Beater car drivers, what's your breaking point?

rickhamilton620

rickhamilton620

has a fetish for terrible cars
Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
16,962
Location
Mount Wolf, PA
Car(s)
2023 Mazda CX-5 Premium
Everyone has one. What amount of monetary expense/eating up all your time or patience can you take before you're usually like "that's it, I gotta get rid of this thing!"

No, this isn't foreshadowing anything for me (unless something truly terrible and savings eating is found in the inspection) but I'm just curious.
 
In the past is been transmission or engine failure. I have vowed not to do that again, however. Usually though if it's anything else, and if the parts to fix it if less than $300, I fix it and go on. Though I did spend about $1,000 fixing the steering track on the Focus this year. I guess it really just would depend on how much you like the particular car.
 
Beater expenditures

Beater expenditures

I might as well admit it right now... I'm an idiot when it comes to hanging on to cars (see my signature). Among my current little fleet is an '87 VW Jetta GLI. Anyone who has owned an old watercooled VW will instantly recognize that this thing is a money pit. And, it's nothing new - I've owned it since 1994. The latest 'big' expense was/is an air conditioning compressor. Not a big deal, right? Just roll down the windows and ignore the problem. Not with an early Mk II, you don't! The belt routing is insane - the A/C compressor 'drives' the alternator! And, the way the belts are staggered, you can't just take the compressor out of the loop because the crank pulley doesn't line up with the alternator pulley!!

Yeah, I should just sell it, but I do enjoy driving the old critter... I guess I'm just lucky that I have a wife who (for the most part) ignores my eccentric behavior!

Edit: Thinking about my post above, it's an example - not an answer. So, I guess I need to say that there's no real limit to how much money I'm willing to throw away on a beater that I really like. This stems from the fact that I just don't ever buy 'temporary' cars... those that some people buy because they simply need transportation. I only buy cars that I'm really attracted to, then keep them for much too long. As proof, I've been driving for 50 years this year and my wife and I have owned a total of 33 vehicles. I have friends who couldn't begin to tell me how many cars and trucks they've owned! Now, that may sound like we've traded cars about every 1.5 years, but that's not the case. We've owned multiple cars from the start... and at the moment have eight cars, one truck and a trailer. We've had as many as ten cars at one point. Yes, some are projects, so they're not necessarily all licensed or insured at any given time, but they all tend to require some expenditures each year.

SL
 
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If cost of repairs > value of car, then time to get a new car.
 
The original WW2 no-hyperbole definition of FUBAR.
 
rickhamilton620 said:
Everyone has one. What amount of monetary expense/eating up all your time or patience can you take before you're usually like "that's it, I gotta get rid of this thing!"

No, this isn't foreshadowing anything for me (unless something truly terrible and savings eating is found in the inspection) but I'm just curious.
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For appliance class vehicles:
Cost of current and anticipated future repairs + value of time lost due to repairs + alternative transportation costs - regular maintenance (since you'd have to do that on anything) > value of transportation vehicle is anticipated to provide for the time period before more major repairs are likely necessary + value of time looking for something else + cost of something else that is demonstrably better and more reliable.

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JimCorrigan said:
If cost of repairs > value of car, then time to get a new car.
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So, when the warranty expires on any vehicle you own now, you will be getting a new one the second something breaks? :p
 
If I have a limit, I ain't found it yet. :lol:
 
My limit is when the cost of needed maintenance and/or repairs exceeds how much I care about the car. My prelude is very close the that point right now.
 
Spectre said:
So, when the warranty expires on any vehicle you own now, you will be getting a new one the second something breaks? :p
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One, we're talking about beaters, not treasured toys for which desire > logic.

Two, the BMW is a lease, you know that. :p
(and boy am I glad I listened to my gut to lease and not buy it!)

Three, the Boxster... expensive though parts and labour may be, we both know it won't depreciate extensively, especially in the short term. ;)
 
The GLK is a treasured toy now? :p

Well, when the Boxster security module shorts out again for the fourth time in as many years, you may change your mind about that. :p
 
Spectre said:
The GLK is a treasured toy now? :p

Well, when the Boxster security module shorts out again for the fourth time in as many years, you may change your mind about that. :p
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Teh Merc diesel is also a lease.

The module issue was corrected for either 2010 or 2011, so I'm pretty sure I'll be ok on that front. I'm not denying their may be some new gremlin for the 981 that we don't know about yet, but in its admittedly short lifespan thus far, the 981 (in general, not mine) has had very few problems.

Now, if you want to place a wager on the likely problems with the 981.2 and its newly developed turbo four coming out in 6 or so months.... well, I won't take that bet! :lol:
 
I generally start to twitch and drool about the time it is time to let it go. :lol:


That limit is different each time depending on how much I enjoy the car and how much in the recent past that it has screwed me over. Sometimes you see it coming and just ride it out if it isn't worth a major overhaul/rebuild. Other times it is quick and painful.

It was different the last time though, I really didn't want to let it go. It was the last car my Dad enjoyed (he regretted the Mercury) and I grew to love it too, but the Roadmaster had rusted out in the frame over the rear axle. I know it could be fixed, but I did not want to repair it and I could not afford a new frame and to fix it up too. Sadly, I still regret letting it go despite knowing it was the best.
 
The Flareside received a transmission rebuild. come late summer 2013 and I was sick of trying to find out the surging idle problem and just general de-grade of everything. interior was was falling apart, any wiring that was exposed to outside air(engine bay) was going to need to be replaced, the intake manifold succumbed to the popular 302 leaks causing the engine to consume coolant without creating a milkshake. That also caused me to have vacuum leaks despite having replaced every vacuum line in the engine bay. I also had no garage to work on it and it being my only set of wheels, I could not let it sit.

Yes, the wagon has that last issue but, I have all the gaskets, a place to work on it, and I have two other vehicles should I have to stop and leave it for a little while. And, I have a much better understand of the engine and what exactly I need to do to replace the gaskets.
 
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On the fence with the Jeep right now because of rust. I still haven't lifted the carpets and am terrified to do so. That being said, it seems like getting all new floors and rockers shouldn't be overly painful.

On the other hand - I'm almost at my breaking point with my non-beater Mustang. The squeaks and rattles are driving me up the wall and the dealer I've been working with is less than useful.
 
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This is uncharted territory for me. So far I've learned that I will attempt to completely rebuild an engine with no documentation using parts that don't exist.
 
Haven't found it yet.

Imminent machanical failure? Whatevs. Massive rusty holes? Coolio. Bodywork crafted from fiberglass and filler? Fair enough. Occasional loss of all electrics? Standard.

So far I've spent more than the purchase price on each car, learned how to dismantle/reassemble a Triumph OHV engine, bought a spare OHC engine AND a whole spares car with a good OHV motor. One could argue that the cars aren't really beaters, but they totally are. :lol:
 
Excessive oil consumption, I guess. That's usually a tell-tale of something bigger.

It really depends how attached I am to the car. After buying the 205, I was aware of it having headgasket issues and needing valve stem seals done, but that was some sort of watershed for the car. Don't fix them and run it to the ground, or have them done and continue keeping the car in shape.
 
Engine failure or boredom, I guess.

Had to sell a few beaters/projects due to losing my storage space as well. Nothing like having your landlord go insane. Or having that cute girl from the leasing office show up at your apartment Saturday morning and ask, "Uh, so, exactly how many of these vehicles are yours?"

Four. The answer was four. :lmao:
 
Yeah, I would have to say that I'm part of the "how attached am I" club.
 
Sevs753 said:
My limit is when the cost of needed maintenance and/or repairs exceeds how much I care about the car. My prelude is very close the that point right now.
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That. And that still includes a 'fuck it!' period of indeterminate length: Case in point, the Honda is still sitting in the yard with fuck knows how many problems.
The Dakota, after I tried to kill it through neglect and abuse for YEARS finally went away, though.

I expect the Honda will go when I pick up another beater car. I like having a spare that isn't a monstrous diesel-fueled sonofabitch.
 
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