Daily Driver?
 

Good morning...

I tried searching and couldn't find any C7 specific threads on this topic.

Do you daily drive your C7?

If so, do you have a second vehicle for practicality?

Thanks in advance.

DD here. But wife has a more practical car.

Little Ol' Lady
 

My wife is 82, she drives our C7 everyday. Of its 16K miles, maybe 2K are mine. And she put most of the 62K on our C6. We live in Tucson AZ, so a C7
is perfect 365. It is a car not a church. Use it or you lose much of the joy of owning it.

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DD for me. I don't have a backup other than my wife's car.

I live in the midwest, so my '16 C7 DSOM Z06 Vert is my DD from April through Thanksgiving. I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee for the winter, client visits, and family road trips (though I took my Z on a road trip last Summer from Chicago to Maine, and it was phenonminal.

l live in texas and I DD my C7 and I have no other car besides what the wife drives 27k miles in about 1 1/2 yrs. Supercharged it and lovin it. Its just a car and Imake payments so Im gonna get my fun out of it. This car is just as practicle as about any other car out there and as most other cars it loses its value pretyy good soI dont worry about the miles I put on.

All six of my Corvettes over the past 27 years have been daily drivers. I have amassed almost 700,000 miles in the six cars. My current Corvette, a '15 C7, has 45,000 miles on the clock...

daily drive and only backup car is my live in girlfriends 2015 GTI. Never had any issues here in northern NC. If it snows more than a couple inches i just steal her car as she will take the day off due to her 1 hour work commute. Id say its happened 2 times since I took delivery in June of 2015. I did invest in a second set of wheels which i had conti DWS-06's installed for fall and winter driving.

I daily drive my C7Z. I came it from a C6Z which was NOT a good daily car. It rode rough and loud and way annoying.

The C7Z however is a great daily car. I personally only drive mine when it's nice out, though. But every nice day, it's what I take.

It's harder to get in and out of, and I really consider it a second car, but I drive it about half time.

All great replies, thanks. Keep them coming..

My mom just turned 82 this past Friday. God bless you both.

Dd
 

Wife uses ours as daily driver. Other is our Mazda 3.

DD here. My wife drives a Chrysler Town & Country Touring edition so that has us covered for anything else.

I'll probably be the first one in this thread to get blasted and that's OK. My C7 is a pleasure toy that I drive mostly on days off and even then mostly only when the weather is good. My daily driver is a Grand Cherokee. The parking where I work sucks and I just don't want to subject my Corvette to the inevitable dings, bird crap, etc. To be honest, my '15 coupe is a toy that I couldn't really afford but bought anyway (with zero regrets). As such, I'm extremely diligent about taking good care of it which includes keeping it freshly clean and shined. Somehow, I can't get myself to take it out in bad weather and get it all slopped up when it's been freshly cleaned and shined. OK, go ahead and fire away. I probably have it coming. :hide:

Why would anyone "blast" you? It's your car, use it how you please.

I also daily drive mine and would have thoughts from time to time about getting another car. The roads here are so bad, describing them as terrible would be a compliment. After a set of A/S tires and the DSC Controller it is much more tolerable. Now my only thoughts of getting rid of the car are for a 650 hp ZL1 :D

Depends on how are you defining practical.

Once you get past the standard non vette owner comments like:
"your car costs more than some peoples house" (Unaware many SUVs cost more than C7)
"the speed limit is 55, why do you need something that will do 200?"
"You own a vette - why are you complaining about your pay scale?"

C7 can be "practical" under many conditions/situations, and will "work" in many borderline scenarios.

My 15 minute drive to work is 3 left turns, 4 stop signs, 6 traffic lights, a school zone, and a security gate.
200 on the speedo, and my average speed is always around 22.4. Absolutely no practical in that equation.

My C5 was my only car for about 14 years.
it didn't melt in the rain :).
If the snow was too bad, then (in this area) most businesses were closed, so I could stay home.

Yea, moving some things was difficult, but, meh, once I figured out how to pack it, I was surprised just how much stuff fit in one.

Might seem like overkill (impractical?) to go to the grocery store/Sams/cosco in a vette, but you can fit several hundred dollars worth of stuff into it.

If you don't own a house (or do, but are not a DIYer), then some things never come into play, such as:

Because it was my only car, necessity forced me to learn the C5 can hold a suprisingy large number of 2x4s, and the looks you get when loading it are priceless. It'll also fit a freestanding drill press (but I did have to take apart the base to close the hatch)

On the other hand:
Buy enough stuff (or big enough stuff) and (name the store) will deliver for free :)
Or
One of your neighbors visits homedepot/lowes regularly, and they have a truck. Tag along.

Those with kids:
(PC and gender steroetypes aside) mom probably has a vehicle, and it probably has back seats. Ergo, the vette is a mommy/daddy car, and use the 4 seater when everyone needs to be at the same place at the same time.

For fun and adventure:
It'll also fit 2 people and associated ski equipment (easier in an automatic; skis do get in the way of your right elbow when shifting - wrap a towel or coat sleeve around the skis so the metal edge doesnt damage anything.

All that said, I alternate between the 5 and 7 as DDs, and
I eventually picked up an old SUV for bad weather and large items.

DD in S. Fla. only backup is wife's car and HD Roadking.
Excellent combo for this area of the country. :woohoo::cool:

Daily driver, no other car except my wife's Subaru.

Balancing Out My Carbon Footprint
 

I originally intended my '15 Stingray 3LT to be my DD (after running a Lexus SC430 as my DD for 10 years). However, after about 6 months, I decided to get another car as my DD/Work Commuter... probably for a different reason than most.

I'm lucky to have an extremely short commute between home and work... which is only 1.6 miles (each way). After talking to some people and doing some research, I determined that starting up the C7 for that short drive several times a day (sometimes I go home for lunch) maybe would not be the best thing for the engine, especially in colder winter months.

Considering the above, I opted to buy my "Electric Cadillac", the sparsely known and seen Cadillac ELR. With less than 3,000 units out there, I call my dark gray ELR "The Graphite Unicorn". I really enjoy the ELR and a great bonus is that being similar vintage GM vehicles, my C7 & ELR share many similar/identical operational features (i.e.: MyLink/CUE, Key Fobs, Locking System, etc.), which makes the learning curve between the two quite easy.

So... By having my "Hi-Octane" C7 and my "Electric" ELR, I often tell people that I'm simply balancing out my "Carbon Footprint"! :cool:


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When it's not raining or going to and it's warm enough to drive the C7 with the top and windows down, that's my daily driver of choice. But I do own a CR-V as a primary daily driver. I've had sports cars and a second vehicle for me for the past 17 years. One day in 2000 someone keyed my 911 at work--and from that day forward, I have had a daily driver.

Cars I've driven as a sole car: 92 Stealth RT, 94 Corvette, 99 Boxster, 99 Carrera Coupe, and 2000 Carrera 4 Coupe (up until it was keyed).

My C7 which is a convertible wouldn't cut it as an only car for me because not enough trunk space for groceries and such; the Boxster or 94 Corvette Coupe were great only cars for me. Life is good when you're driving a fun car daily!

Same here...not my DD either...parking lot where I work is crappy with a history of hit and runs so I don't trust it sitting out there potentially getting hit. A Chevy Cruze is my DD. The nice thing about it, is that it's like getting in a brand new vette everytime I take it out for a cruise...If I had a better work parking situation and vette friendly climate all year round, I could see myself DDing it.

Not here.

I drive my little truck 80 Plymouth Arrow Sport.
I get more thumbs up with this little truck. People are always taking pictures of it.

Central FLA here. Daily my GS. Present at 7K miles and counting.

Why get blasted? Your situating seems perfectly normal to me. As I see it, if someone else wants to pay for my cars, they can tell me how and when to use them.

Ughhh..South Florida. I'm jealous. I lived there 1996-2004. I moved away thinking it was temporary and I still haven't been able to move back. Great, stable job has me "stuck" where I am. (golden handcuffs I suppose.) :ack:

This is my 5th Vette, all have been my daily driver!

First was an '88 and drove to work every day and since I traveled a lot left it at the airport. Car cover and movement alarm worked to keep it safe and looking new.

Now retired and had a 2014 C7, Z51 and just sold it for a Grand Sport. They all have been standard shifts, as have all my DDs. Recall when building our house using my '93 to hall 2x4's sticking out the hatch! Then bought a truck and was between Vettes!

For 4 straight years, I daily drove my C6 and rented a sedan in the winter when it snowed. After doing the math, money saved on the rentals, new corvette tires, maintenance, depreciation, etc...It made sense to purchase a 2nd "practical" car and split the driving duties 50/50 as the cost difference wasn't very much at all and the convenience of having a 2nd car when you need to take or pick up stuff as well as more than one passenger makes it almost a necessity. When I picked up my C7, I already had the 2nd car for about a year and got used to having two cars.

Only car, no wife, no wife's car. No problems.

I'm a homeowner so on rare occasion I need something big from Home Depot. That sucks. Other than that, hell- it fits my snowboard bag. I can put all my gear in the car and head to the airport.

Been this way for about 4-5 years between my C6 and C7. It's probably more practical than my GTO. The biggest problem I honestly have is dirt roads. Some friends have ranches and that kind of sucks. Other than that, it's great.

I wish my mom was like your wife. She is 68 but hates getting in and out of sports cars.

My '14 Z51 M7 is my dd for the ~100-mile roundtrip to work via the deadly Ortega Highway and the 5. Despite the frequent bumper-to-bumper traffic and major accidents, I have enjoyed every day of driving my C7 for the past 18 months. The only time I don't drive it to work is when there are torrential rains (not afraid of the Vette in rain but other drivers . . .) and if I have to leave a car at the airport or a hotel. I currently have ~42k miles on my C7. :thumbs:

For that I have my previous dd - my 2011 Mini Cooper S which is a fun car in it's own right.
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For grocery-gettin' duties, we have the wife's Audi Q5.
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I also have a C5 that is in metamorphosis but that one is strictly a toy.

I daily drove my last c5 in the summer and have been driving the c7 I just bought everyday rain or shine. since we get a ton of snow I do have a Silverado also have car hauler and sleds so needed a truck. also have the soon to be wife's impala. we are nuts with all 3 being black need to hire a full time detailer lol.

'15 Stinray coupe, 2lt ( not that that makes an difference ) 36,250 miles on it. It is as practical as I want it to be. I also have a '15 Buick GS with 18,000 that we use for family type situations. The C7 is inexpensive to maintain so why not DD it. To much fun to have and just weekend the car. By the way I have a GMEPP that covers the car until it has 110,975 miles on it.

I daily drove my c6z...put snow tires on it in the winter. I daily drive my C7 as well. I do have an old Grand Cherokee as backup if the snow on the roads is greater than 3".

'14 with 64k kms on the clock, year round DD unless there's real heavy snow in which case I will use my '03 Exploder.

C7 Vert is my DD until the first road-salt (typically November here in MN). Then the poor RX350 takes over and my wife shifts to a 4WD truck (but a nice one!). C7 is amazingly comfortable as a DD.


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I'm with mpuzach. This is a fun, sunny day driver for me. Maybe when the newness wears off in a couple of years I will switch insurance from NCM to USAA, where my other vehicles are insured, and drive it daily at that time.

Ditto- however, in the first 10 days of ownership 3 trips were made to the grocery store. Those journeys were definitely more fun in the Vette!

My stingray is to be my daily.

I have a 4x4 Tundra for when necessary or if the weather gets too nasty.

I also have a couple of motorcycles in the stable, not to mention my wife's G8 GT and my old WRX that I let my son drive.

My Stingray is my DD, I bought it to enjoy every bit of it. I previously owned a Camaro HotWheels SS, used as DD too and was concerned about putting miles on it, so I was driving my wife's Jeep quite often (saving the Camaro for the Fridays). I learnt something after I realized about the depreciation. The only one who will benefit from saving miles on a cool car is the guy that will own it after me, having that in mind, I drive my Vette all the time now. Life is too short to drive a boring car.

The Stingray is my DD, the C6 is Mr.owc6's DD (he has started driving it lately -- it was mine for the first ten years), and we have a Ram truck for dump runs, and snow days.

C5, then a C6 and now my C7 have all been daily drivers. My wife has a car too, but I drive mine in virtually all weather conditions in the DFW area.

Same here with Home Depot, good thing my brother has a truck lol :thumbs:

Depends on where you live. In the snow cold parts of the US I wouldn't think it would be a good daily driver. Mine's a daily, but don't drive it in the rain. So there is 3 days a year I don't drive it. See my location on my signature.
Just a little "rub it in" there. But seriously I have 36,000 on it now and have had it for only 19 months. I don't know if that would be practical with this car in the snow and ice parts of the county.

My DD is an F150 lease which is ending in February 2018. I was actually considering making the C7 my DD for a while when I turn it in.

Assuming you are asking if a C7 is a practical DD. Answer: YES

While mine is not used in that fashion, I have driven earlier model Corvettes in Illinois year round. Snow, sleet, ice storms, etc. w/o issue.

You have to be of the mindset that the car will show wear and tear and not remain pristine. However w/ aluminum underpinnings, and a body that won't rust, and the huge improvement the C7 is over previous series, I'd definitely consider one for that purpose or as my only car.

To put it another way . . . If you are faced with a 30 minute drive every morning of the work week, coming out to this in the garage almost HAS to put a smile on your face!


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Mines a daily driver too... drive it to work every day in the WARM weather... in winter i drive something else... I would guess that based on what some said in the posts, when it's a DD, you really want to bias towards comfort as opposed to hi-performance. I find my Z51 sometimes a bit harsh for some of our rough roads. Those lucky enough to live in the sun belt have no such issues.

For instance a Z06 is not as good as a daily driver as a base Stingray, yeah there are many here who would say that they drive them daily but daily also means all weather and a Z06 can get a bit tricky on a rainy day. For street driving in all weather and road conditions, a harsh car will quickly wear you down... and that is why many will flip their cars to something different in a couple of years.

I split the week driving the C7 and an '07 Lexus GS350. Like joemessman I live in AZ, so it's year round Corvette weather.

My Vette is currently my DD, nearly 3 years old and just turned over 30K. I plan on buying a 2nd gen Volt within the next two months to drive as my commuter when I can't necessarily enjoy my Vette because of traffic, shitty parking situations, etc.

Both our 16 and 08 are dailees, no choice for us since that's what we have

My C7 Z51 M7 3LT is my daily driver - just under 100 miles per day, 5D/week, all year long (Northern California).

This car is a DREAM daily driver. I love driving every single day. Nothing like melting the days' stresses away by taking the targa off on the drive home. Can fit up to 5 50lb sacks of horse / chicken feed on the way home, and an amazing amount of things from Home Depot and Lowes (carried a 8x10' carpet the other day, and two tree trimmers).

Have a dually truck for heavy duty work & hauling - drive it to work a few times a year.

The '69 L46 is the weekend toy.

The car is my wife's daily driver. She drives it every day, rain or shine. 13,000 miles in 10 months. Luckily we live where she can do that year round. I drive a Dodge Ram to cover anything that doesn't fit in the vette.

Daily driver...50 mile round trip to New York City Monday thru Saturday. Bought new last September just topped 15k miles on Sunday. Won't drive in snow, but as soon as roads are clear we're back at it.

I drive my wife's Explorer in snow, clearance, weight, 4WD. I'll also take the Explorer to Home Depot when I buy shrubs.

The rest of the time it's the silver C7.

Beneath the performance and crowd stopping looks, it's an extremely practical car. Even more so if you live where it gets cold in winter, put some all season tires on and you can enjoy your C7 all year round. Want to get some Z06 wheels from Florida Speed Shop for my summer tires, and I'll switch back to A/S tires in late November/December.

Offered to take my wife to the supermarket last Sunday. She said I'll have lots of bags (as if I didn't know), I said and your point is? The C7 can handle lots of groceries. I play golf, I won't look at a car that can't hold a couple bags of clubs.

It a practical car...maybe the most practical and versatile car I've ever owned and easily the most fun to drive.

DD for me during good weather in Colorado. Other car is a really fast Volvo S60 R Design awd.

Live in Texas and DD the C7, as well as two previous C6s. Corvettes are meant to be driven.

I DD my C7 here in MD, I also DD'd my C5 and C4 when I had them. Although there are times when I ride my motorcycle.