Joined
·
5,887 Posts
I've wanted to own a Corvette ever since 1980, when I was a five year old kid and would ride in the cargo area behind my parents' new 1980 white coupe. My parents have owned many over the years (they currently own a 1998 C5 coupe with 12,000 miles, but an automatic) and I even took one to my senior prom.
Current Situation
I am married and have two small sons (ages 2.5 and 4 months). We own two vehicles, a 2004 Accord EX V6 with 67,000 miles, and a 2008 Sienna Limited AWD with 3,500 miles. The Accord is paid off, but the Sienna will not be until December 2013 (at about $515 per month). Both vehicles have been reliable for me (the Sienna damn well better be, since it's less than six months old and hasn't even had its first oil change yet!) and I could keep the Honda for easily another 67,000 miles. Also, the Honda gets about 22-23 miles per gallon the way I drive it. We have a two car garage and park both vehicles i the garage at night.
I'm now at a point in my life where I feel that I could add a third car to our fleet, at least financially speaking. If I got something in addition to our current two, the oldest (the Honda) would sit in the driveway while the Sienna and the new car got the garage spot.
The Dilemma
Here's the problem: as much as I'd love to own a Corvette, my wife and I had an interesting conversation today about how often I'd really be able to drive it, other than to work (and I park in a public garage, which is nice, but still a risk IMO). On weekends, we do things together as a family, and that makes the Corvette impractical. So does trading in the Accord for a Corvette and using it as my daily driver, since I'd get worse fuel economy and not have an emergency fallback if I had to pick up one of the kids from somewhere.
So, how do I justify a $42,000+ purchase (I'd probably get a 1LT 6MT with NPP performance exhaust and a glass roof, and that's it) when I can't even tell her when I'd use the car? I can't take it to Corvette shows unless I want to go by myself, which sort of defeats the purpose. She said that's why you always see 50 year old guys in Corvettes (or in DuSpinnst's case, unmarried guys with good jobs - and I didn't have a great job when I was unmarried), because their family obligations are no longer as pressing.
She'd be totally fine with me spending the money instead on an upgraded car for me, but I'm a little hesitant to do that for two reasons: 1) I don't know what gas prices will do, so I'd hate to commit to a less-efficient car like a G8 GT only to see gas at $4.50+ for the entire time I owned it, and 2) replacing the Accord with something new (except maybe a Honda Fit, since they're cheap) means delaying the Corvette purchase until either the Sienna is paid off or I can put a lot more money down on the car. It's almost ridiculous enough for me to entertain the thought of two $500+ car payments, let alone making payments on three cars at once.
Anyway, here are the options as I see them. Please vote above.
1. Keep the 2004 Accord, buy a new Corvette in 2009 (please help with justification!)
2. Keep the 2004 Accord, buy a SKY Redline in 2009 (much smaller payments, as long as I fit into it, which isn't a guarantee at 6'4" 190)
3. Trade 2004 Accord on 2009 Honda Fit, buy Corvette in 2010-2011
4. Trade 2004 Accord on 2008 Pontiac G8 GT, no Corvette.
5. Trade 2004 Accord on 2008 Cadillac CTS DI, no Corvette.
6. Other (please specify).
And yes, I know that the economical solution is to just keep the Accord until its wheels fall off, and no, I don't want to drive this car for another 5 years, even though it's been really good to me. I'm bored with it.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Current Situation
I am married and have two small sons (ages 2.5 and 4 months). We own two vehicles, a 2004 Accord EX V6 with 67,000 miles, and a 2008 Sienna Limited AWD with 3,500 miles. The Accord is paid off, but the Sienna will not be until December 2013 (at about $515 per month). Both vehicles have been reliable for me (the Sienna damn well better be, since it's less than six months old and hasn't even had its first oil change yet!) and I could keep the Honda for easily another 67,000 miles. Also, the Honda gets about 22-23 miles per gallon the way I drive it. We have a two car garage and park both vehicles i the garage at night.
I'm now at a point in my life where I feel that I could add a third car to our fleet, at least financially speaking. If I got something in addition to our current two, the oldest (the Honda) would sit in the driveway while the Sienna and the new car got the garage spot.
The Dilemma
Here's the problem: as much as I'd love to own a Corvette, my wife and I had an interesting conversation today about how often I'd really be able to drive it, other than to work (and I park in a public garage, which is nice, but still a risk IMO). On weekends, we do things together as a family, and that makes the Corvette impractical. So does trading in the Accord for a Corvette and using it as my daily driver, since I'd get worse fuel economy and not have an emergency fallback if I had to pick up one of the kids from somewhere.
So, how do I justify a $42,000+ purchase (I'd probably get a 1LT 6MT with NPP performance exhaust and a glass roof, and that's it) when I can't even tell her when I'd use the car? I can't take it to Corvette shows unless I want to go by myself, which sort of defeats the purpose. She said that's why you always see 50 year old guys in Corvettes (or in DuSpinnst's case, unmarried guys with good jobs - and I didn't have a great job when I was unmarried), because their family obligations are no longer as pressing.
She'd be totally fine with me spending the money instead on an upgraded car for me, but I'm a little hesitant to do that for two reasons: 1) I don't know what gas prices will do, so I'd hate to commit to a less-efficient car like a G8 GT only to see gas at $4.50+ for the entire time I owned it, and 2) replacing the Accord with something new (except maybe a Honda Fit, since they're cheap) means delaying the Corvette purchase until either the Sienna is paid off or I can put a lot more money down on the car. It's almost ridiculous enough for me to entertain the thought of two $500+ car payments, let alone making payments on three cars at once.
Anyway, here are the options as I see them. Please vote above.
1. Keep the 2004 Accord, buy a new Corvette in 2009 (please help with justification!)
2. Keep the 2004 Accord, buy a SKY Redline in 2009 (much smaller payments, as long as I fit into it, which isn't a guarantee at 6'4" 190)
3. Trade 2004 Accord on 2009 Honda Fit, buy Corvette in 2010-2011
4. Trade 2004 Accord on 2008 Pontiac G8 GT, no Corvette.
5. Trade 2004 Accord on 2008 Cadillac CTS DI, no Corvette.
6. Other (please specify).
And yes, I know that the economical solution is to just keep the Accord until its wheels fall off, and no, I don't want to drive this car for another 5 years, even though it's been really good to me. I'm bored with it.
Thanks in advance for your help.
