What's your daily driver?

I'm looking at buying a 612 and am shocked at how few miles they all seem to have. I understand not driving a flashy red two seat Ferrari all the time, but the 612 seems perfect for it. Its not particularly flashy, its large, comfortable, reliable. I've been wondering if you aren't driving your 612, what are you driving instead and why?

 

Have a Merc CL55 I put most miles, just turned 200k miles. I alternate with 612, and a couple of Pcars. No real fun driving fun cars in heavy traffic and parking them in contested parking lots keeping away from door dings, shopping carts and poor parking habits of other drivers. I only use fun cars on good weather days and fun drives. Otherwise the DD CL gets the nod.

 

I bought my car as a first hand and it did 9K miles in 12 years, it is a first gen 2004,The owner had many cars but still drove it regularly over the years
I managed to put 2K in one year taking the car to work and kids to school sometimes, but it remains a week end car in my head, those 2K came sacrificing the driving of my lovely RUF prepared Porsche 964 , on which I did close to nothing this year.
The car is now in for the winter
My Daily driver is a Mercedes E350 station wagon (troop transporter)

Now, to your question, why would I not drive more
The 612 needs space to stretch its legs, fun starts at 4000 RPM, and you are then at illegal speeds most of the time. So I end up planning weekend drives over preselected roads.
Driving in the city sucks, really! there is just no point in running a 540 ponies engines in traffic. People refer to it as a GT and not a sports car, but I can tell you that this car is more sportive than the 911s I owned, yes it is comfortable but it is mounted with ball joint all round, not an Sclass.
People used 612 as daily drivers, and a few came for sale with 70 K miles on the clock here in Switzerland. I have seen one in the flesh, It is nice to know that the car can take it but honnestly it carried the marks of time.

Now that said, I don't want to finish on this negative comment. That car is magical and you ll enjoy every $ you spend on it. Make sure you test several ones before buying one. Try the first gen 2004/2005, the second gen 2006/2007 HGT and the OTO, they are all different in the way they drive. you will go respectively from more comfortable to more sporty
A lot of people swear by the OTO, but I wouldn't, It is the most expensive but I am not certain that it is the most enjoyable for driving on Normal roads. They are overrated and you ll get as much 612 in a first gen as in an OTO and save 30 to 50 K$

Good luck for your hunt

Michel

 

I drive the 612 some, but for daily driving it's hard to beat my Tesla Model S. Pre-cool or pre-heat as desired, and excellent in traffic. The 612 isn't a great city car, it's much more of an open road car-- but unfortunately my weekday commute is more of a city drive.

 

Actually we have a Tesla too, and its awesome in its own way. Quicker than the 612 too. But its not particularly fun to drive, its just to big and heavy. Thats not a bad thing as we got it to haul the kids and groceries around. Its also completely quite, which is great most of the time, but I do miss a good engine note.

Perhaps I'm just in the minority of folks having a commute where I don't sit in traffic much. It has a few fun spots where I love listening to the engine on my BMW (which I plan on keeping as the daily driver).

 

I work away halve the year and when home I use my 599 most days, done 20000 miles in 2.5 years including 2 trips to Italy from Scotland. Love every mile I drive the car.....

 

Daily driving in Doha isn't exactly 612 friendly. I save the big girl for the weekends mostly.

Daily I alternate between my X5M and my E55 AMG

The X5M actually is a completely docile / monster depending upon what you need.

That said, the weather here now is perfect and with half the city away for Christmas, the 612 will get a lot of time over the next couple of weeks

 

I drive my Maserati DuoSelect QP, E60 M5 (now sold) or E46 M3 most days, and drive the 612 religiously at least every Friday except when there's a rain storm. I do suffer from a traffic bound commute and it's a waste to have the 612 do that duty. I've got around 57K on the Mas and 20K on the Ferrari, starting from around 7K and 9K about 3 years ago.

 

I drive my 612 daily from May to October. It's a fabulous car. I do a lot of city driving but when that thing hits the highway? There's nothing like it. Just an amazing vehicle. Buy it. Enjoy it. You only live once. Never understood the 'saving it for' part.

 

I drove my car ALL day yesterday because of this thread !

 

I tend to rotate vehicle usage among: CTS-V coupe, Corvette Z06, AMG GTS, the 599, which gets the least use, though can go for months at a time using it exclusively. Not sure I have a true daily driver, except in the winter, when it's the CTS.

 

E 350 Benz wagon alternated with a Toyota Tundra pickup if I'm in the mood to get my hands dirty, wear boots, or run the risk of parking lot dings.

 

575M.

 

Bentley CGT, E55, Ford Raptor, 599 all depends on the mission.

 

A lot of driving that is great! I did 7k last year on my old 430. That seemed like a lot of driving. On the other hand, my friend bought his 458 brand new and has 35k miles on it in 3 years. They are meant to be driven!

 

Bmw X5 in winter season.

Maserati Quattroporte combined with Ferrari 599 from april till october.

Sometimes enjoy 456MGT, 575m and classic Mercs.

 

Because of this post, I bought a CL65 !

 

And I'm selling the QP. I've decided that the only engine to drive is a V12 and everything else is a waste of time.

 

I formerly had a '95 MB S600 coup which I dearly loved as a DD - my first 12 cyl auto. Fortunately it was a CPO and I purchased the extended warrantee. My dealer took good care of me and always had a loner when I frequently stopped in for a "visit". I got to be really good friends with the service rep so much so I got him the best bottle of tequila I could find after he recently retired.

I am sure the CL65s are waaaaay better than my S600 coup. But when I got my CL55 (in '04) I was afraid to try the CL65 because of my frequent unexpected "visits" with my S600. My CL55 had no issues at all up to 130k when I had to start replacing stuff. But since there is no longer any depreciation, already at the bottom with mileage and age, the repairs are still less than the depreciation was over the years.
I hope you both have as good of ownership with your CL65s as I have had with my car.

 

Thanks, I have my own shop so I'm not scared of the repairs. From what I can tell, it's the coil packs and ABC which are the most problematic. Having owned four different M5's and the last two being e60 v10's, I'm not scared of the Benz when it comes to repairs !

 

In that case you are going to love the car. Great around town and even better on trips. Only minor thing, if my CL55 eats rear tires the CL65 will have even a more ferocious appetite. Good motoring for the new year.

 

Daily drivers most of the time are Porsches-- Macan Turbo or GT4 depending on the particular mission that day.

 

Chevrolet Avalanche for work and DD, E46 M3 cabrio as DD in France, XK8 cabrio as DD in Florida, 550 Maranello where there is sun (France during winter and Scandinavia during summer). It goes from shop to shop to get better and better with more upgrades... But I also have the opportunity to run her flat out from time to time. It is heavy in traffic in tve big cities... I also had a Quattroporte III 4,9 V8 as a fun cruiser. But that and an old 1975 XJ12L is sold in favour or the 550 which is babied. For the rough small roads in France, I am tempted (don't laugh!) to just buy a Citroën XM estate with full options, V6 and the std. Hydractive suspention to really fly over the speed bumps which is everywhere and the 550 needs to crawl over them. Pretty annoying.

If I were to drive in SF, I would have the 612 as a daily driver! Those are great cars. Fuel is free anyway!!

 

Buy a Range Rover like me, its a solid good compliment to the sportscars, or a Cayenne Turbo


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Macan Turbo, BMW i3, Jeep Wrangler