I was just curious what constitutes a beater?
A car that simply keeps running given minimal maintenance?
Are cosmetic defects required to be considered?
A beater in my opinion is a vehicle that still runs OK but is not worth much and it would be a waste to junk it. I always maintain my vehicles even if it is a beater. After all, a beater is saving you money as long as it still runs good. Some beaters I have owned looked good cosmetically and some not so much. In the southeast we usually call a beater by it’s other name…a “junker”. I’m sure other parts of the country have other names for beaters. About 40 years ago they were also known as “bombs”.
IMHO a car a person lets go in cosmetics(scratches/dents etc) and/or mechanically. For example the AC dies, the power window is broken, the muffler rattles, the transmission is skipping, interior is torn up.
I don’t think a well taken car with 200k miles is a beater.
the web has everything you want to know…even the term "beater"
The examples are hilarious!
if it has “one big truck tire, low on air” as the old song “shlockrod” sais, that is a beater.
Needs a list of repairs to be perfect
BUT
you choose not to because it’s ; old enough to not worry about and gets you where you’re going.
One hub cap missing.
Three different brands of tires at variuos stages of wear.
One wheel slightly bent but you never drive fast enough for it to be an immediate issue.
Numerous small dents / scrapes / scratches in the faded dull paint.
Faded upholstery with maybe a repaired tear or two.
‘DashMat’ over your cracked dash.
Gas door won’t stay closed, spring broke years ago.
Cruise and right rear window don’t work, but you never use em anyway.
Red clear tape on left tail lamp.
etcetera
To Me A Car Becomes A Beater When You Would Have To Give Somebody Instruction And /Or Additional Information Over And Above What Somebody Ordinarily Needs To Know To Operate A Vehicle.
You know those cars that you have to tell somebody to lift a door to close it or use the passenger side door or to park without having to use reverse when leaving, etcetera ?
CSA
I Had An Old Dodge Aries (RIP) That Wouldn’t Die, But On Its Way It Became A Beater When You’d Hit A Puddle Of Standing Water And The Floor Mat Would Slap The Back Of Your Left Calf Muscle.
Aries Special Instructions Item #7 : Avoid puddles during or after rain or melting snow.
CSA
That’s it–whenever extra instructions are required to drive an unfamiliar vehicle, it is an official “beater”.
I have a summer car and a winter beater. I buy these manual transmission, ugly, but well running cars for less than 1500 every three or four years.
The difference between a beater, and an old well running car is how much you don’t care about cosmetic issues. All of my beaters have had significant rust and a fair number of dents. It is very liberating to own a beater. Once when putting in a new turn signal bulb, I found the lens screw heads were stripped and the screws rusted in place. How did I put in the new bulb? I got a hammer and broke the lens and swapped the bulbs.
When you’re will to do damage to make a repair, and not fix the damage… that’s a beater. Age has nothing to do with it.
A beater is a car that’s pretty well used up in all its categories, includingn aesthetics. The efficient way to use a beater is to keep it safe and running, and keep the fluids up, but no more.
Cosmetic defects are not required. I’ve seen worn out oil burning beaters in regions that don’t have bad weather that have no rot at all…but they’re totally shot mechanically.
sadly, my mom’s 05 Cobalt could fall into that category using some of the things you describe.
She’s got a small dent in the front of the hood, she had 3 different brands of tires on her car, until I bought her some Goodyear Tripletreads for her birthday(though she had a flat and now has 3 GYTT and 1 off brand tire), she bought the car with a stained rear seat that even the detailers can’t seem to get rid of, I know she’s gonna trash the transmission in it someday with the way she backs up(puts it in D before the car is completely stopped), she only gases it up and does an oil change when the OLC gets about 20% or less. I told her she was gonna need brake work soon, and I doubt she’ll have that done for a long while, if ever(my step dad will probably be driving it, brakes give out and he rear ends someone). Hell, I had to offer to take her car in when she got the recall notice for the steering problems. She said she hadn’t had any problems, so she wasn’t concerned and didn’t see a reason why she should go in. Plus, she didn’t like that she’d have to leave it with them the whole day and didn’t want to call and see if they’d give her a loaner if she brought it in the night before
To coin a phrase: the beater is in the eye of the beholder. I always thought of a beater as being a vehicle that still runs, but the owner doesn’t really care about it, and usually requires special instructions for someone else to operate it. My old Buick may be considered a beater. I rarely own anything that needs special instructions to operate, so I have a different method for myself to determine if one of my cars is a beater. If the door only closes partway, and I kick it to close it the rest of the way, it has become a beater in my stable.
The term can be used differently by others, though. Some people consider any car more than three years old or with more than 40k miles on it to be a beater. Others don’t have the luxury of owning such nice, new “beaters” I know some people who won’t leave town in a car that meets that criteria, so when it gets to that point, they trade it in for something new. Seems extravagant and wasteful to me.
An old car does not need to become a beater! I’ve seen cars that were over 30 years old and still used as reliable daily drivers.
A car becomes a beater if maintenance is neglected and body cosmetics are ignored. A very poor quality car also quickly becomes a beater as the owner gives up on keeping replacing things that should not break.
Some examples; Yugo, any Fiat, Hyundai Pony, all 1957 Chrysler products, most GM X cars (1980), early Hyundai Accents and Excels, Chevy Aveos, etc. These all become beaters at an early age.
On the other hand, I was camping in Washington state in 1985 and ran into a 1958 Mercedes 300, immaculately cared for by its owner, a retired Boeing aircraft mechanic. This car was in showroom condition.
Once had a coworker who said, “If someone tries to steal my car, I’ll help them jumper it.” I think that’s a pretty good definition of a beater.
Scrabbler
A beater is a car that runs fine but when you hit something, or someone hits you the ding, dent, or crunched head or taillight goes unrepaired.
A dented door that won’t open or close anymore is a beater level 1, where a dented door that still operates is level 2.
A broken taillight with that translucent red tape over it is level 2, but if there are wires hanging out it goes to level 1.
A trunk held down with a bungee cord is level 2. If there is no rear bumper and a crunched in trunk lid, level 1.
Constant blue smoke from the tailpipe is level 1.
Screeching brakes is level 2. Screehing brakes and bald tires is level 1.
Any window taped over with Saran Wrap due to missing glass, level 2. Any window covered with cardboard is level 1.
The same car on the side of the road for 5 days with a RED label on the driver’s door, level 1.
etc.
It becomes a beater the first time the owner decides that they are not going to this or that maintenance because the car is old.
If that’s the case, pretty much any leased car is a beater. Many of those never see oil changes or needed repairs of any kind, but that’s often because “it ain’t my car so it ain’t my problem”