Daily Driver???

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Gas is not a mere incremental expense for someone who has a long commute and lives in a place with expensive premium gas. For example, if you have a 60 mile RT commute with premium gas in a place like California you are looking at $400-$450 a month in gas with a Hundy.

Figure out how much you are going to be driving and calculate the gas compared to other options on your list. It gets very tiresome forking out a ton of cash weekly or bi-weekly at the pump.
 
I'll be the barefoot hippy and bring up the environmental issues as well. Daily commute usually means driving solo, so you not only take the full brunt of the gas expense, but emissions as well. Some parts of the country, this is not an issue, but around here, we have some pretty bad air days.

air-pollution.jpg


I drive 100 miles per day and would not want to contribute much to this. While I don't drive a hybrid or full eletric, it's an ULEV vehicle that gets 3-4 times the MPG of the 100.
 
I have 5 cars and my LX470 is my daily driver. My other cars are a 2005 S600, 1999 BMW 750IL, 2002 Infiniti QX4, 1994 BMW 325is. In Chicago we get alot of rain and snow and I prefer to be caught in my LX470 then in any other car. In fact since supercharging my LX470 I don't really drive my other cars anymore - I would sell them if I wasn't soo attached to them.
 
My fiancee and I are currently with just the LC. I cannot think of a better vehicle to be our daily commuter (opposite ends of town, but still probably under 30 miles/day), road trip vehicle and whatever else it ends up doing. It's the only truck I've ever trusted to play hard off road and get me to work the next day too. I don't even mind the gas factor, my last truck was worse and was far less fun to drive.
 
It's a great daily driver. If you find a high mileage example change the shocks to Bilsteins and change the swaybar linkage and rubber mounts and it'll be like new. Solid, long term truck that will not lose much value. Gas sucks but hey, it's a big heavy truck, not a civic.
 
I have recently gone from many years from driving my mildly built 40 as my daily driver to my "new to me" UZJ100. I thought I've died and gone to heaven. I get great gas mileage at around 16 instead 9-10 on the 40. I can stay warm on the way to work. I can actually talk to my passengers and best of all my wife will actually ride with me in the 100. So the 100 gets my vote as a good daily driver.
 
At $3.30 per gallon in my vehicle that got 20 MPG, my cost per mile was $.1650. At $3.30 per gallon in my LC that gets 13 MPG, my cost per mile is $.2538.

To make a long story short, if I drive 12k miles per year, the incremental difference in gas between the two vehicles is $1,066.15. that's straight cash out of my pocketbook.

But for spending that extra $1k, I get the following benefits:
-more reliable vehicle
-safety in the event of an accident
-ability to go off road in traffic jams and inclement weather, which I've used 4x in the last month.

And I can tote 4-5 passengers comfortably. Purely social benefit, but worth the price of dinner at a few nice restaurants.

Environmental costs are borne by the manufacturers, the trucking industry I'll chip right in when coal is better regulated, other states subsidize the environmental costs of refineries, but until then, my habits won't change.

I realize, it's a value proposition for everyone. If you can get buy on a cheaper mileage vehicle, go for it.

But my point is that since the cost is incremental, it tends to be overstated a bit. Like I said, there isn't a 'no gas' scenario.
 
Without better knowing this posters needs as a Daily Driver its hard to make a recommendation. He may need to drive 10 miles a day or 100. He could be a student with a budget, or the CEO of a company. All factors which would determine if a Hundy is right for him as a DD.
 
Yes, mine is my daily driver.

I live in sub 30mph west LA Traffic land. My wife's 40mpg car gets 20mpg in these circumstances and I have an 11mi round trip commute. So the mileage isn't as big of a concern as it is for others.

Love being above said traffic and isolated from the noise.
Love all of the window/sunroof options since the weather is always nice here.
Love the cargo room. I use the truck for all sorts of projects.
Love the safety of the 100.
Love size and visibility for street parking.
Love not caring about all the crappy road conditions.

Dislike the mileage.
Dislike the height. Any parking deck below 6'7" is a no go. This erks my wife.
Dislike having to take my wife's car the majority of the time.
Dislike fitting into small parking spots.
Dislike how slow it is to start and stop.
 
Agree.

But I can't stress enough the importance of the depreciation issue mentioned previously. If the LC I bought with 140k goes at least 100k miles, with only normal oil changes and minor repairs like brakes, alternator, etc, I'm going to make out like a bandit.

Depreciation is the most important and most often understated factor.
 
KlausVanWinkle said:
It's a 6000lbs vehicle with 230hp and 320ft/lbs and 12" brake rotors. I need to leave lots of extra room in traffic on the highway and people constantly cut me off because of it.

And a 10sec 0-60 is better than an 80 but still super slow by modern automobile standards.
Click to expand...


Time for a brake rebuild - an upgraded 100 brake system performs well. I replaced rotors and calipers (Centric), hoses and high-performance pads (Hawk LTS) - which made a huge difference in stopping power. (Also check suspension and replace all the rubber bushings you can).

An EMS (or DT) exhaust upgrade will improve throttle response - however I'm not sure it is worth the 'drone' - especially if driving conditions require frequent cycling through the 1700-2000 rpm range (40-55mph).

For a daily driver recommendation - depends where (and how) you drive. I drive mainly in the southeast - it is great on the total **** they call roads in New Orleans - pot holes, hundreds of years of fixed streets, narrow streets, etc. Brick/cobblestone streets are horrible for any sport/sporty car with 40 series (or less) tires. LC soaks up the bumps.

Great visibility overall - and parallel parking is ok -- it is narrower than a Tahoe (76.4 vs 79").

I use mine as a work truck most of the time, and with 3rd row removed and 2nd row folded up - hold quite a bit of tools/materials, etc. Factory roof rack can take a fair amount of lumber.

However, it is not a competent if you like to shoot through traffic 'video game' style. (I'm guilty of that, in my R32).

Overall cost of ownership - pretty low especially if you do your own work.

185k, second owner. In 10 years/120k of ownership:

• Timing belt (first time dealer, second time DIY $500)
• Shocks 100k (Bilsteins $300)
• 100k, and 180k Starter (3 hour job) replaced again during TB change.
• Leather seats recovered $400
• A/C compressor freeze - DIY 3-4 hours $400 (compressor and evaporator replaced)
• All bushings (less than $100)
• Brakes and CV 140k $500
• Tie rod ends, steering rack bushings 140k $200
• EMS cat back added 170k $400
• Heater hose T's replaced ($30)
• Other - tires, oil changes, trans service, and some brake pads along the way.

Soon:
Carpet set purchased, not installed yet. Sunroof stuck. Radiator seam leaking ($80 repair). Ball joints to be replaced soon.

Although I've driven many 'more fun' cars over the years, the LC is hard to beat as my overall favorite. Runner up: For DD my X5 was extremely competent - but storage space non-existent (not a work truck).
 
My wife DDs our 1999 100. She daily drove her 1997 80 series for 12 years prior to buying the 99.

We paid cash. We have no car payment. We have three kids (13/11/10) and the only other option is a minivan. Coin toss as to whether she'd downsize the house before giving up her 100 for a minivan.
 
KlausVanWinkle said:
It's a 6000lbs vehicle with 230hp and 320ft/lbs and 12" brake rotors. I need to leave lots of extra room in traffic on the highway and people constantly cut me off because of it.

And a 10sec 0-60 is better than an 80 but still super slow by modern automobile standards.
Click to expand...

Haha ok, I guess I don't notice it because it's lightyears ahead of my previous vehicles as far as stopping/starting goes, every other category too actually.:meh:
 
Daily driver for me. I have a new tundra and just sold an rs4, but I drive this thing as a preference 20 miles each way in traffic. 6 dollars a gallon for fuel up here in Canada, I have to fill up every 5 days.

10 mpg on a good day
35's hum and are totally unresponsive on the tarmack
rolly polly beast of a suv turning corners
a pig to slow down
a pig to get going
exhaust drone sucks


I love every second of it.
 
kevin2i said:
Time for a brake rebuild - an upgraded 100 brake system performs well. I replaced rotors and calipers (Centric), hoses and high-performance pads (Hawk LTS) - which made a huge difference in stopping power. (Also check suspension and replace all the rubber bushings you can).

An EMS (or DT) exhaust upgrade will improve throttle response - however I'm not sure it is worth the 'drone' - especially if driving conditions require frequent cycling through the 1700-2000 rpm range (40-55mph).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice :flipoff2:
 
KlausVanWinkle said:
It's a 6000lbs vehicle with 230hp and 320ft/lbs and 12" brake rotors. I need to leave lots of extra room in traffic on the highway and people constantly cut me off because of it.

And a 10sec 0-60 is better than an 80 but still super slow by modern automobile standards.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I read your earlier post and went, "aahhhh, that's right, you drive in LA...."
 
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