Am I CRAZY ???, Teener is now my Daily Driver Options

[wheelo]

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/ohmy.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/ohmy.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/ohmy.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/ohmy.gif)

Here I go on the Teener Adventure !

I think she will hold-up, as long as I keep the commute short!


(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/cool_shades.gif)

- Mark

[anthony]

Even a 914 when it was brand new was no where as reliable as a new car from the last 10 years. Unless you've completely gone through your 914 recently stem to stern driving it daily just accelerates wear and tear. And that's fine if you have the weekend time to fix and maintain it.

Besides mechanicals though, the biggest problem with a 914 as a daily driver is exposing the car to rain and road salt if you live back east. The reason so many cars are rusted is from exposure to the elements not drives on sunny days. These cars can make ok spring/summer daily drivers but when it rains, it should be in the garage.

Here's the other issue with old car ownership - any old car really. They just have so many things going wrong with them on different schedules that you end up spending a couple weekends a month fixing this and that. I drove an old BMW 320i for 8 years as my daily driver. The car was fairly reliable since it had a rebuilt engine and tranny but there just a lot of little things that always needed attention. I also didn't feel comfortable driving the car to go skiing or on a long trip for fear of a breakdown. Of course the one time I did take it on a long trip it did die twice during the trip. It turned out that the alternator brushes needed replacing.

After that BMW I bought my first new car - a VW Jetta. Even though I could barely afford a new car at the time it was great investment in piece of mind. I still have it and over 11 years and 140K miles of driving I've had to spend maybe 3 Saturdays doing repairs on it. Even with the current mileage I still have no fear of driving that car to the snow or on a long trip. It starts every day and has been rock solid reliable.

[horizontally-opposed]

Even a 914 when it was brand new was no where as reliable as a new car from the last 10 years. Unless you've completely gone through your 914 recently stem to stern driving it daily just accelerates wear and tear. And that's fine if you have the weekend time to fix and maintain it.

Sorry, but I have to disagree.

My old 914 was my only car from 1991-1993. I remember having a lot of things to go through (brakes, clutch, transmission, electrics, axles, etc.) for about a year, then it was stone reliable.

Then it became a garage queen from 1993-1997 -- with a LOT of time sitting in the garage when I was away from home for school, etc. Drive it to Portland for the Porsche Parade in 1995 -- it didn't miss a beat.

Then it became a weekend-only car from 1997-2003, with occasional trips to SoCal or really, really NorCal. Always just started up and drove away.

In 2004, I hauled it out and used it rain or shine as a daily driver, taking time to address a bunch of deferred maintenance (heater valves, trunk lock, sail-panel vinyl, seals, etc) and used it for a year of 50-mile daily commuting. Never missed a beat, never late to work or home. Nope, not so great in heavy rain (esp compared to a new car) and awful on a 112 F day in Novato in the summer, but pretty darn nice the rest of the time. Traffic sure looked different in 2004 than in 1992...however.

Now it's back to occasional use, but damn if it ain't a great car.

I say drive it. Depending on the PARTICULAR CAR, it could need a year or so of fettling and fixing. After that, assuming all the work is done carefully and right, it should be a very, VERY reliable car.

All this, IMHO, from my own experiences.

pete