Hey guys,

I'm thinking about getting an FD as a weekend car in the near future. Will an FD that is driven for special occasions and weekend driving outlast one that is driven daily(by a good bit)? Also, where do you guys recommend buying one from, because I live in the SE part of NC(don't see many)? Would an online buying site like ebay or autotrader.com be recommended?

P.S. the 1st few questions include the fact that the car is well maintained with reliability mods

 

It will last precisely 7.2 times longer.

Really, the fewer miles you put on any car, the fewer issues you typically have with it. However, US FDs are now 10 to 12-years-old so some age related wear on rubber components etc. is going to happen no matter what. Driving it too little can also be bad for an FD.

When buying an FD you have anticipate that a $3-$5k rebuild is a possibility no matter how it is driven (if that is what you are getting at). If you cannot afford that, buying one might be a mistake.

 

good advice. do some searches and educate yourself on the machine your buying and some of the pros/cons. using the search will give you more info than you have time to read. that is my advice. you can basically find anything you want to know. good luck. - oh and don't buy the first one you see, go for the lowest mileage and look at the cars life and see how it has been treated, also ask many, many questions. when your done ask some more.

 

Will it last longer miles wise? No. Will it last longer age wise? Probably since the less a car gets driven over a period of time the less wear it SHOULD receive.

 

The FD is an excellent weekend driver. My FD has about 21K miles on it and it still has that new car feel and smell. I've not spent any $$ on repairs but I have spent a lot on HP mods.

 

I like it as a weekender - so far I have had control over when/how long it's 'down' for repairs, since I do all repairs myself. And the FD works great when my DD is getting work done as long as it's not snowing that day. You will still spend a bunch on maintenance, but the car will be in much better shape for it. Plus they're tiny little cars. Your risk of being in a fatal accident goes down and your cargo room is a lot better in a daily driver.

Daily driving an FD requires either mechanic experience to keep the car perfectly maintained, or a great tolerance for cost and unplanned downtime if you have it done by a shop. Within 2 years, it seems normal to be carless for a week or more at least once. If it's a weekend car, it's less of an issue.

 

ever since i totaled my first one, i drive the one i have now(been 4 months and change) as much as possible...it's too nice for it just to sit in the garage

i think i have 5K miles on it since i got it(51K miles now)

 

you really hit the jackpot here.

Anyone considering an FD should have set aside at least 5k for anything that goes wrong, including a rebuild

 

it is hard to leave it in the garage all the time and not drive it. the feeling you get when driving this car is unparalleled for me, although it does give you time to work on it at your own pace. I live in Colorado so it stays in for the winter until the sand comes off the road. it is tuff.

 

Sometimes I feel like I'm doing the rotary community a disservice by not driving my car more, but the daily driver is a necessity for all the reasons listed already, space, safety, all conditions driving, etc.

As noted above though, I've had no problems at all using it as a weekend car. But I've put less than 1000 miles on it in 5 months, so I really have no idea what I'm store for in the future.

Lavy, you should really consider it because after those reliability mods, while staying near stock power and assuming you don't push it excessively hard... it might last you so long that it could even become a classic someday with low miles.