What makes the perfect daily driver?

My Silverado pickup is fantastic as far as towing hauling stuff in the bed and more. However almost anything with 3 pedals is more fun, even my son's Xterra.

The older I get the one constant I've always kept is decent power. The older I get the more I want in terms of comfort, sound system, and versatility. 

That being said I drive a lifted Sequoia as a daily thats beat to E36 M3. Waiting this market out. 

Reliability :)

In reply to Keith Tanner :

100%...other than that something you don't HAVE to think about, but when you do it makes you smile. 

Minimum of 30mpg, 40+ even better. Enough utility to fit the occasional large item. Reliable enough to take for granted and easy enough to work on that when something does need attention that you're not trying to figure out how much it would cost a shop to do it. 

Sturdy, relatively comfortable, nimble enough to be fun in the twisty part of the commute, and enough space to carry stuff like kids, dogs, guitars, tires, etc.
 

If I could find a manual hatchback Focus in a fun color with the same options as our 2012 sedan, well that would be just about perfect. That might be a unicorn though: sport package, heated cloth seats/heated side mirrors. I don't think I've seen one with heated seats that wasn't also loaded with sunroof and leather.

Something that engages me as a driver.  That's kind of a hard metric to measure.  It has to be like Goldilocks' Porridge... just right.  It's one of the reasons I don't have a Miata.  They're friggin great, but after 30 miles I feel like I'm the underwear giving the car a wedgie.  I feel like I need to stop and get out every once in a while.  The performance is great, but they really are tiny inside.

Some of my favorites were:

E30 Cabrio.  It was lowered with H&R sports, Konis, and Mille Miglias.  It handled brilliantly, the engine was a blast, and it fit.  It was just the right mix of small but big enough.  I drove that car cross-country twice from L.A. to Toronto and if I were to be nitpicky, it was a little loud in the road noise department

On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, another favorite was a 73 Impala Wagon with a 454 and the coldest R12 A/C system I've ever known.  The cam I had in it was a bit big for the compression so it got 9mpg, but it would swallow a couch AND a loveseat.  I once used it to haul 15 concrete parking curbs.  Also drove that cross country twice.  It was a rolling futon.

Another favorite:  1978 MCI MC8 motorcoach.  8V91 Detroit.  It involved being an active driver.  Not active like "oh god I'm going to die because this steering is terrible," but active like Geordi LaForge on Star Trek. Flying the enterprise required pushing a lot of buttons and being the master of what you do.  The bus itself was a dream to drive, but you had to know it and talk to it.  You couldn't let the Dana auto downshift for itself.  If you did it would wait until 50mph going up a hill and that was too late.  As soon as you saw the needle start to reveal the top edge of 55 on the speedo, you dropped it down.  More passengers?  Adjust the air pressure in the tag axle springs so they get a smooth ride.  Tag axle steering giving you fits again?  Cycle the switch to re-engage the pin.  Know you're coming to a big hill?  Drop the A/C down to 68 for a couple minutes to cool things down and then turn it off before starting up the grade.  Make a wrong turn and have a low clearance? Cut off the air to the springs and drop it.  If that's not enough, air down the tires, and then refill them with the secondary brake tank.

I like things that offer a pleasant driving experience without being work.  I don't mind driving my 67 LeMans with it's marshmallow suspension and finnicky carburetor because everything works and it's pleasant.  My 73 AMC Hornet Sportabout was work.  Manual steering, brakes, windows... and none of it engineered properly.  I never understood how manual steering that was 309 turns lock-to-lock and 185mm rubber could be so impossible to turn below 25 mph, nor could I ever understand how those brakes ever passed a DOT approval.

4 doors, good size trunk, comfy, civilized, and able anytime and anywhere to get around the 10 under nannies and the left lane priuses that infest every goldern road. Geez I've put over 100k miles on this monster E55...

Power is important.  I can't stand driving something underpowered on the street during high traffic times, particularly in areas with short highway merges.  Beyond that, at least half-decent gas mileage, comfy, relaxed enough to drive when I just need to get somewhere and am on a boring road, decent handling, working heat, A/C, and cruise control.  Oh, and it can't be boring. 

I think the dichotomy of boring is why I like the E38 as a DD so much.  You can very easily drive it like it's totally beige and the car won't fight you (beyond a bit of pull with the road crown when the summer tires are on), but if you push it a little bit, it becomes clear that the car is responsive, capable, and very much not beige. 

The Jeep was historically a pretty good DD, although as time went on, I think I made it less of a good one.  It became a bit more of a handful to live with as it got more modified, became a bit harder to drive, the front LSD made the steering feel weird, etc.  Although other than gas mileage, I think if I actually sat down and fixed everything that's wrong with it, it would be back to decent. 

Entertaining, reliable, cheapish to drive. Big enough for 4 folks to ride and for at least one to sleep in.

Honda Fit for now.