MR2forty Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Hi everyone! I've been lurking on the forum for a few days now and havent really been able to come up with an definitive answer on my question. How people drive their s30 as a daily? I'm in the process of selling my MR2 (2.2L Stroked GT3082R), that was my daily when my GS300 decided to **** the bed. Either way the 240z has always been one of my favorite cars, a car that I could just stare at for hours and enjoy it (in a non-creepy way .) If I get the amount I want for my MR2, I'll be put in the position of finally owning a 240z or swapping a new motor in my GS300. So I wanted to know how many of you guys recommend, or don't, using the S30 as a daily driver. From what I see the community looks great. I love the FAQ section, plenty to read. Any input/comments are welcomed. Thanks, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogriz91 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Depends on what kind of shape the 240 is you get and what your daily drive is like. Can you garage it? How much snow do you drive through? I'm sure there are some who do drive their 240s on a near daily basis but for everyday, the list is slim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHO-Z Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Had one as a daily drive in Colorado 30+ years ago. Only thing I did on this high milage car was put a set of brushes in the altenator. But the car was evil on ICE and a handfull on snow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roro4g63 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 I must be on that short list:) I commute 30 miles daily in my 350SBC 72s30. And it definitely is more fun in it than my 04 evo. It's weird, my track car is a 400hp grocery getter and my daily is a 450hp 2 door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makaofox Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 If I were you, I would get a motor for the gs. For several reason 1 is that its newer, it has more space for anything like girls or more importantly food lol. My actual main reason is that in bad weather whether it is rain, sleet, snow, ice do you really want to be driving a 2400lbs car that crushes like a tin can? The gs is a tank and frankly if someone crashes into a gs who cares you will get another. But if someone crashes into your z, its done all that hard work wasted and its not easy finding a replacement. I plan to DD my 280z but my 280z has much much much more reinforement than a 240z and I put a 10pt roll cage. You also have to remember the difficulties of a 30+ year old car, sometimes it will say hey phuck you I dont want to go anywhere and not start. Basically have the gs as your dd and save alot more to get yourself a project s30. Not saying 240z's arent DD material because they sure as hell can be but you have a good choice. I dont know where you live but over here people dont give a crap about your car and will hit it purposely to fit into the parking spot, or swing the door wide open and hit your car because they are so FAT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h4nsm0l3m4n Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 (edited) Tons of people since the cars came out have been driving them as daily drivers. No reason to say you couldnt either, especially if youre willing to replace anything that needs replacing. I drove my LS1 z car as a daily driver, and single source of transportation for a year (10000+ miles) in all weather conditions that Oregon happen to offer (100+ degree summer, very rainy fall/winter/spring, and some snow in the winter, especially in the mountains). With appropriate tire choices I never felt like there was any place I wanted to go that I really couldnt get to. Having said that, would I recommend it? Probably not, there are better cars to fill the role of an appliance. I'm much happier now having bought my subaru to DD, it fits the role so much better. It lets me enjoy the Z that much more since instead of driving it out of necessity I drive it because I WANT to. I also enjoy working on the Z more since I no longer have to hurry to get the job done in time for me to leave for work next morning. Changing rear wheel bearings in pouring down rain, in the dark, after 10 hours at work just to make it back to work the next morning isnt fun at all... Edited February 19, 2012 by h4nsm0l3m4n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zgeezer Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 To me, it would depend upon what your daily drive is, how you define "reliability" and what your tolerance is for breakdown might be. I might also add, will you have backup transportation? My DD is a MazdaSpeed Miata, which to me is the functional equivalent to the Z. I expect to use the Z as a DD, but everything in the Z will be new, with the exception of the engine and trans. This includes the rear stub axles, which are not easily replaceable in Bridgeport CA or Quartzite AZ. I wouldn't worry too much about the parking lot rash. If that is a problem then you should be considering a good trailer for your Z. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Hell yes, buy one and drive it. Get a nice one that has had a really good restoration (pay for one somebody else has put their life into) and drive the tar out of it. They were daily drivers when they were made, why would that change. Unless we have them taken apart, my buddies and I drive ours everyday and we drive them hard. If you spend a little extra, you'll get one that you will enjoy, rather than working on it all the time-get one with A/C, although you might not need that for Hartford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 I'm building mine with the intentions of DD'ing it, but I also plan to sell my current new car and buy a 521 pickup to have as secondary transportation. I think having a Z as your DD is fine, so long as you have another car that you can use if you can't use your Z. Certain jobs on Z's take a really long time, if you want to do them right. In particular, changing out strut inserts is extremely hard because the damn gland nut is ridiculously hard to remove. If you were stuck with only the Z and you blew out a strut, you'd have to fix it when you had a few free days on your hands. The other tricky thing is that parts aren't readily available localy (at least around here), so you'd have to order most parts... not a huge deal if you have a second car to use, but definitely a cause for stress if you don't have that option. All that said, Z's are certainly DD material, unless you need more than 2 seats. There's plenty of room in the back for groceries/mini horses/nuclear weapons/refrigerators/whatever else you need to carry around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graphitez Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 My 76 280 is my daily driver,but i also have another car and a garage for the Z. You just have to be realistic about it, expect it to break down from time to time. I would not purchase a s30 for a daily if it were my only car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR2forty Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 Thanks for all the replies. I thought about it and decided to do the responsible thing and just fix my gs300. The extra money I have left can pay off debt and maybe get a set of coilovers on the gs (I have a set of Advanced SA3R v2 just waiting to be mounted on something lol.) Again thanks for the input. Hopefully within a year or two I'll be on here posting a DD 240z/l28et build thread =]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 If you end up having an extra $500, buy an s30 roller and start building. They will be going up in price soon I'm sure, so if you really want one, now is the time to buy, you can just work on it on your spare time, or let it sit (preferably in a garage) for a few years or whatever. I think the DD ability of a Z is all dependent on how you build it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluDestiny Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 (edited) There is a guy down my block who ownes a 240z and daily drives it about 40 a day. I've never see that car on jackstands at his house, while he has had his 90's merc up a few times. The condition is pretty bad, surface rust and what not. But it has never failed him. I was driving my 260z around in stock form while I was going to high school. Never quit on me once. I bought it for $5000 though. Its definitely possible to DD an S30, but don't be buying someones former project. But seriously think about creature comforts. Everyone has a point saying you can do it, but think about it heavily. I would take my dads saturn when I need to go carry anything more than a person and a few bags of stuff. Edited February 19, 2012 by BluDestiny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoC MATADOR Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 If you end up having an extra $500, buy an s30 roller and start building. They will be going up in price soon I'm sure, so if you really want one, now is the time to buy, you can just work on it on your spare time, or let it sit (preferably in a garage) for a few years or whatever. I think the DD ability of a Z is all dependent on how you build it. That's excatly what i did, and how much i paid too =) However, my other DD got totaled as soon as i got my 280z running, so i used the Z as a DD for about 6 months, and it did fail me twice, granted it had a tired motor, so i expected it. Now I'm almost done with my L28ET swap, and do plan on DDing it afterwards. I also just recently purchased an 82 ZX that i will keep as backup. But DO plan on having a secondary vehicle just for the fact that these are old vehicles. Besides the ZX I also have access to one of my dad's trucks for use, in case both are down for the count Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR2forty Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 Yea the best thing for me is to get my GS running as a daily. When my MR2 all of a sudden had to become my DD, I hated it. Since I don't have a garage and have to do parking lot repairs it was brutal trying to get something completed before work the next day. With my luck there was always something that went wrong lol. The 240z I was going to purchase was a nice white one that had been partially restored, but driven almost everyday. He only wanted 5000, but that's about what my MR2 is going to be sold for(low compression in one cylinder =[) I'm still anxious the feel what the l28et feels like in such a light car though. My MR2 made 320 when first tuned, which was a blast, but no torque lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackbat Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I use my '77 280Z to commute about 80 miles per day. Never have any problems. One of the most reliable cars I've ever owned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PR280z Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I`m also using my 78 280ZTURBO as my only DD car with no problems. Putting 60miles a day to and from work. RAIN OR SHINE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR2forty Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 ahh you guys are tempting me so badly lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtted Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Have you noticed where the DD's are theses days? Not New England! The winters and salt will destroy the car. I know because I drove a 240 in the 80's as a DD and after four years the car was trashed, and I really took care of the car. These cars can not and should not be driven through salt and snow. And by the way they are the worst cars I've ever driven in the snow.Not a good choice for a DD, but a great weekend car, Auto X and track car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I DD'd my old 240 for 5 years, but even then I had a 'snow' car. I had a 95 Mazda 323 hatch that picked up for $500 to get around in after the first snowfall. If you like your car you won't drive around on salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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