Classic 911 as a daily driver?

[Ccporsche]

Hi everyone,

I'm a huge fan of classic 911s but have never owned one nor have I had much experience driving them.
My question is what would it be like to have a classic 911 (1965-73) as a daily driver? What would the maintenance costs look like? Etc.

[Bear911]

I would love to daily drive a 911. I consider a well-maintained example as reliable as any modern car, without all the nonsense gizmos that come with modern cars that numb the driving experience.

What prevents me personally from using one daily is fuel cost, not wanting to put lunar miles on an appreciating classic and not wanting to regularly expose such a car to the vagaries of parking lot abuse. Maintenance is more expensive, especially if you pay someone else to do it, but not really that much more than a modern sportscar.

Availability of parts are excellent considerig the age. A lot of it you can still buy at a Porsche dealership. Tires may be an issue on the smaller wheel diameters, but this isn't an insurmountable problem.

I suppose it also depends on your environment. Is aircon a must? Do you regularly have to start the car in below freezing temps? Early cars are more prone to rust, wouldn't want to keep one at the beach or drive on a salted road etc. These cars do pretty well in traffic, but a daily grind through rush hour is probably not a good idea, the clutch can get a bit heavy and the motor likes airflow.

[DRACO A5OG]

sure why not. I do

oil and filter change every 3000 miles $60-70
air filter once per year or clean for free
gear lube every 2 years $35-55
vavle adjust every 15,000 miles $120 diy or hire a wrench $750-900

plus others, but that would be the basic maintenance

Jim

[LakeCleElum]

As the owner of two longhoods (Over 20 yrs), they can be very reliable once sorted out. Costs to maintain not terrible if you can do basic tasks (including valve adjust) yourself.

A big factor is your climate and commute conditions......I wouldn't want to do it in extreme heat or cold. No snow/salt for a long hood. I wouldn't want to do a long commute in stop and go traffic. I wouldn't want to run up crazy high miles.

So, a commute of under 20 miles each way on fun roads in light traffic and moderate weather is what I would consider........

If you buy a car that has set for a few years, it will take a big to work the bugs out......been there........

[panos]

I live in Southern California and have a '74 911 as a daily driver. I love it and I wouldn't think twice about using it as my daily driver. As mentioned above, I would take into consideration if you need ac or heat. Living in So Cal i don't need much of either.

I would recommend that you not require creature comforts to enjoy cars like these on a day to day basis. No a/c, heat, radio, has worked for me and has been replaced by spirited driving

[MaxDef]

I have had a '77 for the past 6 years - at least 1/2 the 144k miles on my car's odometer have been as a daily driver (the half I put on.) I bought a car with a galvanized body - it rains a lot in the NW. I've performed regular/preventative maintenance and it's been great. The car's age + stop and go traffic recently lead to some transmission and clutch work and that was a bit pricey (Still less than repairing a few simple things on the '99 VW I had prior.) Spend some time finding a solid car up front and you'll love it!

[Evans, Marv]

From my point of view, I wouldn't drive mine as a daily driver for some of the reasons bear911 stated. It's true there are parts to be had, but every year that passes, those get less available. Mileage on an engine to the point of needing a rebuild is pretty expensive & getting more so as time goes on. The cars are appreciating as time goes by. It's true they aren't very expensive to maintain, but the other factors come into play in my opinion. They are fun weekend drivers & not to be worn out needlessly as a DD, unless you don't care - which is your prerogative - or are willing to spend the money to rebuild it when the time comes - or sell it as is. There are other cars out there that would be much better as a DD.

[Craig_D]

It's awesome, plain and simple. These cars are great and make it a treat to be in every single day! Get one and find out.

[panos]

I would agree with evans, marv to an extent. I wouldn't drive around an unmolested longhood that would bring good collector value in the next ten to twenty years, but if you find a long hood that has a 3.0 transplant or is rough around the edges then I would consider that one for a better DD candidate.

[Tidybuoy]

I drive my '74 911 almost every day. I drive either the 911 or the 944 (my only choices). The 944 is more comfortable and has great a/c but I find myself driving the 911 even when it's 110 outside because it's just.....damm fun to drive.

The only problem that I have is that I tend to take the long way home far too often

[That Guy]

I have used my 73 911 as a daily driver and commuted in it all through a couple of NZ winters (5-15 degrees C) and summers (15-30 degrees C). Commute is about 20 miles one way, half of which bumper to bumper 5-15 mph stuff. The car copes just fine, no problems at all. Not having a great heater in the winter sucks a bit mostly due to windows fogging up rather than being too cold, but no air con in the summer becomes a drag. You need to pay a bit more attention than in a modern car in slow heavy traffic particularly going uphill with repeated stop start traffic needing many handbrake hill starts.
So I'm happy to do it and the car copes fine in my opinion - noting keeping up with maintenance. In the end though I chose to spend $5k on a cheap air con auto modern commuter box that lives outside and is less worrisome to abuse day in day out mainly because of not having to worry about car park abuse (as above), not worrying about wearing out a classic on short ****ty drives, or being rear-ended on the commute by some sleepy driver. I always shuddered at the thought of being rear ended with that wonderful 2.4 sitting out the back!

[BK911]

I drive each car in my signature at least 1-2x's a week 36 miles each way to work. Makes the trip to/from work seem a little more fun.

As others have said, once you get these cars sorted out they are pretty dependable.

[gint]

I have several cars in my daily driver rotation. The 911 has been added to the fleet. I'm getting in it to head off for work in a few minutes.

[Winter]

I drive my '75 targa pretty much every day in the summer. Not so much in the winter. Even if the car had heat (which it doesn't right now) I would rather drive my Audi. Which just works better and is more comfortable in a blizzard going over a mountain pass.

I think location has a lot to do with it. No daily drive is fun if that drive is always in bumper to bumper traffic. Or, as some have pointed out, you're subjecting an appreciating classic to salted roads.

There are plenty of owners here who use their cars as daily drivers, others not so much. But I guarantee you one thing: one you own a 911 you will try to drive it as much as you can!

[Fleming]

Well, daily driving has its advantages. Fun car. You get to know when and where to maintain - say cv joints, with track and street duty you repack at 25K miles and replace at 100k, Oil change before and after each track weekend, depending on where you are traveling that can be a 500mile drive (300 round trip to the track and 200 miles on the track) or on the last trip to Monterey was a 5000k mile drive.

Normal street tires can be 50-60K, track tires are a bit less :-).

This is a car that has been driven 402,000 miles. Over the last 30 years of my ownership it has over 100K of just track miles. And, yes it was made in 1964 and could be a museum item.... but I've still got a few more miles to drive.

Photos - Florida after Rennsport 2, Monterey during Rennsport 4






And, no it does not get driven during our Minnesota winters. We have other cars we sacrifice to the gods of rust.

[Jesse16]

I drive mine for business but that's not a "daily" thing, has worked out to 10K miles per year for the past 5 years, not "saving" it for someone else. I'm reconciled to the knowledge that being a 25 year old car, I'm gonna get stuck on occasion, that has happened once 2 years ago about 130 miles from home. I'm 90% diy so no big concern on stuff wearing out. You only live once, and the smile I have when driving is worth the risk. Get AAA and take a deep breath vs. worry.
(Extreme hot weather is the only event I tend to avoid, no July or Aug. trips to Georgia or SC.)

[MackGuy]

I have recently added my 73.5 T Targa to the "rotation" as others have mentioned... It's far from a concours car, has a bit of rust, needs some body work and paint, but runs like a champ. I'm a firm believer that the best maintenance you can do for an old car is to drive it regularly, cars don't like to be neglected. If the weather is foul, then I take something else. Here in NC salting is light snow is infrequent, and really cold winters are in the 20-30F range which my car doesn't seem to have a problem with.

I don't think I'd want a 911 as an "only" car, but it's definitely a nice secondary car and driving once a week or more is good.

[onboost]

Ha!

An early 911 that has been maintained and doens't have any weird ness about it is fine for a daily driver. Its a car.. and they were good cars that love to be used and driven, just like any other car, only more fun. I'm not sure why so many think these cars are so fragile as sports car.. they're not like old Triumphs of the same era, actually far from it.

I used to use my 73S as a daily driver and loved it! I live in the metro DC area and yes, we have stop and go traffic, it gets cold in winter and hot in summer. I didn't use it when snow or salt was on the ground however, any other time I was in it with the windows & s/r open, or the heat on if needed. Can't wait to finish the refresh and do it again!

[FastCarFan]

I occasionally - repeat, occasionally - drive my '88 Carrera to/from work. It's a 54-mile roundtrip. Before I put the 911 away for the winter I drove it to work one last time, & some teen girl came VERY close to hitting me. She changed lanes quickly, without a signal & without even looking to see if the lane was clear. Because of a bone-headed move I saw her make earlier, I had been watching her closely.

So I worry more about other drivers than I do about putting miles on my 911.

One more thing...somewhere (in Christophorus, I think) I read an interview with a guy who only drives his 911 for pleasure. He said, "A Porsche should never be subjected to the humiliaton of a daily commute".

[Ccporsche]

Thanks for all the responses!

Alright, I idea the idea that the majority find these cars to be awesome daily drivers. My only concern is Arizona summers. Some have mentioned that these classics don't do well in extreme heat and I've also been concerned about the reliability and effectiveness of the A/C in these cars in AZ extreme heat.

So I've decided to consider later models. I'm taking a look at a beautiful 74 911 with 1980 3.0 engine transplant. Not sure how I feel about it not having the original engine. What do you guys think?