He’s selling off a good portion of his 40 car fleet.
Ever "unbeat" a beater?
- Thread starter svtrit
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Back in the early 90s I unbeat an 81 Rabbit Diesel. It needed all new rear brakes, front struts and mounts, tires and a stereo upgrade.
No cosmetics, just mechanical work.
Later was belts and hoses and a water pump.
I drove it 100 miles a day for over a year and then about half that the next 2-3 years.
Decided I wanted a beater with AC so I got rid of it for a Plymouth Horizon with a stick and AC that needed ball joints and new tires.
No cosmetics, just mechanical work.
Later was belts and hoses and a water pump.
I drove it 100 miles a day for over a year and then about half that the next 2-3 years.
Decided I wanted a beater with AC so I got rid of it for a Plymouth Horizon with a stick and AC that needed ball joints and new tires.
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Just an update on this thing^^^. It’s still going.My sons first car, used to be my daughters first car...a 2002 Jeep Liberty with 184,000 miles on it.
I won’t say I’m rehabbing it...more like helping it limp to the finish line. Yesterday I did a AC compressor bypass, after replacing the idler and tensioner pulley. Was making an awful racket...thought it was the water pump, but nope, it was the AC bearing (ac wasn’t working anyway). So I removed the entire compressor, wen to the forums and learned about the AC delete. Fingers crossed that it’s “ok”. I usually wouldn’t do something like this, but the forums seemed to say that it runs even better than before.
Next up, it needs front brakes and an oil change. I’m trying to get this thing to last until October (when we’ll buy him something better). Right now I just want him to learn how to drive in this thing and then scrap it. But he’s been driving the daylights out of it...back and forth to school, work, friends, girlfriend’s house. Really didn’t expect him to be driving this much
189,000 miles, doesn’t seem like a lot since my last post, but when it’s a teenager driving it for the first time? Oh it’s tough.
Since then I’ve had to get it inspected again...failed. Needed rocker covers because of rust. Glued on some metal and painted it (3M auto body stuff and some rivets). It also failed for the rear upper control arm...try replacing that on a 20 year old vehicle that lived in the rust belt. Wow, not a lot of fun. I also replaced the power steering pump (leaked all over the place and the line blew off as well). Oh, and I replaced the front pads and rotors, a brake line and caliper. I’m past the point of thinking this is not worth the time, energy or money...and I would buy something else but used car prices are high. Plus my son will be driving through his first winter...and this thing is 4 wheel drive (At least last I checked it still worked). I also swapped out the rims And tires (found a set for free that had good rubber on them). Oh, another thing...had to replace the rear taillights because the harness within them was bad...and had to replace the connector in the rear license plate light (bad failed inspection).
The plan now is to get it through the winter and buy him something else early spring.
It’s not fun being the one in the family that can work on cars. I come in from the garage and tell my wife...hey, I just saved us $1,000 bucks, maybe more. And she says, oh that’s good.
All the time, but I don't restore 100%, just enough to feel like your average 100k mile used car. I've had good luck buying low because the reasons for selling are obvious, and there's less potential covering-up of issues, IMO.
This truck is an amazing example.
This truck is an amazing example.
I bought the cheapest Mondeo ST220 in the UK back in the begning of 2019. I came to the conclusion that more attention had been given to modifying the car (poorly) than doing maintenance. I put it back to standard-ish over the period of two years while my Wife drove it every day.
The engine had a top end tap, regular oil changes with high ester oils and the occasional flush and regular run upto 7,000rpm eventually sorted that out.
I was gutted when it went but couldn't justify spending £100/week in petrol. Her current Dacia Logan 1.5DCi uses about £40 a week in diesel.
First 3 pictures were the pictures I used to sell it and the last two were when I purchased it.
The engine had a top end tap, regular oil changes with high ester oils and the occasional flush and regular run upto 7,000rpm eventually sorted that out.
I was gutted when it went but couldn't justify spending £100/week in petrol. Her current Dacia Logan 1.5DCi uses about £40 a week in diesel.
First 3 pictures were the pictures I used to sell it and the last two were when I purchased it.
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At our current conversion rate and current fuel prices we are paying around $7.40 per US gallon for Super Unleaded fuel (believe this is the equivalent of your 95 and is limited to 5% ethanol in the UK).
EDIT...
Just punched some figures into a calculator. Looks like we were doing 250 to 300 miles a week in the car. Usually got 17-18mpg (our gallon which is 4.454litres) and was driven on short journeys or like it was stolen.
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Yeah I usually send them to crushers for $1200 instead of the $800 market value as beaters
I unbeat this SS RS Camaro several years ago. It ran great when I bought it but needed some refreshing such as new paint and little cosmetic enhancements. I had a buddy of mine who would buy cars that were in ok shape and he would turn them into gems with several hours of detailing and money thrown in the right direction. I enjoy unbeating a car.
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BIL's '62 Fuelie. 99% correct including block and Mechanical FI unit. A true labor of love.
Ha! I get reimbursed $400-$800 month on work mileage and spend less than that on my total costs. My 2012 Mazda3 isn't quite a beater, but getting $0.555/mile and spending only $0.24/mile on purchase and operating costs is sweet.
I am fortunate that I live in the midwest and pay $2.899/gallon for RUG. My coastal peers may pay 1.5x or more for their fuel.
I suspect there are "reps" in the UK who do an amount of driving similar to US average usage.
That is a beautiful car. I have a soft spot for the Mondeo as I had an SVT Contour (essentially a Mondeo ST200) back in the late 1990s early 2000s. But I also had a Toyota Corolla based car and I came to love the more reliable nature of the Toyota product.
Half of my username comes from the Contour experience back in the day. The other is equal parts coffee and Java programming.
Yes. It was a 2.0l 2008 VW beetle I bought when I was living in Mexico City. I did alot of what you did to bring it up to suff including: replacing the D/S cv axle, rotors and pads on all 4 corners. Repaired the A/T selector so that prnd wouldnt all light up. Replaced the main ground that runs under the battey with 0 GA welding cable and the power cable to the alt. Had the vehicle repainted. Replaced the fuel filter. Got rd of all that soft touch junk on the plastic. Car ran great then the mirros and headlamp got stolen so I replaced those. My wife drove it for 6 months and then we were rear ended on the highway in Cuernavaca while stopped in traffic. After it got fixed I drove it for a few months and then I moved back to Texas. My dad still has it at his warehouse where they use it as a company vehicle. When I left in 2019 it only had 117000 km. I had a lot of offers from people to buy it because its a great commuter car in the city, and super easy to park
I sort of had with my Focus, got some matching paint and sanded out some rust spots. Looked much better at 30' anyways, lol. Then my wife backed into the front corner... I guess I could get a new fender and headlight at the wrecker but I haven't bothered, as the rust underneath is winning inspite of spraying it. I don't know if it will make it to my oldest 16th birthday at this rate.
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the 2.0 i got was real beater status, the rear looked like someone smashed their face into it, the inside ac vents were obliterated, and half of the steering wheel missing, and also the center console broken in half, cant forget cracked eggs in passenger seat.
coolant was horrendous, idek if it was g12 gone bad or something. radiator was shaped like a bananas, overdue oil change, and leaking transmission pan.
coolant was horrendous, idek if it was g12 gone bad or something. radiator was shaped like a bananas, overdue oil change, and leaking transmission pan.
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Yes, I have.
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Your list is on the tame side. Timing belt and water pump are good preventative maintenance; that's the main things I see.
You know you're committed when you are on car-part.com looking for an engine.
This car has been a constant list of repairs that only get done due to the high priced car market. My daughter got her license and now happily runs around in it.
Right now I hope the transmission holds on for a while, as it’s got some rough shifting on some days, but shifts well on others. It also has an elusive engine oil leak I can’t find, as it doesn’t always leak. I used a gasket on the oil pan and may drop it to use RTV next oil change late this summer. The valve cover gasket is new, and it’s not the oil cooler since the leak seems to be from behind.
I’ve been looking at Mavericks, Rangers, and Frontiers and thinking of passing down my Camry, but am too cheap to do so. I’m not willing to commit $500 per month or more of my hard earned salary to pay for a new car.
My final commitment to this car was just ordered. New Headlight assemblies are going in soon.
Right now I hope the transmission holds on for a while, as it’s got some rough shifting on some days, but shifts well on others. It also has an elusive engine oil leak I can’t find, as it doesn’t always leak. I used a gasket on the oil pan and may drop it to use RTV next oil change late this summer. The valve cover gasket is new, and it’s not the oil cooler since the leak seems to be from behind.
I’ve been looking at Mavericks, Rangers, and Frontiers and thinking of passing down my Camry, but am too cheap to do so. I’m not willing to commit $500 per month or more of my hard earned salary to pay for a new car.
My final commitment to this car was just ordered. New Headlight assemblies are going in soon.
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I did the same thing basically but it wasn't a fail. This is sort of a time lapse between 2007 and a couple of years ago. Rattle can paint job initially that faded out over the years and finally got a real paint job about 6 years ago. Daily driven for years, 140 mile round trip at one point.
