Daily driver; how do you do it?

[acme]

TREMAiNE said:

Not the most sensible daily but it puts a smile on my face for what is an otherwise utterly boring commute…

Not as ruinous to run as you'd expect either.

Superb. As someone who uses his V8 once per week on the commute I’d be interested in how you feel about it sitting in traffic/filthy conditions etc or do you not care? Plus mileage & MPG?

I think you’re second only to the guy earlier who commuted in a 355!

[TREMAiNE]

acme said:

TREMAiNE said:

Not the most sensible daily but it puts a smile on my face for what is an otherwise utterly boring commute…

Not as ruinous to run as you'd expect either.

Superb. As someone who uses his V8 once per week on the commute I’d be interested in how you feel about it sitting in traffic/filthy conditions etc or do you not care? Plus mileage & MPG?

I think you’re second only to the guy earlier who commuted in a 355!

I've only had it 6 weeks and done just under 2,000 miles. My commute is 20 miles each way.
I've averaged 28mpg in that time and that's with a decent amount of more spirited driving. Over a 115 mile run the other week, sitting at 65mph I averaged 38mpg. Tax is £145 per year too which is great.

It's a manual and the clutch is very heavy so sitting in traffic can be tiresome (especially as I am used to auto) but it's ok for the time I spend in it. It has enough toys to keep me amused too.

It does hide the dirt quite well but I am not overly fussed. Come Spring/Summer time I'll wash it every week. But currently once every 3-4 weeks will suffice.

A 355 is my dream car - and I would 100% daily that if I am ever fortunate enough to own one.

[walton1231]

I had an integra dc2 as my daily for nearly 7 years. Got it with 70k Miles on it and sold it with 170k miles. Nothing went wrong except popping a drive shaft in all that time. Not bad for 7 years of nigh on 9000rpm. Used very little oil aswell just regular maintenance. It is a hatchback coupe which can fit a load of stuff in the back, especially when the back seats went down

[acme]

TREMAiNE said:

I've only had it 6 weeks and done just under 2,000 miles. My commute is 20 miles each way.
I've averaged 28mpg in that time and that's with a decent amount of more spirited driving. Over a 115 mile run the other week, sitting at 65mph I averaged 38mpg. Tax is £145 per year too which is great.

It's a manual and the clutch is very heavy so sitting in traffic can be tiresome (especially as I am used to auto) but it's ok for the time I spend in it. It has enough toys to keep me amused too.

It does hide the dirt quite well but I am not overly fussed. Come Spring/Summer time I'll wash it every week. But currently once every 3-4 weeks will suffice.

A 355 is my dream car - and I would 100% daily that if I am ever fortunate enough to own one.

If tax is only £145 per year I assume it’s the ecoboost & not the V8 as I assumed?

[acme]

I take that back it says 5.0 on the side, you’re not in the UK?

[ffhard]

I don't drive daily so I'm probably disqualified from this thread!
But I live above my work (independent garage) so I drive many things, just not very far, probably not far enough to really form an opinion except as to what might be wrong with them. But, these days, I would not buy any Mercedes, their quality has truly gone off a cliff of some sort!
But when I DO drive anywhere it's usually a few hundred miles and I have my own car, Civic type R (anyone else read "total knob on an internet forum" ) but it does me. Fun when you get the chance, practical (decent sized boot) and comfortable as well as quite surprisingly economical when cruising. Also a Honda so near enough 100% reliable. Whats not to like?
So, IF I had a daily driver that would be it.

[TREMAiNE]

acme said:

I take that back it says 5.0 on the side, you’re not in the UK?

Yep its 5.0 and yep I'm in the UK.

The laws changed a few years ago, cars registered after March 2017 were affected. I don't know the exact figure but the first year tax on the Mustang would have been around £1,500 but then it drops to £145 thereafter. Had the car been over £40k new, the tax would be £500(ish) for year 2 and 3 and then drop to £145 for year 4 onwards.
Same goes for all cars (or at least larger engine cars) I think...

[schmalex]

TREMAiNE said:

Not the most sensible daily but it puts a smile on my face for what is an otherwise utterly boring commute…

Not as ruinous to run as you'd expect either.

Good stuff.

My wife has a 2017 Mustang GT and I have a 2016 C63 AMG. Neither are particularly ruinous to run and both make a dull commute much more interesting

[neil1jnr]

I have had my 535d for a while now. After lots of various dailys I can't see myself going back to something else. It's effortless and and not bad to drive, my next daily will likely be of the same formula, diesel, auto, 3 litres and 2 turbos, only newer. More cylinders and litres would be nice too, unlikely to be petrol again unless I live close to work.

Looking forward to when electric cars are the norm too the performance of them already make most ICE cars feel very slow.

I could never go back to a non turbo as a daily unless it was a weekend car. Being spoiled with huge amounts of torque, I just wouldn't want to go back something gutless in the useable rev range.

Edited by neil1jnr on Wednesday 4th December 22:27

[jamieduff1981]

I've been round the houses a bit and decided that I'm too young to be old.

There's no such thing as a good all rounder to a PHer because comfort and excitement are mutually exclusive concepts. Anything designed to pander to laziness will quickly breed contempt. After wasting a lot of money on a supercharged V8 automatic fanily car and sticking it in "D" and leaving it there for 30000 miles of essential journeys only and never once thinking of just going for a drive in it, I concluded that less is more.

I'm now back to commuting 60+ miles per day of B roads in a 15 year old MX-5. It's wonderful.

[cerb4.5lee]

jamieduff1981 said:

I've been round the houses a bit and decided that I'm too young to be old.

There's no such thing as a good all rounder to a PHer because comfort and excitement are mutually exclusive concepts. Anything designed to pander to laziness will quickly breed contempt. After wasting a lot of money on a supercharged V8 automatic fanily car and sticking it in "D" and leaving it there for 30000 miles of essential journeys only and never once thinking of just going for a drive in it, I concluded that less is more.

I'm now back to commuting 60+ miles per day of B roads in a 15 year old MX-5. It's wonderful.

Great to have you back!

I've missed you.

[grahamgraham]

acme said:

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

I'm in the camp of daily drive something that entertains you, life's too short to drive boring cars & exciting cars shouldn't be confined to garages.

My newly acquired daily is a BMW E39 M5 - need to do a few more miles to make a full judgement, but so far I love it, amazing ability to make every journey an event :-D

I'm struggling to let go of my previous daily - e46 330i touring manual - best all round car i've ever owned, better than the Fiesta ST it replaced. Cheap & inconspicuous enough to park anywhere, comfy & economical enough to drive to south of France, big enough to do the ikea trip & quick enough to be exciting on a weekend in Wales.

[thelostboy]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

In the early 0s I did 300,000 miles in my TVRs. Was a bit challenging at times

Surely the winner!

I sat in a Griffith recently and it fell apart even without moving, so full credit for you doing 300,000 miles in that!

I think it's a bit disingenuous if your 'daily' consists of a commute of a few miles. You're only a true hero if you are in severe financial ruin as a result of your car choices.

[mmm-five]

grahamgraham said:

I'm struggling to let go of my previous daily - e46 330i touring manual - best all round car i've ever owned, better than the Fiesta ST it replaced. Cheap & inconspicuous enough to park anywhere, comfy & economical enough to drive to south of France, big enough to do the ikea trip & quick enough to be exciting on a weekend in Wales.

I went to an e46 330D M-Sport Touring (now on 172,000 miles), as the Z4MC was starting to become too expensive to run as a daily - mainly fuel & higher insurance due to modifying it slightly, plus the 6,000 mile (every 3 months) services I was doing.

Comfy when cruising, capable in the cold/wet (now that it's on its winter wheels & tyres), and 40mpg, means filling up once a week rather than twice. Plus the added benefit of being able to fit in more than 1 colleague/friend when we go out for lunch somewhere.

[designforlife]

For the last 4 years i've dailied interesting and unusual JDM imports bought outright for cash, insurance and running costs are the same as driving something boring and UKDM, and parts are easy enough to get hold of.

It's fun to be able to daily something different and not have to pay a premium to do it...current whip is 20 years old but in good shape, and pretty much nobody knows what it is

[Mr Squarekins]

BMW i8 is my daily. I plan to put 100,000 miles on it over the next 4 years.

[blueg33]

Having just bought a Kia pro ceed for station runs, my mates are taking the piss.

To be honest though for an 11 year old car it’s quite nice and looks ok if you ignore the badge. It’s pretty well put together it has 124bhp which is more than most other 1.6’s of the same vintage.

[MikeM6]

blueg33 said:

Having just bought a Kia pro ceed for station runs, my mates are taking the piss.

To be honest though for an 11 year old car it’s quite nice and looks ok if you ignore the badge. It’s pretty well put together it has 124bhp which is more than most other 1.6’s of the same vintage.

I'm getting serious déjà vu now....

[blueg33]

MikeM6 said:

blueg33 said:

Having just bought a Kia pro ceed for station runs, my mates are taking the piss.

To be honest though for an 11 year old car it’s quite nice and looks ok if you ignore the badge. It’s pretty well put together it has 124bhp which is more than most other 1.6’s of the same vintage.

I'm getting serious déjà vu now....

Ha - i posted because I have now picked up the Kia and spent a day driving it about.

[martin mrt]

I’ve spent the past 6 months in a mk6 Golf GTI, for me it’s a great all round daily driver.

It wasn’t stupidly expensive to buy at £9k, it’s comfortable and big enough to accommodate the family on a trip and it’s just the right balance of fun and practicality.

Running costs have been nothing out of the ordinary, timing chain replaced in my first month of ownership but other than that it’s needed nothing other than tyres.

All my cars have been daily driven, I have had some sheds that I’ve used as work/pub/tip run cars over the years and I currently wait on my latest one having the DSG gearbox fixed.