C6 vs S197

[Mylilpony]

Hopefully you guys can help me decide what I should do....

Here is the story, as short as I can make it:

Bought my car (AUTOMATIC) brand new as a daily driver, drove it that way for over a year, but being I live in Queens NY, the car started showing some signs of wear and tear (scratched bumpers & body work twice ). so I bought a second car to drive back and forth to work.

I have put a few thousand into the stang as far as exterior and performance mods, and I am sort of not happy with it. Why? Bc it is a weekend car now, and I dont really want an auto. I really want a manual bc of the fun factor. I do love the way the car looks, and it looks how I envisioned it would when I first got it, so I love it for that. Also, I do a lot of car shows, and have been winning a lot of trophies with the car.

The other negative about the car is that I have had nothing but bad luck with performance mods. I put 3.73's in, and after that the clutch packs in the diff. started crapping out. I had over $1K worth of suspension mods done, and I get nothing but noises- had a lot of it cured, and now im getting noises again. I really just do not want to deal with it!!! Also, the car is not fast enough, so I have begun looking into superchargers.

Fast forward to yesterday:

I did a show at a local chevy dealer... started talking to the owner about Vettes, and we began negotiation. they were VERY negotiable.... currently, I am looking at an 09 LT1 Jet Stream Blue Coupe which I've basically negotiated down to $45k (from about $52K). I honestly think they will go lower on it as well. They are also giving me $18K for my 2006 (with less than 14K miles on it- I barely drive it) which is way more than the $15K ford would give me about two months ago when I inquired about a GT500.

What do you guys think? Is the corvette worth the extra money?

Being I've had bad luck with mods, i would leave the vette alone and basically just do exhaust. I havnt modded the stang in about 10 months since i did the aluminum DS. Dont get me wrong, I love building the car- and thats why i would miss the mustang, but ive had terrible luck so far.

I do bleed ford blue, and hate the typical vette guys, but the car will hold its value better than the stang so that also sways me. I do not have LOADS of money either where the car payment does not matter to me lol.

sorry for such a long winded post... hopefully you guys can share your experiences. btw, if i keep the car, i will put a blower- if i get the vette, the $7K that i would be blowing the car with will go as a down payment.

another wild card here is that my father has a 1958 vette lol.

 

[Deez-67]

no vette is worth any money

<--thats just me tho--

 

[bigwilly43729]

I was considering buying a Vette a few weeks ago, mostly for the same reasons that you want to. It just wasn't in the budget though.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my car, but it's a walking money pit that I can't stop dumping cash into.

If I were in your shoes, I'd do it in a hot minute.

 

[stkjock]

Vinny - a tough call, I too have thought of getting a Vette as a weekend car (as the mustang is now). A LS3 vette is a quick car, I've run a few and all very close runs, usually with me having the win as long as the run didn't go above 120 or so. Also a cam swap and tune yeilds some nice improvements in power. The issue for me, no backseat, I would not be able to take the kids in the Vette, and thus its useage on the weeekends woudl decrease. So for now I'm keeping the Stang.

As far as the noises, I think it is inherent with performance upgrades that you get them. Dan at Realspeed once said to me " If you got in the car at the showroom and it sounded like it does after you modded it, most of us would never buy them in the first place" (or something very similar).

If I didnt have the little ones.......... I think I'd get the Vette. Its a more capable all around performance car, of course IMHO they are different classes of cars as well. Muscle car vs Sports Car, 30K vs 50K.

Could you make the stang as quick, for sure w/ a good blower your there IMHO.

Hope this helps (do you have a garage for the car?)

 

[Steedman07]

Unless your interest rate is realllllly low, dont finance that much money, interest will kill ya..I would get a good blower and a pro-dyno tune and be done for a while..And for $45,000, I would get the 2010 GT500 instead of a non-Z06 vette..

 

[Mylilpony]

Vinny - a tough call, I too have thought of getting a Vette as a weekend car (as the mustang is now). A LS3 vette is a quick car, I've run a few and all very close runs, usually with me having the win as long as the run didn't go above 120 or so. Also a cam swap and tune yeilds some nice improvements in power. The issue for me, no backseat, I would not be able to take the kids in the Vette, and thus its useage on the weeekends woudl decrease. So for now I'm keeping the Stang.

As far as the noises, I think it is inherent with performance upgrades that you get them. Dan at Realspeed once said to me " If you got in the car at the showroom and it sounded like it does after you modded it, most of us would never buy them in the first place" (or something very similar).

If I didnt have the little ones.......... I think I'd get the Vette. Its a more capable all around performance car, of course IMHO they are different classes of cars as well. Muscle car vs Sports Car, 30K vs 50K.

Could you make the stang as quick, for sure w/ a good blower your there IMHO.

Hope this helps (do you have a garage for the car?)

My father's vette is in the garage, so no.. I do not. The mustang is kept under a cover, as would the vette.

Also, to clear things up... these suspension noises that I am getting now is not an increase in NVH, its not supposed to be there, even if the suspension is a bit more agressive lol. It might be the stock strut tower issue, it could be a blown strut, it could be the sway bar. I just dont want to go through all of this again with the suspension... it annoys the hell out of me.

My thinking here is that if I fix the suspension it could cost me $1K, then add another $7500 for a blower and tune then I'm at $8500. Im not sure im so willing to put that into this car, especially when I'm well exceeding the book value. Plus, what do i do if the engine or tranny needs a rebuild? So, why not put it into a vette that would hold its value better. I am interested in a GT500 as well but ford doesnt seem to be moving on them like this chevy dealer was with the vette.

 

[stkjock]

got ya Vinny. if we made most of our decisions on the pure economics and not the "passion" our cars would remain stock.

Sounds like to me you want the Vette..........

 

[Mylilpony]

Dave, dont get me wrong.. I'd love the vette.

What draws me to it is the suspension and power out of the box. I wouldnt need to mod it to make it fast. Of course I'm going to get tired of the power and make it quicker but not for awhile I think. Its also something new, and somewhat of a challenge being i have never owned a manual car.

The issue is that I am only 27 years old and I still live 'at home', so i would be looking to buy some property very soon (within the next year). it doesnt really make sense to have such a large car payment, and then mortgage. I think that is what will ultimately stop me from going with the vette. buying the vette or putting the blower on my car.... neither make much financial sense lol.

 

[stkjock]

ahhh, yes well with that added info, I gotta say, save the loot

 

[Steedman07]

Dave, dont get me wrong.. I'd love the vette.

What draws me to it is the suspension and power out of the box. I wouldnt need to mod it to make it fast. Of course I'm going to get tired of the power and make it quicker but not for awhile I think. Its also something new, and somewhat of a challenge being i have never owned a manual car.

The issue is that I am only 27 years old and I still live 'at home', so i would be looking to buy some property very soon (within the next year). it doesnt really make sense to have such a large car payment, and then mortgage. I think that is what will ultimately stop me from going with the vette. buying the vette or putting the blower on my car.... neither make much financial sense lol.

You would be crazy to buy a $45,000 car and not own your own property yet..

 

[JAY86]

dunno what to say here.... but I personally would not buy a non-z06 vette (especially in your situation).... simple reason is that I have a GT stang that can be easily brought up to the power levels of a base vette with a S/C and some decent suspension mods.

I will say this, my next car will be a z06 Vette... just not for another 3 or so years... im 22 now and simply dont have the income levels to afford one ( I can but it would be financial death if i did it now and dumb on my part)...

Im gunna say leave the vette for now (just because your saying you have property/home purchases in the near future)... if it doesnt feel right... dont do it! on the contrary if you feel its 'just right' then do it... i like to plan ahead... but life gets boring if you plan everything... sometimes if it feels right then just do it! that is how i ended up with my s197 i have right now, lol!

 

[Mylilpony]

^ +1 to the above, however..... I do okay for myself thankfully, and I do not stay in my father's house bc I cannot afford my own place. The reason why I will be getting my own place is bc my father will be looking to move down to florida, and I cannot go with him bc of work.

 

[lime 05]

stick with ford get a shelby or a roush. ive worked on plenty of the ls motors and they or a pain in the ass to work on and parts or not cheap for them.

 

[Steedman07]

stick with ford get a shelby or a roush. ive worked on plenty of the ls motors and they or a pain in the ass to work on and parts or not cheap for them.

My buddy just had to put a new motor in his 04 Z06...$15,000 later, and a little head work..

 

[MOC826]

stick with ford get a shelby or a roush. ive worked on plenty of the ls motors and they or a pain in the ass to work on and parts or not cheap for them.

have you compared prices on cams for the lsx motors vs our mustangs?? there is a good 400 dollar difference and you can get an easy 30-40 hp just from a cam and intake...we get maybe 15-20 with 2 cams... your crazy if you think the lsx motors are hard to work on. those are the most simplest based motors to work on and they respond so well to mods.


IMHO get a vette. if i had the chance i would trade my car in for a c6 in a heartbeat, i would do it (and if i could afford it)

look on this site for some good deals. some may not be in your area but i have seen 1lt models go for as low as 38k new and 1lt zo6s go for 58k new
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-dealer-inventory-118/

also look in the regular classifieds they have some pretty decent deals in there too

 

[MOC826]

My buddy just had to put a new motor in his 04 Z06...$15,000 later, and a little head work..

maybe for a crate motor and labor for the shop to do it... a good used motor and doing it yourself i bet you could do it for around 5k maybe less

 

[Steedman07]

maybe for a crate motor and labor for the shop to do it... a good used motor and doing it yourself i bet you could do it for around 5k maybe less

Its stroked I believe..Lots of head work, custom cams..But Labor and gaskets and all the other bullshit, dyno time..Adds up..And there are very few people that can do soemthing like that themselves..

 

[Rypper1]

stick with ford get a shelby or a roush. ive worked on plenty of the ls motors and they or a pain in the ass to work on and parts or not cheap for them.

Worked on a few myself and found the exact opposite. And when is the last time you found a cheap part for any new car?

 

[MOC826]

Its stroked I believe..Lots of head work, custom cams..But Labor and gaskets and all the other bullshit, dyno time..Adds up..And there are very few people that can do soemthing like that themselves..

stroking it is easy if you just buy the rotating assembly, head work i would have to send off, the price of a custom grind cam isnt to horribly expensive and installing it is really easy. there are very few people that can do that kind of stuff and im really glad im one of them that can do it. but i can see where all that added up. i was thinking just for the motor and labor (assuming it was a stock motor)

 

[Steedman07]

stroking it is easy if you just buy the rotating assembly, head work i would have to send off, the price of a custom grind cam isnt to horribly expensive and installing it is really easy. there are very few people that can do that kind of stuff and im really glad im one of them that can do it. but i can see where all that added up. i was thinking just for the motor and labor (assuming it was a stock motor)

Ya, he was really tore up about it. He had the car for a verry short time and him and his buddy were working on it and mistakenly dropped a washer from his intake into the head..he started the car up not knowing, and cablowy..