Does anyone still daily a fox?

rdharper02

like kicking myself in the junk
10 Year Member
May 8, 2006
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Due to recent life events I'm no longer driving 45 minutes ( to an hour) both ways to work. Matter of fact I don't even drive "daily." Due to this it has me really considering selling my Audi and buying another foxbody to use as my "daily." It would free up some project car cash, and I would still have something "cool" to drive around. Anyone still doing the daily drive with their fox? If so, give me your impression because I haven't depended on one of mine for about 15 years.
 
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I have been driving my 1993 lx 5.0 five speed daily since 7/7/7 ,yes I love it. Thirteen plus years and only twice I had to call off work.The job is 14.7 miles each way.I drive it 75-80 mph on the freeway( not free when p.d. Catches you) I do all my own work on it,except wheel alignment. I'm pretty intense when it comes to noises, and love to do upgrades to my car. If you plan on daily driving one you need to love it,and know how to or are willing to do the work.My opinion , it is worth it. You'll save that monthly $$$ and doing your own work will save you even more. So if your up for an adventure , go for it.
 
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I’ve thrown the idea around of getting a “beater” fox to DD to work in the summer, I decided not too for various reasons. The main one was safety. I’ve seen too many pics of these cars ripped in half when other modern cars just crumple and remain intact. In the end, I’ll stick with modern creature comforts and safety and reliability. I’m also just tired of fixing cars, so last thing I want to do is drive an old car everyday.

ive driven my fox a few times to work here and there. It’s 13 miles each way. Only way to enjoy it was to take back roads. Minute I got into stop and go traffic, I hated it

but yeah, that’s an opinion
 
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I used to daily drive some of the older foxes I had, didn't know any different. I work almost 30 miles away from my house and while I don't mind driving to work every once in a while, I don't think I could drive it everyday. I almost drove it to work today though. I'm about to leave work in a few minutes, hopping in it right now and driving it home sounds pretty fun right about now. Should have drove it today :(
 
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I've been daily driving mine since, 95/6 when I got from my sister. My Dad bought it new, then got a brain tumor and died in 92, He offered it to me, but I had plenty of cars and my sister needed one, so I told him to give it to her. A few years later she gave it to me.
 
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I pretty much daily drove my 86 SVO all summer. Been working from home since March so that means just running around locally for errands, grocery shopping, etc. plus hitting the beach and car shows. No commuting to work which is 50 miles each way for me. Bought an 86 GT three weeks ago and since I got the plates 4 days ago been driving that for same things.

My main hesitations with them are: 1) don’t want to rack up huge mileage. Want to keep to 2,000 or 3,000 a year each. 2) I avoid bad weather/rain in an attempt to preserve cosmetics and rust free condition. 3) definitely no winter driving with deicer in the roads and more risk of slippery conditions.

Mechanically I’m not worried - new cars can breakdown too. In my mind if you drive it a bit you get a sense of anything that may need maintenance so you can address it before it becomes a breakdown. I suppose it could take longer to repair a breakdown with an old car if it takes a bit to source a part so that is something to consider. Having a second car as a backup is not a bad thought. I do have an Expedition and an Explorer Sport Trac which are officially my daily drivers. These are a 99 and 02 so getting fairly old as well.
 
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My experience is a little different than most here.. I fell in love with the 1st gen Rangers when I was 12 or 13 years old, but later noticed the performance of the Foxes. I wanted both, so I built one.

$25K later....

I daily drive my 87 Ranger with a 1992 Thunderbird EFI engine and T5Z trans, all spring/summer/fall long. It's loud, obnoxious, very death-trappy, but no other vehicle makes me smile like this truck does. I only park it in winter due to road salt. I recently switched the 8.8" Torsen from 4:10 to 3:73 rear gear to make it more highway friendly.

So yeah, I daily it a LOT but it's not quite a fox. More like a fox in the henhouse. lol
 
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You guys all have points. I honestly only drive two to three times a week anymore. When I do, I drive the Audi like I stole it. I sold my lifted Grand Cherokee and a Passat Wagon, just to buy my "Grown up Car." Part of the whole idea was that I had a weekend where I needed to wrench on both vehicles, my wife's car, and my daughters. So I bought the A5 and about a half a week later I started upgrading odds and ends and had it tuned. It's fun, but will never have the cool factor that the fox does. As I close in on finishing the fox, I also realize the turbo 306 will never be as reliable as a fairly stock platform. So why not look for something fun, less expensive, but still cool? The 5k realm I'm looking in definitely looks clapped out down here. Why 5k? So I can spend the rest on useless car projects like the J10 truck or some other potential hot rod. Decisions...Decisions

Just because I'm getting misty...the Jeep and Waggy sacrificed for the Audi.

GC.jpg
Surf Wag.jpg

And the adult car on the chopping block.
audi.jpg
 
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I drive a '04 Focus for the store, PO, rain, etc and save the Mustang for the fun rides. After driving the Focus the Mustang seems like a rocket ship. Oh and my Focus got backed into at the store, no note, but that was OK because I bought it low mileage but with dents.
 
Car ran great today, I probably put 40 miles on it. It’s due for emissions next month, got that done and it passed for two years. I need to find out how to register it as a classic car so I don’t have to do that anymore. Good to know it’s running clean.
 
I think they break more when you drive them like I do. Small trips of a few miles twice a week.A couple times a month they need to go twenty miles or more. I used to drive it like that and it worked like a regular car.
 
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A little but different but I daily my sn about 15 miles a day. Never left me stranded for the two years it’s been a daily. Just stay on top of the maintenance and it is a rewarding drive. For longer trips I would still defer to a newer car just for comfort and less noise on the highway.
 
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I'm still in-between personally, but I think fate is going to make the decision for me. I sold my blue fox for about 5500, but I am coming to the conclusion that it was 10 years ago and I'm not likely going to get anything near that shape for the money. Most I've looked at have been completely hacked and modified, have substantial rust, or are stock and way above my price range. I'm going to keep window shopping for something in decent shape that has only seen slight modification.
 
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My plan when for when my son soon gets his permit is to loan him the Merc Cop car, and for me to drive my Mustang or another classic. I would not want it to be my only transportation, but my 91 as my main transportation when it is not icy out has been the goal since I bought it.
 
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I drive my foxbody way more than my truck, overall...that being said, my Mustang had been off the road for about 3 months, and won’t be ready for another month or so. As someone else said, it can do DD duty but you better have something else ready for the day it leaves you high and dry. Under normal circumstances though, I only drive my truck if it’s really rainy or there’s salt on the roads. A tuned Cummins is almost as fun as the fox though lol
 
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