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Reliability is not a function of age. It's a function of maintenance and of a good original design.
I'd put my Scirocco up against anything new for reliability.
People tend to confuse reliability for ability to keep running despite neglect. These are 2 different things. An old 60's car in dead stock trim with a point and coil ignition, carburator, etc. can be quite reliable *provided the scheduled maintenance is done*. The old school car also has the nice quality of failing gracefully and gradually, for example if you neglect the points and they start to close up, it will gradually start worse and run worse. Newer cars tend to tolerate no mainteance beyond an oil change better, but if something on an electronic ignition fails, it typically fails suddenly and completely.
Thanks, since I live in the desert Southwest, we don't have winter cars. I can understand about having an old car for the salt and sand on the roads. I just wondered how reliable a "beater" would be in bad weather if it is so old. Wouldn't it be a money pit? Thanks for all the answers.
BTW, wife's car is in good shape aside the parking lot dings.
The aforementioned Lumina is becoming a pit at 85K on the Odo. Mostly just due to age. It is a bear in the winter, although I usually drive my truck.
would a 1971 Plymouth Duster with 50,000 miles in 1985 be considered a "beater"? that was when i sold it. tranny was slipping, occasionally the starter needed to be tapped with a screwdriver to start it but otherwise it was a solid car. i remember the person who bought it was delighted when he heard it had only 50,000 on it
I just wondered how reliable a "beater" would be in bad weather if it is so old. Wouldn't it be a money pit?
Not unless the car were a piece of crap to start with...
A "beater" car is a loaded term....most of us wouldn't exactly consider a 2005 Mustang GT to be a beater...but to a billionaire who already owns several expensive Lamborghini's, Ferrari's, a few Rolls Royces, maybe a real '1966 AC Cobra 427....a 2005 Mustang GT might be considered a beater to him....but it doesn't mean the car is falling apart, with rust and fluids leaking everywhere....it just means it's the car he isn't concerned about parking lot dings, salt eating the body, etc....because he has the nice cars to drive on the nice days, and the beater to drive in the rain/snow, etc.
I really had never heard this term until just recently and especially here on CD. What constitutes a "beater" car? Age, condition, mileage? My wife has a 10 year old Accord V6 with 84 K. Is that a beater? Thanks for the replies. :-)
In our terminology here, a beater is just that: usually a small, very reliable make, bought at auction or from a pal, for several hundred bucks, still drivable, usually in quite non-appealing cosmetic shape, and of older age. Reason it's called beater is because you beat it to death, drive till wheels fall off.
I have never heard of a large old domestic being considered a beater. They are usually old Civics, Mazdas, VWs, from golden times of unheard now reliability and good mileage, mixed on extreme vehicle stubborness, or lack of desire to stop driving.
Here a sample, bought for $250 from associate, still doing 38mpg, and getting me anywhere for a year, until I donated it to a patient.
There comes a time in a car's life when someone makes the decision that if it gets whacked, that's it. True beaters should never be insured for collision and comp.
My first "beater" was a 1970 Chevy Nova with a straight 6 and a powerglide in it. It had no rear brakes, someone had cut and crimped the lines, you had to be careful where you stepped because there was holes in the floorboards and there wasn't a single bushing left in the front suspension. I paid $100 and drove it for two years, then sold it for $150 to a guy named Danny Scott, he wanted the front subframe and suspension , disk brakes for a project he was working on. For those that are in to Hot Rod magazine and remember the "Car's Inc" prostreet cars , Danny Scott had the teal blue one which ended up having that subframe in it.
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