I did it. I finally broke down and bought an ’06 ‘Vette. And I couldn’t be happier!
The whole story begins Friday night, with me searching Autotrader.com for a used C6 Corvette with manual transmission and at a dealer. I had decided that it was time to trade 2000 ‘vette in. My ‘vette had over 153,000 miles (yes, 153,000!). She was a great car, and I was very happy with the car, but enough was going wrong that I really needed to trade it in. The final straw was needing an oil change. Every time I brought the car into the shop, I get this ‘your transmission is about to fall out’ line because of a small leak in the transmission. Now, it’s been leaking for almost two years, with no problems. But, my drive to work is now different, and the traffic is *very* different. So, I’ve been concerned. Back to the idea of the oil change. I really didn’t want to hear about how the transmission is going to fall out, so I started searching.
About 3 weeks ago, I had come across an incredible deal on an ’06 ‘vette at a dealer I really like. When I drove down to the dealership, I found out the car had been sold several days before I even went to look at it. 
This had started getting me looking, if for no other reason than I pictured I could afford it. BTW, the car is STILL listed on Autotrader. Horrible internet service for this dealership, so no link for them.
So, Friday, I found a car that I *really* liked, at a local dealer, Maroone Chevrolet. I had bought my 2000 from them, and they had left a *horrible* taste in my mouth. Even though I didn’t like them, I decided that I would walk through their website. I filled out the ‘get trade value’ section, just to see what my car was worth. I filled in all of the info with real info, because I did want to contact them. Saturday morning, I got a call from the internet guy. He had checked, the car I was interested was still there, and asked when I could come in. I set an appointment, not sure I would make it. After some hemming and hawwing, I decided to go and look. I DID take all my info, just in case I liked the car enough to try to get it.
After I got there, the salesman let me take the car for a test drive. They have a fairly big area where to ‘circle’ the dealership, so I got to feel the car. I haven’t driven a stick shift in quite a while, so it was good that they were back roads.
All I can say about that test drive was, ‘Yee-Haw!’ I’ve never driven a car that was so easy to connect to. It was *AMAZING*. The acceleration is just freakin’ scary. One second you are sitting still, 4 seconds later you are going over 65 mph. This was one reason I have not driven a C6 Corvette up until now. I knew the moment I drove one, I would want one. And this one didn’t disappoint.
What really surpised me was the level of detail that has gone into designing this car. All of the little ‘gripes’ about the C5 ‘vette were addressed and implemented. The windows roll down a bit when the doors are opened, and then rolled up when the door is closed. This save a *LOT* of wear and tear on the seals, plus it keeps the windows in place. Wind noise was a killer on the C5. The trunk now has an ‘automatic closer’. When you LIGHTLY press the trunk down, a motor pulls the trunk completely closed. AWESOME! No more ‘HATCH OPEN’ messages when the trunk wasn’t completely closed. Same thing for the hood. The C5 required letting the hood drop HARD to get it to close. The C6 will close with just a small drop, and can be closed when one side is already latched. Beautiful. Of course, I shudder to think of what might happen if the electronics go south… Which is why I ended up getting a 6 year/60,000 mile extended warranty.
Finally, Maroone made a sale, they did a AWESOME job getting me the car, and getting everything taken care of. I even saved money on my car insurance when I changed over to the new car.
Same Scheidt, Different Day 