astepup

Of the five corvettes I've owned I got to test drive three, a C4, C6 and one of the C7's. I did get to sit in a C8 long before I even considered getting one. Once I found out I could actually fit the seed was planted 😆

TallGuyCorvette

Dealers that aren't Chevy are good about test drives. Besides that, Turo is your best bet. I rented a Z51 2LT w/ mag-ride and front lift for a weekend off Turo and put ~450 miles on it for $400 with the upgraded insurance package. Worth it for the extended test drive.

pltmgr

I let professional test drivers at car magazines do the test driving for me. Since I'm of normal size I don't have to worry about fitting in one. The car mags provide me a lot more info than i could obtain in a short ride in an unfamiliar car.

To be honest I owned a number of Corvettes and I loved them all.

kromdom

Add me to the list of NEVER DROVE ONE BEFORE BUYING list. Got bit by the bug when the C8 first came out, patiently waited till the prices normalized and luckily found THE ONE last NOV 2023. Drove 3 hours to look the car over: inspected it in/out/over/under, tested all switches/features, etc. FWIW, dealer offered a test drive which I politely declined but they did gladly indulge my request for a cold start up

switchlanez

The price is worth a couple days of renting on Turo but with much more extensive exercise of the C8's capabilities plus you can make a vacation out of it. I already have a C8 and already raced a C8 on track at the Corvette Owners School at Spring Mountain but plan to make reservations for this because of that awesome experience:

https://www.thextremexperience.com/s...rvette-c8-z51/

winders

Let's not conflate a driver's education event with racing. These are very different things....

CorvetteBrent

I only test drove one of the 5 Corvettes I've owned. My first Corvette was a used C4. I bought it locally from a individual seller who allowed me to test drive it. I bought my next three used Corvettes from sellers on Ebay. I bought my most recent used Corvette from a seller here on Corvette Forum. None of the most recent four sellers were located in my state, so I didn't test drive any of them.

switchlanez

Not competitive motorsports racing against others but still racing around the track and against my own times which meets the other literal definitions of racing. Plus there was literal competitive racing on an autocross "track." Regardless, your pedanticism is completely besides the point.

sanman55

Would you buy a vette that had been test road by a dozen people??
I understand your interest but come on......
What are you looking for...they are not going to get on her or maybe they do.... so u just get a ride around the block that will tell you nothing...
Get her and you will love it...I hope no one test drove mine???

Greg00Coupe

A lot of good suggestions here. We corvette owners are quirky. We demand a car with only single digits on it. Not sure everyone demands this on all their cars or not? When I got my first C8 a '20 my dealer who I have an excellent relationship with called when the car came in concerned it had 40 miles on it. He said I'm not sure you want it. This was the first C8 they sold. I told him to relax 40 miles did not bother me. And asked him to look to see if it was miles to empty which it was. Odd he felt I'd not take the car with 40 miles on it. The day I picked it up, that night it had 800 miles on it.

I recently looked at a used Z. Had 33 miles on it sitting on a dealers floor who bought it at auction. Center rear pipes were black with soot. I told him he be best to have those pipes cleaned, no ones impressed with a car with 33 miles thats been hammered.

As to your challenge. Find a local Corvette Club. Go to a meeting and ask around, I'm sure you can score a ride. I've let fellow hobbyist in your situation drive my car, you never know.

jcthorne

The first time I drove a C8 of any kind was the day I took delivery of my Z06 at the Museum. It was also the first time I even sat in one.

ChotisBill

The Chevy dealer in Simi Valley wouldn't even let me set in one. No I didn't purchase one from them.

cmonkey713

I have found that if you drive up at the dealership in a Corvette they will usually let you test drive a C8. Drive up in a Honda, you are out of luck.

EvanD

Not around here.

direct007

Ciocca in Atlantic City has a nice selection of pre-owned C8's that a potential buyer could test drive, but if you already have one on order, why would you be test driving it now?

ChumpVette

And yet they have wives with more mileage than their brand new car.


On second thought, maybe that is why they are demanding as close to zero miles as possible.

dale fehrenbach

I’m on my 5th vette, a 24 SR. Never test drove them or the numerous other vehicles I’ve bought.

JDLynch

I visited a Chevy showroom in louisville that would not allow test drives. They barely allowed me to even sit in one.

I need a test drive to make sure the C8 will work for our planned usage. We plan to travel in this car over long distances. This car will be driven and not parked in the garage depreciating without being enjoyed. Visibility in real world driving is a huge concern for us. I have concerns about being able to see out of the car to change lanes in traffic, as well as enough cabin space for my wife as she typically has her purse, a bag for her ipad, books, snacks, etc.

Turo would be ideal, but they have no C8's in our area.

JakeLucas

Luckily, I was able to Turo one. I had the same concern of not being able to see out of the car to change lanes in traffic. It’s not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. There’s no sneaking a quick glance over your shoulder to check your blind spot, that’s for sure.

But that’s where the blind spot indicator comes in handy. I’m all for driving the car, not letting the car drive you. If you work the mirrors you’ll be fine but the blind spot indicators are a nice bit of reassurance. It was completely a non-issue for me.

As far as her purse, a bag for her ipad, books, snacks, etc. That’s no problem. As long as they’re in the front or back trunk. Haha. Actually as long as she is comfortable sharing the footwell space with her stuff, she should be fine. Especially if she’s not very tall and pushes the seat all the way back.

JakeLucas

Luckily, I was able to Turo one. I had the same concern of not being able to see out of the car to change lanes in traffic. It was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. There’s no sneaking a quick glance over your shoulder to check your blind spot, that’s for sure. But that’s where the blind spot indicator comes in handy. I’m all for driving the car, not letting the car drive you. If you work the mirrors you’ll be fine-but the blind spot indicators are a nice bit of reassurance. It was completely a non-issue for me.

As far as her purse, a bag for her ipad, books, snacks, etc. That’s no problem. As long as they’re in the front or back trunk. Haha. Actually as long as she is comfortable sharing the footwell space with her stuff, she should be fine. Especially if she’s not very tall and pushes the seat all the way back.