How Much Does It Cost to Own A 2020 C8 Corvette After 25,000 Miles?

• We just turned 25,000 miles in our long-term C8.
• Here is a snapshot of the maintenance picture so far: $9,536.
• Routine items are manageable but windshields and tires add up.

At around 17,500 miles, we took our mid-engine speedster to a dealership in Fresno for its second oil change. After reviewing the car’s service schedule and some haggling with the service adviser, we went with what the 15,000-mile service required. The total for the oil change and a set of wiper blades was $236 and approximately 1.5 hours at the dealer.

Just recently, as we neared 25,000 miles, the car requested another oil change. This time the visit set us back $278, very near the cost of the last interval. To our surprise, there was also a recall (A202321990) that required a software update to the engine control unit to prevent erroneous additional fuel enrichment under certain driving conditions. The update was completed in two hours.

The curse of the costly windshield

Here at Edmunds we do our best to use these cars as they were intended, which for the Corvette includes laps at the racetrack. There we have pushed our Chevy to its limits and enjoyed the glamorous power it has to offer. Well, on one of those track days a member of our team accidentally introduced both passenger wheels to a curb, cracking the windshield and causing substantial damage to both wheels. As an expensive aside, those new wheels set us back $595 each, before labor. But back to the windshield.

We contacted a few replacement services that quoted us roughly $1,000. They also gave an estimated arrival time of 20 days for the glass to show up. After some consideration, we decided to order from a local dealership instead. Then we waited almost a month until parts arrived. Our total cost for that windshield was $747.

This wasn't the only time bad luck struck. On a trip to Northern California, our windshield was struck by an object, presumably a rock. The mystery debris started a crack on the glass that required a second windshield replacement. To our misfortune, this time our replacement process was a complete debacle. Due to a circumstantial chain of events, including the pandemic, supply chain uncertainty and quality control issues, we couldn't get a windshield until we contacted Safelite.

Simply put, it was taking the dealership parts department too long to get a replacement. Safelite allowed us to order and book an appointment online. We got the call that the glass arrived three weeks later, so we drove our Corvette to a Safelite location. It took multiple technicians four hours to complete the installation and it cost us $1,126 this time, of which the windshield itself was a whopping $954.

“Hey guys. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before …” Thus began a text chain detailing the third time our Corvette’s windshield encountered an errant rock. Luckily, this time it was just a chip. Still we wanted to repair the damage before it became a bigger problem. We had Safelite perform the repair. It took the technician less than an hour to fill in the chip sufficiently enough to keep it from developing into a crack. This repair set us back $149.

Taking our Corvette’s shoes to the cobbler

We purchased the Chevy to learn what it is like to live with and what it was capable of. The life of a Corvette might swing from daily commutes to days at the track to long road trips. But at every turn you want to push it, which eventually means you're due for tires.

Right before hitting 10,000 miles, we decided to replace the tires. We had several drag races and track days planned, so equipping our Corvette with new treads was the safest decision to make. For that we turned to Tire Rack. A new set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S ZP tires, the same tires originally equipped from the factory, cost us $1,650.

Not all of our tire purchases were planned. Scott Jacobs, senior manager of photography operations, explained, "I was driving down the 99 freeway on my way home from a shoot when I heard a bang. I looked around my periphery quickly to see if I ran over something. Not seeing anything obvious, I looked at the instrument panel and noticed the air pressure of the rear passenger tire dropping below 10 psi then to zero in a second. I quickly pulled off the side of the road. There is no spare tire. I was in the middle of nowhere. After a few calls I found a tire shop about 30 minutes away that could supply the tire, which is a bit specialty. The tow truck showed up three hours later, and once it was on the flatbed, I saw the other tire was threadbare. I guess a dozen too many burnouts were done on this Blue Baby. Total cost was $1,266 for two Michelin 305/30R20 Pilot Sports. Thankfully the tow was free."

Scott was fortunate enough to find a nearby tire shop to replace those rear tires but was unable to get a pair that matched our front stock tires. We recently acquired a full set of matching tires from Tire Rack. The total for all four was now $2,125 including shipping ($475 more than we paid last time).

Edmunds says

The total cost of maintenance and repairs that have been made on our Corvette so far has been exorbitant, but they definitely do not diminish our fondness for the car.