Corvette Owners Discuss Animosity within the Community

Corvette owners all love the same car, but that doesn’t prevent them from talking trash on other versions.

The Corvette Forum community is chock-full of members who have owned and loved multiple generations of the car, yet there is a surprising amount of animosity between people who prefer different generations or models. A new thread by “usrodeo4” highlights the unpleasant attitudes of some members of the community and other members are quick to agree, discussing the reasons why we see so many bickering matches between groups of owners on the forum.

Although this thread was started earlier this week, it has quickly grown to cover six pages and in most cases, members of the forum share the same views as to why Corvette owners don’t get along as smoothly as someone from outside of the community might expect. There are also comments by a few members who perpetuate the issue and not surprisingly, others are quick to rightfully point out those who are the ones causing the animosity.

Unpleasant Corvette Owner Discussion

When the OP first posted his thread to the C8 General Discussion section, he offered some background on himself along with sharing what he has seen during his brief time in the Corvette community.

I own a new to me ’16 3LZ Z06 Vert (4K miles) and am pretty much tickled pink with her but I don’t look down my snout at other models/generations (I owned a ’65 Roadster when I was a puppy). But as a former Porsche 911 Turbo owner who has been on the corvette forum for several months now it always takes me aback how much ill will/perceived bragging rights goes on here with reference to different models and generations. Very little of that on Rennlist…well all know the GT2RS rules and the GT3RS is a track monster and the 911 Turbo S is a Super Car and a 911 Turbo is a beast and the Carrera/S is a great car, but a 993 is respected as is a 997 as is a 991 and now 992. Not my place to suggest how other people behave and I’m not going demographics but it does make corvette ownership not quite the same experience as with the P cars. Frankly I had hoped for better out of a Corvette forum. I placed this post here in the C8 because I do like the C8, though waiting on the Z06 to see what I think, but many of the posts in this forum are, well, not very indicative of a respectful and mature population.

For those who haven’t come across the type of discussions that the OP is referencing, he is talking about arguments where people with one generation are badmouthing another, or when someone with a Z06 or ZR1 talks down to someone with a Stingray or “base”. Rather than a general enthusiasm for the history of the Corvette, some members only like certain generations or certain models, and they dump on people who drive something else.

The Community Responds

The first member to reply was “Vet Interested”.

I hear ya. Beats anything I have ever seen. Check out all the C8 bashing in the C7 forum. Stay in your own forum(per generation)or else! Sad.

The next was “Foosh”, whose reply is the most liked thus far.

Ugliest forum discussions on average I’ve ever seen. I’ve been on and off here a long time, and it’s always been that way compared to others. All vehicle forums have some nastiness, but this is the clear leader in my experience.

There is a reason I’ve never participated in “Corvette Club” events.

“Smithers” elaborated a bit on the root of the problem.

I’ve found the Corvette community to be fairly insufferable. There are a fair number of owners who just feel the need to talk down to everyone else or tell everyone why their car is better. They can’t just let people be. These make the community a wreck. Even when I still owned a Corvette I pretty much avoided any sort of Corvette club/group/whatever.

Then there are the people who don’t like whatever generation car, but feel the need to go into those sections of the forum to trash it. Not sure what the deal with that is.

I didn’t spend much time on this forum when I still had a vette. Recently started coming back for C8 info. Once all that is over I will probably fade away once again. It’s pretty much the same BS I remember from 10 years ago.

“Fast Eddie” has been a member of the form for more than 20 years and he points out the lack of consequences for the people causing the problems.

I’m a former C5 owner who drifted away from this forum after moving on to other brands. I now own an Elise, a 997.2 GT3, and an M2. I returned because of my interest in the C8 as a possible replacement for my GT3 and M2. I have been appalled by the lack of civility on this forum versus Rennlist, Bimmerforums, Lotustalk, and others. People do occasionally get out of line on these other forums, but the moderators are prompt in dealing with bad behavior. There appear to be zero consequences for bad behavior here, as some of the rudest members have thousands of posts. I am glad to read the posts about how welcoming the Corvette Clubs are, because the behavior on this forum does not represent Corvettes or their owners well.

There are a lot of very knowledgeable and courteous members here. It’s a shame that one has to wade through so much rancor to learn from them.

Like many other people throughout the course of this lengthy thread, “Mr Snappy!” dug deep, explaining the key cause of the animosity caused by many of the unfriendly members.

As you can see from the left side of this post, I have been a member for a Loooooong time.
I have also owned one of every new generation starting with the C5 and have an order for a C8.
This is not new. And every generation it seems to get worse and worse.

My opinion it is a mix of things:
-They made a commitment to a prior generation car and refuse to accept there is something better now
-They are about to become a member of the “old body style” club and will immediately be seen as having an old car (something that does not happen as long as your current generation is being produced)
-Many Vette owners have saved for a long time for the one-day they can get their dream car. They buy it, get the love and attention…all is good. They see anything new as a threat to that.
-Some want to bash the new car and find every little fault (real or imagined) to further justify sticking with their current car…even though nobody cares.
-They aren’t the cool kids any longer…..

The worst I remember is the transition from C6 to C7….but this one will probably end of being the worst once the cars actually hit the streets. I think it’s really sad and unfortunate.
It’s not only the internet, I was once at a gas station in BFE Missouri and an old beat up C5 parked next to me at the pump. Some grumpy old bastard got out of his car and started yelling at me that my C7 “Destroyed” the Corvette brand and he could not stand the sight of them! Can you imagine how he feels about the C8?

An Antagonist Enters

Early in the thread, “Skid Row Joe” posted what may seem like a relatively mundane comment after quoting the OP.

Yah, I’m befuddled too as to why. There’s a lot of Porsche bashing around for whatever reason too. The C8 and C6/5/4 aren’t my cup of tea, but some get their sensitive feelings hurt if you don’t like their car choices. Feel sorry for those kiddos.. Really glad I am a new C7 Corvette owner. I’m a true Corvette guy on the hunt for an upcoming 992 as well. The C8 isn’t making the grade thus far.

However, other members were quick to point out that he is one of the people who causes the animosity on the forum. The first was “Tool Hoarder”.

Because you talk **** in nearly every post… you clearly don’t like the C8, feel your C7 is the best, and keep telling us over and over and over.

“Smithers” was the next.

We have a self proclaimed true Corvette guy who shows up and lists all the Corvettes he doesn’t like and throws out an insult to the people he bothers when he goes around trashing those cars… lol Perfect example of the sort of stuff that creates a forum full of people bitching at eat other and arguing over whose opinion is better.

While “Phil1098” pointed out the irony of Skid Row Joe commenting on the thread.

This post was LIKED by Skid Row Joe, now that is the very definition of irony. Every single day he is here bashing the C8, he has a C7 and that’s great, I genuinely hope he enjoys it, it’s a great car. He says the C8 is an epic fail, lame duck, styling train wreck, he will NEVER own because of no MT and all that is his opinion. The thing is, he spews this crap every single day, why since he has zero interest in the car, is happy with what he has, will never consider a C8, does he stay here throwing **** on everyone?

However, Skid Row Joe continues to post negative comments about the C8 in the C8 section, helping to show the main cause of much of the negativity on the forum. At the same time, many other members shared their insight as to why the Corvette owners community isn’t as friendly as you might expect and in the long run, it comes down to the people who truly only like the car that they drive and not the others in the community.

Click here to read through the entire thread.

Photos: General Motors Media

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