Daily Driver? What say you?

[Jman]

'96 CE LT4 - I'm getting rid of my Ford SUV this summer and was thinking about keeping my vette as my daily driver for about a year. It has 83k on the ticker already so it isn't a trailer queen. But it is still in fabulous condition for an 8 yr old car - cosmetically and mechanically. Needs new shocks and a clutch but what 8 yr old car doesn't with that many miles.

I could sell it for what I owe or drive it like I stole it. But I know once I start putting more miles on it the value will drop considerably and the repairs will probably start coming more frequent. Hmmmmm??

 

[Tuna]

I vote for daily driver!
That's what my 92 is and it's got 104K+. Then again, I'm not interested in selling it either. My kids will inherit it!

If you are seriously worried about resale value, then sell it now while it's worth more.

 

[Wamp]

Daily Driver

Our 96 LT4 is a daily driver. We have not had big problems mechanically. Just kept up with the maintanance. Resale value is not a huge thing for us, as we are keeping the car!!

 

[WradDad]

Drive it!

I also drive mine every day, rain or shine. It already had 96K on the clock when I bought it nearly a year ago, it's up to 104K now!

Since it already has some miles on it, and as long as you maintain it, the value isn't going to drop much from what it is now.

Life's too short to not drive a 'Vette.

 

[lew]

Drive it.

I recently had to make the same decision. The CE I bought had been stored almost continuously since new. It had only 8K miles on the clock and I felt tempted to continue to store and preserve it as the previous owner had done. I finally decided that I had bought it to enjoy it, and I could enjoy it the most by driving it. I am now using it as a daily driver, with the exception that I won't take it out when there is salt on the roads. I hope you enjoy your CE as much as I have been enjoying mine.

Lew

 

[bossvette]

Corvettes were made to be driven, enuff said

 

[XS650]

My '96 LT-4 is my daily driver. It had 39,500 miles when I got it last November and at the rate I'm going will run over 12,000 miles per year.

To put things in perspective, it cost less than a new fully equipped Honda Civic and will depreciate less than a new car no matter how much I drive it.

It's a car, not a shrine. Just it!

Dick

 

[atmmac]

Mine is a driver i guess you could say. I try not to drive it in the rain gets dirty too easily because its a black car. But when its nice out im driving it. this year i put about 6000 miles on it. Its got 12000 miles now so i have a lot of life left on the car. All i can say is I'm loving it!



-Andy

 

[Dean Barker]

Here's how I look at it; if you are not going to drive it and just look at it, you just as well look at somebody else's vette.

 

[XS650]

Here's how I look at it; if you are not going to drive it and just look at it, you just as well look at somebody else's vette.

;stupid
I like the way you think. Save money and garage space at the same time :L :L :L

 

[Edmond]

Plus, there is no way that driving an SUV could be as fun as driving a Vette'. Us guys in the north envy you guys in the south who can drive year round! :cool

 

[Vette96CE]

Drive it and be proud

Hi Jman,

I've had my Vette for 2 1/2 years and drive it everyday here in Flordia.
I bought the CE with 80,000 miles on it and I have over 100,000 miles now.
I think if you listen to everyone here and do regular maintence on it you'll
LOVE it The biggest repair on my CE was intake manifold gasket replacement. If you get rid of it you'll only regret it later. :cry

Good luck with your decision

Jim "Vette96CE"

 

[Jman]

Why - It's Unanimous

If this was an election, it would be a landslide. Unless someone walks up to me in my garage and plunks down a wad of cash, I don't think my Vette is going anywhere till I unload my Ford. And maybe "unload" is the wrong word as it has been a very faithful SUV for 125k miles but her time is up. Therefore, the LT4 will remain my grocery getter until then. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[boomer]

Woohoo, that's the way to be. They look soooooo much better on the road than in the garage.
Oliver

 

[354RwHpLT4CE]

I drive mine everyday almost 80 miles roundtrip to work and back...wouldnt have it any other way.I love my car....especially when the tires are smokin' with the ass end hung out!!

 

[bossvette]

I drive mine everyday almost 80 miles roundtrip to work and back...wouldnt have it any other way.I love my car....especially when the tires are smokin' with the ass end hung out!!

I envy you 40 miles in a Vette after a bad day at work is great therapy, perhaps that is why my attitude ad is so bad lately, mine is put away till march:cry

 

[Edmond]

I envy you 40 miles in a Vette after a bad day at work is great therapy, perhaps that is why my attitude ad is so bad lately, mine is put away till march:cry

Yeah, not being able to drive the Vette' does that to you. I took mine out today for the first time in weeks. Warmed her up and took her out for a quick sprint up to 87MPH before I shut her down and brought her home.

Can't wait for the spring to get here!

 

[Skant]

I bought my LT4 CE with 40k miles and had planned to keep my K-5 Blazer as well. Well, after having the car for 2 weeks, I decided I just couldn't be bothered with the Blazer anymore (much as I loved that truck!). So I sold it, and use the LT4 as my daily driver.

Occassionally I've had pangs of guilt that I'm 'using up' this machine. But really, these are not like Ferrari's... they're not intended as expensive monuments that just sit in the hangar (You don't have to worry about facing an F50 on the street. It will never happen because none of them ever get driven more than a few miles. They don't have the endurance to be daily driven even if it they wanted to). Vettes are actually intended to be driven hard and long. They have the performance _and_ the endurance.

So drive it! You're not 'using the car up' if you actively maintain it, fix whatever breaks, and replace whatever wears out. You can keep the car in excellent condition indefinately if you want to. It's just that a lot of people run cars into the ground because they don't maintain them enough... those are the ones 'using the car up'... undermaintaining it until it's no good anymore, and then selling it off or junking it to buy their next vehicle to run into the ground. That's why odometer readings are important for typical ownership... but well maintained cars it just doesn't matter how many miles are on the odo.

So that's _my_ way of not feeling guilty about it. I do the work to keep my car _nice_. 12,000 miles later it's in _even better_ shape than when I bought it a little over a year ago. I show it to people, and they think it's a brand new car. I keep the engine bay clean and everything.

 

[Edmond]

I bought my LT4 CE with 40k miles and had planned to keep my K-5 Blazer as well. Well, after having the car for 2 weeks, I decided I just couldn't be bothered with the Blazer anymore (much as I loved that truck!). So I sold it, and use the LT4 as my daily driver.

:L:L:L I like that story Skant. If it didn't snow here, I'd do the same thing!

 

[Daryllawman]

Drive the Vette..........