200 Daily Driver or Beater (1 Viewer)

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We got my wife a 200 in December. She hates driving it to work because it’s already been dinged a few times. Seems like someone is inevitably parking inches from her.

Good reason to get some sliders. Most of the ones on the market stick out far enough that most car doors will hit the slider well before your body paint.. Assuming it's not a truck or SUV doing it anyway.
 
I drive my 84 LB Toyota pickup quite a bit. I enjoy it. Then Spring through Fall the FJ40 with the top off gets driven to work.

I love the 200, but the pickup and 40 are more fun to drive.
 
Part of the justification for buying my Land Cruiser was that it could do all tasks without too much compromise, I drive it every day. My wife does most of the run around errand stuff in her car which at the moment is a Volvo sedan but I think now with the 200 as the large rig a small city hot hatch (maybe a Fiesta ST) would be a really good pairing. Versatility in the herd without too much overlap has its merits I think for cars that get regular use.
 
I drive my 84 LB Toyota pickup quite a bit. I enjoy it. Then Spring through Fall the FJ40 with the top off gets driven to work.

I love the 200, but the pickup and 40 are more fun to drive.
Seems like a problem I wish I had to deal with
 
My 2015 LX570 is definitely my DD. It serves weekdays duty while I commute to work in a suit and tie. I’d like to think that eventually I will do something really crazy to it (RTT, 34-35 inch tires, a winch and a cool rear bumper with spare tire carrier and ladder...)

Though for now my weekend car is a 1990 Volvo 240 wagon. 5 speed and dropped on bbs wheels. I friggin love it and my wife HATES it.
 
I think there are valid reasons for both schools of thought. Just comes down to what makes us happy.

I daily a $2000 Jetta that smells like crayons.

Why? Because when I want to take a trip, I want my 200 ready to go. I’ve had built trucks get in wrecks due to idiots, and ruin epic off road trips. When cold starting every day, getting sun beat and rock chipped, to just drive to a machine shop and sit under sap doesn’t sound enjoyable to me. I love that my 200 is tucked away in its garage for when I want to damage it while driving to Alaska, not around the same boring town. That’s me though.

Oh, and if it does get in a fender bender, it’s me that will do the work. So that is one more thing I have to do. Trust me, being around cars my whole life, almost no one at a repair shop cares about fixing your 200 the right way. It’s another job that needs to get in, get “done” and get out. No thanks, I’ll do it myself.

I don’t knock anyone that wants to daily their 200, it’s America, do what makes you happy.
 
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Daily drive 100 miles/day in DC Metro b.s.

From time to time I get tempted by some "cars" but the vantage point of a lifted 200 is a nice seating position in gridlock.
 
I'm lucky enough to be able to juggle it with 2 other vehicles. I use it more than I'd like, but dont worry about it. It also depends where I'm headed, if I'll have issues parking places, things like that.
 
DD but it shares commuting duties with my other ride, a Scott road bicycle. I try to bicycle at least 3 days a week, 10 miles each way. Riding to work is better for the environment, good for my health, saves $$$, plus it's more fun than sitting in rush hour traffic.

bicycle.jpg
 
I highly recommend that if you have the space and cash, to get something that is FUN to drive. Impractical, safe, but fun. @TeCKis300 has it right with the 911. I'm not a Porsche guy, but I absolutely love driving my Miata. If it's not raining or snowing and the temps are above freezing, I'm in that car with the roof down. It's a blast, but super reliable and cheap to maintain.

My commute is about 7 miles, but I came out of work this afternoon to a sunny day in the 70's, and for some reason it took me 3 hours and almost an entire tank of gas to get home. Worth it.
 
I then had an insane conversation with the lady.
She stated that I was parked over the line and that she wasn't bumping into my vehicle. I think she must have had dementia.

I had a similar run-in with an old man in a Corolla while driving my old Bronco. I was sitting still in a turn lane, and he basically side swiped me from behind and kept going. I pulled back into traffic and followed him 100 yards to his destination, and when I politely told him that he hit me, he said "No, you hit me!"
So I called the cops. His car basically bounced off my tires and didn't damage the body, and he argued with the police and refused to roll down his window, and was quite belligerent in general, but ultimately nothing could be done since there was no damage to report, so he was released back into the wild and he's probably driving around by feel to this day.
 
We have been using our 08 200 as a Family/Weekend/Roadtrip vehicle since 2011, and it's my Wife's main car. I prefer her and the kids to be in a bigger vehicle than normally out there. Now that I added the Rhino Front Bumper and also a Lift, we love it even more. Who cares If we get 12-16 MPG, but we have to pay to play.

We have 3-4 more cars we can use usually, and I DD the Audi S6 mainly, but love to switch it up sometimes with the Wife.
 
wife uses the 200 as DD...our old 100 (wife prev DD) is now DD for kiddos...maybe someday ill get to use one of them
 
Just like the dude with the bike i'm on the extreme. I drive a 100% EV M-F. I drive 60 miles a day but the EV gets me a carpool sticker in which it saves me 40+ minutes a day. I pay $300/mo for that car. (which would more than makeup for the cost of gas) I've been rear-ended before and I don't mind so much with the EV.
It took me a long time to save $$$ for the LC.
 
I think there are valid reasons for both schools of thought. Just comes down to what makes us happy.

I daily a $2000 Jetta that smells like crayons.

Why? Because when I want to take a trip, I want my 200 ready to go. I’ve had built trucks get in wrecks due to idiots, and ruin epic off road trips. When cold starting every day, getting sun beat and rock chipped, to just drive to a machine shop and sit under sap doesn’t sound enjoyable to me. I love that my 200 is tucked away in its garage for when I want to damage it while driving to Alaska, not around the same boring town. That’s me though.

Oh, and if it does get in a fender bender, it’s me that will do the work. So that is one more thing I have to do. Trust me, being around cars my whole life, almost no one at a repair shop cares about fixing your 200 the right way. It’s another job that needs to get in, get “done” and get out. No thanks, I’ll do it myself.

I don’t knock anyone that wants to daily their 200, it’s America, do what makes you happy.

I'm with Taco. I enjoy my 200 a lot more now that I don't have to lug it around all of the time. 10 MPG city got pretty old. Worrying about the parking garage got old. I got myself a "beater" and the 200 is at the ready.

Doesn't smell like crayons but was very cheap:

WpDKraM.jpg
 
$1.89 per gallon on regular locally......that makes my LC a daily driver for now....
 
I’ll just put this right here, lady claimed my bumper “stuck out too far” and it was my fault she hit it. She wouldn’t shut up until I pointed out the CCTV at the gas station, then just whined about some nonsensical crap

:bang:

24116579-DC5A-42AB-BA1F-1EA9791BD482.jpeg
 
I am a firefighter. People like that are considered job security.
 

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