Daily driving a classic car

[Petrolsmasher]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 20 May 2020 at 15:10

[Dracoro]

A 10 year old mainstream model car is not a ‘classic”. If you want a RS just get one and drive it. Service and maintain it and get on with it.

Now, if we’re talking 20/30 years plus cars then it’s a different question with different answers.

[SidewaysSi]

Petrolsmasher said:

Has anyone ever bought an appreciating classic and actually used it as a daily driver putting miles on it etc.

I love the focus rs 2010 shape, but they are big money now which doesent bother me so much its more the fact i would be daily driving something most people would probably use for the weekends and keep in pristine condition.

Why do you care what others would do? If you can afford it and want to do it, JFDI.

[ClaphamGT3]

I have often used a classic Range Rover as a daily and, in the past have used various classics as every day cars. Something as modern as a 10 year old RS should be fine, albeit don’t forget that, for all the fast Ford halo, it’s still a 10 year-old focus, so expect more minor niggles that you’d get on a ‘new’ car

[Dracoro]

Petrolsmasher said:

Dracoro said:

A 10 year old car is not a classic. If you want a RS just get one and drive it daily.

Now, if we’re talking 20/30 years plus cars then it’s a different question with different answers.

Fair enough, not a classic but still cost 20k which is big money for its age.

Point being, it’s a modern car that will cope with miles/regular use with ease. Service maintain it and don’t worry about it too much,

Older “classic” cars is more of a challenge due to scarcity of parts, old tech etc., albeit simpler, will need more attention.

[kambites]

I'm guessing you're asking what it will do to its value rather than whether it will be reliable enough? My guess is that mileage won't significantly hurt its value (unless you start with an ultra-low mileage car) but condition and originality will.

I don't know if that era of Focus rusts (it really shouldn't) but it's perhaps something to be wary of if you're going to use it on salted roads.

Edited by kambites on Sunday 10th May 10:36

[milfordkong]

Petrolsmasher said:

Fair enough, not a classic but still cost 20k which is big money for its age.

I dailied a 1M for a bit, a £37k car... I bought it because I wanted to use it and enjoy it every day but ultimately my brain always went back to the fact that I had a fair chunk (for me) tied up in it and it was at the time at least a very gently appreciating car - This meant I hated leaving it anywhere and had one eye on the mileage constantly ... I sold it in the end as I didn’t enjoy that feeling. Makes no sense in one way as I had a new M135i which wasn’t a million miles off value wise when new at least and I had no problems daily driving that - I always expected it to depreciate and had no ideas in my head about it being a ‘modern classic’ that needed cherishing... just a mindset thing for me. I’m sure for those on here who drop £40k down the back of the sofa and don’t bother to fish it out it makes no sense at all but I can see where you’re coming from.

Maybe get the RS and a bangernomics car, then you can enjoy the RS when you like but still have the banger for messy or long journeys... two sets of running costs can also be annoying though.

[Xcore]

No I wouldn’t rely on my classic for the everyday commute, although I’m sure it wouldn’t be too unreliable. Then again it’s a 1965 mgb so actually considered a classic, not a slightly outdated Ford Focus.

[kambites]

My MGB was far happier as a daily driver than as a weekend car. If I didn't use it it sulked.

Now I run a 15 year old Elise as a daily driver, which I suppose counts as a modern classic. Am I hurting its value? Probably a bit but it's still vastly cheaper to run than almost anything else.

Edited by kambites on Sunday 10th May 10:41

[milfordkong]

Somebody only read the thread title before moving it eh .... this thread is about a 2010 Focus RS!

[MrGTI6]

Whilst I wouldn't consider it a classic, I've been running a 1998 Peugeot 306 GTI-6 for three years now. I average about 15k miles per year in it and it's been my only car for three years. It's currently on 163k and it's been 100% reliable. It's cost me a set of tyres, a set of discs and pads, and an air-con re-gas. Not a spot of rust on it either! It also does 35mpg and it's unstoppable in the snow.

It's not perfect though. For a start, the turning circle to the left is fine, but to the right it's abysmal; multi-storey car parks can be a nightmare! The rain-sensing wipers are a pain as well. Sometimes they work perfectly. But in light rain they often wipe continuously when they don't need to. Unfortunately, the auto setting replaces the intermittent setting. It also has no cup holders, so trips to a drive-thru results in precariously wedging drinks between random items in the car and driving really carefully.

[PooPooFleas]

Current daily is a c43 AMG ('99). Lovely thing but it's just done 100k and I'm thinking 'right what's gonna go pop...'

It already has a tiny oil leak to the front (probably a gasket) but obviously only driving it once a week currently.

[donkmeister]

OP, I think a shift in thinking might be required: instead of thinking of it as a classic that needs kid gloves, think of it as a 10 year old car that you want to keep in good condition moving forwards.

If you will be keeping it in a climate-controlled storage unit then you can ignore all the following:
1) Driving it will keep fluids circulating, which will prevent corrosion inside the engine and seals from drying out.
2) Driving it will get some heat in to keep the electrics nice and dry
3) Do not put a cover over it... I have an upcoming restoration on a perfectly good MG that has been stored under a cover and is now chaffed and mouldy
4) Consider undersealing. PH had a really good article on this earlier in the year.

Just drive it, keep on top of any maintenance and repairs, and if you really want to cosset it then avoid driving it when the roads are salted.

If you really want to treat it as an investment, consider buying up all the spares that might be required, especially anything specific to the Focus RS (which shouldn't be much, considering 90% will be standard Focus and 9% will be standard Volvo). I'm in a similar boat as I daily a 16 year old car with an unusual engine choice that was thankfully common elsewhere in the range (remember the 2.5T engine was fitted to all manner of Volvos as well as the Focus, Mondeo, Kuga). I'm yet to run into issues with spares but there will come a time.

ETA Considering it from the "can you live with using it daily?", my dad bought an ST225 new and put 25k miles per year on it touring all around the country for work, then after a few years my mum (who at the time was a 58 year old primary school teacher and church warden) used it as her daily. Never skipped a beat, nothing broke, just normal maintenance and consumables. I appreciate the RS is going to have some differences besides more power, but the ST225 was a very usable and reliable daily car.

Edited by donkmeister on Sunday 10th May 13:09

[DKL]

I rotate all 4 of our all year round cars so all get used at least once a week. 2 are 15 yrs old, but frankly they're "new" cars in my mind, and 2 are 25-30 yrs old.
Both perfectly capable of daily use.

[cologne2792]

What point do classics now start at for classic insurance?
Is it year or model specific?

Last one I did was my 2.8i Capri and that was about 30.

[fourfoldroot]

I used my 635csi as a daily driver for a couple of years. It satrted unfailingly and warmed up quite quickly in the winter. Sold it when a cheap volvo lease deal came up. I wish I hadnt now really. Volvo lease has just ended so my Tr 4 will be pressed into daily service.




I have previously ran a P6 rover as a daily and after that a P5 Rover. I had a daily Triumph Vitesse but that was unreliable and rusted,and aScimitar Se6a that just wanted to overheat,so that lasted 3 weeks!

[Yertis]

fourfoldroot said:

I used my 635csi as a daily driver for a couple of years. It satrted unfailingly and warmed up quite quickly in the winter. Sold it when a cheap volvo lease deal came up. I wish I hadnt now really. Volvo lease has just ended so my Tr 4 will be pressed into daily service.




I have previously ran a P6 rover as a daily and after that a P5 Rover. I had a daily Triumph Vitesse but that was unreliable and rusted,and aScimitar Se6a that just wanted to overheat,so that lasted 3 weeks!

I'm using the TR6 as my runaround at the moment, and jolly good fun it is too. Not sure I'd use it too much in the winter – even with every rust prevention method known (stonechip/dinitrol etc) I still found some surface rust when digging around underneath last year (while fitting some fibreglass arch liners to prevent rust). I ran a GT6 for years as my daily and it only stranded me twice, once with a duff dizzy cap and again when a diff output shaft sheared. Se6a experience similar to yours, sort of ameliorated but never fixed with some kind of swirl pot so we kept that for about four years. It was a tough old thing otherwise, and good enough for the homeless chap we discovered had been sleeping in it overnight.

[lukeharding]

PooPooFleas said:

Current daily is a c43 AMG ('99). Lovely thing but it's just done 100k and I'm thinking 'right what's gonna go pop...'

It already has a tiny oil leak to the front (probably a gasket) but obviously only driving it once a week currently.

100k should be nothing for something like that!

[HealeyV8]

Really it's either an investment, don't drive it much keep mileage down, or it's a car you want to use so use it.
You can't have it both ways, same goes for a true classic. I drive mine as much as is practical, with 1970's British sports cars they last better if used.

[HustleRussell]

Petrolsmasher said:

appreciating classic

focus rs 2010