Is a 2024/2025 Supra a good choice for a daily driver?

[archsteve]

Looking to retire my long-term Acura daily driver and possibly replace it with a new Supra - looking for advice/suggestions based on the following:

1) Driven the same commute past 30 years, will be buying an AT as there is way too much clutching/stop-n-go traffic in parts of commute - 2 past stickshifts taught me that lesson. Commute is 50% city traffic, 50% highway/interstate.
2) From a scale of 1-10 in aggressive driving, I'm probably a 7 - knowing this commute so well, I do take advantage of traffic and light patterns but not recklessly or a traffic weaver. I want a well-mannered car that is nimble/quick.
3) Not looking to ever do mods or track it - I just want a dependable yet fun driving experience for 90 minutes a day. Refuse to buy a big truck/SUV like all my friends seem to do
4) Is it easy to maintain? - I've always done some of my own wrenching (oil and filter changes, brakes, tire rotations, tranny flushes etc).
5) Test drove a MT 2024 Supra (locally no Ats are available) - seemed to be well mannered in limited driving, but I noticed a few blind spots - not enough time to vet out. Thoughts on comfort/ease of driving?
6) Might occasionally take it on a 4-8 hour trip - any thoughts on long-drive comfort?
7) Reliability - all opinions welcomed
8) Any other thoughts also welcomed- past 6 family vehicles purchased were Honda/Acura and Toyota has always been interesting to me in terms of quality/reliability (same as Honda). I know its got the BMW drivetrain which isn't Toyota quality obviously but it appears to have a decent reputation.
9) If I dont get a Supra, am looking at the Acura Integra (kinda small), the Acura TLX (Type S if I can find one), the Lexus IS 500 or RC (hate the Lexus front end aesthetic however). Would never give Nissan a dime (although I dig my friend's 350Z) - any other ideas would be appreciated also.

sorry for the long post

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[MisterSkiz]

I would say no.

Get the IS500/M3/M340i if you want a great daily with usability that has some fun to it.

For what its worth, I've owned my IS-F for 16 years now since new and its been the best car that I have ever owned.

 

[R1Outcast]

It's easy to maintain, reliable, and super fun...but not practical at all imo. If you're ok with that, I'd say yes. If you need more than 2 seats and/or comfortable/ample storage, I'd say no.

I daily drive mine, but I'm a single man with no kids or pets. It works for me and my needs/desires. I could, however, see it being an issue if I had more "beings" in my life.

 

[Cptnslo]

I daily drove mine for a year. The main issue I ever ran into was if I had company. I have a big dog so she was in the passenger seat but if my ex visited and we wanted to go to the dog park it was a 2 trip situation

 

[CrimsonSupra]

The Supra is great as a primary daily driver IF you own more than one vehicle. Otherwise, there will be always be times that you need more storage or passenger space. If you have a second vehicle or are willing to borrow or rent a larger vehicle when needed, then the Supra is great as a daily commuter. That’s how I use my Supra, but I also have a Ford Raptor or my wife’s SUV if needed. The Supra provides good ride quality and fuel economy while being fun and suitable for the occasional track day even stock other than maybe upgraded brake fluid and pads depending on how much you track.

 

[Hasan]

Get the new Land Cruiser

 

[Loco38SUP]

It sounds like the Supra isn’t the best fit based on your needs. Maybe consider a GR Corolla auto instead. The Supra is a great car and many daily it but there are better options out there for 90 minutes of traffic.

-RJM

 

[tharris4995]

Looking to retire my long-term Acura daily driver and possibly replace it with a new Supra - looking for advice/suggestions based on the following:

1) Driven the same commute past 30 years, will be buying an AT as there is way too much clutching/stop-n-go traffic in parts of commute - 2 past stickshifts taught me that lesson. Commute is 50% city traffic, 50% highway/interstate.
2) From a scale of 1-10 in aggressive driving, I'm probably a 7 - knowing this commute so well, I do take advantage of traffic and light patterns but not recklessly or a traffic weaver. I want a well-mannered car that is nimble/quick.
3) Not looking to ever do mods or track it - I just want a dependable yet fun driving experience for 90 minutes a day. Refuse to buy a big truck/SUV like all my friends seem to do
4) Is it easy to maintain? - I've always done some of my own wrenching (oil and filter changes, brakes, tire rotations, tranny flushes etc).
5) Test drove a MT 2024 Supra (locally no Ats are available) - seemed to be well mannered in limited driving, but I noticed a few blind spots - not enough time to vet out. Thoughts on comfort/ease of driving?
6) Might occasionally take it on a 4-8 hour trip - any thoughts on long-drive comfort?
7) Reliability - all opinions welcomed
8) Any other thoughts also welcomed- past 6 family vehicles purchased were Honda/Acura and Toyota has always been interesting to me in terms of quality/reliability (same as Honda). I know its got the BMW drivetrain which isn't Toyota quality obviously but it appears to have a decent reputation.
9) If I dont get a Supra, am looking at the Acura Integra (kinda small), the Acura TLX (Type S if I can find one), the Lexus IS 500 or RC (hate the Lexus front end aesthetic however). Would never give Nissan a dime (although I dig my friend's 350Z) - any other ideas would be appreciated also.

sorry for the long post

I owned a Supra and ended up selling it for a m240i. That being said I’d say the Supra was a great commuter car. I sold it for the m240i mostly due to cost. I wanted a manual and a new Supra was ridiculously over priced compared to the m240i with the same engine. Also I wanted an unlocked ecu.

the only real issue with the Supra for daily driving is blind spots, they are a real issue in that car.

 

[CrimsonSupra]

My counterpoint to the blind spot comments is that properly adjusted mirrors are your friend. If your side mirrors are adjusted to show the side of your car instead of what’s behind/next to it then you’re doing it wrong. If the blind spots were such a dramatic issue, there’d be nobody in a Supra or 6th gen Camaro with a clean driving record or non-salvage titled vehicle. ?

That doesn’t even consider the fact that an appropriately equipped Supra has blind spot monitoring.

Is it as easy to see out of the Supra as other vehicles with more fish bowl-like visibility? Maybe not, but anyone acting like the Supra has some sort of insurmountable spots is just looking for excuses.

To add, the maintenance doesn’t really seem to be any different from any other modern vehicle. The only annoyance is the sensor-based engine oil “dipstick”, but you’ll run into that in a number of modern vehicles. From a reliability perspective, it’s running a the TU (technical update) version of the BMW B58 which has been used across numerous BMW models of all sizes and shapes meaning the powertrain design has been validated across a large number of vehicles on the road. Assuming no issues after engine break in, most common issues stated for the B58 are seemingly avoided by doing more frequent oil changes (ex. 5k as opposed to 10k interval). Granted, the suggestion of changing fluids more frequently than recommended by the manufacturer is often true for most modern vehicles specifying extended change intervals. Toyota just recalled nearly 100k vehicles for engine replacement, so nobody is immune to issues despite overall reliability being pretty good for most modern vehicles.

 

[PikkaGTR]

As a single vehicle the Supra is not that practical
As a second vehicle which CAN be used as a daily...absolutely!

 

[Emspilot]

It’s my 1 and only car. Works fine for me.

 

[CSUfiend]

To me, practicality also means having the ease of mind in parking the car anywhere in town (when doing your normal routines/errands) while having a relative peace of mind without worrying about something happening to it.

Considering that, and then factoring in the size of the vehicle, how much space it has, how many passengers it can fit… I do not think it is a practical car. It is my second car and perfect for that, but I can’t imagine not having a sedan/hatchback/pickup and just living with the Supra as my only car?

 

[Syeeee]

To me, practicality also means having the ease of mind in parking the car anywhere in town (when doing your normal routines/errands) while having a relative peace of mind without worrying about something happening to it.

Considering that, and then factoring in the size of the vehicle, how much space it has, how many passengers it can fit… I do not think it is a practical car. It is my second car and perfect for that, but I can’t imagine not having a sedan/hatchback/pickup and just living with the Supra as my only car?

Perfect answer

 

[nanaisu]

It's comfortable enough. I've done a couple of thousand mile road trips for over 20 hours of driving at a time, and it's fine. You start to get a bit sore after hour 15. I wish it had perforated leather seats & ventilation purely for the extra comfort. They're not very breathable. Though, It's a hell of a lot more comfortable than my GR86 was. The interior isn't cramped by any means, it's a good size, plenty of room to move around for longer trips. Only real downside is that you're limited on seating.

I've never had an issue with fitting luggage, groceries, bags or anything like that in my Supra, so it's practical in that sense. As long as you know what will fit, and what to expect from it, it's more than reasonable.

The ride could definitely be smoother for dailying, it's a bit harsh on rough roads. It's a sports car after all, you kinda want that. (If anyone has any suggestions for making the ride a bit softer - I'm all ears, it's a 2 hour commute to work each way. I don't do it every day, but the highways in GA generally suck). No real large blindspots (imo) with properly adjusted mirrors. Windshield can be a bit difficult to see out of sometimes, especially if you put a dash cam in or a radar detector installed. 99.95% of the time it's fine though. Gas milage is pretty good - If you run it with the transmission in comfort mode, you can push upwards of 30MPG, which is pretty damn good for a sports car.

It's reliable - it's got a mass produced i6 from BMW in it, keep up with the oil changes and you should be fine (7,500~ miles is a good spot - some people replace @ 5,000, manual says 10,000, use your best judgement based on how hard you drive it). No special quirks for oil changes, it's the first ever car I worked on and I managed to figure it out, I'm sure you'll be fine. There's a thousand and one threads on "what oil, what type and when". oh boy another oil thread

Otherwise, stick to the recommended service schedule in the owners manual (20,000-30,000 miles or 2-3 years on brake fluid, 40,000 miles for spark plugs & about 50,000-75,000 miles for transmission fluid, or 8 years) and it should stay running well. Service/Warranty manual can be found here.
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Other cars worth looking into - *40i BMWs (M240i, M340i), M2, M3, Lexus IS/IS500, RC F and Toyota GR Corolla.
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Otherwise, it's my one and only car. It works well for me. Haven't ran into any issues with it in the past 2+ years.

 

[concept]

I used to commute to work with either my MX5, Mazda 3 sedan, and previous to the Mazda 3, a 2001 Corvette. I never had any issues with carrying things. If (very rarely) I needed to carry something large to work or to home, I'd take the Mazda 3 or my wife's Lexus SUV. But really, that almost never happened.

The Supra has much more room to carry things than does my MX5. In fact, we go grocery shopping with the Supra. We take her vehicle to Costco, however.

Overall, Supras are very reliable. The ride is comfortable enough in normal mode, so highway cruising is almost always done in this mode. Gas mileage is better when the transmission keeps the engine revs lower. An added bonus is that you have access to adaptive cruise control.

The low-profile windows don't bother me at all, as my MX5's are similar.
If I were to buy an Acura, it'd be a 2017-2019 NSX, but that would be more than double (maybe triple) the cost of a 3.0 Supra.

Maintenance is very easy to do. I see that the cabin filter replacement can be a bit of a pain, but oil and filter changes are very easily done.

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