Daily driver; how do you do it?

Daily driver; how do you do it?

Author
Discussion

acme

Original Poster:

2,971 posts

197 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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Over the years I’ve varied my approach to the daily driver, I’m intrigued to know how others have done it and what has/hasn’t worked.

I’ve varied from a sensible Golf to company cars and having returned my company car earlier in the year I’ve now got two; a relatively sensible hot hatch and a what feels a very indulgent V8 on the commute. I’m wondering if wrapping them up into one isn’t a better option, an inline six.

So what do you do and what works?

Cheers

p4cks

6,885 posts

198 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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It's horses for courses I've found; I've got a £500 shed as my daily, and it does its job. I've thought about spending a little more on a better car but I can't bring myself to do it, as I've got a couple of nicer cars for weekends and nice weather days so my money is better spent on those


toon10

6,140 posts

156 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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BMW G30 540i xDrive.

Comfort - check
Luxury - check
Practicality - check (comfort, space, 4 doors)
Refined - check
Big boot - check
All weather ability - check
Pace - check (335bhp with similar torque from low down in the rev range)
Fun - check (as much as a quiet but fast capable big car can be)
Discrete - check (I can park this in places I would think twice about parking something more exotic)

It's so good at being a daily driver that I don't use the XC90 anymore which was the family workhorse. Suspect I will only use that in bad snow conditions.

vixen1700

22,668 posts

269 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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p4cks said:
It's horses for courses I've found; I've got a £500 shed as my daily, and it does its job. I've thought about spending a little more on a better car but I can't bring myself to do it, as I've got a couple of nicer cars for weekends and nice weather days so my money is better spent on those
Same here. £1000 old Volvo for the shopping and taking my mum out and other things for the weekend. smile

MrGTI6

3,157 posts

129 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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My only car for nearly three years has been an S-reg 306 GTI-6. I bought it at 128k and it's currently on 160k.

At no point have I felt as though I've needed a newer car. It's been faultlessly reliable and I even managed to transport a 66" TV in it.

B3ALP

491 posts

140 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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All my cars have to be the daily, even the 300zx some years back.

I am in my 10th year of driving daily in a B3 3.3 Alpina



anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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^^^ This.

Can't see the point owning a car that only goes out a few days a year - so all of my cars are daily drivers.

Jasandjules

69,825 posts

228 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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I stuck to Passat Estates for about 12 years because they were quite reasonable to run long distances etc with gadgets enough.

Had a few comments from clients that they expected me to have a "better car" so I ended up getting a C Class... Also an auto because traffic is, well......

distinctivedesign

142 posts

77 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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I have a Porsche 911 and a Citroen Berlingo van.

Between them caters for most occurrences and requirements. I use both equally.

ElectricSoup

8,202 posts

150 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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Nissan Leaf. As near to free motoring as it's possible to get.

Baldchap

7,507 posts

91 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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Dogbus is for most stuff. Got a pub/tip shed and an Elise that only sees sunny days - I plan on keeping it forever.

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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We have two cars in the family, an Octavia VRS and an Elise. The Elise is my daily driver/commuter car and has been for the last 11 years (my commute is only four miles and there is rarely any traffic to speak of) and the Octavia is my wife's car and the family car for when we all go somewhere together. Seems to work pretty well.

I wouldn't want to drive a boring car day-in day-out, personally.

RTB

8,273 posts

257 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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I had a new Impreza STI as a daily driver (60000 miles in 3 years), I've had a Lotus Elise and a Lotus Exige as a daily driver. However, as I'm getting older I've finally realised that the real joy in driving nice cars is to keep it a treat. So now I drive an old Fiesta into work and keep the Exige for when the sun is out, the roads are dry and I can appreciate how special it is.

I've done the same with beer, in my 20s and 30s I'd be on the sauce multiple times a week, now I only drink one or two nights a week and then not much, but I enjoy the few pints I have now a lot more than the gallons I used to drink when I was younger.


HealeyV8

419 posts

77 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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Probably depends on what your daily commute is like. Mine in South London is pretty much a traffic jam from door to door so is usually done in the shed Auto BMW 320 touring. It has to be a really good forecast in summer before the Healey is used. But the Healey is generally used all weekend summer or winter.

MDL111

6,892 posts

176 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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I tend to use my favourite car as my daily - no point in owning something nice and then spending the majority of my driving time in a less fun car

Used a 355 to commute in London daily - sure I mostly sat in traffic, but it was still fun and always a great way to start and end my working day

Composite Guru

2,205 posts

202 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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Volvo V40 R Design for the daily stuff and an Elise for the weekends.

I refuse to use the Elise daily as most of my journey is spent on traffic and on dual carriageways. Such a waste of a car like that.

Jaguar steve

9,232 posts

209 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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I'm fond of simple utility cars that I don't give a toss about. If they're a bit scruffy and battered I become even more fond of them

My current daily is a 11 year old Skoda Roomster diesel that I do about 20k miles a year in. Easy 65MPG and it's reliable and comfortable.

My other car is a even older XJ8 that does perhaps a tenth of the annual mileage of the Roomster and which I haven't driven since the middle of September.

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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HealeyV8 said:
Probably depends on what your daily commute is like.
Very much so. Mine is 4 miles, about two of quiet suburban roads and two of country B-roads. I can extend the country B-road section pretty much indefinitely if I feel like a drive on the way home from work without ever seeing a traffic jam.

Also probably depends on where you park. My car lives in a garage at home and a large private car park set in the middle of a large greenfield site at work. To give an idea of how safe the car park is, years ago when I used to commute in my MGB I would leave the key in the ignition, often with the roof down, because it didn't have a loop on it to put it on my key ring. I still often leave the roof off the Lotus in the summer.

Edited by kambites on Friday 29th November 14:45

Tickle

4,879 posts

203 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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Aygo for my daily, small round trip to the station.

Needs decent heaters, small, reliable and something that I don't mind leaving without wondering is it gets a door ding or similar. It's pretty perfect for the short, uneventful journey. £20 tax and £150 insurance make it the perfect tool for the job.

...also makes the weekend car feel rapid!


P5BNij

15,768 posts

105 months

Friday 29th November 2019
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For the last six year's mine's been a '12 plate Alfa Giulietta, £30 a year road tax, I brim the tank about once every six weeks, it's quick enough and comfortable enough for my needs and an electrical gremlin aside, has never let me down. I have had to spend a bit on it, due to pothole damage but this can happen with any car. Been thinking about replacing it with something more exotic though, simply because I just fancy something nicer and life is too short. BMWs, Audis, Mercs etc don't interest me - top of my list is an '07 onwards Maser QPV with the ZF auto box, older than the Alfa yes, so it might seem daft going 'backwards' to an older car, but they're affordable for me now even with a slush fund set aside, and there are plenty in this bracket with mileages similar to or lower than the Alfa. Condition and history are everything with these.



Edited by P5BNij on Friday 29th November 14:45


Edited by P5BNij on Friday 29th November 14:46