Topic: Motoring Memories: The Joy of Beaters

[Autos_Editor]

If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em.

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[Whofan]

Some good, some bad.

My 20's and most of some of my 30's was mostly beaters, some I remember with great joy, some not so much, breaking down on the hwy.. not fun, and $$.  Others, like my Lada Signet, LOVED IT, I wish I could find one again, rwd drive, Russian/Fiat work horse.  Easy to fix and fun to drive.

78 Le Mans, my green monster, I loved that car, 2 dr V6 fun fun fun.

I have had 5 Cavaliers, some have been fun, others real pain.

I might go for a beater in the future again, just because it's fun to work on them and would teach my son, some basic auto mechanics when he starts to drive.

[Fobroader]

Great article. I have had a few beaters in my time and I actually really like the idea. 85 Bronco II, my first car, that thing taught me so much about automotive repair, patience and walking. 93 Chev K1500, bought for $1400 because I was sick and tired of hearing the bottom of my Altima scrape over ice ruts and have a barrage of gravel fired at it, still miss that truck to this day. Every kid should start out with one, if anything, might teach some basics of car repair so hes not one of these stooges getting hosed for a few grand at Canadian Tire or the dealer when it comes down to repairs.

[tooscoops]

this is something young people won't really get to experience anymore and it's a shame. these days, with e-tests and safeties, it's just near impossible to get one of these things plated anymore...

my dad always tells me of stories of cars he'd buy for a weekend... spend a grand, wash it after he was done and sell it for 1100.

these days, by the time you pay a safety and get an e-test (which is only if you know the right people and the car is at least passable), then you have to heap taxes on it... then you insure it for way too much. you have to ask 2000 on a 1000 car just to come out in the black. and if you do, then OMVIC (or whomever) will chase you as a curbsider.

always fun to read stuff like this and think back to the beater-est beater you've ever had... oh, and particularly liked;

they somehow transcend their innate feculence

[Arthur Dent]

I love beaters! 

My LeBaron was probably the best deal ever. $160 with a safety inspection. Drove for over a year with minimal maintenance (used oil from the minivan - yes!, cheap o2 sensor, used battery - that was it) then traded off for a Lada Niva at the end.

[tooscoops]

my lebaron was an '82 mark cross edition convertible... bought for 1600... owned from the time i was 15 until i was 22... sold it for 2 grand... after i had already made an insurance claim for 1500 on hail damage.

car was still on the road 2 years ago.

[Schmengie]

I've had lots of beaters. Some were great, like the '71 Datsun 510 that ran like a champ even while the body slowly returned to it's natural state. It was about as easy to work on as a Tonka toy, if not quite as sturdily built. Some were truly awful but the worst by far was an '88 Tempo that I swear only started and ran normally the day I bought it. Every engine sensor on that POS - no offense to sh!t, which is actually quite useful when you think about it - went south at some point, the O2 sensor going on permanent vacation at least twice. The front wheel bearings on that heap disintegrated at the slightest hint of motion but the last straw was when the fuel pump crapped out on the highway miles from nowhere. Great article BTW, really enjoyed it.

[PJ]

Owned lots of cars over my 35 years of driving and 5 of them I'd call beaters.

79 Plymouth Horizon. $1800
81 Chevy Malibu $900
88 Buick SkyHawk $free
91 Toyota Corolla $400
98 Ford Taurus $1500

The Horizon was the worst, I liked the Malibu the best but the SkyHawk was the best beater.  Got it for free from my wife's grandfather when the doctor took away his licence.  We had it for 7 years and over 100,000 miles, got next to no care, only needed a few simple to do repairs and everyone borrowed it.  It wouldn't die and eventually I sold for $500. Last time I heard it was still going. 

[robsaw]

Of course, the converse is also true - someone has to be a previous owner of the beater lump that was at one time a new or near new non-beater vehicle. A couple of vehicles that I've turned into beaters that started off as  MUCH better than beaters.

1975 Honda Civic bought in 1980 for $5000, sold for $300 in 1987 with bonus rust and rather worn and tired engine.
1985 Plymouth Voyager around 1990 for$10,000 sold for $750 in 1998 but engine blew bef1ore the new owner got it home (I did offer a partial refund).
1997 Plymouth Grand Voyager (1 year old) for $18,000 sold for $1200 in 2009 after it became a pain with oil leaks and collision damage.
1978 Datsun Pickup (was near beater when bought) for unremembered low number and turned into true beater with rust right through the sides of the bed and sold for a few hundred.
1988 Ford F150 bought for $4500 and traded-in for $900 on a 2002 Chev C2500 4x4.
I've now passed on my 2004 Chev Malibu (bought one year old) to my son who is converting it to beater status with around 160,000km.

[MMMB89]

I definitely miss my beater - a 1984 Ford Mustang Fastback V6 that I got for $500 (and sold for $500).  It wasn't fast but it was light and had some good rubber and aftermarket rims on it (probably worth more than the car itself), so it handled like a go-kart.  It was the most fun I've ever had in a car and its simplicity made it feel like a true driving experience.

If it wasn't for space and impending repairs, I would've held onto it.

[mixmanmash]

Of course, the converse is also true - someone has to be a previous owner of the beater lump that was at one time a new or near new non-beater vehicle. A couple of vehicles that I've turned into beaters that started off as  MUCH better than beaters.

1975 Honda Civic bought in 1980 for $5000, sold for $300 in 1987 with bonus rust and rather worn and tired engine.
1985 Plymouth Voyager around 1990 for$10,000 sold for $750 in 1998 but engine blew bef1ore the new owner got it home (I did offer a partial refund).
1997 Plymouth Grand Voyager (1 year old) for $18,000 sold for $1200 in 2009 after it became a pain with oil leaks and collision damage.
1978 Datsun Pickup (was near beater when bought) for unremembered low number and turned into true beater with rust right through the sides of the bed and sold for a few hundred.
1988 Ford F150 bought for $4500 and traded-in for $900 on a 2002 Chev C2500 4x4.
I've now passed on my 2004 Chev Malibu (bought one year old) to my son who is converting it to beater status with around 160,000km.

Yup.  I've turned a couple into beaters, by use.

First car was a 1992 Pontiac Sunbird 2.0 3 speed auto  hand-me-down from my sister who had it since new.  She gave it to me in 2001 with 186000kms on it.  Over the course of 2 years, I racked it up to 290000kms.  At that point, the igniter was going bad and the car needed new tires, shocks, brakes, and was rusting on the bottom of all 4 doors.  Sold it for $300.

Bought a new 2002 Protégé ES/GT 2.0 5 speed manual in the summer of 2003 for a great price.  Just retired it a couple of weeks ago with 337500kms.  Runs strong, but the body is badly rusted along the rear quarters.  Rust is also forming along the rockers, bottom of doors, front fenders and on the roof by the windshield.  It could use some tires.  3 days before retirement, it threw a CEL that was traced to a ripped intake air hose.  Repaired with copious amounts of duct tape.  My friend is going to take it for his teenage kids to drive.  Only thing that makes it a beater is the rust.  Otherwise a very rock solid car.

[phazotron]

I got a hand me down early 198x Chevy Caprice in the early nineties.  Only gas went into that thing.  The frame was so badly rusted that the rear bumper started to sag down. My dad fixed it by drilling in some U-bolts through the trunk to hold it up!

[johngenx]

I suppose our current 2001 Forester is a "beater."  Easily the best beater I've owned!!  (A series of 70's vintage Civics served me in my youth...)

[paul246]

In 1974 I bought a '64 Bug for $50, drove it for 365 days exactly and sold it for $40. Took a big hit on that one.

[dirtyjeffer]

my first car was a 78 Rabbit...back in the day, i also owned several Chevettes, a Celica, a Chevy Van, a Nissan Sentra XE coupe, a Mazda MX-6 GT Turbo and a Mustang (just a 4cyl beater though, not the GT)...i also had a variety of motorcycles too.

[Fobroader]

My first vehicle was a 1976 Chrysler Cordoba I bought in high school. I didn't own another car for 10 years. And I don't mean I drove it for 10 years, I mean I drove nothing for 10 years, that's how badly that car damaged my psyche. So for myself there is no joy to be found in crappy old cars.

V8, rwd and fine corinthian leather....what could be so wrong. Come on, there were guys driving Citations, Berretas, Tempests, Skylarks, Cavaliers, Sunbirds, Tempos, Escorts, Omnis that would have given their right teste to have a large, luxury beater like yours. I honestly cant see what could go that wrong with a 318ci V8 and an A727 tranny 

[johngenx]

I honestly cant see what could go that wrong with a 318ci V8 and an A727 tranny 

The basic engine and trans were solid, but anything else on those cars could, and did, break.

[dkaz]

I suppose our current 2001 Forester is a "beater."  Easily the best beater I've owned!!  (A series of 70's vintage Civics served me in my youth...)

I tend to drive my Sienna like a beater, although I like to think I take good care of it.

[Arthur Dent]

I honestly cant see what could go that wrong with a 318ci V8 and an A727 tranny 

The basic engine and trans were solid, but anything else on those cars could, and did, break.

I believe those years have the lean burn system which can be troublesome.

[PJ]

My first vehicle was a 1976 Chrysler Cordoba I bought in high school. I didn't own another car for 10 years. And I don't mean I drove it for 10 years, I mean I drove nothing for 10 years, that's how badly that car damaged my psyche. So for myself there is no joy to be found in crappy old cars.

V8, rwd and fine corinthian leather....what could be so wrong. Come on, there were guys driving Citations, Berretas, Tempests, Skylarks, Cavaliers, Sunbirds, Tempos, Escorts, Omnis that would have given their right teste to have a large, luxury beater like yours. I honestly cant see what could go that wrong with a 318ci V8 and an A727 tranny 

My 79 Horizon (aka Omni) was a quick as my folks 1980 Cordoba and a lot more fun to drive.  Used half the gas too.  Neither were reliable.