Best DD for the money?

[SteveJ]

Consider the reasons you DON"T want your E30 (or other special car) as your daily driver:
Putting lots of miles on the car, subjecting it to bad weather, wear & tear, chances for damage or accidents. All good, valid reasons.

Now, consider how much time you spend in your car driving daily. Total up those hours. (If it's less than a few hours, you should be on a bicycle during the week) Do you want to spend that time in a boring, safe, economical car? Or do you like it when other drivers come up alongside and give you a thumbs up? At the end of a crappy week of work, do you really want to drive back home in a civic? Or, do you leave work a little early and take the twisties all the way home?

Quote from someone: Life's too short to drive boring cars.
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SteveJ
88 E30M3 previous daily driver
72 2002tii current daily driver while the M3 gets restored to daily driver status, then switch.

[bimmerteck]

Consider the reasons you DON"T want your E30 (or other special car) as your daily driver:
Putting lots of miles on the car, subjecting it to bad weather, wear & tear, chances for damage or accidents. All good, valid reasons.

Now, consider how much time you spend in your car driving daily. Total up those hours. (If it's less than a few hours, you should be on a bicycle during the week) Do you want to spend that time in a boring, safe, economical car? Or do you like it when other drivers come up alongside and give you a thumbs up? At the end of a crappy week of work, do you really want to drive back home in a civic? Or, do you leave work a little early and take the twisties all the way home?

Quote from someone: Life's too short to drive boring cars.
------------
SteveJ
88 E30M3 previous daily driver
72 2002tii current daily driver while the M3 gets restored to daily driver status, then switch.

I drive the "boring" car most days of the week so I can keep my "fun" cars for the weekend. The e30 is built for the curves, and my bus is being built for the campsite. That allows me to make the "fun" cars that much more specific for their intended purposes, with the e30 it's the BBK, manual brakes, agressive suspension, and really sticky tires that last around 5k miles with the way I drive it. With the bus it's allowing me to add an extra 200lbs. of batteries and solar array so I can spend that much longer off the grid when I do go on vacation.


So far the tally this month is around 500 miles on the daily at an average of 12mph vs 1300 miles in the e30 at an average of 42mph. After looking at that I'll be keeping the e30 for the weekend trips to the dragon, saturday morning runs to the jack daniels distillery, and regional car shows. The beetle can keep slogging it out in 9-5 commute traffic till it's wheels fall off. :up:


OP- 1999 VW Beetle GLS w/5speed has been a great daily, leather, heated seats, bluetooth, fun enough in traffic, and cheap to insure.

[Bearmw]

Jason I hear you on the old Dodge minivans. Super simple and available with a 5 speed.

[CrusherCurtis]

Well sorted stock civic is not cheap.

1990 honda accord. Far cheaper than civic. More roomy as well.

The real best DD for the money is e39 m5 though.

[Mercury[BKM]]

Porsche 996

[Herr Faust Schinken]

Mini coopers seem like there good little cars that are pretty fun and reliable

[Grant318is]

Dare I say a 190e?

[gearheadE30]

My dd, at least in the winter. Not gonna say its the best, but it hauls a ton of shit/people, is rated to tow 8000 lbs according to the factory manual, simple, reliable, AC blows cold, heat is really hot, seats are still comfy even after 6 hours, first or second row, and 23 mpg on the highway isn't bad. only gets about 16 or 17 around town though. Fast enough to keep up with traffic (5.0 V8 with a shift kit and cooler for the trans, 0-60 in 8.5 to 9 seconds based on my stopwatch) and parts are stupid cheap. And it handles okay, believe it or not. 2.5 turn steering box, 1/2 ton truck springs, and good shocks. Hell, the front bar is 1 1/2" diameter... And it's a hell of a drift car in the snow with the V8 torque and the posi. The only rust is surface on the body, it has 79k miles on it (10k from me) and I have a grand total of $750 in it, including purchase price. Also, it should be known that I have odd taste in cars.

[Dj Buttchug]

i came up on a 318 for 1k. i have barly any money in it and it runs well. almost 3k miles already

e30 is always good dd

[BoxDriver86]

My e30 is my beater car. When I was looking for a cheap DD, it was either e30 or MK2 VW. Got my eta for $400 with a little over 200K on the working odometer.

I drive it very hard every day and spend far less time in the other cars because I love it so much. If I had to get another DD though, it would be an e34 wagon hands down.

[SpeicherBimmer]

I've had my first car since it was new, a 2000 Honda Accord V6 coupe...It has never skipped a beat and has always been my backup to all my project cars...She's got 147,000 miles on the clock and she runs real strong.sorry for the crappy cell phone pics..

[E30Gus]

My dd, at least in the winter. Not gonna say its the best, but it hauls a ton of shit/people, is rated to tow 8000 lbs according to the factory manual, simple, reliable, AC blows cold, heat is really hot, seats are still comfy even after 6 hours, first or second row, and 23 mpg on the highway isn't bad. only gets about 16 or 17 around town though. Fast enough to keep up with traffic (5.0 V8 with a shift kit and cooler for the trans, 0-60 in 8.5 to 9 seconds based on my stopwatch) and parts are stupid cheap. And it handles okay, believe it or not. 2.5 turn steering box, 1/2 ton truck springs, and good shocks. Hell, the front bar is 1 1/2" diameter... And it's a hell of a drift car in the snow with the V8 torque and the posi. The only rust is surface on the body, it has 79k miles on it (10k from me) and I have a grand total of $750 in it, including purchase price. Also, it should be known that I have odd taste in cars.

Holy shit I need a tank like this!
I've been thinking about a $500 beater. When it quits, I take the plates off and leave it.

[skuzz]

any toyota pickup with 22re 4cyl. unbelievable tanks

[GillesBigCowboy]

Anytime I m driving, I want to maximize my enjoyment. You can have multiple e30s for different tasks, and still keep it economical.

[schröe30er]

+1 w123, have one... only the 300D, 300SD 300SDL, NOT the "240D" unless you like driving slow, better mpg tho...

+1 Eta, had one... great gas mileage and still an e30!

+1 for Corolla's or Camry's, not that I would ever own one, but I did recommend a Camry recently for my sister.

a w123 diesel gets way worse gas mileage than you think, it gets worse gas mileage than a e30.

That is incorrect. I've had many, including the w126. They can easily get 25-28mph if they are maintained. I get way better mpg with my 300d than my e30. Even on Waste vegetable oil. It may not beat an eta...but it beats my 325i.

^^That's a w126, with the 6 cylinder. They're also much bigger than an e30, and I can use it to tow an e30.

Are you sure it's the 6 cylinder? Not all w126's have a 6 cylinder, only the 300SDL does, and those are becoming hard to find. All the other w126's or "300sd" have the EXACT same 5 cylinder engine as the w123.


IMHO...The 1981-1985 300d 300sd/l is the strongest most reliable car ever made/on the road. You can read more online about it. Very little electronics, all vacuum powered. Two alternator/fan belts. Cast Iron block AND head. Timing chain. Vacuum adjusted transmission. If you start slipping gears, a simple adjustment of the vacuum cable will fix it 90% of the time, long before a rebuild is needed. They can run on diesel, wvo, tranny fluid and used engine oil. The engine was made out of melted down German tiger tanks...so the legend goes. Easy 500k before rebuild if you care for it. My 82 had 390k original miles when I sold it.

The w123 and w126 have notoriously weak rear ends. Definitely not good for towing. You can make upgrades to the rear end though, I have seen it done.

Op, Toyota/Hondas are like disposable cameras. They would need less attention. You have to look after the diesel like a locomotive "or maybe that's just me" But my w123 is the only car i'd want during the Apocalypse.

I've driven my w123 to Texas and back 5 times, and Washington DC once. Never a single issue. Many people who have these cars don't know what they have, that is why you see so many in disrepair.

Edit:
I should add, the w123/126 is SUPER easy to work on and maintain, parts are plentiful and affordable.