What is your daily driver

[PhdNPrerunners]

I know a lot of you dd your 4runners but I am sure some of you daily drive something else. Once I find a job I plan on picking up a car as my dd cause I am going to start going to school downtown (about 35-40 miles from my house) and the 4runner would cost too much for me to drive everyday. I just wanted to get ideas on what to get so I thought I would see what others are dding. Post up your dd, thanks

 

[williamZ]

If you want something with better mileage for a DD, look into a Camry or a Civic?

 

[CookieRoe]

my DD.........

2007 Civic EX w/ NAVI. She gets me 33-40mpg. My 4R doesn't (but I don't care)

 

[Thai]

Prius...the sole reason why i got it because i drive at least 70 miles daily...and sometimes 140 miles! When i had my G-wagen, the DD was my minivan, but that was getting expensive because it only gets 21 mpg on average. The Sienna was too valuable for my family to ruin it so quickly with the mileage that i was putting on it.

 

[Jeff Kleb]

No 4Runner anymore, but my "gas hog" is a 2004 Silverado truck. When fuel gets expensive, I drive my 2002 Nissan Sentra more often. It gets approximately twice the miles per gallon as my truck.

My commute is 25 to 28 miles each way - depending upon which route I take. If I make a stop along the way (errands, etc.), I go about sixty miles a day during the week - give or take - plus whatever driving I do on the weekends. 60 miles is ~ 2 gallons in the Sentra and perhaps four in the truck.
:wtf:

Right now, unleaded regular is about $2.97 in my area of VA; but the 'experts' say it will be $3.75 to $4.00 by Memorial Day (just in time for summer driving). This is because of the falling value of the US Dollar - and the fact that "reformulated gasoline" or 'Summer Blend' has to be used in our market after April 1st.

"Ethanol belongs in my liquor cabinet; not in my gas tank!"

 

[durrell]

I DD my 4Runner about 55 miles round trip per day. It is a little expensive, but nowhere near as expensive as my 04 GMC Sierra was.

My wife drives a 2006 Honda Civic that gets 30 MPG. She only travels about 12 miles round trip everyday. We should really switch, but she doesn't like driving the 4Runner. Oh well.

I too am considering picking up a cheap commuter car. I'd have to finance it, though, so I'm not too sure it's worth it. The 4Runner is pretty close to paid off, so once that happens it is worth it just to drive it.

 

[GMZ]

I DD my 4R, I did the math and gas would have to be over $5 for a small car to make sense. Even at $5/gal a $5000 car (with twice the mpg of my 4R) would take 2-3 years to be paid for by gas savings given my current commute. Ill be deployed from May until December so it looks like Ill miss the high prices again. When I get back I want to move closer to work and get a moped or just ride a bike to work.

 

[JohnsD90]

I would Suggest a 15 year old civic, camry or jetta tdi, my dad has the jetta tdi which i put like 10k on a year and its running great at 256k miles and 43mpg with roof rack and 48-50 without. the camry and civic will do high 30's mpg. I wouldn't reccomend a prius because the time it takes to pay $15-$25k plus insurance it wouldnt really pay for itself in your situation.

 

[PhdNPrerunners]

I would Suggest a 15 year old civic, camry or jetta tdi, my dad has the jetta tdi which i put like 10k on a year and its running great at 256k miles and 43mpg with roof rack and 48-50 without. the camry and civic will do high 30's mpg. I wouldn't reccomend a prius because the time it takes to pay $15-$25k plus insurance it wouldnt really pay for itself in your situation.

I would love to pick up another TDI for a dd. I used to have a golf that would get over 50+ MPG but no TDIs are in my price range which is no more than $4000. I might look into an older honda accord cause civics around here get stolen or broken into a lot.

 

[JohnsD90]

I would love to pick up another TDI for a dd. I used to have a golf that would get over 50+ MPG but no TDIs are in my price range which is no more than $4000. I might look into an older honda accord cause civics around here get stolen or broken into a lot.

Foobert's TDI Hunt

Just look, atleast around me ive seen MKIV tdi 5 speed's for under $4k in good working shape. My dad's isnt KBB'd above $3.5k.

 

[OCMike]

2009 smart Cabrio is our daily driver. It's actually the wife's' car, but I tend to drive it more. Way too much fun zipping around in that car.

 

[Supra725]

My dd is my runner..

unless I can find an low mileage is300 white with nav, the runner will be with me till I'm finish with school.

 

[OffroadJunglist]

My DD for the winter is my '97 Hilux X-tra Cab and for summer I have the Land Cruiser LJ73. Both are thirsty but the Runner can drink even much more!! :biggrin2:

greetz, Tom

 

[Thai]

I wouldn't reccomend a prius because the time it takes to pay $15-$25k plus insurance it wouldnt really pay for itself in your situation.

Insurance? My car insurance is not any different than my old Corolla, well maybe a bit more because the Prius costs more than my Corolla. Even if you had to pay more for the insurance (which i doubt vs. a VW), the money you save on maintenance should be more than enough to offset it vs. an old Jetta. (On the Prius, you don't change out your brakes until near 100k miles because the actual brakes are hardly ever used!) Hybrid batteries are getting cheaper (under $2k for new hybrid batteries on old hybrids...you can get a used one for under $1k)...and they are proven to run past 150k miles easily...and most gets past 250k miles.

Lets face it, Jettas new or old have NEVER been known to have good reliability...so, you may save a little bit on gas (diesel prices are going up too!), you pay plenty for maintenance costs.
Even your VW Jetta does not get good ratings:
http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Reliability.aspx?year=1999&make=Volkswagen&model=Jetta

I think that Civics and Corollas are the way to go if you're looking at old cars...built to last a long time.

 

[JohnsD90]

Insurance? My car insurance is not any different than my old Corolla, well maybe a bit more because the Prius costs more than my Corolla. Even if you had to pay more for the insurance (which i doubt vs. a VW), the money you save on maintenance should be more than enough to offset it vs. an old Jetta. (On the Prius, you don't change out your brakes until near 100k miles because the actual brakes are hardly ever used!) Hybrid batteries are getting cheaper (under $2k for new hybrid batteries on old hybrids...you can get a used one for under $1k)...and they are proven to run past 150k miles easily...and most gets past 250k miles.

Lets face it, Jettas new or old have NEVER been known to have good reliability...so, you may save a little bit on gas (diesel prices are going up too!), you pay plenty for maintenance costs.
Even your VW Jetta does not get good ratings:
1999 Volkswagen Jetta Reliability - MSN Autos

I think that Civics and Corollas are the way to go if you're looking at old cars...built to last a long time.

I hope you realize i wasn't flaming your car there, i was nearly stating a solid prius on the used market is a bit out of his price range, and wouldnt make it worth buying.

And we had 90k miles on the front brake pads of the jetta when they went. It's called downshifting properly and looking ahead, and the clutch had 232k when we pulled it and it was still good for 20k more.

 

[PhelpsSR5]

Daily Driver

My daily driver is a 95 ford ranger. 2WD 2.3L 4cyl. 5Speed Manual Tranny
The 2.3 Ford engine is bullet proof. I bought it off of my father in 98 and it had 80,000 miles on it then. Today I have 306,000 and counting on it. Replaced the original clutch at 285,000. Great truck and mpg..... When it goes I plan on replacing it with another 2.3L Ford Ranger!

 

[Screecha]

2003 Subaru WRX

 

[DaveS]

DD is the Runner but I am getting a lot of "why don't you drive the Corolla and leave the Runner at home to save gas" arguments from my other half, however I know she'll then be off out in it all day racking up even more miles. She wants to keep it like an heirloom as well I think - she doesn't understand why I would consider trading it.

 

[Presta24]

my DD is a 1997 ford aspire.......(waiting for the laughing to subside)......I drive 90 miles a day. Just by chance I bought it from a dealer i worked for, I was driving a leased 06 GLI. The lease was up soon and wasn't sure what was next so I bought it off trade for $400.00 It had 86k miles, ugly, radio didn't work, needed an alternator and tires. I have been driving it for 5 yrs now, it gets 35 miles to the gallon. It now has 149k on it, i take great care of it maint wise, leaks a lil oil but does not burn any. Its ugly, loud, and i look real cute in it (Im 5'11 and 260) But I can honestly say it was a great purchase and has saved me a ton of money in gas and keeps the miles and wear and tear of my baby

 

[J-money$$$]

2004 honda civic VP sedan.

it has crank windows, manual locks, 5spd with no tach.... but gets almost 40 mpg