[GM Kid]

When I traded in my '01 Corvette on my '05 GTO, I told myself it was because I have two small kids and I needed a car that was still fast, but that had a back seat and was less expensive. I also needed a car I'd actually drive on a daily basis. I was an anal freak with my C5, keeping it in the garage and commuting in something else--an expensive proposition I couldn't sustain. The GTO solved all my problems. I got a daily driver with 400 horsepower and a back seat.

Now, someone's dangling a low-mileage C6 in my face and I'm waivering.

The guy with the Vette, a decent family guy and successful businessman, was given the Vette as a gift by his business partner. Although he appreciated the gesture, he's not into sports cars and doesn't really want it.

At the gym last night, he told me all about the car. It's a red six-speed that was driven from Chicago to Phoenix in some kind of dealer trade. At the time my friend got the car, it had about 2,500 miles on it. Since then, he's added just 900 miles. I haven't seen the car, but he tells me it's pristine. He'd like it to go to "someone who'll take good care of it," he said.

The only downside is that it's a pretty basic Vette. It has the six-speed, but no Z-51 or HUD.

The upside? Well, it's a Vette, for heaven's sake. And I get the impression my friend will part with it for cheap, seeing as how the car was an outright gift and he has no costs to recoup.

So now I'm weighing things in the balance. Do I jump into Vette-dom again? My wife--remembering the anal basket case I was--looked at me like I was nuts. I countered by telling her that this is a used Vette, so the "new" is already off it and I'd therefore approach ownership with a more casual attitude. What's more, I wouldn't have paid an arm and a leg for it, so maybe I wouldn't be such a freak. Regarding the GTO's "family car" virtues, well, as it turns out I don't really ever take the whole family anywhere in my car. That's what my wife's GMC Envoy is for. I do occasionally take my boys out for a spin, so if I switched to a Vette I'd have to take them one at a time.

I guess a lot of this depends on what my friend decides to sell the Vette for. If it's some ridiculously low price, I'd probably bite.

Were you in my shoes, what would you do?

 

[fenderbirdbass]

vette

Go for the vette!!!!!!:cheers

 

[BostonF4$]

Vette

 

[cthusker]

If you can get a great deal on the used vette it's a no brainer to me! Believe me when I say you're going to love the C6......... it's a great driving car.

 

[C5ORGTO]

I also traded my 98 Vette for th GTO. I'm still kicking myself. I would love to get into a Vette again. Not that the GTO isn't a great car. Point number 2, man I wish I had a friend like that to give me a car.

 

[noz34me]

Depends on the price, and whether you're willing to drive it the same as you do the GTO- - of course that's the logical side- - -my guess is your passions will win.

 

[bigmac]

:cheers ... all depends on price! I sold my C5, looked for a C6, but didnt want to drop $42k. So I bought a GTO for $10k less, and still have the juice!!! :cool

 

[backinblack]

In the end you should listen to the wife if she lets you have a gto thats a pretty dam good woman you got there cause if you get divorced she ends up most of everything any way. sell the envoy give her the gto

 

[GM Kid]

Depends on the price, and whether you're willing to drive it the same as you do the GTO.

Aye, there's the rub: would I drive it every day the way I do with the GTO? If I can't bring myself to do that and I treat the Vette like it's a piece of fine china (as I did with my last Vette), then there's no point in buying it, is there?

Price will have a lot to do with the whole decision. I think the reason I drive and enjoy the GTO so much is that it was such a bargain. When you buy something that's on the ragged edge of your finances, though, it messes with your mind.

 

[fergyflyer]

I'm a bad influence here as well, C5 Z06 to a 2005 GTO. Then the large year-end check hit and I traded the GTO on the C6 and bought a Dakota to go back and forth to work. Same type of anal freak here, my C6 is garaged. I spent this weekend pulling the wheels and cleaning the suspension and brakes as well as the wheel wells. There is no dust on the engine let alone dirt.

It felt so good to get back into a Vette. There is just something magical about Vettes. GM, just like they did with the GTO, found a way to build a car that should cost many thousands of dollars more than it does. The C6 is so much more car than the C5.

My Z06 was loaded as far as Z06's go, my C6 is a base model. Even as a base car the Vette is still special. I could have bought a loaded vert, but the base did everything I really needed. I really don't miss anything from the Z06 except for the HUD. There is also tons of stuff you can buy aftermarket for the Vette to enhance the indivisuality of it.

Do the Vette!!!!!!!!! Unless the wife says no. Just stick around here like I did, the people on this forum are the best.

 

[Tom]

My GTO is my leased daily driver. i too needed a back seat. now we decide whether to take the gto or her rendezvous.

So, in february i bought a black miata as a summer toy/replacement for the gto when the lease is up in two years. I am very content with the miata. make that was very content with the car until a few days ago when i found someone is selling a green miata with less miles.

My wife said do whatever I want since either color is fine with her.

Needless to say I am gently pursuing the green one since i have been jonesing for a british racing green roadster for some twenty five years, and since i take better care of my beaters than most people take of their toys.....

so from one car nut to another i say go for it. the kids will get over splitting the rides.

 

[b_a_betterperson]

Trying to strip the emotion out the decision here.

Vettes are nice -- but you're going to take a big hit on the GTO. Besides, once you get the Vette, you'll be back to where you were a few years ago. You won't want to take the Vette out -- will spend hours detailing it -- and will begin looking around for another car, etc. You can BS yourself now -- but the reality will eventually surface.

New Coupes are selling $3K under sticker (asking price before any haggling) and Verts are at $5K under sticker. Typically, Vettes sell at or near sticker for the first couple of years after a new version comes out -- then the prices drop like rocks as dealers blow stuff out to keep Bowling Green running.

Bottom line? Sit tight until you can go back to a two seater. You'll be money ahead -- and there will be plenty of low mileage C6s floating around -- ones with the options you want, etc. at prices as good or better than you'll be able to get now.

 

[GM Kid]

Bottom line? Sit tight until you can go back to a two seater.

How on earth did my wife get a hold of you?

 

[Mad_Dan_Eccles]

Bottom line? Sit tight until you can go back to a two seater. You'll be money ahead -- and there will be plenty of low mileage C6s floating around -- ones with the options you want, etc. at prices as good or better than you'll be able to get now.

:agree

We could have bough a C6 (just) instead of the GTO. But there were other things we had to consider.
- The extra money means we have a bigger cushion against disaster and we can take an overseas trip this year so the kids can see their other grandparents
- Both kids can ride with us when we go out - we don't have to take the Disco everywhere when we can get four in the fun car
- I didn't really want a 'vette as a daily driver when I do 2500-3000 miles every month and that would mean another car for day to day - insurance, and licensing all cost money.
- I think the GTO is easier to live with as an every day car on what Caltrans try to convince us are well maintained highways; all said and done a 'vette is a sports car with a sports car ride
- I like that fact that the GTO isn't an immediate head turner and magnet for every wannabe in town, but people who really know cars know what it is.

No it wasn't an easy decision, but in the end the GTO provided us with the best compromise between an out-and-out sports car and family needs. With a lot more money a Jag XJ-R would have been nice, but then we could have had the 'vette and some money left over for a ricemobile as a commuter car

 

[GM Kid]

- The extra money means we have a bigger cushion against disaster
- I think the GTO is easier to live with as an every day car
- I like that fact that the GTO isn't an immediate head turner and magnet for every wannabe in town, but people who really know cars know what it is.

Very good points. I'm a big fan of having "margin" in life--living enough within my means to be able to contend successfully with life's monkey wrenches. And you're totally right about the GTO being easy to live with. Regrettably, poseurs have made owning Corvettes a risky proposition for we true sports car fans. When I had my C5, I was forever explaining I didn't buy it for how it made me appear to others, but for what it did for me as a driving tool of exceptional beauty and efficacy. But people still didn't get it, choosing instead to resent me first and ask questions later.

Used '05 C6s are going for $42k. Used '05 GTOs are going for $27k. I don't have $15k just sitting around, so unless my friend regards me as a charity case and has an easy-come, easy-go attitude about his free Corvette, this deal isn't going to happen. Heck, if he really just wants to get rid of the car with no regard to his finances, the responsible thing to do would be to sell the car at full value and donate the money to charity--that charity being something more legitimate than me.

 

[b_a_betterperson]

What kind of price is the guy looking for?

Do a KBB on a used C6 with those options and mileage -- if he wants book on it -- then there's your answer. If he's $10K under book or something -- that would be a deal worth considering.

I try to be smart with money -- but end up doing dumb things like buying new cars anyway!

 

[GM Kid]

What kind of price is the guy looking for?

That's what I've yet to find out. Yeah, $10k under book is about what I'm hoping for. I wonder if the IRS regards that as suspicious? Or maybe just dumb.

I did do the KBB thing. That's where I came up with the $42k figure, which seems fairly high to me for a basic '05 with no HUD or Z-51.

I saw my little sister at the gym last night. You'll recall that the Corvette owner is her husband's best friend. I told her how I was pondering this thing. She said she'd talk to the guy and have him call me. We'll see.

 

[GM Kid]

Well, the decision's been taken out of my hands. My little sister just called to say that their friend is going to list his car in Autotrader for $42k.

Actually, I'm glad! This whole thing seemed really weird!

 

[Tom]

Well, the decision's been taken out of my hands. My little sister just called to say that their friend is going to list his car in Autotrader for $42k.

Actually, I'm glad! This whole thing seemed really weird!

Decision postponed, not taken out of your hands.

when he doesnt get 42k and comes back to you and you say 32......

 

[b_a_betterperson]

Autotrader for $42k

That's nuts. You can get a new one for that at Sunnyvale Chevrolet here in Northern California just by walking in and exhaling carbon dioxide. You can probably get a couple grand more off by haggling. Remember, the loaded coupes sticker mid to high 50's -- but the lightly optioned ones like that guy's are only mid 40's.