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Beater: Keep or move on?

N

nedfunnell

Senior member
I've got a beater car I've been driving for the past year and a half. It's seriously into beater territory:

1990 Toyota Camry sedan V6
157k miles
MASSIVE rust- fist sized holes over each wheel, and so much rust on the rocket panels that jacking up by a single point causes that point to crumple after unloading the shocks before lifting the car. Lifting on a proper lift still results in a little rust crunching.
Previous accident repaired competently, as far as I can tell.
Was given to me for $20- spent a lot of time underneath it replacing completely rust-shot Indiana brake lines with rust-free Texas ones.
Needs new tires on the front soon.
Driver's door was once bent back too far and doesn't close without a hard slam after hinge replacement. This window only goes down 4".
Paint is OK, including rattle-can racing stripe.
Automatic seatbelt broken- have to duck under.
AC broken.
Sunroof broken.
Cassette player broken- AM/FM only.
Shocks worn pretty badly.
Exhaust is loud and has rust holes, recently weld-patched but still loud.
About 25mpg.
Engine and transmission have been bulletproof so far, it has never left me stranded. Uses a wee bit of oil.
It hasn't been a money or time sink.
Pretty well maintained for its whole life.

Oldish pic:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ZSb5fcMsFjIhKXLy21uajA?feat=directlink

So, what do you think? Should I say this one is at the jumping-off point? I figure I might be able to sell it to a college student for $500 (or less) and buy something else newer and nicer for not too terribly much more, but I'm not looking to sink multiple G's into a car right now. Any suggestions on a replacement quasi-beater?

Or... should I keep it and drive it until it absolutely dies? If so, what kind of care should I be exercising on this thing- should I put new shocks in it? Tires? Or should I just drive in misery until the first big repair jumps up then ditch it?
 
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If it's rusted so bad you can't even lift it, it's pretty much done for. Sucks that the body is that bad when everything else is mechanically sound and would pretty much run forever.
 
At this rate just drive it until it dies or sell it. I wouldn't put any money into besides gas and some oil.

Also, if the sills are rusted that badly consider your safety driving the thing.
 
First question is: Is it still safe to drive? If yes, might as well keep it. If no, then second question: How much will it cost to make it safe to drive?

I drive something of a beater as well. 1995 Saturn SW2, 110k. Recently replaced front sub-frame, lower control arms, starter, rear wiper motor, driver's side inner door panel, valve cover gasket, upper motor mount, plugs/wires. This weekend, hopefully, will do new brake pads/shoes and rotors/drums.

With all that work, I'll only have sunk $600 and a bunch of free time. That should make it good for at least another year, hopefully two. And it's a reliable car, gets 30 mpg, can transport 12ft lumber, and costs $600 to insure annually. Not the best looking car, but it gets the job done.

That was a long way of saying that my belief is that a car is worth keeping as long as maintenance costs are well less than payments on a new car.
 
exdeath said:
If it's rusted so bad you can't even lift it, it's pretty much done for. Sucks that the body is that bad when everything else is mechanically sound and would pretty much run forever.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is what I was thinking. It's not completely unliftable- but certain spots are that bad.
 
NutBucket said:
At this rate just drive it until it dies or sell it. I wouldn't put any money into besides gas and some oil.

Also, if the sills are rusted that badly consider your safety driving the thing.
Click to expand...

Safety is on my mind. I wonder about how much structural integrity the whole bottom of the car has lost. I haven't seen any crashes that involved the bottom of the car crumpling up- but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen.
 
arrfep said:
First question is: Is it still safe to drive? If yes, might as well keep it. If no, then second question: How much will it cost to make it safe to drive?

I drive something of a beater as well. 1995 Saturn SW2, 110k. Recently replaced front sub-frame, lower control arms, starter, rear wiper motor, driver's side inner door panel, valve cover gasket, upper motor mount, plugs/wires. This weekend, hopefully, will do new brake pads/shoes and rotors/drums.

With all that work, I'll only have sunk $600 and a bunch of free time. That should make it good for at least another year, hopefully two. And it's a reliable car, gets 30 mpg, can transport 12ft lumber, and costs $600 to insure annually. Not the best looking car, but it gets the job done.

That was a long way of saying that my belief is that a car is worth keeping as long as maintenance costs are well less than payments on a new car.
Click to expand...
:thumbsup: on your work. Regarding your last statement there- I agree, but I'm not sure how to apply that when I'd be buying another semi-beater instead of a new car I'd be making payments on.
 
The sills in a unibody car play a large role in the structural rigidity of the car. I would start looking for a replacement.
 
If you are going to buy another beater you might as well just keep the one you have. At least you know what you have with it.
 
I'd buy the second beater now ie find a deal and have it waiting in the wings and drive this one til it craps then you have one good to go
 
Good beaters are hard to find unless you can buy one from a friend or family member, if a car still has 100k miles left in it and it's only worth $1500 why would anybody in their right mind sell it? If a car is a rust bucket, the drive train might have 100k left in it but the rest of the car will never make it to the end of the driveway I can see someone selling it for $1500 and hoping you don't notice the extent of the damage/wear.

If you're the type to drive a car until it can't be repaired (which apparently you are) it's probably worth spending $4-6k on something that is in decent condition and plan on driving it for 5+ years, buying a car for $1500 will get you a car that is in about the same condition as the car you already own.

Edit: If your Camry is as bad as you make it sound, I probably wouldn't dump much money into it, maybe buy a set of used tires, leave the shocks alone, just do the minimum to keep it on the road until something catastrophic happens, comfort and appearance shouldn't be a concern at all.
 
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Thanks for the input, everyone. It sounds like the rust is the deciding factor. Is there a better way to decide just how bad the rust is other than "yep, looks pretty bad"? Yes, the sill panels crunch, and that's bad- but I wonder if there's a better way to assess the rust damage. I'm sure there's not a way to qualitatively assess it- but does anyone know anything about a safety test for rust? I had a friend who lived in France in the 80s and he said their strict roadworthiness tests included trying to drive a screwdriver through rusty spots with a hammer- if it went through, no pass.
 
Why sell it? Unless the faults drive you crazy, and you HAVE to have a newer car - keep it.

Unless you trip over a killer deal..
 
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