Thinking about getting a low utility (fun) car, talk me into it...(Updated! Picture!)

[blckgrffn]

For those of you who own a vehicle that causes your number of cars in your household to outnumber the number of drivers, how do you justify this costly investment?

The world being so wonderful, I've been thinking that maybe it's time to get a stupid, fun, gas burning dinosaur while the getting is good.

I am specifically looking at C6 convertible corvettes with manual transmission. Preferably in a loud color like yellow. I have two kids (8 &11) but... who cares? I'll plan to keep this indefinitely. But I am not really tied to one make or model, but getting too much older means a big fall off in interior quality, features, part availability, etc.

My wife is almost convinced that I am not insane, we took a test drive in a local dealer beat up 2008 that met all my checkboxes and we had fun while she might have been more terrified than me. I had never driven a corvette before this drive, so at least I've crossed that off my bucket list.

Thanks for any insight you might have

 

[repoman0]

At one point I had four cars in a two driver household, two (arguably three?) of which had/have little to no utility 🙄 that’s not even that bad compared to many car people I know. I ended up selling one of them though earlier this year (the Miata — turns out I’m not a convertible person)

Personally I don’t and can’t really justify it to myself — it’s a waste of money. But I really enjoy maintaining it, modifying/perfecting it and taking it to the track. My particular car has significantly appreciated since I bought it, probably by around 3x, but considering what I’ve put into it I really wouldn’t make any money at all if I sold. Similarly to you I plan to keep it permanently, eventually to be a silly probably almost unusable relic of a past time.

Make sure it’s a manual to get the full relic experience

 

[Genx87]

My "sports" car is an Orange 2020 Audi SQ8. A mid sized CUV with 500HP engine, does 0-60 on a good day around 3.6 seconds. My drive around car is a 2014 Mazda CX-5. Eventually plan to replace it with an electric Escalade in 4-5 years. I justify the extra car as need to have a little fun in life. My suggestion is go with the yellow. Go bold with the fun car, you won't regret it! This Orange SQ8 looks more gold in the daylight and usually get at least one comment about loving the color when filling up at the gas station. Blacks, whites, silver are a dime a dozen.

 

[thedarkwolf]

My 95 miata cost me $2200 years ago and the insurance is around $350 a year for comprehensive coverage so not that much money. It is also super reliable, parts are everywhere, and it is fairly easy to work on.

 

[OlyAR15]

I’m single, and at one point had three cars: one practical car and a couple of “fun” cars. Impossible to justify, especially with insurance, and I hardly drove one of them. I now have two cars, one practical and one fun: ‘17 Civic and ‘17 NSX. oddly enough, I drive the NSX way more than the Civic.

Ideally, you would only have one vehicle that can do it all, but there is nothing wrong with having a single-purpose fun vehicle. YOLO. You will regret not getting at least one dream car when you are on your death bed. At least, that is how I talked myself into it.

 

[Stopsignhank]

I had a boss many years ago that would buy a 1950s car. He said he would buy the car, drive it for 3 years then sell it for the same amount, or even more, than he bought it for and then buy a different car.

Jump forward 30 years. We are in need of a truck for occasional use. I told my wife as long as we are getting a truck that is not a daily driver how about getting a cool truck. I am the proud owner of a 1941 Ford truck. My plan was to buy this truck and then in 5 years sell it and buy a different truck. My son has fallen in love with this truck so I keep Elmer.

Edit: Agree with Repo, get a stick. So much fun.

 

[blckgrffn]

So I did it.



That’s my 2012 Corvette Grand Sport M6 LT3 Convertible with 45k miles. It has the adjustable suspension, two stage exhaust, and is bone stock as near as I and the Vette mechanics I had inspect it prepurhcase could tell. It was more than I wanted to spend but it looks freaking cool to me, sounds amazing, is a rocket ship and has a soul.

It is also going to be a money pit, I can tell. Hopefully my business does well 😂. I can’t exaggerate how much my wife supported me in this in all ways - I had real hesitation when it came to investing that much into a “toy”.

I took my daughter to her first day of third grade in it and she loves it. My middle schooler son is embarrassed by it! Oh well, my dad and father in law liked it, my mom and mother in law were pretty chill about it 🤷‍♂️

 

[NutBucket]

Congrats! Looks great!

 

[Fenixgoon]

So I did it.

View attachment 67860

That’s my 2012 Corvette Grand Sport M6 LT3 Convertible with 45k miles. It has the adjustable suspension, two stage exhaust, and is bone stock as near as I and the Vette mechanics I had inspect it prepurhcase could tell. It was more than I wanted to spend but it looks freaking cool to me, sounds amazing, is a rocket ship and has a soul.

It is also going to be a money pit, I can tell. Hopefully my business does well 😂. I can’t exaggerate how much my wife supported me in this in all ways - I had real hesitation when it came to investing that much into a “toy”.

I took my daughter to her first day of third grade in it and she loves it. My middle schooler son is embarrassed by it! Oh well, my dad and father in law liked it, my mom and mother in law were pretty chill about it 🤷‍♂️

if you're doing mods, yeah you can spend plenty. but otherwise, the corvette has a pretty damn reliable engine (save for the heat soak issues on the Z06/ZR1s)

 

[Stiff Clamp]

I remember being embarrassed as a kid when my parents drove me in a bright yellow car. Wasn't even a sports car.
Yes, other kids would make wisecracks.

 

[Stopsignhank]

Frickin' sweet car.

Just think when your son is 17 and all of a sudden embarrassed by the car and instead wants to drive it. You get to look him straight in the eye and say, No.

 

[DooKey]

Nice ride! I have a C6 myself and they are great bang for the buck sports cars. Plan on keeping mine for a long time. Enjoy!!!

 

[NutBucket]

When I was a kid my dad had a yellow Chevy Luv. I guess I was too young to care as he replaced it with a white Toyota...I was probably 7.

A co-worker was driving a teal Suzuki Samurai for a while. His son asked to be dropped off around the corner...called it a Barbie car.

 

[JulesMaximus]

C7 would have been my choice but congrats nonetheless.

 

[blckgrffn]

C7 would have been my choice but congrats nonetheless.

Yeah, ones with the normal amounts of miles and features I wanted were well north of 50K. A C7 would have been great, yes I agree.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Yeah, ones with the normal amounts of miles and features I wanted were well north of 50K. A C7 would have been great, yes I agree.

Vinwiki has a great video on used Corvette sales. You might be able to relate to some of this.

 

[blckgrffn]

@JulesMaximus - thanks for the video. Lots of true notes in there.

I actually found that reasonable cars were snapped up super duper fast. And that gave me some heart burn, especially with kids and schedules and all that. If I had been a bachelor, or maybe not have had kids, I would likely have a car that I had to fly to. I am a bargain guy and I definitely would have been swayed by an excellent value.

I got car that needs some TLC, although not nearly as gross as that one the dude in the video bought. That's why I said it was a potential money pit. I've got some exterior trim pieces to replace - the chin spoiler is sad, etc. At 1' inspection during washing it it definitely looks 10 years old, but at 10' it's a "wow" car still. I have to decide how much I care about things you need to adjust your monocle to call out.

That said, just like that guy was being sheepish about, you find your one and it's special.

This thing is a yellow (preferred color) 6MT (required) Vert (required) with adjustable suspension (preferred) no trace of drivetrain mods (vastly preferred) and the interior except for a couple specific spots is in *great* shape. Seats look like they have almost zero wear. It's got yellow calipers, which I never would have admitted I *really* appreciate. I actually don't like red for the callout calipers. etc. etc. It's also a Grand Sport and I dig the wide stance. The price of brakes and tires will likely make me wince but... that wide butt

So as much as I am feeling like I made a mistake - the base car is the car I want. At least, what I think I want