I have owned a pickup truck my entire adult life, and I have no reason to believe I won’t have one until I die. I’m disqualified from your question by the phrase “every day.” We have a 911 and average 3,500-4,000 miles/year with it. We are PCA members and I have taken the lead in putting on breakfasts and tour events in the NorCO, SE WY area. It’s an AWD (4S) and we talk about putting on all-season tires, but we have my 4wd truck and my wife has a Jeep Wrangler, so it seems pointless. The cars you mentioned are, as you described, “sporty,” rather than sports cars. I think you’ll be just fine driving any one of them every day.

I have owned some nice Alfa Romeo vehicles. However they run so smoothly and quietly at higher speeds, that it is very easy to speed and then receive tickets. Once had three speeding tickets in a few months, typically 42 in a 25 zone. So that was one of the factors to switching to a regular car.

My DD is what I'd consider a sporty car.

2015 Mercedes C300 Sport.
Only a 2.0T with 250hp, but lower/stiffer springs & more sport-tuned suspension than a base or luxury C300.

It's a little punishing on a really rough road (stiff suspension & 19" wheels on low-profile tires), and can tripod going up a steep driveway at an angle. But, get it on a nice twisty road & it's like having a go-kart.
Took advantage of the latter on my last trip to Austin.

And, it has 4 doors, so still practical. Was a requirement, had to be able to comfortably fit both kids in their carseats.

Otherwise, I have possession of my father-in-law's 2001 Indian Scout, that I take for short rides now & then. No more than a couple miles, as it has 2018 CA plates on it. He's renewed them, but misplaced the 2019 sticker, so I don't venture much outside my neighborhood until he gets it re-registered here in TX.

I drove a Honda S2000 as my only car for years. I never regretted it. There were some aggravations, but they were minor. Traffic where I live can be standstill, but it's nothing compared to large cities, so traffic wasn't a real factor. The ride could be rough because the suspension was stiff, but it never bothered me. Tiny trunk, but the groceries and my (soft-sided) luggage always fit.

The biggest drawbacks were that some passengers had trouble getting in and out and I had to replace tires more frequently.

Former owner of a couple of Corvettes. Loved them and they were daily drivers except when it snowed.
One of the main reasons I sold mine was anxiety. I was always worried something was going to happen to it. Door dings. Crashes. Scratches. Theft.
And my insurance was outrageous.

We have three vehicles: my wife’s Odyssey, which she considers the best car in the world; my 2018 Accord 2.0 Touring; and my 2005 Honda S2000.
In Hawaii the S2000 was my daily driver, and it was great for driving out to Hana, etc.
Here in SD I do mostly freeway driving, but even if thinking about driving out to the country I think I enjoy driving the Accord about as much as the S2000.
In fact I am considering selling the S2000 and giving the proceeds to our daughter so she and her husband can buy something like a crossover to ferry our granddaughter around. But don’t tell my wife, as I haven’t made up my mind.
If I had a place to keep the S2000 (three-car garage but want to keep a workshop in it), I would just keep it. But now I’m paying to store it, so don’t get it out much—-and don’t really miss it as I really enjoy driving the Accord.

Not one regret buying my Focus ST to replace my F350 as daily driver, of course I kept the truck to. I put 60,000 miles on the truck in 2 years, 60% of which was ferrying my kids around while the other 40% was actually towing. The ST gets much better mileage, maintenance is cheaper, fuel is cheaper, and it is much more fun to drive. I am paying to insure two vehicles, but my truck will last longer. Tires are cheaper as well, but don't last as long and if I lived where it got cold in winter, I'd need a second set.

I've daily driven an Acura RSX since 2003. It's decently sporty and fun, but it won't blow the doors off anything. It is small with cramped back seats - just the way I want it. If I'm transporting people in the back, I want them to suffer! Why am I your chauffeur?

I am single and don't do a lot of handiwork or carpentry, so I don't need a larger vehicle. I also love driving and do take destinationless scenic drives like people in car commercials always do. I especially love late night drives where I have the city streets and country roads all to myself (for the most part). It's very zen.

My car took me on a 12,000 mile road trip across America without any problems back in 2011. I even slept in the hatch with the seats folded down at a few Walmarts long the way. That pretty much cemented my bond with this vehicle. It's like on those old Top Gear TV shows where the guys will finish a long tumultuous journey in some junker and say they now prefer that to any new luxury vehicle or supercar. Of course in that case, they usually forget about it in the next episode.

I think it is a “Horses for courses” thing. Depending on your reality, it might be great, but everybody’s reality differs. I’ve driven several fun vehicles - friends’ 911s, a friend’s Turbo, when I worked in a shop, a Rolls Royce formerly owned by Marlene Dietrich. The most fun car I ever ran as a daily driver was a Datsun 280Z I had for a while in college. Thing was a rocket sled, and it wasn’t worth so much that I had to worry about paint chips if someone threw up a rock.

Nowadays, between living on the ranch and the periodic off-road work projects that entails, a 4wd pickup is pretty much a requirement. Add in the havoc that vermin can wreak on anything when you live in the country and the idea of having a car I really care about isn’t very enticing. On top of that, with recent traffic in the area, sitting high, as one does in a pickup or SUV, has become really valuable.

If my living situation were to change, I could really enjoy a fun little car again. That isn’t likely to happen for another three years though.

I drove a 1986 Mazda RX-7 GXL II in Houston traffic for 14 years. The only time I regretted it was when the a/c went out and I didn't have the money to fix it...made for a hot summer, but I started going into work early before the sun had time to bake everything. The car finally died at 178,000 miles. Oh...and I did get the a/c fixed after about 2 months in that summer heat.

My daily driver is a 2017 mustang gt350. Other than the miles adding up, I have no regrets. I got it to enjoy my commute. It spoils you and it would be hard to drive an average car or truck, especially now that most cars have the engine stop at idle.

Interesting. I recently drove a Nissan Maxima while my Forrester was getting hail damage repaired. The only thing I liked about the Maxima was the 300hp it had. Going back to my 4cylnder N/A Forrester with 170k on it was a bit disheartening when I stepped on the gas and went no where fast. I drive 25k+ miles a year though.

My biggest hold back is not necessarily MPG but everything I want requires premium gas. Sometimes that can be 60 cents more here.

I am a sports car guy, and have been involved with sports cars since the 1960s. I have never regretted it, and my current daily driver is a 300ZX twin turbo......woosh!!!

quote:

Originally posted by trickedtrix:
If finances allow I recommend you have 3 - truck, SUV, and fun car.

I follow this lead. I have a Toyota Tundra that I split daily driving with a Chevy Tahoe. The reason is that the Tundra has the 8 foot bed with the double cab and is an absolute bear in tight spots, plus it has 12.5x35 tires on it and they suck on wet roads. the tahoe is great in the wet. I also have a MB SL65 that is fun to drive on nice days. My wife says I have a problem, but what does she know, she only has ONE car....

I had an Acura TL w/manual. Traded for a Mustang GT. After driving the mustang for 5 years as a daily driver. I bought a Honda Pilot for daily but kept the Mustang for fun.

I owned a 4x4 pickup truck once, back in the late 1980s-early 1990s. The only use I ever had for it was driving nurses to the hospital during snow storms, or being asked by others to help them move stuff. It was a fad.

Since then (and before, actually, since my first job was on a Formula Car racing team), my taste has run to "driving" cars.

My current stable of two consists of an electric smart, which (believe it or not) is a fun little around-town runabout. My other is a very nice E350 Coupe 4Matic.

I've always had a van or pick-up, usually both, but generally kept a sporty car in the fleet as well as a 2 wheel motor and a fast boat. Right now my daily drivers are an 08 Ridgeline, 2011 Acura TSX sportwagon and a 2018 Jeep Sahara JK 4dr. My wife drives a 2015 Toyota Sienna AWD. Traded my Mustang GT convertible to the Jeep JK and have no regrets.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
At least current, I think it's still legal to own more than one vehicle. This opens up a lot of possibilities.

True...just not practical for me at this time, I don't want to play driveway roulette besides the Mrs would never got for it..

I am 45 at this point and with her X3 we have something "kinda" like an SUV although the rear is just big enough for a family trip with 4 people.

IWe had a VW TDI a couple years ago and it was surprising roomy and damn fun to drive even with the oil burner....that's one of the reasons I am considering the GTI R or a 3 series wagon

In addition to not wanting to drive a sporty car like my previous 4 BMW MINIs as daily drivers other than not wanting to deal with bad roads, having to deal with front air dams and long coupe doors was...I was going to go to jail, get crazy expensive tickets causing high insurance rates or get killed/seriously injured.

My MINIs were weekend and MINI event meetup cars that I drove for the enjoyment of sport driving. At these MINI events, a group of us would head out to rural windy roads where we’d let them loose in the 100’s where they loved to live.

I’m glad I had a huge falling out with BMW/MINI which ended my sport driving life. I now plod along in my ‘03 Tacoma double cab 4WD at or below speed limits to save fuel.

Been driving a 2013 Scion FR-S for the last 6 years as of this month.
It has been an every day car for me during the week and on the weekends when my wife and I do not have a gun match to go to.
So far I have been very happy with it. At the time we bought it I was thinking of a motorcycle however the roads in central Florida are way to dangerous.