Champ203

Decided I wanted another Vette. After lurking here I decided on a GS M7 2LT. Went by the local dealer and made a fair offer on a coupe. They laughed at me.... decided I'd better break the news of an impending new car to my bride....conversation went better than expected she just demanded we get a convertible.

Now for the cold feet part.....spent the last couple of weeks trying to decide between purchasing out of the current inventory on dealer lots or waiting until the plant starts back up and the new colors are announced (I know orange is one of them). While checking out this site I've come across several concerns...in no particular order...

This car will be my daily driver....seems that is taboo to most on here, I get the feeling 90% of vette owners drive their cars less than 2000 miles per year.....why?

Performance tires that you can't drive in temps below 40 degrees??? Really??? My CTS-V had sticky tires and this didn't seems to be a problem. Living in the south (South Carolina) we don't get a lot of cold weather and I have an AWD SUV for the few days we get frozen precipitation, but dealing with a second set of tires/wheels for a guy who trades cars nearly every year seems to be a buzzkill to me...

I will wear the factory tires out in 6 months (I drive 25-30k miles per year) are there other tires available for year round driving that don't suck?

Appreciate your answers and patience as I try to wrap my head around all of this. I want to stick with the wide body.....

Peace,
Don

2016_Z06

Talk with one of the dealers on this forum!

i see so many great deals from reputable corvette guys.

don't bail yet just a bad dealer experience!!!!

Steve Garrett

^^^ This.....

thill444

While many here only drive their cars 1-3K miles a year there are plenty that daily drive all year long. I wouldn't worry about that. These cars are meant to be driven.

In terms of tires you are in South Carolina and drive and have access to an SUV? I would not worry too much. On those days where it is 40-50 degrees just use weather mode and take it easy.

Some of the big forum dealers here will have good deals. Kerbeck, MacMulkin, Criswell, etc.

John Ulrich

Go for it Champ.
I laugh how in my motorcycle circles the more miles the better. No one worries about miles other than how to find the time to ride more.
Some Corvette owners think they own rare collectibles ....... that's great for the second owner to buy one like new and drive the hell out of it.
I'm not gonna sit in the nursing home and talk about my Corvettes that never left city limits.

2012widebody

No need for cold feet. I would make damn sure that upper management of that dealer knows about your unpleasant experience there. My folks just went through a similar situation over a Hellcat. They ended up getting exactly what they asked for two weeks later. Know that the new GS eats tires with the factory alignment. People are getting 7k to 10k miles out of the front tires. If you are going to spend a majority of the miles on the highway and not at the track have the I'd have it aligned a little less aggressive.
Cool points for asking the bride before pulling the trigger. I'm proud of you man!!!

Silver C7

Approaching one year and 20k miles of daily driving pleasure. I know Michelin hasn't marketed AS 3+ in GS fitments just yet, but in SC you should be fine with the base GS tires. Heard someone suggest the Super Sport tires over the Cup2's if you aren't tracking the car.

And after you visit Spring Mountain, you'll never worry about being rough on your car again. Trust me, you'll never drive your DD like you'll drive in two days of the Corvette Owners School.

I'm not a rocket scientist, and I figured out tire management and stuff on my base C7. The GS equation shouldn't be any more strenuous.

Get what you like and drive it much as you like...you will drive yourself happy, not crazy. Good luck

SnowyATX

FWIW, I've driven my '93, '00, '08,'14 and now my '17 as my daily driver. I put about 9-10K/yr depending on any major road trips.

With the C7 I drive it as long as there isn't any ice on the road (and not close to 20 which is rare in Austin). Put in weather mode and be careful.

You only live once. Vettes aren't meant to hide in a garage.

23/C8Z

Daily driver that many miles per year you're throwing money out the window.

2 ways to do it imo.

1. You buy exactly what you want and park it in inclement weather and to keep half those miles off per year. Lease a cruze or civic Malibu something for 200month.

2. Buy exactly what you want and spend 10k on a used cruze civic Malibu etc. And drive that half the time..

last option for me would be to buy a used depreciated c7 if you're gonna jist put a million miles on it.

buy a new V6 camaro and drive that everyday you'll have more fun and feel less guilty. Use the vette for fun special occasions good weather track whatever. Car was never developed designed engineered to be a DD. Your DD should be a LESSER car than your "special" car.

good luck and yeah that many miles in those tires? You should lease a car and use that instead same price as the oem set yearly lol.

4thC4at60

I've been driving Corvettes as daily drivers for 26 years and during that time have amassed almost 700,000 miles in Corvettes in all kinds of weather as I've driven Corvettes in 45 of the lower 48 states.

I put about 18K a year on my car... would put more but I split the DD duties with a 29-year-old Ferrari on which I put about 10,000 miles a year...

I've driven my C7 down to 17° - it handles fine as long as you keep your foot out of it.

Buy it, drive it, enjoy it....

thill444

There's little price difference when selling a Corvette with 30K miles or 3k miles. Maybe $4-5k max. These are not rare Italian supercars.

Ron'sGS

SilverGhost

GS convertible. A sports car designed for the track...but few tracks will allow you to run a convertible on them, unless you put a roll bar in it. Corvette museum track is one notable exception. That is the real fun of vettes: on a track, at high speeds legally, and in awe of the performance of the machine and how it improves your driving skills.

A GS - designed for a billiard table smooth track. As low as Chevy can make it. To be put on the mean streets of public roads and highways for 30,000 miles a year. Retread tire carcasses from truck blowouts in the heat of a SC summer will be your new video game. miss avoiding one and watch what an ultralight car, millimeters from the ground, does when it hits a hard rubber object. One forum contributor recently showed pics of running over something and breaking the aluminum frame, instant totalled. Parking lot curb blocks will be your splitters worst enemy. Practice 4 wheelin with parking lot high hump entrances as you attempt to straddle cross the hump to protect your splitter and side skirts.

And you are right, with so many used C7's underdriven; it puts a whole new metric on resale when a C7 is really put into service with average miles 12-15k. Most used vette hunters look for the diaper rubbers. High miler? follow CR's advice and keep it till the wheels fall off.

wipe/wash the corrosive brake dust off the wheels quickly, or it will etch the wheel, even the "hard" chrome!

it takes more concentration and effort to operate a race car on a public street. Many do, but it is not a put a favorite track in the Mark Levinson stereo in the acoustic chamber cabin, relax in the plush massaging seats and let the nannies watch the road on all sides and even park it, while you kick back and relax while driving in your isolated cocoon. Even though you can buy cars like that for the same money as the vette.

Good luck with your decision.

FastC7GS

May I suggest a Stingray and not a Grand Sport if you have tire concerns. They do have an all seasons in Stingray sizes now.

Crossed Flags Fan

"Went by the local dealer and made a fair offer on a coupe. They laughed at me.... "
What do you consider a "fair offer"?
If you want it and you have a second car to drive in the low temps, then go for it.

amphora001

Seems like a waste of money to trade in car every year. Cold feet will be remedied when you trade it in next year no? I daily mine, but my commute is only 10 miles each way. Perfectly good car. but i have z51. why not save a ton of money and buy a used 2015 Z06 instead?

red62vette

You can drive the crap out of a GS. I just got mine and plan to. But don't drive summer tires in <45 degree weather on any car. They turn into hockey pucks. Use another car on those few days.

harmonyp

My Z51 7M makes me look forward to my daily commute every darned day. I cannot imagine a more enjoyable, thrilling daily driver. If you really want the wide body, just get the base tires and not the cups, and exercise care in colder weather.

If you don't want to worry about the tires at all, get the Z51 and use all seasons. While you won't get the body width, your aggressive spoiler, splitter and side skirt mods , will make the car look bad-@$$!

gpasvet

Have a 2014 purchased in July 2014. I live on Hilton Head Island and the C7 is my daily driver. Just purchase new tires at 29,500 miles and had no problem with the summer tires during the winter months.

Blue666's

I plan on driving the GS Vert I ordered on a daily basis, unless the weather is really crappy and then I'll drive my F-150. Have a friend who just ticked over 200,000 miles on his C6 and it's still humming right along. As others have stated, have the alignment done to a less-aggressive setting and your tires should last 20K +. Is WJFX radio station still alive in Aiken? I used to be a DJ there back in 1984. If you order a car, you can get 11% off of MSRP, and MacMulkin has no dealer fees or other junk. (They're who I ordered through. I got the museum delivery option too, to make it a destination trip) Good luck with your impending purchase. Go for it!