North American Turbocoupe Organization



Daily Driver
LorainO88 Offline
Member
#1
Hello Everyone
I am thinking on turning my 88 5spd into my daily driver. It currently has only 39k and is only driven about 200 miles a month. I’ll be driving that many weekly. I wanted to layout my driving conditions and habits to get opinions. I am in Savannah, GA where it is warm to HOT and humid around 7-8 months a year. I am in and out of the car all day 5 days a week for my job with lots of cranks in quite a bit of stop and go traffic. I drive about 50/50 city & interstate miles. Her condition is more of a 3 year old car rather than a 30. I’ve replaced multiple items in the last 2 years since owning simply due to age-entire clutch assembly, clutch fork, alternator, plugs, wires, distributor, fuel filter, brakes, rotors, water pump, thermostat, timing belt, battery, battery terminals and cables. Recent raidiator drain and fill. Also all belts and hoses were changed prior to my purchase of the car. Everything else is all stock from wiring on down to the original turbo charger, shocks, struts, exhaust system from manifold to tail pipes. A friend tried making a similar condition Explorer a daily and it fell apart within a year. Thoughts, please?
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Jeff K Offline
Administrator
#2
I am sure the TC itself would have zero issues as a daily driver, but keep in mind that these days, our roads are more dangerous than ever. Distracted drivers with their eyes staring at their phones instead of the road, drunk and drugged drivers on the road at all times of the day, many drivers completely ignoring red lights and stop signs to get to their destinations 30 seconds sooner, just plain people who have no clue how to drive etc, etc. If your TC gets hit, even if is isnt your fault, it would likely be totaled by the insurance company unless you have classic car / collector car insurance with good coverage and an agreed value for your cars worth. But if you have classic / collector insurance, your car can not be a daily driver........ Catch 22.
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 24 psi, forced air IC, water injection, BPV, Ranger cam, subframes, etc., etc.
86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP N2O, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.
11 Crown Vic Interceptor
14 Toyota Camry (wifes car)
95 Taurus GL Vulcan winter beater
67 Honda 450 Super Sport - completely customized
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anasazi4st Offline
Senior Member
#3
I take a big chance every day. I drive my TC as little as 50 to as much as 275 miles every day (although the 275 is to nearby Tucson once a month). Still, at least once a week I will drive it 160 miles in one day, probably 170 another, then 60, etc.

I accepted a job where I would be traveling each weekday, knowing up front that I would have to use my own vehicle to do this. I am paid mileage, and except for the heat we now have, our streets roads and freeways here are really second to none, so the driving is nearly always pleasant. There is no snow or ice, and it rarely rains here, so weather is also not a factor...probably much like you.

My thought, as I was considering this job, was: Do I want to let my TC sit in the garage all the time, our do I want to drive it? I really enjoy that, and it’s not happening unless I make it so.

Now, my car is not like yours. As you can see in the signature below, I have put a lot of work into it. It has presently 268K miles, and of course that will keep going up. There is no value in keeping it garaged (other than keeping it out of the elements), as although I repainted it last year, its value is not going to go up all that much by having it sit there.

When I first got it, I put 150K miles on it in what seemed like only a few years. I used it for my work, and I drove all over AZ, New Mexico and cities like Las Vegas and San Diego. In the past 20 years I have driven it little, as I always had company cars for a DD, and the wife’s car to use. I could use her car for this job, and I sometimes do when I have larger boxes, etc., to haul.

But I did, after all, get my car TO DRIVE IT. Jeff K’s points as well taken. I looked at classic/antique insurance for a 1954 Desoto I had in the late 70s. You’re limited as to how many miles you can drive a vehicle with such insurance.

And there are more and more distracted drivers every day. It only takes one person running a stop sign or a red light to end the dream. It won’t mean much to them, but it would be disastrous to me.

I roll the dice every day. One day I might experience the “Ol’ Yeller Moment” (I call it), when like the title character in that classic Disney movie I might have to put down my TC—or it will be put down for me. When will that come, or will it ever?

Every day, I walk the line. Or, more precisely—I drive it. :thumbup:

Another proud dues-paying member.

1987 Turbo Coupe w/T5OD, 8.8 axle, grey smoke; most options. Got it in 1991 with 41K miles: 3 turbos, 2 heater cores, 3 T5OD full rebuilds, 6 clutches, 1 head gasket, 2 Teves II ABS units, etc. later....
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Jeff K Offline
Administrator
#4
I do drive my TC and 86 Tbird 5.0 on a regular basis, putting around 4K to 5K miles a year on each from mid April until late October. Living up in the great frozen north, both my TC and 86 5.0 bird sit in the garage for 5 or so months a year when the roads are salted. My insurance policy allows me 6K per year, per car, on average. I do pay a little extra for an "occasional to / from work driving, but I only take my Tbirds to work maybe 10 times a year, as i work in the heart of downtown Milwaukee where the traffic and drivers are both terrible. Both Tbirds get a fair number of their miles put on taking road trips around the country on rural interstates where traffic is light.
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 24 psi, forced air IC, water injection, BPV, Ranger cam, subframes, etc., etc.
86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP N2O, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.
11 Crown Vic Interceptor
14 Toyota Camry (wifes car)
95 Taurus GL Vulcan winter beater
67 Honda 450 Super Sport - completely customized
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