Ultimate Daily Driver

[RWebb]

What would your Ultimate Daily Driver be?

It has to be easy to park & carry some "stuff"

function well in a city -- stop & go traffic impies automatic trans.? or maybe DSG?

be cheap enuff to not drive you nuts every time a moron puts a parking ding in it

must have good vision to avoid idiots (some of whom may be on skateboards, etc.)

adequate gnd. clearance to make it over driveways, bumps, etc.

and be fun to drive...

[Jim Richards]

Gti?

[porsche4life]

GTI....

Or a well prepared 944....

[911boost]

New or used?

If used I am leaning towards a manual transmission V70R

[NO LIFT]

Mazdaspeed 3

[onewhippedpuppy]

Lots of room for interpretation with this one. I had similar requirements with the added need to seat 5 and cost less than $15k, my 2002 Audi S8 was the result. MPG is pretty average, but it also has AWD, 360 HP, and is beautiful inside and out.

No need for back seats = 986 Boxster. Nearly 30 MPG, simply fantastic to drive, dirt cheap. Honorable mention to the C5 Z06 Corvette, which are a stupid amount of car for the money.
Need small back seats = 996. Nearly 25 MPG, also excellent to drive, easy to find for under $20k.

As for a sedan, I'm pretty confident that you can't do much better for less than $15k. Up it to $20k-ish and an E39 M5 or W211 E55 AMG would get pretty interesting.

[Hydrocket]

My 640HP Supra was my daily driver for several years. Crazy fast, handled amazing, 4 seats, hatch for bigger stuff and as reliable as an anvil.

Loved it!!

[MMiller]

2009 Grand Cherokee/Overland/Hemi
MPG average 17
360hp
4WD
Pretty good luxury for the cost used 22K
Fun to drive- upgraded SRT sways with Bilstiens at the 4 corners
Poor mans Cayenne

It will get the kids and groceries picked up and more!

[MRM]

Tastefully modified Audi RS6 with 500+ HP and upgraded transmission. Quattro drive for Minnesota's winters, seats four, full leather interior with luxury and convenience to match a Mercedes, and takes off faster than most F cars.

[look 171]

Subi Forester turbo. Fun, cheap to own and fix, handling is fantastic (it will out turn many sports car) , fastest then most minivans out there (I use to own a Miata and they were slow), haul lots of stuff, rides like a car, and good in snow country. Very easy to park, so what's not to like? Bomb proof unlike out dome of our German friends.

oh, I forgot to add that you can hop them up with WRX parts which are available at many places.

[edgemar]

Used 3 series sedan/wagon.

[ckelly78z]

10 year old Saturn wagon, it has a plastic dent resistant body, a fairly quick 2.0L twin cam motor, 33 MPG, cheap to buy and maintain, easy to drive and park while it has alot of interior space by folding down the rear seat.

Now all that said, a 10 year old BMW 3 series wagon does everything better for just a little more money but harder to find. With a set of Blizzaks, either one of these cars will abolutely go anywhere in the Winter.

[scottmandue]

Mustang!

But seriously... I have been driving my dad's Honda CR-V a bunch lately... well, my wife borrows it and somehow I end up driving it (we have one car, parents have two cars and are in there 80's).

Anywho, cheap, tough as rocks, cheap, able to haul stuff, cheap, great visability...

Ok maybe not so much 'fun to drive'... but did I mention they are cheap to buy and maintain?

[greglepore]

CTS V Wagon

[VINMAN]

My Grand Cherokee is the perfect DD. Just the right size to carry my gear around without being too big. Mileage ain't the best but, still tolerable. Excellent all weather vehicle . Only slight mods to it. 2.5 inch lift. A/T tires... Going on198,000 basically trouble free miles.

[Oh Haha]

Originally Posted by greglepore

CTS V Wagon

+1

Silver with charcoal alcantara interior.

[vash]

Originally Posted by Jrboulder

My sacrificial anode.

i like this term^^!

we have a forester turbo. the ONLY complaint is the wind noise. makes it unbearable on long trips. the 05 model has no window frame, which is the problem on our car.

for me, it would have to meet a few simple criteria.

carry stuff, not be to boring to drive, gets great mileage, reliable..and a great road trip machine. for me a VW jetta with a TDi would be perfect.

[VincentVega]

Before my truck I used a roof rack for everything from kayaks and lumber to rugs and bikes. Roof rack on a Cayman or 996tt sounds perfect to me.

[RWebb]

no one has mentioned any of the modern Mini Cooper variants yet...

[VincentVega]

I'm on my second one. Loads of fun but with a few drawbacks. I'm thinking of moving to a Civic SI.