Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Evening all

Sorry if this has been raised before but having had a quick look at recent forums I can't see it anywhere. I have just been made redundant from my employers and will be receiving my payout next month. I started wondering what car to buy for when my company Audi goes back to the lease company but then thought that my 1985 944 or 1987 BMW 525e could 'step up to the mantle'.

I am sure some of you run yours daily, how do you find it and is there anything you would recommend? Recently had mine serviced and the local specialist recommended higher octane fuel really makes a difference to performance and economy.

The insurance quote today I thought was more than reasonable too (around £500 for 15k miles per year fully comp - I am 35) so any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I look forward to getting to some more events this year than I managed last too, especially as I am taking the whole Summer off to watch the World Cup etc ....

Thanks in advance,

Rick

Can it be used daily ?

To answer that I have done done approx 16000 miles since last MOT (June 09), and has always sat outside. During this time it has never let me down, even through the ice and snow earlier this year.
I have run it on both straight unleaded and Super, Super seems to give a bit more oomph but mpg was pretty much the same.

Sorry to read about your redundancy situation, I had a similar experience in June 2006 which allowed me to watch every match of the world cup.

I used my 944 Cabby as my daily driver when the company Alfa finally went back and I ran it for over 12 months and put about 15000 miles on the clock during that time. Lots of people in the Club use 944's daily and as you have back up with the BMW, I would definately use the '44 whilst you sort yourself out.

High Octane fuel is worth it, lots of debate about economy and getting more miles. The tendancy is that the cars run better and we push them that bit harder because of it. No net gain other than a bigger smile, what's a few pence a litre for a big cheesey grin

Insurance sounds a bit steep to be honest, if you haven't said yes to the quote yet I would shop around. Use the Money Supermarket search engine on the front page of the website it might save you a few quid.

I have ran two Porsches (924S 1986 & 944S2 1991) as daily drivers and both stood or stand outside in all weathers, neither has let me down except for a dodgy battery when I first got the 924S, I do tend to use my motorbike in the sunny weather but generally I now use the 944 including commuting to work, shopping, running kids around and even taking a wardrobe to the tip.

The car returns around 26mpg around town and over 30 on a long run so not ideal but not much worse than some modern petrol cars and much more fun.

My insurance this year no mileage limit, fully comprehensive incl commuting and with home start breakdown cover and £200 excess was £235 from PerformanceMarque.

So I think the anwser must be yes the right 944 can be used as daily driver.

Hi,

Go for it. They do run better when used more frequently. I am about to turn 35, car is fully comp for 8,000 miles a year with work usuage on (which make up around 2,500 miles of the 8,000 miles). I pay around £330 for that with maximum protected NCB and off street parking.

As for fuel economy, can you live with it? I get around 21 mpg but that does involve a lot of urban driving. I don't find using V Power makes any difference to fuel economy but it does make the car run a lot smoother. V Power is so expensive these days that I've had to ration it to 1 tank in every 3 bog standard tank fulls. I think a lot to do with my mpg is overuse of the loud pedal . You just can't granny a 944 - it wants to be driven quickly.

Hope things work out for you job wise in the near future.

Ben

Use mine daily except when the weather was horrible last Winter. In 4 years it's never failed to start. As a daily you will need to budget for not less than 1.5K a year if you want to keep it in good order. Sounds like a lot until you consider how much you lose on a modern car every year in depreciation. I get 30mpg average. Driven pretty hard. Half motorway half urban. They hate short journeys, & going slow.That really stuffs the economy.

35 yrs old and use the 944 as my main car, have a tdv6 disco3 and the wife has an 05 golf so there are other options just prefer the 944, i leave mine outside check the oil sometimes and water errr never just get in and go every morning never given me any problems in the shortish time ive had it and went through the mot first time. answer is yes its a great daily driver

Had my 944S for a year and was absolutely superb as my ONLY driver. The clutch went once but at the end of the day clutches are consumables and can go on any car and as far as I could see it was the original one with 105,000 miles on the clock!!!
In short she never let me down, unfortunately I let her down and buried her in a lampost

I use mine everyday to and from work in rubbish stop and start traffic, and i drive to and from birmingham a couple times a month and if anything, the car runs bettyer when its being used every day, than when i used to use it only at weekends, fuel economy isn't to bad if you drive carefully, its dead comfy nad looks kool .

I've had it just over two years now an its never let me down, flew through both mot's without a hitch, cost very little to maintain, just do the usual oil, filter and spark plugs and it will keep going forever. Odly enough it has been far cheaper and more reliable than my 2005 citeron c5 before its computer decided to kill the engine infront of a lorry, it didn't have much of a chance in that battle.

Anyway, 944 as daily driver is no problem providing you do the basic servicing and tlc regularly

The 944 is an excellent everyday driver, mine is the second one I've had and it does everything I want it to, and returns about 26 - 28mpg average. The 525e is more economical and probably more useful having four seats...... so put them both on the road - I would.

I had a 1987 525e, a white one - loved it and would have another one now. I found it in Autotrader on a Thursday morning. Bought it that evening off a beautiful lady, who I then went for a drink with. We met again on the Monday for another evening out, then went out on the Wednesday...... and I never went home. That was over fifteen years ago and now she's my wife. I don't know where the car is, I sold it to somebody near Bury.

Anyway, the answer is yes it is a good idea to use the 944 as an everyday car.

Enjoy it.

Fantastic - thanks for all the very positive responses, I am definitely going to give it a go I think (and if not every day use it a lot more as using it more recently - since my fuel card went back - I can tell the difference against just taking it out once a fortnight).

On the job front I was just enjoying South Africa v Mexico on Friday and I already have an interview lined up - not starting until after the WC regardless though!

Thanks again.

Rick

We find that customers who use their cars on a regular basis end up spending much less on maintenance than customers who only drive their cars in the summer for sunday drives.

Its really is as clean cut as that, the ones that are used less frequently are more likely to find their brakes wear out more quickly, they suffer more electrical problems and typically the Porsche cars which come in with unusual or intermittent problems are nearly always cars that are used occasionally.

My recommendation would be to use it as the daily driver, at any one time I have one or two (out of 14 Porsche cars) of mine out of mothballs and will use it almost exclusively as my daily transport, and they always run MUCH better after a week of constant use than they do for the first couple of days of being back on the road, even if they have just been serviced.