Is it a toy?

[ArgentWing]

I see lots of posts about moving from another car into a Blackwing. It seems that to many on here this is a toy that they keep parked in their garage and use only occasionally. I bought mine to drive and is in fact my daily driver though I won't be driving it in the winter months. In fact I don't even have garage space to store it. It gets parked in my driveway. It gets driven in the rain. It gets parked downtown occasionally where I can't keep an eye on it. Just wondering what the general consensus is?

I remember I bought a used Shelby GT when it was about 5 years old. It had less than 5,000 miles on it and the original owner took a 15k or more hit. I have more miles than that on the Blackwing and I've been driving it for approximately 7 months.

Btw I picked that Shelby up in Little Rock, drove it to Tucson to visit family for a couple of weeks

then drove it back to Buffalo. By the time I got home I had almost doubled the mileage.

 

[LF4472]

There is no general consensus because there is no right and wrong answer. Don't judge people for how they use their cars.

 

[Tall Steve]

Hahahahahaha, everyone knows what mine is...... 1850 mile, 26 months old..... Don't judge me! LOL

 

[ArgentWing]

There is no general consensus because there is no right and wrong answer. Don't judge people for how they use their cars.

No judgment! A quest for better understanding perhaps

 

[rubberduck]

My 5BW is for pleasure and I drive it whenever I feel like it. I work from home 80% of the time and travel for work on airplanes. When I do drive it it’s a special experience. I guess you could say after 15 months I’m still in the honeymoon phase. The interior still has much of the new car smell.

I avoid driving in the rain because we get horrible potholes from flash floods that are filled with water that can’t be seen. The roads get washed out with sand and rocks. Around my area I’ve seen potholes 4ft wide and 6 inches deep. I always tell people I have a Jeep because I need it just to get around town. I’ve driven through 1ft of water on city streets after a good deluge. Big potholes and deep water are easy going and zero stress for the Jeep.

I’m not a high turnover car buyer and plan to enjoy my 5BW for 10 years or more. Probably the last ICE performance car I will buy.

 

[VBhak]

I took delivery of mine Jan 2023. The first 4 months, likely only put on 1500 miles including two out town trips (Phx-Tucson, Phx-Spring Mountain). Sooooo, maybe drove it once/week at most?

Then, on THIS very forum, there is a thread discussing exactly this subject, which led to me to start daily driving my car. And lemme tell you, it changed everything. I was starting to fall OUT of love with the car -- it started as a 'dream' purchase, but sitting in the garage, it became a museum piece. To me, it lacks that visual 'panache' to really keep your excited while standing still. In fact, I felt it didn't look as good as my previous V3, V2 coupe, or hell, any two door car with similar performance in that price range, and I started to get buyers remorse.

But then I started daily driving it... in a span of 5.5 months, I'm now at 7300 miles and counting, and still can't get enough... it's a reminder of WHY I bought it. I'll likely drive it for another 70,000 miles and not care. I love, love, LOVE it. My V3 had close to 80,000 when I traded it in, and I never had any major mechanical issues. I would expect the same.

 

[Matt27]

I daily mine (though have a hybrid work schedule).

Close to 12k miles now, and it's seen rain/snow/sleet plus 3 track days and will continue to.

I bought it as a "do everything" car and it's been perfect.

 

[1Evil55]

My 5BW is for pleasure and I drive it whenever I feel like it. I work from home 80% of the time and travel for work on airplanes. When I do drive it it’s a special experience. I guess you could say after 15 months I’m still in the honeymoon phase. The interior still has much of the new car smell.

I avoid driving in the rain because we get horrible potholes from flash floods that are filled with water that can’t be seen. The roads get washed out with sand and rocks. Around my area I’ve seen potholes 4ft wide and 6 inches deep. I always tell people I have a Jeep because I need it just to get around town. I’ve driven through 1ft of water on city streets after a good deluge. Big potholes and deep water are easy going and zero stress for the Jeep.

I’m not a high turnover car buyer and plan to enjoy my 5BW for 10 years or more. Probably the last ICE performance car I will buy.

Lots of this^^^ except replace AZ with Chitcago. Potholes get their own zip codes. The Jeep runs them over.

 

[RDATLTE]

Our Blackwing is my wife's daily (she has a short commute and we're both retiring in 2 months) and our family car. Our ZL1 1LE is our toy.

 

[GT325]

Initially planned to daily it 365 days a year. Quickly reconsidered winter driving because of the impracticality and safety. I get a fair amount of snow. So it is daily driven spring summer and fall. Sits for the winter. 6-7 thousand miles a year. Gets taken everywhere and parked everywhere. It is just about the greatest kid hauler ever made. It is so good as a daily driver I am so impressed with the 5BW M6 really shocked that something so good came out of an American automaker.

 

[Tall Steve]

Initially planned to daily it 365 days a year. Quickly reconsidered winter driving because of the impracticality and safety. I get a fair amount of snow. So it is daily driven spring summer and fall. Sits for the winter. 6-7 thousand miles a year. Gets taken everywhere and parked everywhere. It is just about the greatest kid hauler ever made. It is so good as a daily driver I am so impressed with the 5BW M6 really shocked that something so good came out of an American automaker.

The CT5 in general is a great daily... My 2020 CT5-V was an awesome daily and I miss her.... I just don't trust the roads/Drivers I have to drive around my work to daily my BW....

 

[wschomburg]

My 5BW is my toy, as is my Porsche 911 - I use them to go play in spirited drives and track days. They might be toys but they don't live an easy life, they are ridden hard, well maintained , and are used to put mores smiles than miles on them. I work from home and have a company car to use as my daily but I still manage to do to put about 5K/year on these 2 toys and love every minute of them.

After doing the Spring Mountain track days, just makes the time I spend with my BW even better!

 

[Finally-a-V]

Mine's a toy. Doesn't get out as much as I'd like. I have taken it on small trips and it's a blast. Like @rubberduck said, the monsoons and afternoon thunderstorms here can be bad, but I think the drivers are worse. As others will tell you, windshield chips and cracks here are too easy to get. It's been to Walmart and grocery stores, but I park away, way away, from the knuckleheads. I've had it for about 15 months and it has 5200 miles.

I absolutely love this car and have NO plans to get rid of it. I'd love to pick up a lower equipped, slightly higher mileage one (or a 4BW) and drive it all the time, everywhere, but I doubt that will get passed the Board of Directors or the co-CFO. Hmm, maybe late next year?

 

[AtrociKitty]

I bought mine to drive and is in fact my daily driver though I won't be driving it in the winter months. In fact I don't even have garage space to store it. It gets parked in my driveway. It gets driven in the rain. It gets parked downtown occasionally where I can't keep an eye on it. Just wondering what the general consensus is?

I'm in the exact same position, but winter included. Bought mine as a year-round daily. I park it in the driveway because the summer cars get the garage spots. Winter tires and wheels are on the way to drive through the snow and slush. I'm not going to abuse or mistreat the car, but I do intend to actually drive and use it almost every day.

I know everything is a matter of perspective, but I really struggle to understand why some here picked a Blackwing for a "toy" (unless it's your only car). They're still big, heavy cars with a lot of unnecessary features for spirited/track driving. They're sharp for sports sedans, but soft compared to a "proper" sportscar. One of my other cars is an Alfa 4C, and my 4BW feels like a boat in comparison (but a fast boat).

 

[Tall Steve]

I'm in the exact same position, but winter included. Bought mine as a year-round daily. I park it in the driveway because the summer cars get the garage spots. Winter tires and wheels are on the way to drive through the snow and slush. I'm not going to abuse or mistreat the car, but I do intend to actually drive and use it almost every day.

I know everything is a matter of perspective, but I really struggle to understand why some here picked a Blackwing for a "toy" (unless it's your only car). They're still big, heavy cars with a lot of unnecessary features for spirited/track driving. They're sharp for sports sedans, but soft compared to a "proper" sportscar. One of my other cars is an Alfa 4C, and my 4BW feels like a boat in comparison (but a fast boat).

Hahahahahahahaha, I'm saving mine for the next guy to drive!

 

[ernsteeng]

Mine is a toy as well. I expect to be covering it and turning off insurance in the next month or so. Only 2000 miles so far in 12 months of ownership. No plans on selling and I'm hoping my kids someday will want to keep it. It replaced my 535i with a 6mt. Long live the manual - I don't plan on letting this vehicle die.

 

[CBH]

I've never had more cars than one daily driver. I got my bikes for toys - and they're great. Same story as above - when only used for spirited pleasure rides - hard to beat the smiles per mile.

And like the hidden gems some others have or found in the market - I finally put these toys to good use. I put more miles on each of my bikes the first year I had them than previous owner put in nearly a decade.

My BW is more complicated. I have a company car that's my daily, but for everything but commuting, I drive the BW. So only 4500 miles since Feb. I busted my wheel on my only dedicated pleasure outing just after I got it. I figured I would be back out during the summer when it was too hot to ride, but just never got the time. Now its relegated to literal grocery getting........but even makes that fun.

I also plan for this to be the last vehicle I purchase. After I retire I don't expect to put high mileage on it, so it should be up to the task.

 

[ArgentWing]

I'm in the exact same position, but winter included. Bought mine as a year-round daily. I park it in the driveway because the summer cars get the garage spots. Winter tires and wheels are on the way to drive through the snow and slush. I'm not going to abuse or mistreat the car, but I do intend to actually drive and use it almost every day.

I know everything is a matter of perspective, but I really struggle to understand why some here picked a Blackwing for a "toy" (unless it's your only car). They're still big, heavy cars with a lot of unnecessary features for spirited/track driving. They're sharp for sports sedans, but soft compared to a "proper" sportscar. One of my other cars is an Alfa 4C, and my 4BW feels like a boat in comparison (but a fast boat).

This response is precisely the reason I asked the question. I definitely feel similarly and was intrigued by the idea of why someone would choose this car as a toy. I know there could be many different reasons for the choice including the need for four doors. Again not trying to judge. Just starting a conversation and interested in what others are thinking.

 

[ukcats12]

For me it’s a weekend toy mostly. I drive about 40,000 miles a year for work and wouldn’t ever want to buy a car like a BW for daily driver purposes given that. I’m also parking in NYC a lot.

So for me the BW is for the weekends, trips, most non-work driving, and the occasional weekday drive to a client with a nice open secure parking lot.

 

[Finally-a-V]

To clarify, I guess "toy" really isn't the right word. I have been chasing V's for 15 plus years. Timing was never right. Between houses, kids and college, sick elderly parents, jobs, moving, layoffs. When I heard the Blackwing was coming out, I told my wife I'm getting one, I don't care. Like @Tall Steve, I have a very understanding wife. The plan was to get a 5, and in a year or two, dump my Expy and only have the 5.

Now I finally have my V (note the forum name). I always wanted a V...(STS-V, CTS V2 or V3, CT6-V)...and came close a few times. Guess I'm a V guy and a Cadillac guy. I also got it because it's the last and best of the ICE cars. I've had Corvettes and don't have any interest in the C8 (sorry). I don't want to be like a few of my neighbors. 70+ trying to get in and out of it, and looking silly driving a Vette, not that I'm 70. No interest in Porsche or some of the other exotics or motorcycles. Looked at an M5, but the dealer was a tool. I also really like the "stealth" part of this car too.

I mean no offense to anyone, just different strokes I guess, and NO regrets. I love this car! So much, I'd consider a getting regular V or a second BW.