Driving a beater car?

[scbelleatheart]

I assume you all know what a beater car is ( the one's you drive the heck out of and they are reliable). I have drove a beater my whole life. No worries about dings. I do have other cars but I rely on my beater, through rain and snow.
I bought a new beater car last night. Not new, low miles and I know it will last for about 10 years. I was driving a 2003 jag. It hit 213,000 miles and it was time to put into the carpool of "OMG, Mom My car broke down " place.
So, do you drive a beater to save money/gas? Would you ever purchase or lease a new car?
Do you find status in a car or do you go by the reliability? If it gets me there and back and always starts in the morning?

 

[willowsnn3]

Mmmm, guess I have to admit the car I've been driving for 10yrs could now be considered a 'beater'....I love my car. It has right at 250,000 miles on it & the last couple years I have been having to do some repairs, but still it runs good and gets great gas mileage. It has transported my 8 grandkids many miles and you can tell from the stains on the back seats. Has some hail damage on top/trunk/hood & a couple years ago my dd was driving and got hit in the passenger side so now on my gold car I have a green door on the back passenger side and small dent on the front door on that side.
But hey, I can't tell what color the doors are when I'm driving, lol.
That being said, I would love to have a new car, not for status reasons but for when my current 'beater' dies.....

 

[EMAW_KSU]

I assume you all know what a beater car is ( the one's you drive the heck out of and they are reliable). I have drove a beater my whole life. No worries about dings. I do have other cars but I rely on my beater, through rain and snow.
I bought a new beater car last night. Not new, low miles and I know it will last for about 10 years. I was driving a 2003 jag. It hit 213,000 miles and it was time to put into the carpool of "OMG, Mom My car broke down " place.
So, do you drive a beater to save money/gas? Would you ever purchase or lease a new car?
Do you find status in a car or do you go by the reliability? If it gets me there and back and always starts in the morning?

I drive a truck that I purchased new but now has 253,000 miles on it 100 miles per day.

 

[DawnM]

Our cars are older but I don't know what classifies as a beater???? Our newest car is a 2004 Sequoia that runs very well. Our 2002 Saturn VUE also runs very well. However, DH works on our cars himself and maintains them well.

Dawn

 

[yoopermom]

Rarely have we ever owned a car "born" in the current decade

Currently we drive an 03 Subaru and an 05 Dodge Ram, my DH does most basic repairs, both are paid off, and we will drive them until they die or blow an engine (usually over 250K).

I keep detailed records of how much I spend every year in maintenance on each vehicle and, believe me, even in a "bad" year, it's a heck of a lot less than a new vehicle payment would be...

Terri

 

[wiigirl]

I drove a 1996 Lexus ES300 up to 300,000 miles (250,000 were all me) with only 1 major repair (water-pump). After that my husband made me get rid of it.

After that I got a 2006 Lexus and planning to drive that as long as possible.

 

[mermaidblue!]

Yes, I drive a beater mini-van. Sure, we could make a new car a priority, but that's not super high on our list. If I didn't have kids, maybe I'd buy a new"ish" car. But I have these wonderful little daughters and we're kind of nutty, so we'd rather spend $ on Disney, zoo membership, children's museums, ballet classes, swimming pool membership, camping, etc. We enjoy that stuff more than cars.

 

[Poohbug]

So tell me, when you look for a beater to buy, what do you look for?

We have two cars that are paid off and are considering a beater for my husband to drive to work. He drives around 120+ miles per day so good mileage is a plus. But he does not like small cars and it has to make it through a Wisconsin winter. What do you think? Should we look for a beater or just use the car he has? (currently a 2006 Ford Freestyle)

 

[scbelleatheart]

I guess I consider a beater car is that runs always and I know it will start and get through snow. No worries. If I go in a ditch, no loss as long as everyone is safe. I do like heavy cars, as in, they can handle snow and spin outs well.
I guess what what I was asking was, do you care about the make and model and year? Do you always need to have new? Or lease?
I like a used car about 3-4 years old with low milage that I can drive and not worry about dings in the parking lot.
I love DH's SUV but the gas isn't so good so I get beaters. BTW, I have never been in accident but you always look out for the idiot in the other lane.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I don't drive a beater car. Now.

I did all through High School and College, though! My 1972 CJ-5 Jeep was a fantastic beater. I could park her on a dime, too.

 

[bettymae1121]

I have a beater, but I'm the one that beat it up in the first place! I bought a brand new '98 Saturn almost 15 years ago and it still runs fine. DH is hell bent on getting it up to 300,000 miles!

I still care about how it looks though, I can't stand body damage on a car, no matter how old. DH skided on some ice and hit a guard rail a few years ago, it dinged up the bumper pretty bad but still acceptable to drive. Nope, made him replace it!

 

[indimom]

We rotate our cars so we typically have one "beater" which DH drives to work (3 miles away) and one decent car for longer drives and road trips.
We currently have a 2000 LeSabre and a 2010 Impala. We try to buy a new/used car (a year or two old with some remaining warranty) about every five years.
I care more about the car starting when i turn the key than looks, BUT I admit I find our lesabre embarassing and do not use it to transport anyone outside our immediate family. I don't mind the bit of rust on the back passenger side. What bothers me is all on the interior. It's missing a door panel, the headliner is starting to drop for the second time, and none of the power windows work and the fan sounds like a jet engine. It aint pretty, but it does start even on the coldest days, runs like a top, and gets us around town with no issues.

 

[njmom47]

Haha, don't feel bad. DH's car is a 93 Bonneville. I must admit, it rides like a dream! He bought it a few years ago, one of those "it sat in the mechanic's back yard for a few years and he just wanted to get rid of it" cars, but it's been a great vehicle. He is just over 100,000 miles and since he does not want a car payment, I'm sure he will drive it until it dies.

 

[kimsuenew]

Haha, don't feel bad. DH's car is a 93 Bonneville. I must admit, it rides like a dream! He bought it a few years ago, one of those "it sat in the mechanic's back yard for a few years and he just wanted to get rid of it" cars, but it's been a great vehicle. He is just over 100,000 miles and since he does not want a car payment, I'm sure he will drive it until it dies.

We love our Bonneville's and even have a 1993 that my DH only stopped tagging/insuring because of the Explorer! Our newest car is DS 2001 Bonneville with 250k, next is our 1997 Bonneville with 200k, and our 1992 Explorer with 160k. My DH is a mechanic and money has been tight with 2 in college so we will keep driving them!

 

[angwill]

We always drive our cars into the ground and buy on dependability. My last car purchase was new in 2007 and the only reason I bought new was because reliable new of the same Toyota was not much less and interest was 0 percent new so it just made sense. We put a big down payment and paid it off in 2 years and it is now on it's way to beaterville. My teen son is looking for his first car and likes a 96 Toyota with just over 100,000 miles that will dependable get him where he is going and keep him safe in case of an accident or damage.

 

[akcire]

A very rich man once told me if your butt wears away the vinyl on your cars seat. It is not time for a new car. Just throw a towel over the spring and keep on driving

 

[mickeygaga]

Wow..talk about fate...I was debating whether I should post a question about getting rid of our 04 Jag and saw your post. It has 68,000 miles on it but I'm scared about repair costs. The headlight bulb is out and it will cost $100 for a new one! Over the summer, we had to replace a small sensor that cost would normally cost $75 for the part, only to find that the part is no longer a separate piece but part of a larger unit that cost $600. After reading that your jag had 213,000, I have some thinking to do.

 

[LJSquishy]

Hmm.

I have a 2000 Nissan Sentra with either 150k or 175k miles on it (I can't remember which) but I still consider it a "newer" car. I never really thought about it being 12 years old and hope to get at least another 5 years out of it. It has had a few problems but we keep it in good repair and plan to drive it until something really major needs to be repaired (that would cost thousands).

My husband drives a 2005 Subaru Legacy so our next car will be mine to replace our Nissan. We plan to buy a newer used car (1-3 years old) unless we can get 0% or 1.9% financing on a brand new car.

We LOVE not having a car payment and it will be hard to get used to having one again down the road so we hope to keep our current vehicles in good repair for as long as we possibly can!

 

[Colleen27]

I think I'd go out of my mind with a new car - I'd forever be worried about the kids denting, dinging, spilling, or otherwise messing it up! My new-to-me van is an '03 Venture with just under 100K miles. My last van was an '00 Venture that went belly-up (not a major issue, but several minor ones that added up to too much for us) at 229K miles; I had that one since '03 though it already had high miles at that point, around 150K when we bought it. DH would like to buy a brand-new van in a couple-few years because he's so impressed with his (company's) Transit Connect and they're introducing it in a 7-passenger trim for '14, but looking at the baseball dings and mudstains in my van I'm not sure I have any use for something brand-new to haul around our pack of kids and their friends.

 

[mrodgers]

I think some of you guys have what I consider a prime purchase and you guys consider a beater.

A beater car is a rustbucket that runs. Something that has at least 150,000 miles (that is when the rust will start to begin around here.) A beater is something you can purchase from $1500 to $2000.

A Honda with 140,000 miles that looks good still and costs $4000 is not a beater. A 10 year old car is not a beater, though probably will be shortly.

I won't buy brand new again. Our Ford Escape is at 117,000 miles and I still owe 2 more payments (stupid 6 year loan.) I would buy something used the age my Ford is with around 70-80,000 miles. I would drive that to beaterhood. As it is now, the Ford is rusting prematurely and will prematurely become a beater far before it should. My 2003 Jetta is only at about 108,000 miles, purchased 7 years old with 70,000 miles on it. It will outlast the Ford both because of quality and because it was 7 years old with 30k miles less than the Ford is at 6 years old. Mechanically it is far stronger than the Ford.

I bought a brand new car in 1992 as I was talked into it as a young adult by my mother. Big mistake. Fast forward to 2007 and I've been stuck the last 15 years paying car payments on 5 year old used purchases and thought it might be wise to buy a new car again. Again, a big mistake. I could have had a comparable Toyota or Honda (really, the Ford can not be compared to either of them) and had twice the vehicle at half the cost by buying used.

Back to being a beater, I drive my cars until I get sick of doing body work every year for state inspection. That is usually around the 175-225,000 mile mark. Mechanically, my cars have always still been perfect at that age because I've only ever owned Japanese vehicles until I was stupid enough to buy a Ford.