daily driver or extra car?

[themadness]

do you have a daily driver or do you get your beretta for a project car?

[3X00-Modified]

Turbo 5-speed Subaru Legacy is my Daily driver. Before I got the 96 the 95 was both the project and daily driver... Worst Idea ever.

[themadness]

Turbo 5-speed Subaru Legacy is my Daily driver. Before I got the 96 the 95 was both the project and daily driver... Worst Idea ever.

bad idea? why?

[3X00-Modified]

Because all the money you put into the car is driving around on the street EVERY day being worn out and beat to hell in the winter. I built my hybrid and ran it for 1 winter and I regret ever doing that, I ruined a set of head studs due to condensation in the heads rusting them out. You will also wear out other components more quickly such as timing chain and bearings if you have a very performance orientated build like I did. And on top of all of that, if you spend the money to get it painted, kiss the front end good bye. I had to accept the fact that driving to Bfests my car WILL get chipped... I can't imagine what it would be like if I drove that one every day.

Also anytime you want to do something your down a vehicle, or of the mod you do breaks you fuked... Had that happen a few times and I wont do it ever again. I try to keep one car reliable at all times. When I do stuff to the Subie the Beretta is in working order to drive, but it will NEVER see winter roads.

Car's are built to be driven yes, but there is a limit of driving to still see the investment your making not get thrown away. I'm on three 2 years now on the bottom end of my motor and I've been beating the crap out of it at the strip, I can guarantee you that I would not be in the same boat if I were also driving that car every day... I would have had to do something else to the motor by now.

After I built the Hybrid engine and put it in the 95 when I popped the hood and looked over the engine all I could see was money being thrown away. Daily driving a car is very hard on it.

[themadness]

it depends on HOW you drive. i drive like an old man so i dont see a car being a daily driver a bad thing. my father in law has an astro van with 186k and drives 15 minutes 1 way to work everyday. the fuel pump went out this week but its the first problem he's ever had.

we dont have bad winters here so weather isnt much of an issue. as far as mods go, i dont do them unless its something simple thats idiot proof. i figure if it was meant to go over 120mph then it should have come that way from the factory.

upkeep is the key to high mileage cars. i have seen 05 model cars around here with over 115k and they have more issues than the 94 i have. mileage isnt as important as how you treat the car IMO. some people really abuse their cars. my brother had 82 toyota 4wd truck that, on a whim, he decided to hook to a chevy silverado to see if he could pull it........sideways. i guess i just take care of my stuff.

[ErichZ26]

Its better to put the cars you spend your time and money on in the garage under lock and key and take them out on nice days. Daily use wears them out. My daily use Volvo gets dings and people not caring.

[DTMAce]

Jon takes care of his stuff. Its just that he has sunk a lot of money into Pinky, and hates to see it wasted as a DD.

Now mine, has been a DD all its life pretty much, and only recently have I been putting it away for the winter. But it now has 231 thousand miles on it and its 17 years old. I keep it maintained, but it still gets driven a lot. Its averaging 500 miles a week right now.

[3X00-Modified]

it depends on HOW you drive. i drive like an old man so i dont see a car being a daily driver a bad thing. my father in law has an astro van with 186k and drives 15 minutes 1 way to work everyday. the fuel pump went out this week but its the first problem he's ever had.

we dont have bad winters here so weather isnt much of an issue. as far as mods go, i dont do them unless its something simple thats idiot proof. i figure if it was meant to go over 120mph then it should have come that way from the factory.

upkeep is the key to high mileage cars. i have seen 05 model cars around here with over 115k and they have more issues than the 94 i have. mileage isnt as important as how you treat the car IMO. some people really abuse their cars. my brother had 82 toyota 4wd truck that, on a whim, he decided to hook to a chevy silverado to see if he could pull it........sideways. i guess i just take care of my stuff.

Thats not what you asked... and thats not what I stated... I stated that a PROJECT car is a bad idea to have as a daily driver. Therefor my Project beretta is not my daily car, and when it was, It was a bad idea to do that.

[themadness]

wasnt trying to imply he didnt take care of his stuff by any means. i was just saying daily drivin isnt as bad as some think if you stay on top of maintaining the guts. if he is like the rest some of the folks here then he probably knows every square inch of his car.

making mods that make the car better and/or just make you happy, isnt a wasted investment. my wife actually encouraged me to sell my jeep and get the beretta. every dime i put in it is worth it if i can get satisfaction out of driving. i sold my first beretta back in 2000 and regretted it ever since. 95 base that i bought in 96. i saved every dime of my 16 year old's summer job money and dropped it rims,etc. whoever bought it after me ragged the crap out of it but i still see it from time to time running the roads. i dont know how many miles it has on it but i sold with over 100k. it survived beach trips, 30(1 way) minute rides to college, and several months in the nc mountains.



EDIT: sorry 3X00. i misunderstood

[Barry]

I have been daily driving my project since 2008. I only had to tow it home twice, once a firewall leak got my computer wet, and another time I broke a intermediate shaft bracket and had some axle carnage issues. I have put over 20k on it at least.

Daily driving is rough. Interior wear happens quick, especially hauling parts for other cars with it, etc. My motor is almost 100% stock so no issues there, it will run forever no matter how you beat on it. Body gets beat. Snow is hard on a z04 kit, especially with a mach 1 lip(snow plow). My stage 3 6 puck clutch is not made for 200 miles a week of half city half backroad driving.

Thats why I bought another car to daily drive then the beretta can be built and not relied on anymore.

[themadness]

what is considered a project car? mine will be my daily when its mechanically sound to my liking. interior wear would be considered normal stuff to me unless the goal is to have a show car with mint interior.getting a decent paint job and interior is what i consider a project.

guess i'm lucky to live in a decent climate with no snow to plow through

[woody90gtz]

All of mine are projects and that does get you in trouble sometimes. haha I had to DD the Camaro for a couple months this spring because the truck trans died and the Beretta was still in pieces.

As a general rule though, the Beretta is my summer DD and the truck is the winter DD...the Camaro is the not-so-street-friendly hot rod. The truck and the Beretta are both built, but they are pretty mild. The Camaro is a little more radical with the cam & compression, and I'm sure using it as a real DD would tear it up after a while.

As far as the investment standpoint, cars that are driven at all are a terrible investment...there's really no way around that. But you're still not gonna see me park mine for long.

[Chad91GTZ]

Commuting isn't my idea of "cars are meant to be driven"

When I say cars are meant to be driven, I mean to shows, to the strip, the the track, to the bar, to the restaurant etc.

Not to work everyday in rush hour traffic.

That's why god made Honda's and Toyota's.

[DTMAce]

That's why god made Honda's and Toyota's.

Yep, cause ugly last forever. LOL

[Chad91GTZ]

They really do make the fugliest cars on the damn road.