These Are The Jalopnik Audience’s Daily Drivers

Last week we asked the Jalopnik audience to share their daily drivers with the class, and the results were pleasantly impressive. Daily drivers are often seen as boring, mundane cars that simply shuttle you to-and-from the office, the grocery store, or to your parents’ house, but it seems like our audience is allergic to boring cars. Your answers were widely varied, but I’m happy to see that the majority of answers were not mundane sedans. In fact, the most commonly mentioned sedan turned out to be the Subaru WRX. That seems to be one of, if not the most common vehicles that the Jalopnik audience uses as their daily driver. Other trends came in the form of many Miatas, surprisingly a couple Chevrolet Volts, Honda Civics, and Ford Mavericks. 

I wholeheartedly recommend that you revisit the question from last week as the vast array of submissions is so thoroughly diverse and filled with many surprising choices. I was sad that I didn’t notice any other Mini drivers, but I understand why Minis aren’t necessarily the most popular daily driver. Anyway, read on to see some of the highlights of the Jalopnik audience’s daily drivers. 

2018 Buick Regal TourX

Bought it 20 days after my 1st kid was born, and after almost 7 years and 71K on it, it’s about as solid of a performer for what I’ve ever needed. It’s a comfortable daily driver, long-haul ready cargo car for BMX trips with the kiddos, and quite the hauler for most Home Depot or Prototype Runs.

It fits our whole family of 5 with a pretty roomy interior, still space to haul needs in the trunk, and with the roof rack and hitch that I added after the fact it’s only become more versitile. Now, I won’t pretend that it’s AS good as my old Subaru Impreza in the worst of snow conditions, but with a solid set of Blizzaks and old Mustang Wheels (have to say, they look better than the stock ones with the exact same size/offsets) I have never missed a ski day with the family even in some whiteouts.

Submitted by: DesignIsLife

My current DD is a 2012 Mazda5 that I just picked-up in March to replace my 2009 Mazda5 that somehow caught a tire iron in the transmission case.

The car works for me because i can lift my wheelchair into the car from the driver’s seat without assistance.

Submitted by: Earthbound Misfit I

1968 IHC Scout 800. Hamilton Fuel Injected 196, T18/D20/D27/D44, four wheel disc brakes, Volvo fold-flat front seats, and since I’m not a luddite I added an infotainment system and backup camera. I swapped out the vacuum operated wipers for electric, next up is adding electric power steering.

It’s been my daily for three years now. I don’t have a commute, so the ten thousand miles I’ve put on since licensing is mostly for pleasure.

Submitted by: IHC Demoman

My 2019 Miata RF, manual transmission. Though, to be fair, I can walk to work. So, while it is my only car, I definitely do not drive it in the way a daily driver gets driven.

So with that said, I have one of the best daily drivers you can have if you’re only driving 1500 miles a year and don’t have kids.

Submitted by: Give Me Tacos or Give Me Death

My daily is a 2025 Ioniq 5 N, although I work from home. I found an insane deal since I couldn’t justify anything near MSRP. Also not only is it fast and handle well given its heft, it has multiple personalities. It can be a regular ‘ol EV or a raucous trackable monster and really anything in between. We live in the city and don’t drive a ton so having multiple cars doesn’t make sense and only a 1 car garage.

Submitted by: Stack

2024 WRX Premium 6-spd. Scooped it at a great deal with less than 5000 miles. It’s my first fairly legit sports car at 40 and I love it.

Kids carseat fits with ample space. The wife actually has more room in the passenger seat than she did in her MDX because of a more efficient use of space inside. Still averaging around 22-24 mpg with ample amounts of spirited driving, and the country farm roads and highways near where I live provide lots of bendies for fun.

Cars a hoot, the cladding actually looks good with the Sapphire Blue paint. Haters will say it’s not nearly as good as previous generations, but I never owned one of those so it doesn’t matter!

Submitted by: Brandon Walker

1974 AMC Gremlin with a 99 4.0L / AW4 swap. Gods intended daily driver.

Submitted by: Daniel Bisciglia

2014 E63S Wagon. I have a short commute and don’t drive much normally, so the horrible MPG isn’t as much of a burden. Good independent shops near my office mean I don’t pay out the nose for repairs and maintenance. Throw the dogs in the back or fit my entire XL framed bike in. Pretty much perfect.

Submitted by: Dr.Cigarettes

I drive a thirsty 2018 Volvo V90, in Maple Brown Metallic. The premium package includes painted fender flares and massage seats, my favorite aspects. The stereo is also pretty sweet. A ceramic coat keeps the brown goodness very shiny. Inside my garage is a 2003 330ci with a cracked rear subframe. I had just put in a new sunroof cassette when the crack was discovered.

Submitted by: brun vagn

After going back and forth between “fun” vehicles and “sensible” ones, I finally hit a sweet spot with my 2021 Civic EX Hatch. Perfect for my needs, and just fun enough to keep me from dying of boredom.

Submitted by: blah

Gotta be my 2024 Integra Type S. Honestly, it’s the best car I’ve ever dailyed. I’m not 20 anymore so the softer ride is so much better on my spine, lots of room to accommodate my kid’s increasing height, a powertrain that gets me excited when I dip into it, and a shifter that is so excellent I don’t really mind the occasional traffic jam.

I never thought I’d say this because I’m usually so fickle about cars, but I think I’m keeping this one until I can’t drive anymore.

Submitted by: Killing Time

After only having one vehicle for a long time, I shuffled DD a few times until I’ve recently settled on the best one I can imagine. A Maverick Hybrid.

It gets 40mpg all day, and the more I sit in chicagoland traffic the better that number gets (stop and go seeing 50+ for the drive to work is not uncommon). I have the lariat trim so it’s more quiet, comfortable and has a way better stereo than the normal Mavericks. I am a homeowner with a large yard, garden, landscaping, etc so the bed is SUPER useful on a weekly basis and absolutely gets used plenty to justify having it over a CUV/SUV which i had prior to this as a DD. It’s also “just a ford” so i am not precious with it and don’t think twice about parking it wherever I feel like, etc. It’s been perfect for the 5months I’ve owned it.

It’s just powerful enough to get out of its own way and not feel slow but I don’t care one bit if it’s not fast – my other car is a Corvette so who cares?

Submitted by: Nathaniel Kuhn 

My 1982 Mercedes 300td is my daily and only car. Turbo diesel station wagon perfection!

Submitted by: Matt Pipes

2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody (takes a breath) Jailbreak Last Call.

And by daily, I put around 12k annual miles on it since I took delivery of it in March of ’23. It gets parked at grocery stores, restaurants, Disney World. It’s been to 28 states and it’s seen 200 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Shame on people who garage queen these things.

Submitted by: Guy Gordon