starchedup

So those of us that have been around for a while (several generations) may have noticed as I have recently, that an atypical Corvette owner has surfaced. That’s all I’ll say without being explicit cause I’m not trying to be rude. I will say that I have noticed a lot of very elitist/snobby post by some C8 owners and was enough to make me take notice. I think the new higher price point has attracted a lot more of the Ferrari/Lamborghini bargain shoppers than the traditional Corvette type if that makes sense.

Anyway, that’s all I’m gonna say because I don’t wanna be explicit but I think that’s enough to make my point.

prb

Define elitist and snobby for us? Those are abstracts so give some examples....or not, iow, who cares who buys these cars as long as they are sold, and the line/factory/workers stay employed and keep making them.

Korbek

I will say this: who cares?

I ignore the elitist *****.
The youtube wannabes.
The influence peddlers.
The clickbait makers.
The social media sycophants.
The bargain shopping fauxlex wearing dulci deleche douches.

Then again I also ignore the guys who dont even drive their garage queen and only take it out on car show weekends. If you dont put at least 3,000 miles a year on a car, even a fair weather weekend toy, you are doing the car a disservice.

I just enjoy the car. In fact, the ONLY car related social media I give my time to other than the forums is ThrottleHouse because they amuse me, and Savagegeese because he really gets into the technical aspects and seems more impartial (mostly). Take his latest Elantra N video for instance.

I went from a mercedes AMG to a fully loaded 3LT HTC C8 to a toyota GR86 manual. All three lightyears apart but each striking a different chord. My next and likely last 'new' car will be a Hysteria HTC C8 or an Ultrasonic Blue LC500. And most folks would argue a C8, GR86, and LC500 appeal to different use cases, but for me they work so who gives a damn what others say?

You cant control the crowd around you. You can only control your actions.

Glen e

i’ve been here since 2014 and I don’t see that at all. I see the C8 owners to be the same as any of the other generations.

starchedup

What made me sit up and take notice was a post that I saw from a C8 owner that railed against another C8 owner because he didn’t own it out right, meaning he had a loan on it and I remember someone calling that person out on the fact that he would call out another owner who still has a car note on his C8. I don’t remember that stuff prior to the C8.

That ring any bells?

starchedup

I meant to reply to this when I did my quick reply, but I left an example of a C8 owner, giving another C8 owner grief because he didn’t own his C8 out right

SBMtbiker

Still seams like the supportive community it always has been to me!

BandDirector

…I get so sick of seeing the posts that say “if you can’t pay cash, you can’t really afford a Corvette” or “I only pay cash for toys” or any and all variations of that that imply that those of us that buy a Corvette as a daily driver and take out a loan to buy it, just like just about every other American made car, aren’t worthy of owning a Corvette because we didn’t buy it outright.

I also own a ‘98 Camaro Z28 I bought new 26+ years ago. I’ve been on Camaro forums for 26+ years as well and never encountered that sentiment there. Camaro forum users are always very helpful, and dare I say humble, and more times than not, make helpful post on the subject at hand. I’ve had to learn to grow an even thicker skin here with posters that post their unhelpful opinions oftentimes avoiding the question that was asked just so they can make their “correct opinion” known.

There was a recent poll on the average age of the C8 owners here, and at 53, I’m younger than over half of the C8 owners that responded to the poll! So I sometimes wonder with over half of the C8 owners here older than I am, seems like I get treated like a kid that doesn’t know any better, so I need to be schooled by the older crowd…seems a bit ridiculous at 53…

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...re-you-in.html

starchedup

That’s kind of the trend I’ve been noticing too. Before the C8 forum most of the replies were very much like what you experienced on the Camaro forums. All of this Corvette owners have been really helpful and I’m not saying the C8 owners are not… it’s just a little different these days.

prb

A few guys like that are not the community...who cares?

EvanD

I think it's social media and it's not just here on this forum. The ones that get me are ones that are chronic complainers who, appear to me, don't own a corvette. The forum is their hobby. I picture them in a basement at night tapping away...

But that said there's a lot of great people on here that create great conversation.

GOLD72

And then there are some of us here since near the very start of CF!!

sowega

So . . . what is the question?

starchedup

The question is have you noticed the same type of trend with C8 owners?

gsvette

I'm 54 and like most Gen-X'ers we grew up in the actual real world without the internet. I was out of college, working, and making loan payments on my first Corvette by the time the internet came online in the mid-1990's. Joined this forum 24 years ago this month. Back then if a man had something to say, he said it face-to-face....and thus learned decorum in his dealings or suffered the consequences.

Not so much these days. Decorum does not exist with a large percentage of "men" in follow-on generations that grew up with 24x7 access to the internet and social media. I also think a major factor with this is that when I was a kid 12% of households were a single mom. Today that number is 26%. Boys that grow up without a Dad around tend to be over socialized, emotional, and effeminate in their dealings.....especially online. They tend to compensate online for that which they are not in real life, and after doing this long enough, they lose the ability to separate reality from fantasy.

I've managed an engineering team at my company for many years. The rapid increase in these dynamics among young men over just the past few years is very noticeable and problematic. Like most companies, we have a Social Media Policy, and so far in 2024, we have fired four employees for violation of those policies. The look on their face as HR explains "At Will Employment" during termination to young men who should know better. A couple of weeks ago in the most recent of these situations, the phrase "I feel" was said 14 times by a young man losing a good job simply because he had to have the last word in an online discussion.

The words "I feel" should rarely be used in a professional context involving engineering, yet I hear them every day.....and the demographics in which they are used is telling.

starchedup

We are the same age that’s a pretty well thought out Gen X perspective. I appreciate your insights. I don’t think you’re wrong either on the whole.

sowega

C8 owners are people, and there are all kinds of people - the only common denominator I've seen among people driving C8s is that they like and can afford a C8. I find that the ones I meet in person are generally a lot more pleasant than those who I see/hear/read online.

The only thing I've really noticed on CF since I joined in 05/06 is that there's more gatekeeping toward new people and, when someone posts up with a question or issue, they're chastised as much as they're helped.

Bigredwing

I do not own a C8 but know many people who do. The answer to your question is no.

BRONCOSRUL

There are douchebag Corvette owners of any Corvette generation owners. There are also a holes KIA, Dodge, VW, Toyota and on and on owners. Not rich and nowhere making near making 6 figures. It all comes down to the Corvette owner/driver as an individual. Since 2010 I have had 8 Corvettes. Three C6's, four C7's, and now in my first 2024 C8. Throughout the ownership of any Corvette, I have never acted like I was rich or better than anyone. None of the Vettes I had were a daily driver. I either had a company car or second vehicle. I will admit when I drive the Vette somewhere, I do park way out. But over the years I have engaged in several conversations with people, Vette owners or not, that were all positive. I have seen people taking pictures of my car and even offered to let them sit in the car and get a picture taken. Is owning a Corvette even a status thing? Not for me. I just really like Corvettes. Ignorant people with no knowledge of Corvettes think that car equals money and a arrogant owner. And then go get in their $85,000 Yukon Denali XL

randyfl

I have noticed a few C8 owners who also own other exotics, but that is just a testimony to the value and styling of the C8, that we see them joining the C8 tribe. . Don't think anything of it, just car guys.