Is a beater worth it?

[RedBirdBrain]

So this happened yesterday:



Now, I fully plan on keeping my car until it dies. I mean, you just don't find yellow Mazda6s every day. You have to hold onto the good ones.

That said, I've been considering whether to buy a cheap older car with good gas mileage to keep from piling up more miles than necessary on my primary car.

Would it be economically responsible to find a ~$2K beater that gets about 30-35 mpg to trek the 30 miles each way to work? Or would initial cost, insurance and probability of repair make it not worth it?

-RBB

[Schwahalala]

21 speed bike - 200 bucks - Save you the 2 K and you would get to work in 45 minutes.

[RedBirdBrain]

21 speed bike - 200 bucks - Save you the 2 K and you would get to work in 45 minutes.

If you know how to get from Affton to MO'Fallon in 45 mins on a bike, I'd like to learn.

-RBB

[ItsOnlyTheRiver]

That Mazda should run a long time. I would just keep that. It looks like it's idling a little high...

[younghutch]

Your thermostat / temp. sender is busted.

[cardinalgirl]

you're going to need gas soon.

[RedBirdBrain]

Your thermostat / temp. sender is busted.

Nah, I'd just turned it on.

I've got another hunnert miles or so before I have to get gas in that pic.

-RBB

[007]

Attention whore

[RedBirdBrain]

Attention whore

You act like this is new.

-RBB

[ksbluesfan]

Move closer to work.

[ElviswasaBluesFan]

Good like finding a beater that gets 30-35 MPH for $2k that doesn't already have 200k miles on it and one tire in the grave already.

I have a freind that works at Bo Bueckmann and he says those dont exist anymore.

[cardinalgirl]

Nah, I'd just turned it on.

I've got another hunnert miles or so before I have to get gas in that pic.

-RBB

oh then there is no reason to get another car. the 4 cyl beaters are going for more money now than last year at this time anyway, aren't they? your car gets good gas mileage. run it into the ground for the next 10 years.

[RedBirdBrain]

Good like finding a beater that gets 30-35 MPH for $2k that doesn't already have 200k miles on it and one tire in the grave already.

I have a freind that works at Bo Bueckmann and he says those dont exist anymore.

Saw an classified at for a '98 Saturn SC2 a couple of weeks ago. $2k even, had 150K miles on it.

It's gonna be hard to find a Japanese car in that range - I've seen one Civic coupe for $2600 with roughly the same mileage. But Saturns are overlooked and cheap because they're 'mercun. They're a bit rough around the edges but actually quite reliable and more fun to drive than a Corolla.

But yeah, I'm under no delusions that there are dozens of these sitting around waiting for cheap. I can't be the only person looking for econoboxes right now.

-RBB

[007]

You act like this is new.

-RBB

You raise a good point...

I mean, a yellow car pretty much spells that out, eh?

[RedBirdBrain]

oh then there is no reason to get another car. the 4 cyl beaters are going for more money now than last year at this time anyway, aren't they? your car gets good gas mileage. run it into the ground for the next 10 years.

I've been averaging about 25 mpg, which isn't bad at all for a 6-cyl. I can get 30-35 mpg out of a Civic, a Corolla/Prism (ugh), or a Saturn SC.

That alone won't make enough of a difference to make it worth my while financially, but if it means I can keep the bigger, more comfortable Mazda around a few more years for non-commuting use, it *might* be worth it. That's what I'm trying to figure out.

-RBB