Post your "beater" daily driver

[1uz_4me]

It's not a beater if it doesn't break down:

Growing up, we had an 89 with the 3.3 as our family car. Such a tank. We put 250k mi on it before my parents sold it. I should've bought it but I thought I was cool buying a base E46 sedan . Electric cooling fan died just before the warranty expired & one night the crank pulley/ balancer decided it had enough & left the family. Otherwise it was dead nuts reliable. Basic Valvoline oil & basic Fram filter. Comfy, ice cold AC, high 20s mpg...would've been the perfect daily driver while I modded my fox body to the moon.

 

[dlundblad]

My Blazer. Pulls anything I’ll ever need it to do. Rides decent. Does good in snow and not too worried about driving it in salt. Not worried about car door dings either.

I have way too much into it. $800 worth of K02’s and $400 worth Bilstein shocks. I’ve done a lot of stuff do it as well. LIM gaskets, heater core, replaced all the vacuum lines, ignition switch, cat, all suspension and steering, all the cooling system. I’m sure I’m missing some stuff.

The transmission currently has a torque converter slipping code and shifts hard from 1st to 2nd. Fluid and filter made it better, but not 100% I’ll likely get a rebuilt one for it.

 

[350Rocket]

It's not a beater if it doesn't break down:

I saw the dead ringer to that car yesterday driving in town. It looked mint and it wasn't on a tow truck.

 

[mightymousetech]

My daily beater.

 

[Kristian]

This is my beater. One owner 02 Fiat Punto 1.2 with 93k km, 550€. Base model of what is a pretty basic car so no equipment at all. But it does gets 38-39 mpg in congested traffic and is absolutely reliable and quite comfortable. Cost me 270€ for insurance, tax and inspection and 40€ for OC per year. New tyres, brakes and cambelt all done by previous owner. Quite happy.

 

[Skippy722]

It counts as a beater if it has scratches right? Because both have scratches now.

 

[aquariuscsm]

100% rot-free 1986 Dodge Daytona, bought for about $1400 in Virginia in 2011. 2.5L automatic. 95K miles. Everything works, including the ice-cold A/C. Just installed a fresh set of Douglas (Goodyear) radials from Wal-Mart yesterday ($43 each plus mount & balance).

Has its share of battle scars and the clear coat departed the planet some time in the 90s. Drive it 34 miles to/from work every day. Get lots of comments and eye-rolling, but it always starts and runs, delivers 20+ MPG, and costs almost nothing to insure. Parts and maintenance are also dirt-cheap.

Folks can roll their eyes all they want. I'll just keep funding my retirement accounts in lieu of a ridiculous car payment...

View attachment 77635
View attachment 77636

That's a seriously sweet car!! A classic!!

 

[aquariuscsm]

Most of the cars in this thread are WAY too nice to be beaters imo!!

 

[JoelB]

I drove beaters from the time I was 16 until 2014 when I bought my first new car. Eventually I realized that beaters weren't good for my brain. I overthink and worry and having a car that's well used and more likely to have an issue wears me down.

Downside is now I worry about scratching or damaging my new car instead. Cleary I'm the issue here.

 

[1 SX]

I'd say the elantra is a nice beater. Gets 34 MPG, is reliable, and is cheap-ish to keep on the road.

 

[mbres2000]

1966 chevy biscayne with new carb, battery, starter, tires, HEI distributor, 2-chamber M/C, euro pattern low beams. No heat, odometer, headliner, carpet. Would drive daily if I had the gas money but it gets ~16 MPG. Drove it out to Vermont and held 70 on the highway. I haven't "finished" it because it would be worth too much and therefore not "fun" anymore.

View attachment 77594

" I haven't "finished" it because it would be worth too much and therefore not "fun" anymore."
Great comment! We've had a late 60s pickup in the family for over 30 years that was used to haul just about anything. But after I gave it to my son few years ago, he had some beautiful paint & body work done. Now the thing is just too nice to use as a truck. The bed floor is Rhino-lined, but the bed sides and wheelhouses are painted. Next project is to get the entire bed Rhino-lined.

 

[mbres2000]

My daily driver since 83, no eye rolls but a lot of thumbs up.
View attachment 77701

And probably worth 5x what you paid for it!

 

[Warlord]

I’ve been looking at buying a hybrid to replace my beater Corolla. How do these last the test of time/miles?

Sorry mine isn’t a hybrid so I can’t offer any advice. Civics in general are widely acclaimed for reliability and low cost of ownership.

 

[earthbound]

2006 Pontiac vibe 175k... Easily one of the most reliable vehicles on the planet.. (yes, I know courtesy of Toyota dna)

 

[manicrodder]

It's not a beater if you're not beating on it.... Driving it all winter, etc. Drowning it in salt.

2006 Chevy Cobalt, 260K miles, Dunlop WinterSport tires.... Runs awesome and still returns stellar Blackstone analysis. Rust will kill it eventually.

Sorry the pic isn't bigger but it was all I had handy at the moment. If I remember right, I had just washed it a day or two earlier!

Nice two tone.

 

[bilibako2]

06 Honda Accord EX with 4 cyclinder at 131k. My grocery getter now after retirement,survived by 4 drivers,2 son's well behaved,wife then back to me.Major parts: driver axle,starter,belt tensioner,water pump,new catalytic converter stolen last July,had 2 -O2 sensor replaced too.

 

[DirectRejection]

Great thread.
But I wanna see some real beaters.
Yanno primer paint on the fender.
That kinda stuff.

 

[Rat407]

2014 Chevy Cruze diesel. Currently has 103k miles on it. Love it I got it used back in 2015. It was produced August of 2013 as a 2014 model. So one of the first diesels off the line I would guess. O

nly thing my wife wishes it had was a sun roof.

 

[Nick1994]

Lmao, what's with all the nice, newer cars in this thread?

 

[Aredeeem]

I agree Nick. Here’s my entry. I just happened to be looking thru my service notes and found my new car sticker. It’s an econobox but still strong at 84k with regular maintenance.