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With the average new car now running close to $32k, it seems most people want the best car they can afford. This can take a good chunk of their income. What about happily doing the opposite and driving a car that's worth 80%+ less than what you can afford (yeah, I know that still allows some to not drive what most consider a beater).
Cheap insurance, VERY low property tax and no worries about dings/scratches/theft. They seem liberating to me. This is especially true if you're accident prone and make a lot of "boo boos"...backing into a pole, hitting curbs with your wheels, dropping/scraping something against the car in the garage. For me, it seems like no matter how careful I am, SOMETHING will happen to my car.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Yes. I was in a vanpool, and had to drive about 8 miles every day to a park & ride where I met the other and picked up the van. I didn't want to leave one of the good cars there all day, so I looked for a good mg beater that I could use just for that part of my commute. I found a 1997 Escort 5 speed with 146,000 miles for $950 and bought it. Eventually the vanpool dissolved, so now I only go about 5 miles to a closer P & R to catch a bus. It has 170,000 miles now and has been doing great for 3 years. Doesn't look like much, but saves gas, gets me there and keeps me from getting door dings and additional wear on my truck.
Yep! One of our cars is a 98' Corolla. Reliable old thing with only 82K miles on it that was bought for $3.5K with $70K miles. We have gotten 3 repair free years of out of it. If I can get just 3 more repair free years (I'm confident it will) then I will be beyond happy.
I'm not sure where you draw the line between 'beater' and just an older vehicle, but my truck is a '91 F250. Good shape, runs well, and most of the repairs I've dealt with so far I put down to lack of maintenance from the prior owners. I paid a not-so-insignificant sum of money for it, but compared to what a new truck costs (which I could afford had I wanted to go that route), it's definitely the more economical option. It has scratches and dents all around, so when it picks up another, I don't lose sleep over it.
Daily commuter is a 209k mile TDI Jetta, my occasional towing vehicle is a 115k mile Ford Excursion, althought the Ex is in pretty good shape so not quite a beater.
I think I'm getting close to be done drivng a beater daily though...in the next year or two I might purchase something new... I've said I'd never purchase new again but all beaters started out new at some point right ?
I have been looking for a beater as a second car for over a year now....
So yeah.... I should love to have a beater around and especially in the winter time.
Yep! One of our cars is a 98' Corolla. Reliable old thing with only 82K miles on it that was bought for $3.5K with $70K miles. We have gotten 3 repair free years of out of it. If I can get just 3 more repair free years (I'm confident it will) then I will be beyond happy.
Great car. I have a 98 Corolla as well. I bought it 5 years ago with 95k miles on it and it now has 172k. I paid $2500 for it and have only had minor repairs. Starter, battery, brakes, spark plug wires, and power steering hose. All done my me.
Not sure if it fits, but up until 3 months ago my daily driver was 2001 Chevy Prizm with 170K miles. We bought it in 2003 with 30K and for $9,000. We took good care of it, so it's slightly different than buying it from someone when it's already 10 years old and with 150K or so. It still gets us 33 mpg.
Now my teenager drives it. The funny part is that its right side passenger door is all scratched and sprinkled with dings. Why? For years another car in the family was Chevy Blazer with big heavy doors, and it was parked on the right side of the garage. This teenager (he was only 8 or 9 at the time) would get out of the Blazer, swing the door open and ding the Prizm that was parked on the left. Rinse and repeat for several years. Now he has to live with the consequences . Good thing he has good sense of humor and is not an entitled brat.
I drove beaters when I lived in St. Charles County, Missouri because property taxes were absolutely insane.
I can drive a little bit of a nicer vehicle here in FL, but you'd never catch me in a new $30K+ ride.
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