I am down to two choices in my quest for my midlife crisis car. My main requirements were 2 door, American, V8, RWD. I have been a GM guy my whole life, so I naturally was leaning towards the Z06. Then I test drove the Viper, and well now...all bets are off. I would like to keep it under 35k, no more than 40k. This will be a garage queen only driven in ideal conditions on the weekends.

Dodge Viper GTS ('96-'99 preferred, but would settle for '00-'02 if price was right.)

PROS:
- Rare
- Easy to fix/maintain
- Childhood dream car
- Depreciation unlikely
- If I get a '96 through'98 I can register as historic in Maryland and get cheaper registration/insurance.

CONS:
- Certain parts hard to find/expensive (a hood is 10-15 grand)
- Unlikely to ever push it to the limit (difficult to drive)
- Somewhat uncomfortable
- Expensive insurance, more expensive overall
- Harder to find

Corvette Z06 (C5)

PROS:
- Half the price of a Viper
- Parts availability not a problem
- Easier to drive
- Easy to maintain
- Cheaper insurance

CONS:
- Very common
- Certain known issues can crop up with ABS/traction control
- Depreciation is possible
- Questionable interior
- Driver reputation (namely - old man's car)
- Earliest is a 2001 so I would have to wait until 2021 for the historic Maryland tags

I am also open to suggestions but I probably already considered them. I ruled out an '04-'06 GTO. Absolutely no Fords. Wife hates the new Challengers. New Camaros are decent but I really don't want to buy a garage queen that will significantly depreciate. Classic muscle cars are a possibility.

Question:
Best midlife crisis car

Choices:
Dodge Viper GTS, '96-'02
C5 Corvette Z06
Other (explain)

 

Vette.

Have you considered a used Pontiac GTO 6.0? Or the oddball Impala SS with 6-sp manual. I believe the latter is Australian built. Both V8s, RWD, lots of fun, and slightly more practical.....slightly.

I'm saving my pennies for a 911 4S...... in 2027.

The Corvette has always been the quintessential midlife crisis-mobile

A car being 20 years old makes it Historic?!

quote:

Originally posted by Russ59:
Vette.

Have you considered a used Pontiac GTO 6.0? Or the oddball Impala SS with 6-sp manual. I believe the latter is Australian built. Both V8s, RWD, lots of fun, and slightly more practical.....slightly.

I'm saving my pennies for a 911 4S...... in 2027.

I ruled them out because I have heard about the suspension wear issues and honestly I am not in love with the way it looks. I drove one and didn't really like it. They are much cheaper though.

quote:

Originally posted by SigP239Hokie:
A car being 20 years old makes it Historic?!

Yup, in Maryland. Around here you will routinely see early 90s accords, camrys, buicks, etc. with historic plates.

Jeff,

I voted other and here's why:

At your top end of the budget, you could absolutely get a clean C6 Z06 with 505 HP. Interior was shit in the C5 when it came out and it hasn't aged well. C6 was much better, IMO.

Add a few thousand to the budget and you should be able to score a C6 Z06 with the Z07 package. I've read that 2011 was "different" for the Z06 with a throatier exhaust and slightly more aggressive tune.

There are tons of deals out there now with the C7 having been out. I think a 2009+ C6 Z06 with the TR6060 transmission would be your best bet. To me the ZR-1 still isn't worth it, the prices are still typically north of $50k.

Check out Corvette Forum if you haven't already.

This is the buying season now!

If you find something in the Orlando area you fancy, let me know and I'll go take a look for you.

Sadly I got rid of my C5 Z06 a few years ago. Car was starting to show its age and I got tired of it nickel and diming me.

quote:

Originally posted by Russ59:
Vette.

Have you considered a used Pontiac GTO 6.0? Or the oddball Impala SS with 6-sp manual. I believe the latter is Australian built. Both V8s, RWD, lots of fun, and slightly more practical.....slightly.

I'm saving my pennies for a 911 4S...... in 2027.

That GTO was also built in Australia by Holden. Holden built its last car recently which was also the last car to be built in Australia by anyone.

911. Holds resale value.

I don't know that it was a mid-life crisis buy but looking at retirement within 3 or so years at the time, I evaluated a number of cars for retirement road trips.

Having owned a number of two seat sports cars over the years (starting with a '58 TR3A) that type of car became my target.

After test driving damn near everything on the market (US, European, and Pacific Rim offerings) in early 2003 I found the high revving Honda S2000 to provide the purest enthusiast driving experience coupled with an exceptional reliability record.

I've never regretted the purchase and still have it to this day over 14 years later.

Honda made about 100k of this model worldwide during it's 10 year run between 2000 and 2009. The used market has many excellent examples available that with a bit of TLC would be outstanding acquisitions. Best bets for an AP1 flavor would be 2003 and for an AP2 most likely a 2006 model.

Viper or Daffy?

Keeping it American, I'd say a C6 Z06 as I prefer them over the C5.

Dropping the coupe requirement, wonder if you could find a SS or G6 GTP.

Otherwise, 911 or maybe an F-Type.

Honda S2000 is a ton of fun, but lacking the torque of where you're looking. 9k RPM in the AP1 is fun.

I voted other since I could appreciate but never talk myself into either of those two being a good choice. If that's my budget limit I'd have others on the list I'm afraid.

In any event, it's fun to consider and you'll probably enjoy either.

I own a 97 Viper GTS, and have for a # of years. It is not uncomfortable to drive, at least it isn't for me....I love the seats. It goes like stink, but at constant 75 MPH mine will get 23-24 MPG on premium. Is it perfect....no, it is a driver's car. The older ones had no "nanny gadgets" like ABS, traction control, anti-skid, etc. You have to be a driver to push this car fast, and some folks don't like that, or can't handle that.


There won't be anymore Vipers, as far as I know, and a nice one will only appreciate. You are looking for a "man toy", so why buy what everyone else owns/drives......be an individual!!

Porsche Cayman S. Find a nice low mileage 6 cylinder.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:

Check out Corvette Forum if you haven't already.

This is the buying season now!

If you find something in the Orlando area you fancy, let me know and I'll go take a look for you.

Sadly I got rid of my C5 Z06 a few years ago. Car was starting to show its age and I got tired of it nickel and diming me.

I have heard that from a few people with C5 Z06's. It seems like they are hit or miss with reliability.

I was thinking about the C6 Z06 but I have never driven one. There was one around here for 34k but it seemed like the guy beat the hell out of it. I didn't even test drive it but I did go to look at it. Anything post-bailout GM is more reliable than pre-bailout GM, in my experience.

And thank you for the offer!

quote:

Originally posted by GT-40DOC:

I own a 97 Viper GTS, and have for a # of years. It is not uncomfortable to drive, at least it isn't for me....I love the seats. It goes like stink, but at constant 75 MPH mine will get 23-24 MPG on premium. Is it perfect....no, it is a driver's car. The older ones had no "nanny gadgets" like ABS, traction control, anti-skid, etc. You have to be a driver to push this car fast, and some folks don't like that, or can't handle that.


There won't be anymore Vipers, as far as I know, and a nice one will only appreciate. You are looking for a "man toy", so why buy what everyone else owns/drives......be an individual!!

The lack of electronics is very appealing since I plan on keeping this car for several years. And that's the main appeal to me with the Viper - you never see them and they are so unique. A true American classic. I can't tell you the last time I saw a Viper on the road. I see Corvettes almost every day, and Z06's probably monthly.

I am going to look at a 2000 GTS on Wednesday. Who knows....?

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Porsche Cayman S. Find a nice low mileage 6 cylinder.

I'd love a Cayman. Unfortunately I want to keep this car for several years and I just don't know if I could afford the maintenance long term. But my uncle has one and it's an amazing machine.

I would go Viper as I'm MOPAR guy, but for me it gets lots of points for style, power, and originally, and somewhat limited availability as compared to a Vette. Good luck, but you probably cant go wrong with either. Pix when done pls.

Don't laugh...2017 Civic Type R?

Quick, Fast, Reliable...and not too much dough...

If you were only choosing Vette or Viper, I vote Viper every time.

If you expand your horizons, with your budget, you could find a slightly used Shelby Cobra clone. 99% of the people don't know the clones from the 3 million dollar real ones. And talk about going fast with no nanny gadgets...

I have been looking into building one and the investment is about $$40k. I have searched and used ones that are well built can be had in your price range.

Good move Airman. Cant go wring with a Porsche and the 4S is stellar