I need a daily beater, What to look for? Options

[00 SS]

Old VW bug with dune buggy kit and 35" swampers. Big swampers never wear out, but your fillings in your teeth will.

Phil,

I have an '89 Wrangler with 36" swampers so I know exactly how they ride. It's a great Jeep, but not much fun over about 65 mph. It also gets about 14 mpg, regardless of where or how I drive it. I'll be keeping it for the real snow days.

There are lots of good ideas in here and I appreciate that. I had thought of some of these vehicles, but I really had no idea how they have held up over time. I guess I just need to keep digging. I may look at some that are a bit older than I had originally thought. It looks like even some of the early '90's stuff is still worth considering. I was limiting my searches to about '97 or newer.

[KeithO]

I am watching this thread with great interest since I may be moving and will be increasing my daily drive to work from 10 miles to about 40 miles...

Then again, I am getting high twenties on the highway out of the 1995 525i that I am driving... ...and it's paid for. Maybe I'll just keep until it dies.

[nape]

I've got a '96 Beretta with 135k miles that makes a great beater. You should be able to get them for under $1500 all day long and some even cheaper then that depending on the looks.

There are a few downsides to these cars [Beretta, Corsica, Century, etc] though: crappy brakes that warp front rotors within 1000 miles from new, some have leak problems so you get a soggy interior (primarily solved with a few 1/4" holes in the floorboard courtesy of Mr. Dewalt), and strange mileage. I get 22-24 MPG whether I'm beating the crap out of it stoplight to stoplight or doing 75 on the highway.

That said, I put 23k miles on it last year and it's been fine for the most part other then putting brakes and tires on it because they were worn out. Hopefully, I'll get at least another year out of it.

[BigEnos]

I am watching this thread with great interest since I may be moving and will be increasing my daily drive to work from 10 miles to about 40 miles...

Then again, I am getting high twenties on the highway out of the 1995 525i that I am driving... ...and it's paid for. Maybe I'll just keep until it dies.

You could probably just do some math to figure out if it's worth it to keep what you have. Just figure at what gas cost does it make sense to get another vehicle and whether you are willing to drive the 525 into the ground. I would think it would be cheaper to keep the 525 and drive it until it dies.

[pknowles]

I am watching this thread with great interest since I may be moving and will be increasing my daily drive to work from 10 miles to about 40 miles...

Then again, I am getting high twenties on the highway out of the 1995 525i that I am driving... ...and it's paid for. Maybe I'll just keep until it dies. 

You could probably just do some math to figure out if it's worth it to keep what you have. Just figure at what gas cost does it make sense to get another vehicle and whether you are willing to drive the 525 into the ground. I would think it would be cheaper to keep the 525 and drive it until it dies.

I'll echo what Brian said. I figured it out for my 17 mile commute each way, gas has to rise to almost $5 a gallon for me to break even on getting an eco beater. Paying insurance is what kills the idea. When insurance is about $50 a month for the extra car you have to at least save that much in gas. I figured in oil changes and tires into my calculation as well.

[00 SS]

I'll put about 1400 miles a month on a car even if I ONLY use it for to and from work. At 30 mpg thats 46.6 gallons of gas and at $2.50/gal for regular (and climbing) thats $116.66 a month in gas.

At 14 mpg in the Jeep thats 100 gallons of fuel or $250/mo. for a savings of $133.34/mo. That will pay for a lot of insurance, tires and oil. Particularly when the little car tires are much cheaper than the Jeep tires and oil is cheaper as well since the Jeep holds 6 qts. and most small cars only hold 4.

$285.73 per 3000 miles
minus $20 for oil change
minus $32.50 in tires (based 40K tires at $250 per set)
thats a savings of $233.23 every 3000 miles or $1306.09/yr.

Since the Jeep won't need fuel, tires or oil if I don't drive it, that is pure savings.

If I can buy a $3000 car, drive it for 2 years and sell it $1500, I'm actually ahead over $1100. Of course this assumes equal repair costs regardless of which vehicle I drive.

And this does not factor in the fact that the Jeep needs premium fuel or that it's tires are far more expensive, or that it burns a little oil, or that Jeep stands for "Just Empty Every Pocket" when it comes to maintenance.

Insurance is actually nearly free if I change the Jeep to an occational use vehicle and put high deductables on the small car.

This post has been edited by 00 SS: Aug 23 2005, 08:18 PM

[v7guy]

Had an 84 civic 4 door, drove it for two years and when I got it there was 180,000 miles on it, I had to replace the battery and clutch. Burned just a little bit of oil, 89 Accord too, drove it for a year, replaced ball joints and timing belt in it, had 130,000 when I started driving it. The imports are good buys and they run forever. Not pretty or fast, but they last

[Jeff97FST/A]

I just increased my commute from 12 miles to 45. Bought an '88 Accord 5spd, 130k miles. Gets 38mpg. That's a significant savings over driving the Trans Am as a daily driver!

Only costs me $200 more per year to insure the Honda after parking the Trans Am and reducing coverage on it to a minimum.

It ain't pretty, but it does the job and does it well. Saves wear and tear on the Autox car and money at the pump. I'd recommed finding an import 4cyl manual and run it until it stops.

[pknowles]

I'll put about 1400 miles a month on a car even if I ONLY use it for to and from work. At 30 mpg thats 46.6 gallons of gas and at $2.50/gal for regular (and climbing) thats $116.66 a month in gas.

That's why it makes sence for you because you are driving double the milage I am. That's a lot of miles to drive just to work.

BTW, I was totally kinding on the VW bug; I should have used a smiley.

[00 SS]

I knew you wer kidding, just like the guy that suggested the Gremlin (I hope (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif) ). I just thought it was interesting that your joke wasn't far off (tire wise) of what I actually have been using as a daily driver.

I drive 35 miles each way and it takes about 40-50 minutes depending on traffic. I only hit traffic near work so it's actually a pretty nice drive. But if you can't go 80 on the interstate, your going backwards. That's why I'm looking for something that will cruise well at speed.

[00 SS]

I bought a beater last night. It's a '99 Malibu. 3.1 V6, cruise, tilt, auto, it's pretty basic car. Gets about 28-30 mpg on the highway and only cost $3k. It's in very good shape and it's actually not too bad to dive.

[BigEnos]

Congrat's. Beaters rock! (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/thumbup.gif)

[slowTA]

That's why I bought my Malibu... it's not a bad car to drive and is really comfortable. It can use some more power, but isn't painfully slow. Mine is a '00 but doesn't get 28 to 30 mpg. Typically it will go 240 miles of mixed highway and city driving and use 10 to 11 gallons.

Good luck with it. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/thumbup.gif)

[00 SS]

Agreed, the 28-30 mpg is strictly highway. My commute is 80% highway, so I hope to average 25 or more. We'll see. So far this first tank has 150 miles on it and I still show over 1/2 tank. But I have no idea how accurate the gauge is. When I bought it, it was showing almost empty and the fuel light was on. I filled it will 11 gallons.

This post has been edited by 00 SS: Sep 2 2005, 02:48 PM

[lt1aggie]

I just thought I'd chime in even though I'm a little late. I usually just read the site, don't post (since I'm still learning). I'm kind of surprised no one mentioned a Saturn. My sister has a 97 SL2 (I think, whatever the 4 door version is) that she bought used several years ago. It's got plenty of space, 150k miles on it, and hasn't really had any major issues since she's owned it. I think she gets upper 20's mpg and it's been very reliable. Not the best interior, but certainly good enough for a beater. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[jensend]

Be VERY careful in buying a used Saturn as a "beater". It has been my personal experience (and the experience of several of my equally maintenance focused friends) that, Saturns regardless of meticulous maintenance are prone to a variety of oil loss/consumption and costly mechanical failures. My Saturn began using 1 qt. of oil per 1000 miles at 100k despite strict 3000 mile oil/filter changes from purchase. This condition worsened progressively until I got rid of the car at 121k. Additionally, the HVAC selector mechanisms are plastic and prone to seizing and failures. Dealer costs of repair/replacement was above $1200 in 1998. My dealer asked me NOT to have them do the job due to its complex and time consuming nature. He privately suggested that I sell the car while the system was semi-operable. He said that dealerships would put the car out at auction rather than repair it if it was traded in. Needless to say, I neither traded the car nor bought another Saturn. Your results may vary- but I wouldn't bet on it.

This post has been edited by jensend: Sep 3 2005, 08:15 PM

[lt1aggie]

Be VERY careful in buying a used Saturn as a "beater". It has been my personal experience (and the experience of several of my equally maintenance focused friends) that, Saturns regardless of meticulous maintenance are prone to a variety of oil loss/consumption and costly mechanical failures. My Saturn began using 1 qt. of oil per 1000 miles at 100k despite strict 3000 mile oil/filter changes from purchase. This condition worsened progressively until I got rid of the car at 121k. Additionally, the HVAC selector mechanisms are plastic and prone to seizing and failures. Dealer costs of repair/replacement was above $1200 in 1998. My dealer asked me NOT to have them do the job due to its complex and time consuming nature. He privately suggested that I sell the car while the system was semi-operable. He said that dealerships would put the car out at auction rather than repair it if it was traded in. Needless to say, I neither traded the car nor bought another Saturn. Your results may vary- but I wouldn't bet on it.

Wow. Guess my sister's been lucky.

[gillbot]

Ford Aspire, Ford Festiva or Geo Metro will yield one of the highest MPG ratings that can be had.

[00 SS]

Thanks for the additional suggestions ad warnings. So far I'm very happy with my purchase. I've gone through 3 tanks so far and have gotten 26, 27 and 28 mpg. My mother in law was in town for the 3 day weekend and we used this car to go everywhere. We put over 300 miles on it in 3 days. It ran like a champ and the AC works very well. She was very happy to see that we finally had a car with a real back seat and one that she didn't need a ladder to get into (Jeep). Unless something changes my mind about it's apparent reliability, I'll be using it this fall for a 2000 mile road trip to go pheasant hunting in South Dakata as well.