Garage Queens VS Street Kings

[HawkeyeZL1]

Picked my 2012 up last September. Drove it for a few months and had to park it for winter. I plan on driving this car as much as possible, if winter ever ends here and I can get her out. They were made to be driven, not parked.

[zman1969]

I dont daily drive mine but Fridays I drive it to work its a pleasure care for me I sold a few to afford mine and to have room in my garage. It just rolled 7K only had it about 8 months and dont plan on selling it.

[Mwalderjr]

2013 with 6k mile this week... Stays in garage an is very much so a diva. Just recently started getting her show ready.

[camarodude87]

I have 4400 miles on my 14 ZL1. I plan on keeping the miles as low as I can. I get tons of crap for it at work. I may do headers and exhaust but thats as far as ill go. I have learned many valuable lessons about modding cars and cornering yourself based off of your build. Like on my 02. I built my car around my Trex cam. Had to regear, ported my intake to the heads. I should have just bought a procharger and let it be. But $$$ lessons learned. This car if change my mind about modding it. I will get the TVS heartbeat blower call it a day.

[VRZL113]

I purchased my ZL1 November of 17', so I haven't been able to put many miles on her yet.... As I did with all of my previous performance cars, the ZL1 will be my daily driver in the late spring, summer, & fall. Rain doesn't bother me, but days a severe thunderstorm threatens, she will stay in the garage. I will also occasionally drive her when the roads are free of salt and brine in the winter months. I intend on keeping this car forever, so I have no reason to keep the miles off, and not enjoying her to the fullest. I haven't been able to drive her most of this month due to foul weather, and it's killing me that I can't go for a nice cruise.

[RobZL1]

Street King here.

My approach:
- Drive it daily (which is currently 60-70 miles a day)
- Keep it as clean as I can and keep a thick coat of wax on it
- Keep the fluids fresh
- Maintain as needed
- Upgrade as desired

This approach has worked well for me in the past (3rd gen f-body, C4 corvette, 1st gen V). All of those cars looked, ran and handled better the day I sold them versus the day I bought them, and most of them had around 60k additional miles on them when I sold them. Sure, you occasionally get a rock ding but other than that, I've been pretty lucky.

I also do a lot of OCD stuff to make sure they look good. It's just me in the car- everything else goes in the trunk. No eating in the car, no other crap in the car. I don't charge my phone in there. I always put the steering wheel up when getting out and in, and put my hand over the driver's side bolster so my pants rub my hand and not the seat. When I wash it, I wipe down the trunk, the door jambs, and under the hood, and wash the wheel barrels and lug nut pockets (every time). Etc., etc., etc. For example, on a first gen V, almost ALL of those cars have the soft touch coating flaking off the radio buttons and knobs; mine didn't, and that took a conscious effort.

Anyway, my point is: you can have a compromise between the typical "Garage Queen vs. Street King" categories. Sure, mine will not look like the 24-mile example in the post at the top of the page, but everyone mistakes my 90k-mile cars for 20k-mile cars. Every time. If I were to take the time to pull the wheels and pretty-up the fender liners when I wash and detail it, you'd be hard pressed to correctly guess the mileage at a car show.

[gmorris]

I daily mine whenver there isn't snow on the ground. 20,000km in the first 8 months I owned it. My feeling is if you want something to look at you might as well buy a nice big poster because it's way cheaper and takes up less room to store. Cars are built for a reason...

Last spring we did 7500km in one road trip over 10 days.

[ZEDL1]

Originally Posted by RobZL1

Street King here.

My approach:
- Drive it daily (which is currently 60-70 miles a day)
- Keep it as clean as I can and keep a thick coat of wax on it
- Keep the fluids fresh
- Maintain as needed
- Upgrade as desired

This approach has worked well for me in the past (3rd gen f-body, C4 corvette, 1st gen V). All of those cars looked, ran and handled better the day I sold them versus the day I bought them, and most of them had around 60k additional miles on them when I sold them. Sure, you occasionally get a rock ding but other than that, I've been pretty lucky.

I also do a lot of OCD stuff to make sure they look good. It's just me in the car- everything else goes in the trunk. No eating in the car, no other crap in the car. I don't charge my phone in there. I always put the steering wheel up when getting out and in, and put my hand over the driver's side bolster so my pants rub my hand and not the seat. When I wash it, I wipe down the trunk, the door jambs, and under the hood, and wash the wheel barrels and lug nut pockets (every time). Etc., etc., etc. For example, on a first gen V, almost ALL of those cars have the soft touch coating flaking off the radio buttons and knobs; mine didn't, and that took a conscious effort.

Anyway, my point is: you can have a compromise between the typical "Garage Queen vs. Street King" categories. Sure, mine will not look like the 24-mile example in the post at the top of the page, but everyone mistakes my 90k-mile cars for 20k-mile cars. Every time. If I were to take the time to pull the wheels and pretty-up the fender liners when I wash and detail it, you'd be hard pressed to correctly guess the mileage at a car show.

Very well expressed RobZL1.

[WYKDZL1]

My buddy in new Orleans said it best

[ragzl1]

Having read some of these mileage choice threads I can state the following facts.

1. Low mileage owners never say they purchased the car as an investment.
2. Low mileage owners say they will not every sell their cars.
3. High mileage owners always say that cars are made to be driven or “banged” and to not drive them a lot is wrong.
4. High mileage owners never say they are going to keep their car forever.

Just my observations.

John

[SinginHawk]

Originally Posted by ragzl1

Having read some of these mileage choice threads I can state the following facts.

1. Low mileage owners never say they purchased the car as an investment.
2. Low mileage owners say they will not every sell their cars.
3. High mileage owners always say that cars are made to be driven or “banged” and to not drive them a lot is wrong.
4. High mileage owners never say they are going to keep their car forever.

Just my observations.

John

Great points, and does a good job of highlighting how neither point of view is wrong, just different.

[lailerp]

so I ll start by saying I only have 3700 miles on her. While I can argue shes a garage queen it was not my plan when i bought the car. I wanted to keep the miles low but not this low. I travel a lot for work and I refuse to let her sit at the airport. That combined with living in New England limits my available driving days to summer weekends and the occasional track day. on top of that restriction I have 2 other toys(89 IROC Vert and 84 El-Camino SS) plus my daily driver. So my fun miles certainly get spread around the cars.

[ZEDL1]

Originally Posted by SinginHawk

Great points, and does a good job of highlighting how neither point of view is wrong, just different.

Thank you for expressing this SinginHawk. Also well expressed.
I agree fully that the manner in which any of us may garner enjoyment from our cars may differ from others, but none of us is right or wrong.

[StreetRage320]

I normally take a lot of attacks when I respond to these threads, my ZL1 is my toy. I drive it when I want to, not when I need to. I have a LTZ that is my DD that better suits my daily drivnig needs. I would not want to DD my ZL1, I really like the car and it's performance aspects, but it cannot compete with the comforts of my 2018 LTZ.

I have 1500 miles on my 2013.