Gallardo used Daily. Anyone?

[JSquaredJim]

As per the title, thinking about a Gallardo with a manual box, none of this flappy paddle nonsense. Does anyone use one as more or less a daily car? Clearly there will be times when it's not practical to use and another car would be available for such occasions. What are peoples experiences regarding running costs and reliability and what sort of mileages are we talking about?
Any useful info will be greatfully recieved.

P.s If Mr Ward reads this. Hi it's James.

[ZOLLAR]

Can't offer any advice, but I do hope you get one would be very nice to see a Gallardo around swansea

[iandc]

No big issues with using as a daily drive. They are robust and reliable and relatively small for negotiating around town etc. I recommend lifting gear to avoid the panic of speed bumps ( in reality not an issue but just gives that extra degree of confidence). Fine in the wet etc as 4 wheel drive. Manual should be fine but don't sit in traffic slipping the clutch. Judging the rear for parking is a bit of a pain in the coupe but fine in the spyder with the roof down. I find the rear camera is not that good for judging distance but does warn you if anyone/thing is behind you when reversing. Satnav is pretty crumby as you can get Garmin etc much better. It is OK but only 5 digit post code and not full 7. Other than that; go for it. Oh I nearly forgot, you will get lots of attention so allow extra travel time especiall when filling up at petrol stations!!

[justin220]

I ran mine for about a year as a daily and really got fed up with the attention it got all the time. I also found that using every day made it feel less special. If I was to do it again it'd be as a second car for sure.

Strangely I didn't actually enjoy the actual driving part of it either, big heavy and not all that great on a B Road blast.

The power and the noise was very addictive though!

[UH-Matt]

justin220 said:

I also found that using every day made it feel less special.

Didn't need to use mine daily, but I work from home and made an excuse on almost every day to go out in it, so mine turned in to a daily drive and was special every time... Perfect car for nipping out for a packet of biscuits in IMHO. Just expect those little trips to start taking an hour rather than 10 minutes, as you will want to go the long way!

[P101]

I did over 11000 miles in mine over a year, it's as reliable as any other car I have had, never had any major costly problems. I use it nearly everyday, mainly for non purpose journeys. I use it occasionally to pop to the Indian or Tesco's etc. Only drawback for me is parking it out of site which I never do and finding suitable safe locations to park.

[JSquaredJim]

ZOLLAR said:

Can't offer any advice, but I do hope you get one would be very nice to see a Gallardo around swansea

I haven't been in Swansea fo 2 years and I've changed my profile more time than I can remember! I'm in Chelmsford now. Seems Pistonheads likes Swansea more than I did, lol.

Thanks for all the advice, keep it coming. Anyone got any experience of other cars of a similar ilk and running them in a similar vein? i.e 430 etc.

Edited by JSquaredJim on Friday 15th April 20:09

[Jules360]

I live near Chelmsford too and have used mine to comute to the station for the last 4 years. Wonderful car, never missed a beat, 4WD reassuring in the winter and felt special every time i drove it. I have now upgraded to an LP560-4, this time with e-gear, which is fantastic - the blip of the throttle changing down in Sport or Corsa is addictive. Feel free to PM.

[JSquaredJim]

Will you by any chance be heading to the Meet at the 8 Ball diner this month with your Gallardo? I might have to try and get there if you are.

[Jules360]

Afraid not, but as i said feel free to PM.

[Mosi]

Did 14k miles in a year in my first one, no problemo - perfectly usable daily snotter

[ssnet]

used myne daily no probs at all. used it for school run. worst bit is parking in supermarkets, car parks etc

[355f]

used mine daily, with reguar visits t HR owen to fix all the problems with it.

very poor turning circle, dreadful leaden steering. poor rear visability and concern to leave it anywhere means IMO its a poor choice for a daily drive- build quality of 04/05 cars is dire and with the mnaual car the clutches are made of cheese- life made worse on pre 06 cars because of gearing. And whilst if you can afford the car, petrol costs should not matter- its a heavy drinker

Edited by 355f on Thursday 21st April 08:15

[P101]

355f said:

used mine daily, with reguar visits t HR owen to fix all the problems with it.

very poor turning circle, dreadful leaden steering. poor rear visability and concern to leave it anywhere means IMO its a poor choice for a daily drive- build quality of 04/05 cars is dire and with the mnaual car the clutches are made of cheese- life made worse on pre 06 cars because of gearing. And whilst if you can afford the car, petrol costs should not matter- its a heavy drinker

Edited by 355f on Thursday 21st April 08:15

My manual car did 27k on its first clutch, would have done over 30k. Clutch is fine if you know how to drive correctly.

[355f]

P101 said:

My manual car did 27k on its first clutch, would have done over 30k. Clutch is fine if you know how to drive correctly.

i have owned many so called 'supercars' and having completed extensive track driving in other vehicles i think I have earned the 'ability to drive it'

You may know that the earlier cars had a revision a , b and c clutch with varying thickness of material amd construction.

I bought mine when it had 4K miles on it and it had anew clutch fitted, then after another 5 K miles it needed a new revision- which lambo paid for. Bad clutch life is also about gearing of the transmission and the very small diameter clutch. At the time in HR owne the workshop was full off vehicles with the same issue with the dreaful e gear heading the pack

Your expereince is the exception rather than rule- dont make the mistke of thinking you have got the life out of it because of enhanced driving ability- It is a common and well known problem

[Jules360]

355f said:

i have owned many so called 'supercars' and having completed extensive track driving in other vehicles i think I have earned the 'ability to drive it'

You may know that the earlier cars had a revision a , b and c clutch with varying thickness of material amd construction.

I bought mine when it had 4K miles on it and it had anew clutch fitted, then after another 5 K miles it needed a new revision- which lambo paid for. Bad clutch life is also about gearing of the transmission and the very small diameter clutch. At the time in HR owne the workshop was full off vehicles with the same issue with the dreaful e gear heading the pack

Your expereince is the exception rather than rule- dont make the mistke of thinking you have got the life out of it because of enhanced driving ability- It is a common and well known problem

My 04 car has just had a new clutch fitted prior to being offered for sale. I had done 18k miles and had "probably 2-4k left", according to the main dealer. What other build quality issues are you referring to? My car has been faultless, other than a lambda sensor which was replaced a while back.

[iandc]

Why is everybody getting so uptight about "the clutch issue". My undserstanding is the really early ones had chocolate clutches which were replaced with more robust ones. All the later models should be fine and the early ones corrected by now. Driving style can affect clutch life irrespective of how robust the clutch is, especially holding E-Gear models in gear at lights etc. Just chill out a bit as the sun is shining!!

[Another Fluffer]

iandc said:

Why is everybody getting so uptight about "the clutch issue". My undserstanding is the really early ones had chocolate clutches which were replaced with more robust ones. All the later models should be fine and the early ones corrected by now. Driving style can affect clutch life irrespective of how robust the clutch is, especially holding E-Gear models in gear at lights etc. Just chill out a bit as the sun is shining!!

What he said

[P101]

355f said:

i have owned many so called 'supercars' and having completed extensive track driving in other vehicles i think I have earned the 'ability to drive it'

You may know that the earlier cars had a revision a , b and c clutch with varying thickness of material amd construction.

I bought mine when it had 4K miles on it and it had anew clutch fitted, then after another 5 K miles it needed a new revision- which lambo paid for. Bad clutch life is also about gearing of the transmission and the very small diameter clutch. At the time in HR owne the workshop was full off vehicles with the same issue with the dreaful e gear heading the pack

Your expereince is the exception rather than rule- dont make the mistke of thinking you have got the life out of it because of enhanced driving ability- It is a common and well known problem

Dont take it to heart, no offence meant. I am not saying I have enhanced driving ability by any means, I am just careful when engaging the clutch. Most of the longevity of my cars original clutch is due to it's previous owner, who did 23000 before I took the car on.

[Craig]

355f said:

build quality of 04/05 cars is dire

you must have been unlucky as mine compares very well with other cars I have owned

certainly better than the 355 I used to own

now if you were talking early Diablo on the other hand..