Your favorite beater?

[daves87rs]

While working on my Cavalier today, it got me thinking about what my next beater will be.

It's always nice to have an extra car when you need it. (or you don't want to drive your nice car in the winter)

Even though it could be a few years...I pulled myself a list of cars that I thought would be good for the job.

97+ Buick Century

95-00 Buick Lesabre

92-00 Buick regal

I realize that they are all buicks, but they are all good cars, and most of the time are well taken care of...

Any cars make a good beater/extra car?

It could be for good gas milage, winter beater, or whatever reason...

[Robert Hall]

They are getting a bit too old now, but when I was in college in the '90s my beater/main car was an '84 Caprice..the '80s B-bodies were great cars that could take the wear and tear and rack up a lot of miles...not so great on mileage, though..

[z28luvr01]

I could never beat a car. If I owned it, it would get the same love and care that I give my other cars.

[pow]

Our '88 Volvo 240... I've done pretty much everything to it, and it still works fine.

[capriceman]

see my 90 caprice is a fetish girl, The harder you beat on the more she abuse she wants. but her limit is a [N] to [D] slam I just cant do it. Im just along for the ride.

My Geo was the best tho I basicly was a desposebile car.

[trinacriabob]

If it would be a "second" car to keep miles off of the "primary" car, then easy -- it would be a 98 or 99 Olds Intrigue with a 3800 V6 and, ideally, owned by a retired couple.

[Cory Wolfe]

I could never beat a car. If I owned it, it would get the same love and care that I give my other cars.

Seriously, what's a beater? I'm an auto enthusiast, I don't beat on cars.

[daves87rs]

When my Dad still had his 1984 and 1986 Chevrolet Celebritys they were both good beaters. The previous dipsh!t/owner had hauled around dogs in the cars so everything was covered in dog hair that had to get removed before we could drive it because both my Dad and myself are allergic. Other than when the 1986 had the arm for the rear axle rust off and the 1984 had the torque converter refuse to unlock when it got hot they always did their duty and never left us stranded. Both had a little over 200,000 miles on them before we got rid of them too.

If neither of them had rusted so badly they would still be here today. At least I can take heart in the fact that the power window motors of the 1986 are living on to this day in a buddys 1940 Ford hot rod.

Celebritys really kicked butt, especially the ones with the Iron duke.

My wife's grandparents had a 84-the only reason it died ( I think) was it sat for

a few months while the grandfather was in the hospital. It was closing in on 300k...

It was still in pretty good shape too.

At least their Sunbird is still going...only thing that will stop that car is rust.

And my Cav too.

[daves87rs]

I could never beat a car. If I owned it, it would get the same love and care that I give my other cars.

Yeah, but you got to have something to protect your baby..

You don't have to beat your beater-just be its last-and kindest owner..

I don't beat on the wagon.....

[daves87rs]

Seriously, what's a beater? I'm an auto enthusiast, I don't beat on cars.

you have to beat on something, BV...

[Cory Wolfe]

you have to beat on something, BV...  

Not really... I didn't even beat on my POS Grand Am. I loved it and didn't consider it a beater... until it stopped running fine. I refuse to beat on something that's mine. That's just not me... because I'm an automotive enthusiast. Are you?

[Robert Hall]

Seriously, what's a beater? I'm an auto enthusiast, I don't beat on cars.

'beater'..generic term for a cheap car that you would maintain mechanically but it isn't worth enough (old, high mileage, etc) to keep cosmetically pristine...

Some people may have one as a daily driver or winter car and have something nice for the weekends.

Edited May 4, 2006 by moltar

[Cory Wolfe]

'beater'..generic term for a cheap car that you would maintain mechanically but it isn't worth enough (old, high mileage, etc) to keep cosmetically pristine...

Some people may have one as a daily driver or winter car and have something nice for the weekends.

I wasn't really asking. Still... that's not me.

[regfootball]

this is one famous 'beater'

[ToniCipriani]

Seriously, what's a beater? I'm an auto enthusiast, I don't beat on cars.

But you have a beater

Edited May 4, 2006 by ToniCipriani

[Caprice SS]

Isn't something from the late 90s a bit too young to be a beater?

Anyways, Dsuupr has proven that a Caprice can be a great beater (but I don't hink a could bring myself to abuse one, even if it would look like garbage), and the Topaz I purchased last winter (for only 300CAD) has started everyday, so as of now, I consider it to be a pretty solid beater.

I have more, but I am too lazy to think of/list them all.

[Cory Wolfe]

But you have a beater

Nah... it's not a beater, it's a POS. I didn't beat on it and it doesn't fit Moltar's definition. Don't look like one either. Edited May 4, 2006 by blackviper8891

[daves87rs]

Isn't something from the late 90s a bit too young to be a beater?

Anyways, Dsuupr has proven that a Caprice can be a great beater (but I don't hink a could bring myself to abuse one, even if it would look like garbage), and the Topaz I purchased last winter (for only 300CAD) has started everyday, so as of now, I consider it to be a pretty solid beater.

I have more, but I am too lazy to think of/list them all.

Topaz tends to be a pretty good car.

They make fun of them, but they tend to run pretty well...

[daves87rs]

But you have a beater

Yep.

[Cory Wolfe]

Nope. My GA was too nice to be a beater, and I didn't treat it like one. It's reliability, however, does make it a POS... but not a beater.

[daves87rs]

Nope. My GA was too nice to be a beater, and I didn't treat it like one. It's reliability, however, does make it a POS... but not a beater.

but if you bought a car you really liked, kept the GA (if it was running) to drive if you wanted to keep your good car looking nice?

You don't have to call it a beater, just a extra car...

[Cory Wolfe]

I'd want to keep both cars looking nice... so I'd drive someone else's car...

Edited May 6, 2006 by blackviper8891

[Mach5GTP]

In college I was driving my pimp-tastic red 78 Civic CVCC, and I managed to get another one like it to drive in the winter. It was rusty, yellow, and quite indestructible. Reliable as the sun, and a bit quicker than my red one. I called him "SuperBeater" and drew a Superman-like logo on the front of the hood. I wrote "Nitromethane Fuel Only" on the gas door, and had 2 bumper stickers: "This is NOT an abandoned car" and "DO NOT WASH- This car is undergoing a scientific dirt test"

Loved that car, drove it for about 4 winters. Gave it to a junkyard after taking some spare parts off it. To this day I still miss him when winter comes around...

[Guest YellowJacket894]

One of those old '86 Ford Tempos with shift-on-the-fly 4WD would be a cool beater.

[bobo]

Perhaps, but the Tempo was one of the worst cars ever made, domestic or foreign.

My Prelude works out to be a pretty good beater. Fun to drive, good gas mileage, and I don't have to worry about it when I park it. If it gets stolen again, then so be it. A more practical beater would be something with a hatchback, like an Integra, then you could throw lots of crap back there.

[Petra]

Ford Panthers, like mine, tend to be pretty solid beaters, so long as you can afford the gas and no major issues (i.e: electrical) pop up.

Old, RWD Volvos are also pretty much bulletproof, except, again, for some electrical gremlins. Many a 740 Wagon has exceeded 200,000 miles with only scheduled maintenance.

Another good beater is the last generation of K-Car derived Chryslers, like the Dodge Spirit and Plymouth Acclaim. For Chryslers, they seem to be of pretty high quality; why they ditched them for the buggy Cloud Cars is beyond me. When they do break, parts are cheap and can be found anywhere. Also, with that oh-so-'80's 3-box shape, they are surprisingly roomy.