Is it worth having a third car as a 'beater'?

Joined
Apr 7, 2008
Messages
1,906
Location
Vermont
Most couples have two vehicles and we have on several occasions had a third beater car.

But for us it was not sustainable. Insuring a third car that was rarely used can be expensive due to maintenance, registration, parking, and a host of other things that go along with it. At one time we had two nice cars and a 'beater' truck and I thought that would be perfect until it wasn't.

I'm interested in hearing how others have dealt with this.
 
What reason would you need a beater car? Then the do the math would also work.
 
I worked for an MD and she had a Honda minivan as her beater for commuting to work and kept the S-class at home most of the time.
 
Hard for me to imagine going down to only three cars... :cool:

OK, in all seriousness:

My Daily driver: Tundra
Her Daily driver: 2002 Volvo XC70
My fun car: 2005 S600
Her fun car: 2005 SL600

My classic (also my Dad's car, and not for sale, ever): 1932 Packard

My Colorado car: 2004 V70R

So, six seems like a reasonable number to me...

If I had one nice car, and she had one, I would still have a truck. Too useful not to have...
 
Have three drivers, wifes 08 Malibu LTZ, my 83 Silverado which is my DD and our 17 Buick Regal GS which is our garage queen, only driven when going out of town and or road trips. ;)
 
Everyone is different, has different circumstances.

I have "free" parking--well, there's a mortgage payment, and even when that is gone, property taxes, but you get the idea. But I do have space for vehicle parking, at least until I get past 5+, then I'll be annoyed at tripping over cars.

Anyhow. As my daily is a beater, I do think I "need" a beater for a backup. At the moment my backup is my kids car... but he takes it to work and school, which means I don't have a backup. Not a great place to be, if something happens! It's 54 miles each way to work for me, and the wife often drives in the opposite direction (I'm hoping she'll get a job next year, and if she does, odds are her commute will be no shorter).

My problem is, in about six month's time, I'd have to have 5 cars in the driveway in order to have a spare vehicle! Four drivers. One fairly new car, with 4 old ones? I am *not* looking forward to maintaining this fleet...

Living in the sticks means its easy to rack up miles, and it means there's no public transportation nor taxis (err, Uber now?). So while the cost of housing may be lower, one gets penalized by (possibly) higher vehicle costs. Just a piece of the puzzle one has to juggle.
 
Insuring a third car that was rarely used can be expensive
If you're rarely using your beater... why have one? A beater to me is a car you use to commute/run errands/etc.

It made sense for me to have an extra vehicle when I owned my WRX. Adding an ancient Mitsubishi Mirage that I paid $500 for with only liability coverage saved me $140/mo on the insurance alone not to mention I ended up with a paid off WRX with 70k miles on it instead of ~120k which made a big difference when I sold it. 18mpg burning premium vs. 35mpg burning regular gas. Cheap tires vs. expensive tires, etc. etc.
 
I usually have a 'beater' in our humble fleet, especially for winter use. Started doing that 30 years ago, when I was dismayed with how quickly my new car was deteriorating with winter driving. Rock chips, sand blasted windshield and front end, door dings, shopping cart scratches... yuck. As my wife and I get older and drive less we'll probably go down to one car.
 
Last edited:
If it were a pickup it would be worthwhile for me.
I've contemplated this, getting something older like an 82 F150, preferably an Arizona truck.

Those older trucks have beds low to the ground unlike todays monster trucks where you can't tip a fridge into the bed or load it without using a crane. Being 40 years old it would qualify as a classic as it would not be driven often and is also very simple to repair.
 
It is $1500/yr for me to keep a beater on the road. Is it a large expense? Not really, but I put it in the same luxury category as buying stuff from a bakery vs. eating Oroweat from Sam's Club.

I've contemplated this, getting something older like an 82 F150, preferably an Arizona truck.
Not sure if I agree on a pickup. I think an older plumber service van would be far more useful than a pickup. Longer storage space plus everything is covered.
 
For a while ALL I had were beaters. I played leap-frog, getting a new one and getting it fixed up and selling the old one while it still had life, and the ability to pass for an inspection sticker. The worst time to shop for a car is when you don't have one, so I stayed a leg up and was able to get better deals.

My minimum is two commuters and a beater truck, though it's a 2wd and not that suitable for winter, so I also have a 99 Camry that's going to be my son's car. The weather here has been miserable so the Camry's out getting abused in all the potholes. Tree branch almost fell on it this morning while underway. :oops:

I'm fortunate to live in a place with very low costs for insurance... +/- $100 per car for 6 months for good liability coverage.

In addition to the above stated benefits I can mail order parts and save myself significant time and effort vs trying to get some overpriced Chinese junk from the local Advance or Autozone.
 
It made sense for me to have an extra vehicle when I owned my WRX. Adding an ancient Mitsubishi Mirage that I paid $500 for with only liability coverage saved me $140/mo on the insurance alone not to mention I ended up with a paid off WRX with 70k miles on it instead of ~120k which made a big difference when I sold it. 18mpg burning premium vs. 35mpg burning regular gas. Cheap tires vs. expensive tires, etc. etc.
Since you mentioned WRX.... I've seen the way they rust quickly around here (even the '15-'21 generation) so I keep mine in the garage all winter. I have four cars.... But it sure is nice to have one available when some repair, maintenance or project on one of the "good" cars runs long and I have to go to work the next day. And I don't have to care how salty it gets. My big 'ol comfy Impala is great in the winter!

Count me in as pro-beater! (y)
 
When I looked to pull my third car off insurance, it made the other two go up. They allocated the same use across fewer vehicles and the "multi car discount" is less. Might depend on the insurer.

But i do use mine regularly - its an SUV and fits a purpose my truck does not - mainly it has a trunk.

Of course I have plenty of space to park it, and the license per year is under $100 bucks, and I already have it and it has an emotional attachment. I certainly wouldn't go out looking for a third car if I didn't already have one.
 
It is $1500/yr for me to keep a beater on the road.
Is that for registration, mostly, or insurance?

My brother lived in a state (not California) which up-charged him for having a second vehicle. It was something like double or triple what the first one cost; the moral of the story being, if you're going to crowd our roads with a second car, we're going to make you pay for the privilege. I'd say which state it was, but I might be just mis-remembering the details, so I probably shouldn't.
 
One tip is to find an insurance company that allows moving cars into/out of storage insurance as needed. Farmers allows this 2x per 6 month period. My typical vehicle insurance costs goes from $1 per vehicle per day ($180 per term), to about $30 per term in storage. Not exact numbers but it significantly defrays the insurance costs for unused seasonal vehicles. My very handy reliable beater costs me about 50 cents daily fully insured, down to about 5 cents daily in storage insurance. Approximate numbers from cursory memory. I can work on the normal stuff, belts, fluids, etc. for practically nothing. In the 5 years I've had it, I doubt my entire total cost with ownership, insurance, maintenance, etc exceeds $3000.

I've had anywhere from 1 to 5 vehicles. It seems to me, as a single home owner in a small town, 3 is probably the most efficient and it's hard to justify more unless specific reasons. Having 1 is just too difficult and inefficient, you're stuck if it's being repaired, it's hard to have the "best tool" for the season/task, etc.

I think a truck or towing capable SUV (and a small trailer) is almost mandatory for the versatility and home improvements, DIY, furniture and appliance hauling, and so forth. Ideally 4x4. Something low valuable and reliable for winter months if you live in a northern state that salts roads; life span will be a decade before rusted our, or probably crashed into or otherwise just worn out. A winter beater should be AWD or FWD in my view. A nice weather daily, which can also dual as a fun car and something you spend most of your time in. So, yeah, 3 vehicles being a 1) truck frame, 2) beater/winter, and 3) daily/fun. Could possibly expand those into 4 categories I suppose, maybe a heirloom hand-me-down, maybe a track-car, or a work van, etc., or a classic truck or car, or some other special category that might not be so much a car but a parade-worthy vehicle, high sentimental value, etc..
 
Back
Top