Corvette as a DD?
 

Probably a stupid question, but how is the Corvette for a year round daily in an area that is cold in winter and can get snow? Only reason I ask is I noticed a new 17 nearby for 47k (20k off). It is silver though and not a color I wanted. I did find a 19 in black with red calipers and interior that looks better, but its not as loaded (only 13k off) and is a distance away. I've never driven one, but I saw one parked next to a Camaro and it sits pretty low. I actually like the looks of the Camaro and Challenger better, but I know the Corvette is a little better performer and with the sales on the older model I thought I should at least research it a little. Insurance may be a bit more too, but I would think they would hold their value better (but not sure with the new one coming out) and of course not rust like the steel body cars.

Well, this is what happened to higher end cars; seasonal, special occasion. That's
why I buy used, and drive them all year. I got my '10 Camaro for $7000, and then
they put $1700 into it, so they said. I run it 1600+ miles a week now, as I bought
it as my work vehicle. I put most of my money into my '08 Mustang.

I am on the lines, as, it's just a car, it was made to be driven. They're better than
what they used to be in winter so many years ago. So, I buy them, and drive
them all year around. Think of the price structure on cars. $9000 Kia and you
run the piss out of it, and it's seen by all every day. Pay $47,000+ for a car you'll
barely drive, and no one sees it except on warm, dry days. So, lemme' get this
straight; people will pay less to drive and DRIVE, but pay more to store and drive
seasonally? Naaa, not for me... I Can see if you have more than one car, you
cannot drive both of them at the same time. So, one's a daily, and one's a show
car. If you just own ONE car, then it doesn't matter. I drive the Mustang on
weekends, shopping and wife stuff. I drive the Camaro SUN-WED, 431 miles a
day as a courier. Does not matter, I have full coverage and GAP. This is my 5th
car in four years, they don't last more than two years anyway. So, I get a new old
car every year or so, because DEER suck...

At this point, I would only keep a car sheltered if it were a classic, or antique.


Truth is, if I could buy a VIPER for < $10000, I'd drive it every day, so what....

A Corvette is not intended to be a "snow buggy". My C7 sits lower than what my Camaro SS did lowered on Hotchkis 1 1/2" springs. If you can't comfortably own one as a toy and have a reliable DD as well, don't waste your time. :cool:

Some diehards will drive a vette daily. It will be harder and less enjoyable, IMO if you have a nice car and have to deal with bad weather, ice, salt (although the vette's cladding is composite, its frame is steel), heavy traffic, moronic people and bad parking.

If I were in a less dense area with a sunny climate, driving a corvette daily would be ideal.

Couple blocks away from me a lady DD a C7 Z06, but it goes in the garage when theres snow and she drives a Sierra Denali.

I think it could be done, but the vette sits so low if theres any accumulation on the ground you would be SOL

C7's have an aluminum frame, so corrosion isn't going to affect too much. Weather is weather, and even on a good day you can't open things up much on a public road anyway -even if you're driving something mundane like an Accord. Similar with traffic -no matter what you drive to work, its going to be the same. So what makes it worse in a 'nice' car? And bad parking, at least with a Corvette you're less likely to get a door dent thanks to the composite body work. As for morons, again ... will driving a different car make them any less stupid? Assholes are a different story, they do stupid things on purpose & nice cars do attract their attention. But morons are just going to do what they do, and whatever that happens to be, its not really going to be any less likely or cheaper to fix in a 'normal' car.

I keep a older Honda Accord in my driveway for days it snows or when I have to throw something in the car and not want to ruin my camaro. Insurance is like $1000 a year in New York for it and it has over 200k miles on it and still runs great. I love driving my camaro as a daily and that’s why I got it is to enjoy it so I would do the same if I owned a Vette

FYI -Starting with C6, the Z06 frames were aluminum. All C7s and newer are aluminum/magnesium.

A Corvette is more than capable of driving in snow. Maybe not a blizzard, but with the right tires, throttle control and some weight in the back, it'll handle a couple inches fine.

Camaro is even more capable.

Can you, sure. Should you, probably not.

To the OP.....where you are at, it wouldn't be the way to go....where I am at, where it never snows....no problem, as I have been DDing mine for that last 100,000 miles (4 yrs).

No car, including a corvette, is immune from damage. Morons that cause damage can range with anything from touching a bumper to damaging a composite door (composites bend...believe it or not as well as break), the dreaded key etching from jealous people, on and on. No one says that you should or should not drive a vette daily, but if you do you have to weigh the likelihood that your car will remain safe. If you have a greater chance that the car can be damaged, then I would recommend driving something else that will attract less attention.

As far as other cars getting damaged, sure it can happen and it won't be a cheap affair getting them fixed. Again, you have to weigh your tolerance. (Loads of experience with this)For me, it was far more tolerant to go thru a damage claim with my dedicated daily driver as opposed to one of my ace cars. If that type of damage happened to one of my ace cars, I would've been a (worse) basket case......and you may even see me on the evening news......a crazed muscle car owner going apes it in a mall parking lot or somewhere.

Edit: Additionally, I highly doubt that a repair will be as expensive in a regular car as opposed to a corvette. Corvettes have unique body parts, chassis parts and components that are expensive. I can easily see a Corvette hood or fender costing a lot more to replace than a Malibu hood or fender, or an Equinox body part.

A buddy daily drove a 2005 Vette for 230,000 miles before trading it in on a C7 Z51 in 2016. He got $10k in trade.

KBB for a mint, 10,000 mile, 2005 C6 coupe is $18k.

So ...it cost him ~ $8k to drive it 21,000 miles per year instead keeping it under a car cover as a 900 per year garage queen.

They plow the roads immediately here and performance winter tires work well in ~5-6 inches of snow. Drive your cars! They aren’t collectibles.

This! A good amount of Camaro/Corvette owners view their cars as these rare collectible cars that can't touch water, other than while being washed.

Mass produced cars aren't collectibles.