philsford
Part of things
Posts: 733
Club RR Member Number: 100
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My daily is B5 passat and 22 years old. Not as good looking as some have suggested but it fairly handy at load lugging. It does everything I need it to, I would jump in it and go anywhere in it right now. Admittedly it does everything slowly being a 90 bhp tdi and I probably look like I am struggling financially to the pcp driving majority but I just want a car that doesn't put the management light on for the sake of it. I have had newer cars but I think the late 90s were the VW high point. It is a disposable car which I don't mind leaving on car parks etc. If I had spent 15k on my daily I would not want to go to town shopping in it but perhaps my 15k is more to me than your 15k.
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Last Edit: May 8, 2021 19:44:12 GMT by philsford
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Jem45
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,021
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I don't think it's a question that can be answered as it seems to be pretty much pot luck whether the specific car is good or not. As a case in point there's a guy who brings his Pinto Sierra into work fairly often for repairs. It's properly tidy, well looked after with servicing etc. Gets towed in by the AA at least twice a year because its broken down. Another guy has a Sierra that is always about 30 seconds from the scrapyard, engine has had the Pinto cam death rattle since before I worked there, gets the absolute bare minimum to get it through a MOT. It's broken down once in the 20 odd years the guy has owned it. I guess my point is you can't recommend a specific brand or model of car because its hit and miss One way to approach it is to have a look at the proportion of survivors. Not the exotic or desirable stuff which gets returned to the road but the plodders that have kept on trucking. For example, the number of old Volvos which are still in use as everyday transport seems a reasonable indication that they were built to last and/ or have a straightforward mechanical integrity and parts prices that aren't too eye watering. Ownership profile/ demographic is also relevant. Same with old Audis before they became fashionable (late 90s Audi 80s and 1st gen A4s maybe. That said, I'm now finding some old Volvo bits are becoming pricey/ elusive. I've got a phase 1 V70XC and whilst you can get almost anything from Scandix and a few other Swedish suppliers, postage has gone mental since BR-X-T. I've got issues paying £30 for a track rod and £57 on top for postage.
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Carbs 'n chrome
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I don't think you can beat a MkIII Cavalier, they are simple and easy to maintain, have mod cons like good heaters, PAS electric windows, EFI and much more. Even A/C on the top CDX and V6 cars. You can choose an early model for simplicity, no cat or ABS but stil have the essentials or pick a later car which has both. Reliability is outstanding, parts are still fairly easy to get and not expensive and on my preferred 2.0 model, fuel economy is very good for a car of it's size. Up to 40mpg on a run for my 2.0 16v GLS auto. Prices for the more exotic models, Turbos, GSis SRis and 4x4s are already beginning to head for the stratosphere but you can still get a Tidy GL or GLS 2.0 for a grand or thereabouts. This one I bought for SWMBO to use as her daily, I only got it back when her spine deteriorated to the point where she had difficulty getting in and out and I bought her a Picasso. I've had it since 2006 and its been faultless. I've not used it since 2017 and it's not quite so pretty now, but still starts on the button (it actually HAS a button!)will be for sale in the next week or two. I just don't have time to put it to rights, there are too many cars (6 at the last count) ahead of it in the queue! Steve PS, I also have a prefacelift 2.0 8v auto saloon without cat or ABS to sell too!
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Roach
Part of things
Posts: 717
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Mk2 golf with a modern engine all day long. My daily.
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cjhillman
Posted a lot
1979 Capri (Rolling Project) 1985 Escort mk3 (Daily)
Posts: 1,580
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I've daily driven my Escort mk3 for the last 3 years (occasionally borrowing my girlfriends car) and with general maintenance its been fine. Over the years regularly driven from Manchester to London and these days the other way round. Also used to drive to Glasgow in it a lot. Apparently 2019 I did 20k in it the MOT station told me I think when i bought it in around 36k it was mechanically a lot better... now its up to 63k its a bit slower, oilier and needs some tlc (which its getting this weekend). I'm not sure when the world goes back to normal i'll be trusting it like i used to. One client I work for occasionally rented me Cars as I think they thought it wouldnt get there The stress is a bit much sometimes but thats all in my head i guess. I always think the simpler the Car the better. I had a mk1 Focus estate (1.4 Zetec) for about 7 years and it was great. lasted to 204k and only scrapped as it needed a cam belt and exhaust.
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Last Edit: May 8, 2021 21:38:19 GMT by cjhillman
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madmog
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,152
Club RR Member Number: 46
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As above, Merc W124 or even W123. I had a W123 200 carb until last year. Manual everything & single carb so nothing much to go wrong. That was used an an everyday car: school run, Tescos etc. But also did RRG France without drama. Then three up to Berlin and back. The basic 4 cylinder was happy cruising at 80mph with the vague steering box making faster speeds unrelaxing. The issue would be rust. Only thing I would have wanted on it was air con for the few hot months of the year. Some W123s have air con. I'm actually looking at a W124 again as a daily myself because it's the most comfortable car I know. I could buy something much newer but can't find anything that feels the same. I have my oddball W114 to satisfy my weird streak (though even that is practical and will be reliable), currently on its side while I finish off some bits. A W124 is still discreet, invisible even, certainly practical.
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Last Edit: May 9, 2021 20:04:37 GMT by madmog
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Rob M
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,915
Club RR Member Number: 41
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The big problem with these types of threads is that you get suggestions about cars that are more Autosh*te fodder than the staple diet of RR. Look, I was commuting to work in the 80s in a Hillman Hunter that I had to swap engines out on, more than once, to make sure I could get to work the following week. I owned 80s cars in the 90s, some with 100K plus mileage and I never had issues with commuting in them. If you are going to wake up in a cold sweat every morning worrying about whether your car will get you to work or not then buy the newest thing you can with the lowest mileage and best service history. There are plenty of 80s cars out there, and older, that will do a daily commute with ease but you will need to spend some money before hand, maybe, on a service kit, coil and battery, the usual ignition side because bore wear is unlikely to leave you stuck 10 miles from home. Be sensible, be clever and don't expect Mondeo comfort from a 1983 Cavalier and things will be dandy, etc...
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My 2001 75 is a pretty usable daily, it only cost me £600. Got the brakes rebuilt not long after I got it, and a few other niggles sorted, but it has cruise, cd changer, parking sensors, electric seats and windows, dual zone climate...pretty much a modern car. Maybe not quite a retro but not too common on the roads. The downside is the kv6 gets 19mpg around town...its also not that easy to work on, three timing belts! Shame I dinged it recently and it probably isn't worth sorting.
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philsford
Part of things
Posts: 733
Club RR Member Number: 100
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I don't think you can beat a MkIII Cavalier, they are simple and easy to maintain, have mod cons like good heaters, PAS electric windows, EFI and much more. Even A/C on the top CDX and V6 cars. You can choose an early model for simplicity, no cat or ABS but stil have the essentials or pick a later car which has both. Reliability is outstanding, parts are still fairly easy to get and not expensive and on my preferred 2.0 model, fuel economy is very good for a car of it's size. Up to 40mpg on a run for my 2.0 16v GLS auto. Prices for the more exotic models, Turbos, GSis SRis and 4x4s are already beginning to head for the stratosphere but you can still get a Tidy GL or GLS 2.0 for a grand or thereabouts. This one I bought for SWMBO to use as her daily, I only got it back when her spine deteriorated to the point where she had difficulty getting in and out and I bought her a Picasso. I've had it since 2006 and its been faultless. I've not used it since 2017 and it's not quite so pretty now, but still starts on the button (it actually HAS a button!)will be for sale in the next week or two. I just don't have time to put it to rights, there are too many cars (6 at the last count) ahead of it in the queue! Steve PS, I also have a prefacelift 2.0 8v auto saloon without cat or ABS to sell too! I was a taxi driver once upon a time and we had a couple of 2.0 8v cavaliers that were truly dependable and were still running fine with 300k on clock. I bought a 1.8LS 11\12 years ago for the Mrs to drive and neither of us liked it and I sold it, at the time I was taxi driving a mondeo mk3 and the cavalier felt old in comparison. In fact I replaced the cavalier with a mondeo st24 on lpg which we kept for 12 months or so.
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886
Club RR Member Number: 22
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I'd go for a puma, find a good one and look after it, they drive fantastically and can only appreciate in value. Oh and I have driven my TR7 v8 convertible every day including in the snow for a couple of years, lovely and warm and it never let me down! Mum had a 1.7 puma as a company car many years ago, was a right laugh. You just never see them anymore I can confirm they’re all doing Targa rallying!
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'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo '08 Panda 100HP
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,188
Club RR Member Number: 170
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I have a few ideas which i’ll show later. The Volvo is a great example.
Many many good points raised about expectations and what folks can do (ie mechanics). I know of one chap who drove a Focus on 2 of the 4 injectors working right, a shot 3rd gear and a bad damper ; he does destroy cars. It never broke down, but is that a reliable indicator?
The main two drivers for dailying a car for me are:
Reliability Parts availability Rust
Almost anything that’s 10 years old will begin to have rust issues. My ‘08 Mondeo is surface rusty now in places, and most of my friends 90s and 00s Passats and Alfa’s have seen underseal - My ST220 has and as the thread shows, I’ve luckily caught some in time which would eventually have been the car’s maker.
Both of my Ford’s now have parts issues, albeit one of them won’t stop it from moving.... yet.
I’d say E46s are great for dailying but rust is beginning to affect many of them.
E36s are good but to me, thr E46 is a nicer place to be, and dynamically superior. But rusty is just as bad on those now, and some Parts are getting very expensive on those, and now NLA thanks to BMW Classic pulling out of the UK market since the start of this year.
W124s are lovely as a daily. But again, rust. My old 250D is sat on the owner’s drive due to severe rot on the subframe mounts. Ouch.
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Last Edit: May 10, 2021 7:34:51 GMT by ChasR
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mylittletony
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,335
Club RR Member Number: 84
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May 10, 2021 14:00:28 GMT
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Volvo 240/740/940
Once equipped with power steering and fuel injection mine was eminently reliable and drivable on a day to day basis (with one caveat).
Good visibility, GREAT heater, comfortable, versatile and well braked. Handle fine out of the box, can be tightened up to a more modern standard with very little work.
Now to that caveat - RUST. A lot of the cars mentioned here would be absolutely fine, if you can find one that won't dissolve over the winter or several.
I've got a boring A2 currently, does the job fine but completely uninspiring and has more niggles than my 240 did, but they're harder to fix.
I'd love to go to an older daily, but I'd want to spend a bit getting it right up front. As Dez says, most 60s/70s cars are perfectly capable of daily duties
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melle
South West
It'll come out in the wash.
Posts: 1,981
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May 10, 2021 16:31:49 GMT
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There are so many good cars to be had for very little money, and I don't think one is necessarily "better" than another, just buy what you fancy and can afford... For me the trick is starting with something in reasonable condition, not changing cars too often and not penny-pinching when it comes to maintenance. I've never spent more than £1500 on a car, but I always buy the best quality/ OEM parts I can find/ afford. I don't mind spending money on parts as long as that makes a car dependable, no matter what its actual value is. My daily for the past 10 years has been an '88 Saab 900i. It has needed very little in the time I had it, and I think it has at least another 10 years of dailying in it. Be great to have it converted to electric when that becomes affordable, but if it would need a complete restoration by that time I would move it on. It's a daily driver after all, not a hobby car.
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www.saabv4.com'70 Saab 96 V4 "The Devil's Own V4" '77 Saab 95 V4 van conversion project '88 Saab 900i 8V
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pptom
Part of things
Posts: 464
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May 10, 2021 17:27:59 GMT
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I'm 'lucky' that I drive a works van so don't have to commute, but if I did I would happily do it in one of my 50 year old classics. The key thing about them is that they've been completely rebuilt by me, so I know every inch of them, I've modernised parts and modified parts as with most classics there are proven routes of development carried out by owners over the years. The roads and traffic are very different now to what cars were designed for all those years ago. However, I wouldn't dream of commuting in a classic I'd brought from someone else, maybe if I knew them and there work, there are just far too many horrors out there and the lack of MOT's means roads are full of decent looking death traps. Retro's are different in my mind, maybe it's my age, but I think anything from the 90's onwards is pretty modern in comparison, but they're old enough to have been through a few hands and suffered a few bodges along the way. Then there is just pot luck, I've had 2 early 2000's Audi's. The first, an A3 I brought badly / got lied to / didn't know better, cost me a fortune to sort out, sold it after 8 months. The second, an A4 is the best, most reliable car I've owned, despite having it mapped to 255bhp and I still own it 6 years later. Doesn't use a drop of oil, still on original clutch, yet I read of owners of the same model and year keep having to top up oil and would have had 2 clutches be my mileage.
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ems1
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 295
Club RR Member Number: 5
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May 10, 2021 18:12:53 GMT
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A Peugeot 205 with a 1.4 petrol engine makes a good daily. Used to have a 1.4CJ, good fun to drive and economical.
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1985 Manta GT/E 16v 2001 VW T4 Caravelle
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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May 10, 2021 19:00:58 GMT
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Biggest problem is most 2nd hand cars are clapped out heaps. Buy one to daily and your going to have an unreliable car no matter how old it is! If your going to daily a classic I think you really need to start with somthing that has at the very least had a full rebuild and inspection if not half of its parts replaced with quality replacements.. Good news is that a full rebuild of a classic is actually pretty easy compared with somthing of 90s era and beyond. I daily a 90s car and it's a pig to work on. It only gets worse as they get newer and they only add more and more unessicary breakable stuff you need to keep swapping. The biggest thing that keep me with the 90s stuff atm is a lack of anything older that ticks the specific size/weight/fuel requirements not that older cars are unreliable or cant do the job in general.. they just didnt make 7 seaters in the 70s... Really I go as old as I can! Also old cars are money now and i cant afford to have a 10k classic parked on the road outside my house getting driven into and stolen. If I had a drive that would be a different story tho really. Get what suits you but it will only be as good as it is.
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May 10, 2021 19:57:56 GMT
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A Peugeot 205 with a 1.4 petrol engine makes a good daily. Used to have a 1.4CJ, good fun to drive and economical. Hah here's hoping if I ever get mine back on the road! Not long now ...
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melle
South West
It'll come out in the wash.
Posts: 1,981
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May 10, 2021 20:16:19 GMT
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they just didnt make 7 seaters in the 70s... They did, and I can recommend them!
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www.saabv4.com'70 Saab 96 V4 "The Devil's Own V4" '77 Saab 95 V4 van conversion project '88 Saab 900i 8V
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May 10, 2021 20:36:55 GMT
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Weren't those Saabs available as a seven seater in the '60s? Volvo's 145 had a seven seat option too, although I don't know if they sold that accessory from the launch in the '60s. However, I'm pretty sure that Peugeot and Citroen both did seven seat versions of their 404 & DS/ID estates though.
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,710
Club RR Member Number: 34
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May 10, 2021 20:39:02 GMT
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I’ve been meaning to reply to this thread again arguing for why something like a falcon or early mustang really makes an excellent choice as a daily driver classic in the UK.
They’re simple, solid, easy to fix cars. Both mustangs and falcons use the same platform through the 60s with minor differences to the underpinnings. Bodies are obviously totally different, and mustangs command a bit more because of their ‘muscle car kudos’ or something. There’s little to go wrong with them, they have ample power, and are generally quite ‘modern’ to drive. They have strong followings so are easy to pick up parts for and find support. Personally I’d go for a straight 6 over a v8 for daily driver duties. They’re a bit more frugal and very torquey. The 6s are ‘million mile’ engines. Just change the fluids and there’s little else to do.
1. Rust. They’re all imports. So generally speaking the ones people have bothered to import are pretty good condition and from dry states. They don’t rust much anyway. Battery tray (bolt in) front floors under feet (single skin, very quick and easy repair) and lower rear 1/4s into arch being the only real rot spots. All areas easy to inspect and not that expensive for remedial work if you don’t have the skills yourself.
2.parts availability. There is literally nothing they do not reproduce for these cars, and pretty much all of it is reasonable quality and cheap. I really mean nothing. Body panels, trim parts, seals, glass, interiors. All available. For example when I needed a starter motor I ordered a brand name (ACdelco) one off rockauto for £58 delivered and it came in 3 days. Sure there’s UK stockists if you insist on using them, but they’re a lot more expensive and generally no quicker unless you’re local and can collect.
One interlinking factor with that is brexit and it’s effect on parts prices. Whilst the price of parts for pretty much every European market car, and every British car that has reproduction parts made in Europe (which is all of them, we make pretty much nothing here now), parts for all American stuff has remained the same. This makes them very competitively priced when everything else has just taken a 25% hike. It’s levelled the playing field a huge amount.
3. Upgrades. Because they’re popular There’s a bolt in kit for everything. Power steering. Air-con. Disc brakes. Engine transplants. Transmission swaps. Rear end swaps. Uprated suspension. Electrical upgrades. Security. Pre-made interior stuff like seat cover and carpet kits. All off the shelf, no thinking or figuring out. Buy, fit, forget.
4. Size. They’re UK car size. A falcon wagon is 16ft long, a sedan is 8” shorter. A mustang is a little shorter still. They fit anywhere including in uk garages.
5. Cost. You can buy a pretty reasonable 6cyl 4dr falcon sedan for £5k. A wagon will be £8k plus in the same condition, and 6cyl mustangs start at about the same. But compared to most other classics of similar age, that’s very good value for money. I’m pretty sure Amazon’s are more than that now? As are most other 60s/70s classics that would fulfill the other criteria. Chances are when (if) you come to sell it’ll be worth more than you paid for it too. I paid a bit under £7k for my sedan delivery 3.5 years ago and I’d get £10k if I sold it now. Good examples of Volvo 240s and the better models of e36 make that sort of money now. Even lower spec e28s and w115/123 are that sort of money too.
Insurance is cheap. Still Sub -£200 with SDP and commute on there through a specialist.
6. Support. Americans almost speak the same language as us, and quite like to use forums and the like too, so finding answers to problems is dead easy. All the info is out there and easily searchable without having to learn a new language.
There’s probably more points I’ll think of yet too...
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