LannyL81

Just venting here....bought my '04 Vert in Feb of 2016 with 28788 miles on it. Now after 3 full years of ownership, it has 35218 miles on it. 2018 was the least miles; sat in neighbor's garage from end of May to mid Sept, drove it once during this period.
Since moving it back to my garage in mid Sept I think I have had it out once. It is now sitting in the garage of the house I am selling as the house I moved into has a much smaller garage and not able to get all the vehicles within.
Been so busy last year between work and remodeling the house I moved into...and then there was the actual "move".....still have not found a place for everything. Then there is the yard/patio that needs ALOT of work.

Sooo.....are there others that spent a lot of time searching for their Corvette with no thoughts of it becoming a "garage queen" but it has become one?

Thanks for reading and any replies......venting over with......

corvette.cw

Before I bought mine, I was thinking I would drive it every day, but it has turned into more of a weekend driver for me. Stuff happens. Life gets in the way. But for me, family always comes first.

Evil-Twin

When your Corvette is no longer a necessity in your life, then necessities will intrude on your time in the Corvette. Lots of people on this forum, bought it to drive it but as you say things get in the way. Since I have been so sick, I'm lucky to put 500 miles a year on it. The one good thing about occasional use is that you enjoy every ride, so much more.
Bill aka ET

redzg

Pulled the dash several weeks ago to replace the 4-way flasher, blend door actuators, and install the double din radio. Got 85% done in a day or so, but found the center vent flasher retention destroyed, so waited for a new-to-me center vent, than two of the dash pad mounts broke, so found a new-to-me dash pad -- that only took a long days drive. One thing leads to another, and a weekend project turns into two months.
So far...

wdcraig

Ironic, I started a thread a while back about my car which I bought in December of '17 along the lines of not being a garage queen and I live in Illinois and I have driven it year round- and over 10,000 in one year and some of that on snow covered roads. I wasn't really surprised by the responses I got- some folks on this forum were supportive (life is short, enjoy the Corvette); others not so much.

Your experience really very different from mine. You live in Arizona and don't drive your Corvette much. If you are enjoying your car...I say so what? Whatever brings you enjoyment. To each their own.

However, in your post by you saying "inadvertent" it might be fair to conclude that when you bought your car you bought it with the intentions of driving it more. Should that be the case, then take it from me, a fellow with a rather different story to tell from you since buying his Corvette, that the Corvette is all the car most people need 90% of the time. Look at all the SUVs on the road with one person behind the wheel and nothing other than empty seats keeping them company. My wife and I have made "Costco runs" in our Corvette (and its a convertible). The little trunk holds a lot of groceries. And as I have mentioned before (nothing you'd ever deal with in Arizona); we even drove past a number of SUVs that had gone off the road in blizzard conditions.

Your post doesn't give me any reason to fully understand why you haven't driven your Corvette. Most of us have busy lives. But you have to be getting to work somehow and going some places. This is a big "if" but if you have been looking at your Corvette as something other than a form of transportation; perhaps take a second look and give your other car(s) a rest.

wdcraig

Bill aka ET- not to hijack this thread, but this is the first time I have had occasion to note that you have been sick. I am very sorry to hear. Your posts are among the best and most informative I have seen on this forum and you will be in my thoughts and prayers. Wishing you 100,000 more miles- Doug.

ArtClassShank

I've put about 13,000 on my 04Z in two years.

Bought a shitbox Saturn to share the mileage, but if it's sunny, I'm driving the Corvette.

I figure I'm closing in on 100K, why not? A lot of you guys buy such low mileage cars, it just seems silly. Seems you either feel guilty for not driving it enough, or driving it too much and putting significant mileage on it. Either way, most C5's are worth less then a brand new Honda Accord, so just enjoy it while you can, you never know when serious life problems can change your world!

myredhead1

Between work and family, I have just realized that I have not driven the vette in a month.

Vetteman Jack

Hey, life changes and things happen - sometimes that means a car isn't driven as much as originally envisioned. A simple solution is to just make some time to enjoy the car out on the road.

LannyL81

Agree.

Life / living is an ever changing process.....hopefully soon I can once again make the Corvette a "necessity in life" (Evil-Twin) and I can once again enjoy it......or perhaps I sell it and get another one later on....IDK.

Evil-Twin: I echo wdcraig's words, sorry to hear about your illness, enjoy reading your postings. Take care.

Thanks for the replies, good to know that I am not the only one that has an "inadvertent garage queen"

SLOWRYDE

Unless you are hurting for cash, don't sell it. There is no need to sell it. It's most likely paid for by now and the only thing it is costing you is maintenance and taxes. So, if you don't have time to drive it right now, no big deal. Let it sit. You don't know what the future holds and you will probably get to the point where you get some more free time and then start driving it again. It won't melt sitting in your garage. Just make sure its rodent proof, on a battery tender and some easy routine maintenance is all it'll take to keep it working well.

Brunello

I find ways to drive mine. When weather is good, my car is at the grocery store, HD, the gym, etc. My 15 year-old is embarrassed to be dropped off at dance class in the vette but TFB! Can I help it if she has a cool Dad??? Just this morning, had it out early to clear out the cobwebs. 6AM leaves a lot of wide open, empty highway. First time at 120mph. Don’t really endorse reckless use but at times pushing when safe for others reminds me why I got this car to begin with. My wife would say it’s because I’m turning 50 this year. I’d tell her she is FOS if she wasn’t kind of right. Who cares. DO NOT let a car sit unless you have so many other cool cars to drive you forget. Even with all the salt and crap on the roads here in CT, guys are driving their 911s which are worth way more than mine. They get it. These cars are made to drive. Besides, “this is America Jack” we don’t bow to Queens - throned or garaged!😜

Brunello

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...M=VIRE&PC=APPL

Great scene from Coming to America!

tabbruzz

Yes, when I got my 99 in 1998 I was not married and had no kids. I drove it and drag races it pretty often...in 2002 I got a 79 vette I planned as drag only so I spent my free time working on and racing that...then the kids came so it was even less time...now the 79 has been sold and the 99 is used more...spending money on it for maintenance items as well as additional perf mods....it almost feels like I only had the car a couple of years...she will hit 14,000 miles on my next drive...

Bajaholic

All my Corvettes are garage queens... That being said, it is because I enjoy the "collection" of owning them. Or maybe it is the lines, colors and artistic look? All I know is it makes me happy to walk into the garage and see what my hard work has acquired.

The other side of that is, when I do take one out for a ride or event, it is a "special occasion" for me. Not really something special in the real world, just that I am treating myself to a great day driving the car.

I feel if you use the car as a daily driver or take it out at any given opportunity to just drive it, this just just makes it another car.

Own it! Not everyone has to drive the wheels off of everything they own, Some of us keep them for a happy day!

leadfoot4

When I first got my Corvette in 2001, A) I also had a Z/28 Camaro that I drove in the summer; and B) I was still working full-time, which was a 50 mile round trip from home. As life went on, I retired, which cut the daily mileage, and later on, I sold the Camaro. But still, I find that with the free time that I have, I've spent it around the house, working on the projects that I didn't have time for, when I was working 6 days a week. However, I certainly don't plan on selling the Corvette. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, I found myself losing some valuable storage space, which made keeping the Camaro a bit of a hassle. I wrestled with the idea of selling it, for a long time, before finally doing it. Some times, I truly regret it, because as "SLOWRYDE" mentioned, the cost of keeping it as a "toy car" was minimal, and now that it's gone, I do miss it.....

Verrückt ZR1

Very well said. Pride of ownership goes a long way. Hoping for a nice day this weekend, myself.

~Josh

1st world problems.

”I don’t have enough time to drive my Corvette, and garage too small to fit all my cars”.

We’re Blessed to live in America.

3sACROWD

Not necessarily true. I had a 200 mile / day commute for way too many years. What made the commute bearable was the fact I could enjoy the reliability and performance that was engineered into the Corvette. Certainly WAY more fun to drive than my Silverado.

I really don't care if someone drives the crap out of their car or pulls it out once a week to wax it. Who am I to tell them what to do with it. I do however encourage those who want to drive their Vette more to do so.

I've come across so many owners and non owners who don't think a C5 can go the distance. They think after 60k - 80k the car is toast when in fact it is just getting started. While the car is iconic it is not exotic. It is actually very affordable to operate and maintain.

leadfoot4

It's a shame that a certain segment of the population wants to "fundamentally change" our country.....