What do classic 911 drivers use for daily transportation?

[BrianH]

Originally posted by 911nut


Seems as though everyone that I talk to that's got something nasty to say about American cars has either never owned one or last owned one 20 years ago. Usually they are the type of people who would rather let Consumers' Reports do their thinking for them.
Well, here's a news flash: American cars are now as good as any Jap car you can buy. Furthermore, there's an added bonus when you buy an American car - it's good for the Amreican economy and may very likely impact your own financial well-being.

I agree, American cars probably are as reliable as Japanese cars, but I wouldn't buy a Japanese car either. I don't read CR, and my family has several cars, all American, so I've driven/rode in my share. It's more of a style thing. A $10 casio keeps better time than a Rolex, but I wouldn't be caught dead with a Casio on my arm. Yes, I'm a style-conscious, label-whore yuppie, so sue me. I'm assuming we are talking about used cars, so it shouldn't affect the economy much except maybe when buying parts.
Don't we live in a global economy anyway? I might up and decide to move to Japan or England next week. Then I guess I'd wish I had been buying English or Japanese products instead of American ones, right?

Yeah, I agree there's nothing really wrong with American cars. No offence intended. I have to watch myself with the American car bashing, it's upset people before. Outside of this board, the only people I know who like Porsches hate American cars with a passion, almost like the way people here feel about Hondas with coffee can exhaust, giant wings and "Weapon R" stickers. So I'm just not used to it rubbing people the wrong way. I guess it's good for me to be exposed to different view points.

Back to the thread topic, unless you drive a ton of miles, I'd drive the 911 for a while and see if it ends up costing you too much. Sounds like it probably won't.

[widebody911]

$5? Hell, I got that bus, and one just like for FREE! He threw in another hooptie for parts! All 3 ran, BTW. Here's the story: http://vintagebus.com/60dd/



I've come across a couple free buses in the Sacramento area in recent months, and I always post them to the vintagebus and/or type2 mailing lists @ http://www.type2.com

Originally posted by CraigD

Nice bus, cool pop up front windows. How nice of a bus can you pickup for $5. Any leads in the Sacramento area?

[wckrause]

"American cars are now as good as any Jap car you can buy."

That doesn't explain why my Ford with 60K miles has had about $7500 worth of engine and transmission work, and my Toyota with 95K miles hasn't been touched by a mechanic other than brake work. The Ford service manager said that I should have read Consumer Reports so I wouldn't have made the purchase mistake that I made.

I wish your statement was true, but it's not (IMHO). BTW, my "Jap" car was made in the USA, I think my Ford was made in Canada.

[Planter91C2]

Originally posted by BrianH


Yes, I'm a style-conscious, label-whore yuppie, so sue me.

Hopefully someday you will either mature or change. It will be better for yourself and society as a whole.

[911nut]

Originally posted by wckrause
[B
I wish your statement was true, but it's not. [/B]

You forgot to add IMHO to that statement.
See my reply in this thread on my car.

[BrianH]

Originally posted by Planter91C2




Hopefully someday you will either mature or change. It will be better for yourself and society as a whole.

Yes, you are probably right. But it is my only way of "getting back" at the kids who threw me into garbage cans everyday at school. Not good, but at least I didn't deal with it by going on a shooting rampage. I imagine I'll change as I get older. Alright, therapy session is over.

Again trying to stay on topic, as someone from another post once said "Life is too short not to take the good car." Drive the 911.

[wckrause]

See my reply in this thread on my car.

911nut, I guess you were one of the lucky Taurus owners that didn't have the common 3.8L head gasket problem. At least Ford paid for most of that repair on my car (and on many many others). Seems that by 1998 they would have figured that problem out.

But to keep things fair, I will add "IMHO" to my reply.

[GIBSON]

I'd drive my 73 everyday but my drive to work is only 5 minutes and it never warms up. I take it out on weekends to get it good and warm but not to work. The 86 Targa does warm up a lot quicker so it gets driven more. If not, it's the Toyota 4Runner.

[HarryD]

Most days, my '93 Tarus w/169,000 miles.

The 911 once a week (if it's nice).I'd go more often but my commute is 100 miles round trip and would rather use my 911 miles for fun.

[David Bahr]

1988 Chebbie Suburban 3/4 ton with tow package. I hate it and hate driving it and hate working on it, but there is no way my 1986 Honda Civic Si could tow my race car on its' trailer! The Burb tows great!

Rust is a major problem. But parts are generally cheap, there is a great aftermarket for parts and upgrades, and it's fairly simple. It doesn't drive bad for a truck.

I'd love to buy a "zip-zip" daily driver, little and nimble with good mileage. But I do most of my own work and I don't want the headache of working on ANOTHER car.

Consider: another car means another tax and license bill, another insurance bill, another stereo to install, another A/C to fix, twice as many electrical gremlins to swear at and chase. Way too much PITA for me right now. [I'm resurrecting a 1973 911 to boot.]

If you don't have salt on the roads, drive the 911 and love it. Take the money you'll save and invest it in the 911 and love it even more. The incremental mileage won't affect your maintenance or resale at this point.

And I'll be jealous of you, plodding along in my suburban!

[Decolliber]

Internationalisation of production technology , especially "lean production," has reduced quality differences to insignificance. In 1981, according to JD Power, defects per 100 vehicles ranged from about 160 to over 700, with American cars at the top and Japanese cars at the bottom. By 1996, the number of defects/100 range between about 90 and 110 for all makes. I recall Wolfgang Reitzle being recently quoted as saying that all cars are made pretty much the same now; differences are mostly in style and clever advertising, a task at which BMW excells. Reitzle is the guy who put a chrome cat on a Ford Mondeo/Contour and called it an "X type" Jaguar.

My cars are 97 A6 Avant for bad weather and long distances. Drive the Carrera to work whenever weather is good. Half-ton Toyota pick up for hauling stuff.

[nostatic]

Originally posted by 911nut

American cars are now as good as any Jap car you can buy. Furthermore, there's an added bonus when you buy an American car - it's good for the Amreican economy and may very likely impact your own financial well-being.

The real confusion comes in when you try and decipher that exactly constitutes an "american" car. With Hondas made in Ohio, Nissans made in Tennesee, GMs made in Mexico, etc how do you decide what car is "good for the American economy"?

Wow! 3 pages and I started this last night, talk about a strong community!

Well, I was going to go with the Golf until you said they are expensive to repair. Now I can't decide between the three:

1998 VW Golf, 1996/1998 Audi A4 Quattro, Jeep Wrangler

Here is why I want each car, and why I don't

Golf:
PRO: Safest of the bunch, maybe safer than a Volvo? Performance looks nice, VR6 has leather
CONS: Expensive maintnace (I don't know how true this is, I only heard it from you but I never got to look into it)

Jeep Wrangler:
PRO: Use for everything, bang it up, 4WD
CON: Not safe, expensive and most beat up.

Audi A4 Quattro:
PRO: AWD, safety is ok, performance is ok.
CON: I hear they break down alot, lots of high millage examples.

I want a new car that will not break down much. At the same time, I want something thats safe. So I guess this is what I'm looking at from most imporant to least:

Safety>Maintnace/Reliability>Performance

Now im confused I'll talk to my uncle this weekend and see what hes got to say about these three cars when it comes to reliability/maintnace. He works on them all day. Performance I can test from test drives, and safety from www.crashtest.com (Notice all the Porsches did best, something nice to know)

[Decolliber]

Originally posted by Porsche911T
Audi A4 Quattro:
PRO: AWD, safety is ok, performance is ok.
CON: I hear they break down alot, lots of high millage examples.

Generalising from an N of one. My A6 has been far less reliable than my old Ford Taurus wagon. In two years of ownership I have had water pump, transmission seals and sunroof replaced. Mercifcully, the 1997 Audis came with a 5 year warranty, which has paid for all this very expensive stuff. I am dreading the expiration of the warranty. The AWD is fabulous in snow, and I love the look of the car; but the price is high. Audis also have a an alrmingly high rate of depreciation. I bought mine less than 3 years old, with 24K, for 57% of the original price. VW-Audi has always been better at style than at reliability.

[emcon5]

Originally posted by nostatic
The real confusion comes in when you try and decipher that exactly constitutes an "american" car.

My Toyota Tacoma was assembled in Fremont California, about 1/2 mile from the dealer where I bought it.

Really burned my butt about having to pay a destination charge.

Tom

[pegasus9]

My Honda Accord was assembled in Ohio and I use it as my daily driver. 145,000 miles and no major maintenance except your usual oil change and etc.

My Porsche comes out of the garage about 3 times a week and boy is it SPECIAL!

It is too priceless to use it as a DD. But I do enjoy driving her.

[cegerer]

I use a 2002 GMC Sierra 3/4 ton truck for daily driving. It is one of the best handling vehicles I've ever driven. Well, until you have to turn the steering wheel. Then it's vicious oversteer with a propensity toward tipping over. But keep that steering wheel straight and she'll handle with the best of 'em.

On the American vs. Import issue: I've owned plenty of both. And had problems with both - multiple cracked cylinder heads in a 2 year old Isuzu Trooper, blown tranny in a 2 year old Subaru. The GMC trucks I've been buying lately have been pretty much bulletproof. -- Curt

[Halm]

'97 Volvo 850 T-5 wagon. Did "100 (mph) at 100 (,000 miles)" Monday.

[Brian993]

I have too many cars.74 911, 00 Boxster,99 F150 Lariat, 00 Suburban, 01 E150. But I have a use for each one.

[JuiceMan]

My daily driver is a 2000 Mustang V6. It's a 5-speed and a fun daily driver that gets great MPG (27 AVG)

My wife's daily driver is an 02 PT Cruiser and her weekend car is a 65 Mustang w/289 that is in bad need of a new carb!