Help me decide on a beater

I drive about 1.5 miles to work and back. A few more give and take to grocery stores, general errands, etc. I like the idea of good gas mileage but after owning my lifted second gen it’s not a deal breaker. It is what it is.

 

Corolla or Prius if you want something unkillable that costs next to nothing to maintain.

Old Honda Civic if you want about 85% of the affordability and reliability but also want to have a little fun.

 

What if you drive 28k miles a year, get 13.5 mpgs and gas is $3.28 already in your state

 

Do you like driving stick?

 

Pretty short drive. Why not a bicycle or something? For some exercise. Or a boosted board.

But a LS is nice. Just have to fight the urge and keep it stock.

 

The math is nice, but that's only one part of the picture. People are rarely concerned with the depreciating value of a secondary vehicle because generally it is something that you are going to run into the ground and put in situations you don't want your nice vehicle going, such as parking garages. Not to mention it keeps the miles off of said nice vehicle. The point in having a beater car is just that; to beat it up.

Then, let's not forget MPG, especially if you drive a lot. We rented a Ford Fusion hybrid. That thing had more than twice the range of my truck while also holding 10 gallons less fuel. That kind of thing adds up...a lot.

 

The modding plague is real but I think I’ll be able to refrain. Too much planned for the Taco truck already. I thought about an electric bike, used to work in the business and have a ton of experience in the top of the line bikes (specialized, bulls, haibike) the only limiting factor is the amount of rain we get here in the PNW (Seattle). On that note, if anybody has electric bike questions you can direct them this way, I’ve built and repaired a ton of the bikes that are on the market right now.

 

Driving stick is just fine with me. My Taco truck is an automatic so a manual would be fun. I grew up driving my grandparents old bronco II with 76,000 original miles. I still have it!

 

I’m thinking about buying a 3rd Gen for a gas getter/beater to rack up miles on to save my second gen

 

Ford Fusion! Hadn’t thought about that rig! I’ll look into it!

 

It was a nice little car. We put over 1500 miles on it, but we also got 47 MPG at each of the 3 fill ups we did. Plus, in the city it ran mostly electric so no fuel being burned! Went from Vegas to Death Valley to Mammoth Lakes, around Yosemite a few times, and back to Vegas on only 3 tanks of gas.

 

I’m thinking about buying a 3rd Gen for a gas getter/beater to rack up miles on to save my second gen

 

I loved my second gen. Big bad lift and 33’s put me in places I should’ve never been. Sank it in a river in 4lo after judging the depth wrong. Busted the 4wd actuator and that about it. It was truly a great rig.

 

I’m going to set up my alerts for a fusion too. I like the idea of electric but can’t justify it for anything but city use.

 

I still have my 96’ with 360k on the clock. It’s been retired till my kid turns 16 so he has wheels if he chooses to work in the summers.

 

Use that as a daily! Lol

I had an frs with catless unequal length headers and tune. Gained a good amount of power and made the car really fun. Flogging the car purely in the city I got over 20 mpg, driving normal I got over 30. I miss driving manual so much. And the subaru rumble from the headers made it really fun in traffic. I always wanted to hear the exhaust so going through the gears was so satisfying.

Fuel efficient, nimble handling, and it was pretty quick. Perfect dd and fun car at the same time.

 

I like the way you think. I helped me dad with a little side business and got to use our old T100 as a sort of trade. Built up a lot of work ethic and I wouldn’t give the experience of cutting wood all summer for anything. Also developed quite the back that still helps me to this day pushing my fishing raft down the river.

 

That sounds like such a good time. Anytime I can roll by a ratted out civic and set off the alarms is a win in my book. Rolled with a buddy one time who had a built out cobra kit with the big motor. Used to raise hell on high schoolers in their daddies corvettes. Good time good times.

 

Mazda3. I've owned 3 of them now (2010 2.5 5-door, 2004 2.3 4-door, and a 2008 Mazdaspeed3...all with manual transmissions.) They've all been fun in their own way. The best all around with the least maintenance was the 2010.

If you're decent with maintenance and want some more power at the cost of lower gas mileage then the Speed is where it's at.

 

I can’t believe I didn’t think of this, my sister drives one! Thanks for the heads up. We’re building quite the list and I couldn’t be happier.