Peace of mind from driving a beater?

[MrPlow]

I wish I had a nice car/truck I could worry about. I've been too poor to drive anything but beaters all my life.

 

[BISCUT]

I've managed to keep my F150 in superb mechanical and physical shape despite 3 kids!!! That's a feat!! The Outback has not escaped the ravages of 3 kids heavy into sports. Along comes a good buddy with a 159k 2006 Sentra for $500. Sold! From November to now I have about 6k on it. Totally love it!!! I run daily errands with it and 5 days a week sports practice. When my 15 and 13 year old complained (it has....get this...manual transmission AND manual windows no extra charge!) I gave them an eye rolling fatherly speech and told them the "hoopdie"keeps us all grounded

Crime rate is low in the Hudson Valley and car thefts infrequent. Rummaging through cars in parking lots during daytime hours is not prevelant. I often don't lock the doors (manual just like the windows!!) and leave the key in the stick shift boot. Something to be said about not having a care and getting 31/35 MPG to boot!

 

[avacado11]

Best beater I ever had was a $1200 Toyota pick up. It was rotted out but it worked....for 2 months then it broke. That’s why I rather buy a non beater to dent and scratch up. Nothing more annoying then a break down when you’re working, or repairs every couple of weeks.

 

[Trav]

I know some here are very OCD about their vehicle finishes and are the types to park at the back of the lot, away from other drivers and shopping cars and foot traffic.

So for that crowd: Have you ever purchased a crappy beater car that you drove for times when you didn't want to constantly worry about door dings or severe weather?

Or is the hard truth that you're better off accepting defeat and letting the car take the hits?

Every winter, no point in ruining something decent or a nice old timer.

 

[jagdriver727]

That’s what my CR-V was for. Should have kept it; was very handy.

 

[1uz_4me]

Had a 2002 Kia Spectra for awhile. Good on gas, comfy enough for a 110mi round trip work commute. Never gave me any issues & I'd have that tin can 85+ with the flow of traffic. Ex & I separated so I have it back to her & picked up a 97 318i sedan would get 35mpg on the freeway & much more stable while zooming along. Beaters are fun, but I'd never buy a car that I wouldn't/couldn't drive everyday. I'm in SoCal so I don't know what this winter thing is. Currently, & hopefully for a long time, I'm just loading the miles on my GS400. 344.5k the last time I looked

 

[eljefino]

As much as I like driving my one remaining 2nd gen prius with 277k miles, I'm worried about catalytic converter theft when parked in shady places. It's nice that I can get salt on it though.

 

[Car guy]

I know some here are very OCD about their vehicle finishes and are the types to park at the back of the lot, away from other drivers and shopping cars and foot traffic.

So for that crowd: Have you ever purchased a crappy beater car that you drove for times when you didn't want to constantly worry about door dings or severe weather?

Or is the hard truth that you're better off accepting defeat and letting the car take the hits?

We have a 2012 Fiat 500 with close to 200,000 on it and is in excellent shape except for a few door dings. We always drive it to stores and use it as a winter car because of the salt. We keep our new 2021 Mini Cooper S in the garage all winter. My partner works 4 minutes away and I’m retired so I take her to work and pick her up.

 

[Pew]

My gas getter is a 94 Tercel that is far from perfect and my daily driver is an 86 K20. I don’t own a single vehicle that most here would describe as even decent but I still worry. I get fighting mad over door dings in anything. It’s not the door ding it’s the lack of respect for other people’s stuff that irritates me. I worked really hard to own the stuff I do for some cranky old cow to dent it at the grocery store because she’s got to get her beach bag purse out.

I agree with this. Cars are cars and will get damaged regardless of how well you take care of them. I've accepted the fact that my car is going to get scratches, dings, etc but what I hate is careless and/or entitled people that don't care about my stuff simply because it isn't theirs.

 

[OilReport99]

Back in 99 I paid $80.00 for a ‘78 Fairmont that served me well for a year. Should have kept it longer.

 

[ripcord]

Back in 99 I paid $80.00 for a ‘78 Fairmont that served me well for a year. Should have kept it longer.

My mom had one of those with the ugly mustard/tan paint. I think my folks traded it in on a Chevy Citation when the transmission started slipping a bit. They would have been better off getting the transmission fixed.

 

[ZedzAmg]

I have tried to drive a beater but they are so boring had an 03 forester when I had my Srt charger in the garage though.

 

[OilReport99]

My mom had one of those with the ugly mustard/tan paint. I think my folks traded it in on a Chevy Citation when the transmission started slipping a bit. They would have been better off getting the transmission fixed.

The transmission is what made me get rid of it.

 

[BrianF]

I've embraced the beater lifestyle. Love my old hick C1500 and my Trailblazer is getting there. Got a 2005 grand caravan on the way.

Saves my 3500 for better days.

 

[4WD]

I was driving an old 1972 Skylark on the 22nd street bridge south bound and a totally pimped out big shiny well polished pink Cadillac with the driver in a suit with a brimmed hat with a feather was to my right coming down an entrance ramp on my right, right beside me going the same speed I was going on the North side of the bridge, and I was already on the bridge and had the right of way, and the old Skylark I was driving was a couple of weeks away from going to the bone yard. He kept on coming over like he expected me to move over and get out of his way. I though you really want to swap paint with me while I'm driving this old car and you are driving your shiny Cadillac, come on over, and I did not move over one inch. He got on the brakes.

Sometimes driving something that is disposable has its advantages.

Bet he points his gun sideways

 

[opus1]

Been there done that. My second car was a '79 Impala that was mechanically sound but had a paint job that looked like someone washed it with a Brill-O pad. At the time I was commuting to Chicago on the train and the parking lot was in an industrial area across the street from a small chemical plant, plus most of the time I was parking in an unpaved overflow lot, so I didn't want to subject a new car to that.

Ironically the point of having a beater was proven early on. I don't remember the reason but Mom needed to go to the store and I told her to take my car - probably because it was in the way of her car. When she came back she showed me a fresh gash/ding in the door where someone had let their cart run into it. If that happened to her new car, it would have hurt a lot more than it did on that beast.

 

[Leo99]

I was driving an old 1972 Skylark on the 22nd street bridge south bound and a totally pimped out big shiny well polished pink Cadillac with the driver in a suit with a brimmed hat with a feather was to my right coming down an entrance ramp on my right, right beside me going the same speed I was going on the North side of the bridge, and I was already on the bridge and had the right of way, and the old Skylark I was driving was a couple of weeks away from going to the bone yard. He kept on coming over like he expected me to move over and get out of his way. I though you really want to swap paint with me while I'm driving this old car and you are driving your shiny Cadillac, come on over, and I did not move over one inch. He got on the brakes.

Sometimes driving something that is disposable has its advantages.

Lol. Reminds of the time i was driving in NYC and we had to merge like 5 lanes into 2 and it was bumper to bumper and I'm not hardened for NYC traffic. It was me in the old RAV with 350,000 miles vs a fancy new Mercedes. Like one of the $100k kind of Mercedes. It was a game of who would blink first. My old car against his new very expensive car. He won.

 

[KiNETiCA]

Got one for work and one for weekends/errands but mostly because of interior dirtiness... I'd rather not get covered in oil residue on my day off

 

[gregk24]

We live near the beach and frequent it during the summer. I thought about purchasing a beater so we didn't have to worry about cleaning out our cars every time we went, that doesn't make a lot of financial sense so we continue to treat our "nice" cars with extra care and cleaning as necessary.

 

[TacoFergie]

Yup! Love my little beater! Originally got my 01 Outback with a leaking water pump for $700 that I planned on doing a Gambler 500 with. But didn't get the parts in time to do it. After fixing it I fell in love with it and found it to be in better overall condition than I thought. Then I started finding used parts to lift it and bring it back to life a little. Now it's been almost 2 years and I think my wife likes it more than me! I like having a 3rd car for when I'm working on the truck and to keep the truck nice.

I agree with @Creekside. I can't stand door dings due to lack of respect. But if something flies off a semi and hits the car I won't be so mad as if it were my truck or our Ascent. Sometimes when I'm feeling spicy if I see a car parked like an a**hole taking up 2 spots or more near the front parking I'll make sure to park as close as possible to them to make them think twice. Obviously I don't do any damage, I just really hate people that can't park and selfish like that!

And here's my sweet shifter that I picked up at an Option Auto while I was deployed in Japan like 12yrs ago! I feel like it really fits the car. haha I've since cut the shaft down a couple inches so it wasn't tall.