most of my issues come from a lot of less obvious inconveniences. Any time we are running errands, we are doing it in my wifes car. Any time we are visiting family, it's in my wifes car. We have a dog and all dog-related activities require a backseat and a comfortable ride. I have enough of these situations that it's like I am struggling to find the perfect scenario that allows for a drive in the Corvette. It starts to become a bit ridiculous and makes me feel silly to hold onto something when the scales are tipping towards inconvenience. None of this is necessarily a surprise to me, it is what it is. I have come to know "Corvette life" as one where priorities are a bit out of order.
Last edited by chillin014; 05-27-2018 at 11:38 AM.
#28
Safety Car
Guess it just happens for some people. The c5 is a super easy DD of a car and it’s fun to drive even on a basic commute. If you’re laughing at people enjoying their commutes by driving the performance cars they want to, I don’t know that you can consider yourself a car person.
Good of luck with your next econobox!
Good of luck with your next econobox!
#29
Instructor
Thread Starter
Guess it just happens for some people. The c5 is a super easy DD of a car and it’s fun to drive even on a basic commute. If you’re laughing at people enjoying their commutes by driving the performance cars they want to, I don’t know that you can consider yourself a car person.
Good of luck with your next econobox!
Good of luck with your next econobox!
also there’s nothing fun about going 30 Mph on bumpy crappy roads in this car.
Last edited by chillin014; 05-27-2018 at 12:02 PM.
#30
Safety Car
It’s the truth though. A car person wouldn’t be worried that they have 400 horsepower in traffic. You’re laughing at people for enjoying their cars how they see fit. I would rather daily my z06 than not have one.
#31
Drifting
I check in on the Chevy SS's about once a month but they are holding onto their value! I just can't afford a ~$30k+ vehicle right now unfortunately. But this kind of vehicle would fit my needs perfectly.
I actually haven't experienced any cargo-related issues. I agree the coupe has a surprising amount of room and I've done my fair share of home depot runs for long pieces of wood and trim that had no issue fitting in the vette. Most of my issues come from a lot of less obvious inconveniences. Any time we are running errands, we are doing it in my wifes car. Any time we are visiting family, it's in my wifes car. We have a dog and all dog-related activities require a backseat and a comfortable ride. I have enough of these situations that it's like I am struggling to find the perfect scenario that allows for a drive in the Corvette. It starts to become a bit ridiculous and makes me feel silly to hold onto something when the scales are tipping towards inconvenience. None of this is necessarily a surprise to me, it is what it is. I have come to know "Corvette life" as one where priorities are a bit out of order.
I actually haven't experienced any cargo-related issues. I agree the coupe has a surprising amount of room and I've done my fair share of home depot runs for long pieces of wood and trim that had no issue fitting in the vette. Most of my issues come from a lot of less obvious inconveniences. Any time we are running errands, we are doing it in my wifes car. Any time we are visiting family, it's in my wifes car. We have a dog and all dog-related activities require a backseat and a comfortable ride. I have enough of these situations that it's like I am struggling to find the perfect scenario that allows for a drive in the Corvette. It starts to become a bit ridiculous and makes me feel silly to hold onto something when the scales are tipping towards inconvenience. None of this is necessarily a surprise to me, it is what it is. I have come to know "Corvette life" as one where priorities are a bit out of order.
Whoa let’s not start the crucifixion just yet...I was laughing at the excessiveness and irony of super car level performance in bumper to bumper Houston traffic ...not the people or cars themselves...don’t get too bent out of shape.
also there’s nothing fun about going 30 Mph on bumpy crappy roads in this car.
#32
In a way i'm lucky. I only rarely drive mine so it's always special. I bought it as a weekend fun drive because i always wanted a vette and i reached a stage where i could afford it. It's automotive art as well as a great road car. Hopefully i won't lose the feeling as the op did, but agree with others at some point another car may appeal to me more. Change can be positive at times. My grandson just bought a '05 tricked out Audi a4 and it's a blast to drive.
#33
Instructor
Thread Starter
By the way if I buy a VW Golf R are y’all going to make fun of me for driving a shitty economy car? That seems a bit hypocritical coming from true car guys who would never **** on another guy just enjoying his car...
#34
Instructor
Thread Starter
How about a first gen CTS-V then? I know they have their fair share of issues, and don't really live up to the Cadillac luxury brand, but they did get the engine and driving dynamics right. The only problematic thing is that weak rear differential. Look hard enough and you can find a fair number of them at/below current C5 prices.
I find my F45 equipped C5 to be fairly comfortable. It's as comfortable, if not more comfortable, than the Toyota Camry I got as the company car.
I find my F45 equipped C5 to be fairly comfortable. It's as comfortable, if not more comfortable, than the Toyota Camry I got as the company car.
ive got an 05 camry as my 3rd car and on smooth roads I’d rather have the C5 any day. But on any unevenness the camry is a million times more comfortable and I worry about damaging it so much less.
#35
Back when I drove my Camry I used to laugh at the guys sitting in traffic alongside me with their expensive top performance trim Porsches, BMW, etc. Now I'm basically one of them. I'm totally a car guy and I appreciate great driving dynamics, connecting with the car, etc....but when your commute is like mine, the only benefit you can really reap is the "cool guy factor". And it kind of gets old.
Ok kidding...mostly. It's up to you, but to me any trip in a fun car is better. I did commute in a vanilla lemming-mobile for a little while, and I was miserable. I let it run off a cliff as soon as I could and got back into something interesting.
#36
Instructor
Thread Starter
I used to commute from the Atlanta northern burbs to downtown every day, 30 miles in the worst traffic in the country (yeah and I know NY and LA, and Atlanta is worse). And I did it with multiple sports cars, all manual transmissions. The last couple years in a 1990 ZR-1. And while the clutch sometimes got heavy, I always loved it because after a soul-sucking day in the office I could get in the Corvette and feel good again. Even in stop and go traffic, I loved it because I was in a Corvette and the poor sap next to me in the Camry was still getting his soul sucked out.
Ok kidding...mostly. It's up to you, but to me any trip in a fun car is better. I did commute in a vanilla lemming-mobile for a little while, and I was miserable. I let it run off a cliff as soon as I could and got back into something interesting.
Ok kidding...mostly. It's up to you, but to me any trip in a fun car is better. I did commute in a vanilla lemming-mobile for a little while, and I was miserable. I let it run off a cliff as soon as I could and got back into something interesting.
#37
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Member Since: Dec 2017
Location: Carol Stream (Chicago suburbs) IL
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"Granted these cars are worth twice what I'd expect to sell my C5 for, but I have kept meticulous track of all my upgrades, repairs and modifications + purchase price and my total "investment" is creeping uncomfortably close to those newer car prices anyway."
"For the record, I purchased the car with all of the modifications, knowing full well that it had a lot of power. I loved getting such a great deal on what was the prior owner's extensive investment (simply because the transmission was broken). The kid in me thought the awesome performance would compensate for the impracticality, but it just never did."
"For the record, I purchased the car with all of the modifications, knowing full well that it had a lot of power. I loved getting such a great deal on what was the prior owner's extensive investment (simply because the transmission was broken). The kid in me thought the awesome performance would compensate for the impracticality, but it just never did."
#38
Safety Car
Ok ...what? Can you send me a copy of the car-guy rule book? I certainly don’t want my membership revoked. I think it’s excess and I would be shocked if “those people” disagreed with me. Also I am saying I live a life of excess myself, can I laugh at myself too or is that going to offend someone? By the way who said those guys were enjoying their cars in traffic? Did you ask them?
By the way if I buy a VW Golf R are y’all going to make fun of me for driving a shitty economy car? That seems a bit hypocritical coming from true car guys who would never **** on another guy just enjoying his car...
I dont Honestly care what you drive. If you like the Infiniti, why not look for a nice g37? You can get a manual trans car with enough room in the back for the dog no problem. Or, since you like German cars it seems, a 335 or something might suit you really well.
#39
Instructor
Thread Starter
"Granted these cars are worth twice what I'd expect to sell my C5 for, but I have kept meticulous track of all my upgrades, repairs and modifications + purchase price and my total "investment" is creeping uncomfortably close to those newer car prices anyway."
"For the record, I purchased the car with all of the modifications, knowing full well that it had a lot of power. I loved getting such a great deal on what was the prior owner's extensive investment (simply because the transmission was broken). The kid in me thought the awesome performance would compensate for the impracticality, but it just never did."
"For the record, I purchased the car with all of the modifications, knowing full well that it had a lot of power. I loved getting such a great deal on what was the prior owner's extensive investment (simply because the transmission was broken). The kid in me thought the awesome performance would compensate for the impracticality, but it just never did."
I have installed a tamer cam, quieter exhaust, etc. nothing to add power. That was all done by the previous owners.
#40
Instructor
Thread Starter
i would probably rather the Camry than the golf r hahaha. Just kidding there, but in all seriousness I prefer the GTI to the golf r.
I dont Honestly care what you drive. If you like the Infiniti, why not look for a nice g37? You can get a manual trans car with enough room in the back for the dog no problem. Or, since you like German cars it seems, a 335 or something might suit you really well.
I think you hit the nail on the head- the sedan g37’s with manual tranny checks all the boxes. Now I’ve just got to find one lol