Anyone use their Charger as their Daily Driver?

[NYCMille]

Hey guys -

Like the question above says... Anyone use their Charger as their Daily Driver - regardless of the year. If so, what are the pros / cons of doing so and if you do, do you enjoy it and recommend it, I'm not too concerned with gas prices? I've kind of been entertaining this idea for awhile - I would not use my black 68' but have been thinking of perhaps picking up one from 71-74.

Whattya' ya'll think?

Cheers - Mike

[Old Moparz]

The only way I'd ever consider it, is if there were no more winters or rain, & every replacement part, including all sheet metal, was available. Too hard to find parts for & I'm surprised you're considering this living in Queens. I had a '69 Charger years ago that was my daily driver & it was hit 3 times, & once was under the "L" in Astoria by a drunk who ran a red light.  

[psykicpup]

We do! well we do when she's running

[NYCMille]

Well right now we have 3 Cars - the 68' (which is a toy), a 96' Dakota (which is for sale and my current daily) and my wife's Saab. We actually live in Astoria but I have garages for the cars so they are not parked on the street and are not exposed to the weather - nor do we ever really drive in Queens or in Manhattan. We use the cars mainly on the weekends since we both work in NYC and take the Subway everyday. I have really been kicking around the idea of getting an older car with some real style and a fun factor to drive. I like the 71-74 Chargers but have also considered (don't hate me) a 70-72 Firebird Formula 400 (I love the dual ram air scoops).

Just wondering if anyone has taken this route - in the winter we'll use the SAAB since it pretty much goes through anything and on nice days I figure we could use whatever I get?

Whattya' think? Is this a stupid? Does everyone think I'd be sorry.

[Khyron]

I wouldn't say daily driver, I usually take my Jeep to work due to the traffic problems on the Northway. However, I do take it out a whole lot, most people would probably say I take it out too much, but I love to drive it. Plain and simple.

As for Gas, ohh well, burn it in the jeep’s, burn it in the charger, they both suck the go go juice 

[Mass_Mopar]

I use mine all summer long.  Gotta fix those wipers though.  Fall/Winter/some of spring I'm at school and don't need it.

[JimShine]

Only take mine off the road from November to March. Either I am driving it or my brother is. Either way it sees the road every non-rainy day.

The only drawbacks I can think of is I am still running a points ignition and every couple of months I may have to tinker with it a little. I have an electronic ignition rig I am getting ready to install, so that should smooth out that issue. Otherwise the only other quirks are just the nature of the beast. I hate the fact my rear window fogs up, my wipers (when I need them) are slow, and I only have one side mirror.

[buttermilksloth]

I do.

46 miles a day every day of the year no matter what the weather is like 

[andy74]

i usually park mine from november until march,depending on the weather-i drive 38 miles round trip to work,6 days a week.i drive mostly back roads,so traffic isnt a big deal,and i can really get on the gas if the need strikes me!rain doesnt bother me to much,thats what soap and water are for,but i did put a new wiper motor in last night, the old one gave up about 2 weeks ago.i average 12-14 miles per gallon,and the dealer cars i can and do use in the winter are almost always empty when i get in em, so its a wash(?)i bilt it to drive,not dust off,and it is more fun then driving a stratus,or occasionaly a magnum.this winter when i get the other 440 done i will probably cut down  to 3 or 4 days a week driving her,and use my demo more often,ill wait and see what the price and quailty of fuel is like in the spring-i understand a lot of guys who dont drive everyday, but some guys just park in a garage and stare at the cars?why have one, wouldnt it be cheaper to buy model cars,and not have to pay for insurance,gas,etc?

[Silver R/T]

if someone wants to pay for my gas ill drive it

[PocketThunder]

i will if i ever get one on the road!  My 89 Ram gets 14 mpg, so gas in the Charger wont be too much of a change. .   God i miss riding the train.  I used to live in Chicago and the "L" was the best.  Stinking hippies blocking light rail development

[Jon Smith]

only real reason I dont is I have nowhere to keep the chargers at home, they live a couple of miles away

[Charger_Fan]

Between my wife & I, it used to get driven every day...between 1986 & 1990. I finally took it off winter driving duty in 1990 & used it as a summer fun car until 1993, when some drunk dipweed rearranged my front end for me.

Now it's my garage queen.

[1970 FE5 RR]

I use my 1974 se 318 2bbl as a daily driver.

[Chargen69]

We do! well we do when she's running

Thats exactly how I felt when I used my old 69 for a daily driver for about a year, three years ago.  Seemed like every week, I had to fix something or walk.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

If you live in the 5 boroughs, no way would I consider driving an older vehicle everyday.
The traffic alone is enough to make you nuts....why be uncomfortable in a 30 year old style seat, poor steering, braking, no A/C, 4000 pound gas guzzling death trap?..........


Because its cool thats why!!!!!!

Seriously though, if its just a weekend car yes........a true daily driver/commuter car.....no way!

[79JON]

I dont have a charger but I drive my 68 Dodge Coronet Bee clone everyday to school.   Im in college and thats the only car I have so it has to do.   Thats why I kept the orignal 318 in the car for the gas mileage which is 13 or so in the city.   The Pro's of driving the car is the looks you get everyday you drive it, and having the coolest car at school.   The Cons are NO AC in South Mississippi.  ERRRRRR   Constant tuning and checking fluids all the time which is no biggy really and when it rains,   it leaks alittle.   

[metallicareload99]

I do, though lately it has been acting up

68 318 2V.  All weather, day/night.  Gas here seems cheep to what I am used to

[Brock Samson]

 I drive mine less all the time it seems... only four times out of the garage this yr...

It's total overkill for a D.D. My 7 + mile commute into work takes 30 min. (if i took the bus that would 1 hour and ten min.) in heavy traffic...
ah, No Thanks...
Trip home is done in 12 Min... cause it's at night...
  Why put wear and tear on my poor little Beastie? and,..   the way these folks drive round here make ya'   think they're handing out free   licences with happy meals. I kid you not!
   Sunday Blasts down Hwy. 1 is what I made it for,.. that, and keeping up with motorcycles..   

[RallyeMike]

I built the 72 because I liked driving my other Rallye so much. I collected enough sheet metal and other parts to rebody it when it rusted out, but when it started to, I ended up turning it into a race car. I drove it every day and parked it on the street in front of my house for about 7 years. 238,000 miles worth. You get a lot of strange looks when you bomb through a snow storm with chains on your 275/60's in a porta-potty blue 440 Charger.  You also have to worry about people removing easy parts off the car. Ie - The "Lights" button on the rallye dash disappeared, the hood lanyards were clipped, etc... There are a lot of parts that can disappear quickly with minimal tools, and there is a lot of value in the parts for these cars. Not to mention how incredibly simple it is to steal any pre-70 Mopar, and not much harder for 71 and up.   

I switched to C-body, which attracts a lot less attention, although I still drive a Demon to work a lot in the summer. The neighbors would shoot me if I started up any of my other cars at 530AM on a regular basis

 

[Blakcharger440]

I plan on driving the wheels off of mine when I get some wheels!  I plan on attending as many car shows as possible and rowing through the gears and burning rubber in every gear!

[Duke_of_Canada]

I did use my 71-500 as a daily driver a couple years back in the summer.  That was before I could qualify for collector insurance.  I figured if I was gonna pay a fortune for insurance as a daily driver, I'm gonna drive it as such!  It was overall pretty fun to pull into the parking lot with all the Civics and minivans with the Charger.  Only a few problems I noticed with doing that.  Parking spots are NOT made for 2 door cars of that size.  In the summer, after sitting in the sun all day, it would have been REALLY nice to have A/C.  Overall, would still do it though.  I only stopped because about a year after I bought it, I finally qualified for collector insurance, so much much cheaper, but not allowed to drive it as a daily driver any more.

[BrianShaughnessy]

  25 years ago I used mine for a daily to go to school and work... well I used it a lot...   I also had a old Pinto.   Winter really ph8cks things up... even back then.

   So NO...  I wouldn't consider it now.

   I drive the car to work once or twice a year for special outings...  Tuesday it was the 2nd annual HAL Poughkeepsie car show.  I took best Musclecar. 

[4402tuff4u]

In my case I would'nt because I'm always in construction sites and the Charger would get all dusty, the undercarriage scratched from rocks/pebbles and possibility of getting hit by heavy equipment. Also same reason as Chris mentioned. I can't picture myself driving the Charger on the Belt Pkwy with those large moon craters and the bumper to bumper traffic, and with the possibility that something could break down in one of the tunnels of bridges. You know they show up with those "push-out of the way" trucks.  I'm also lucky to have a company vehicle that gets the daily beaten. 

[NYCMille]

Thanks for replys guys, so I guess the general concensus is a resounding "no - don't do it" huh... I have to buy another car and I REALLY don't want to get another mundane automobile for a daily... keep in mind again, I only drive on the weekends since I work in NYC... hmm... I don't know what to do... there isn't much out there with that "cool" factor anymore.