[DDiSLover]

Brilliant thread! Our primary car has been an Innova, an SX4 and other cars in this segment over the years. Our beater cars have been Indicas, WagonRs and more recently, the old SX4

[BLACKBLADE]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

However, one common theme I see with most is that the ones with beater cars are typically joint families (either siblings staying together or parents-kids-grandkids). In these scenarios with a large group of people with varying needs, a beater car fits perfectly. And possibly even trims the garage by a car.

But for most nuclear families, the primary/secondary car ends up being the beater car. More of a one-size-fits-all kind of a situation.

Well Said! For a nuclear family owning a beater car doesn't make any sense, practically or economically. The car I own is my daily driver, my weekend getaway, my highway cruiser, my grocery shopper, my luxury ride, my status symbol my love and passion too ! By the way I own a Ford Figo 1.4. Covered 60K kms in 3 years of ownership. In a sense, the only car that I own is a beater car

[DCEite]

I find it a bit strange.

A beater car is bought to "protect" the main car from everyday wear and tear.

My question then is, what is the economical benefit if any, in terms of cost incurred for fixing wear and tear in the long term on the Main car, verses shelling $$$ to buy a "beater" car which would supposedly protect the main car ?

[vishy76]

Originally Posted by DCEite

I find it a bit strange.

A beater car is bought to "protect" the main car from everyday wear and tear.

My question then is, what is the economical benefit if any, in terms of cost incurred for fixing wear and tear in the long term on the Main car, verses shelling $$$ to buy a "beater" car which would supposedly protect the main car ?

It purely depends on the main car. If your main car isn't giving you $$$, then an uber or Ola will do.

However, in my case, my Jetta only does about 10-12 kmpl within city limits. Each service costs 14-15K and spare parts are both hard to come across and expensive.

The home ministry (mom) has calculated that the 5.3 Lakhs spent on the Kwid help us save at least 30 K per month, apart from reducing stress on the Jetta and unnecessary replacements of wear and tear parts. (Brake pads, suspension components etc.). A set of brake pads on the Jetta costs around 8-9 K and link rods are in the neighborhood of 7K again.

Not to forget, as the Jetta touches 1,00,000, it's cost of ownership will increase a bit as well. Components such as timing belt, water pump etc. will have to be replaced.

My dad gave me two choices:

- Downgrade the Jetta to a lower segment (A Honda City or a Ciaz)

- Buy a beater and keep the Jetta for long drives and highway runs

I picked the latter. The Kwid thus saved the Jetta in a way as well.

Regards,
Vishy

[blackwasp]

A different take. Though a nuclear family, we have a 2009 Spark as the beater car that came home exactly a year ago. Does about 500 kms a month, mostly hauling groceries, going in places with questionable parking or with valets, returns good FE in city and any dents and bruises are typically ignore-able.

On the other hand Abarth is out only when the traffic is less. Just yesterday, I did home-Oshiwara in 35 mins or so. In peak traffic, the same could easily take 3 hrs. Abarth is also the designated highway car.

We also use a mix of public transport buses and auto / app cabs. They offer a stress free travel during the peak hours.

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Originally Posted by DCEite

I find it a bit strange.

A beater car is bought to "protect" the main car from everyday wear and tear.

My question then is, what is the economical benefit if any, in terms of cost incurred for fixing wear and tear in the long term on the Main car, verses shelling $$$ to buy a "beater" car which would supposedly protect the main car ?

Well, it does make sense for people who have a high-end car and can't afford to use it on a daily basis and are afraid of scratching their car upon daily usage.

For example, suppose I have a 530d and my daily running is about 40-50kms in city. Using the 5'er, that too a 6-cylinder one in the city commute isn't something a guy in his senses would do. Also the abysmal FE that it gives is something bothersome which could be one of the reasons in the rise of the running costs. Not to forget the higher maintenance costs of a Beemer and more running would translate into more number of services.

So, we have a perfect recipe for bankruptcy, no?

In contrast, if I end up buying something like a City for my city runs, I'll be spending a lot less on its service, it's cheaper to run and is fun to drive as well. If you think that you have to spend some money for buying a new car as a beater, then you have all these advantages of lesser running costs, extended life period of your true love (it's not that you wouldn't love your beater!) and she remains free of blemishes as well.

Well, let me explain it even better. For example, more than 1-month of your salary goes to the Government as a form of tax, then you'd buy a property and take a loan for saving that taxes, no? But before doing so, you calculate the savings and then plunge for the purchase. Similarly, buy a beater which can help you save some bucks rather than bankrupting you again.


Varun

[androdev]

I don't clock much mileage so it hardly makes sense to buy a cheaper car to save fuel and maintenance costs of the larger car. But there are times one doesn't want to be seen in a fancy car or the parking scene is bad that it makes a case to have a smaller and less conspicuous car. With cars like Polo TSI offering decent amount of comfort, fun and practicality as a city car, one doesn't miss much to leave the luxury cars in the garage.

[Yieldway17]

As many have said here, a scooter/motorcycle and Uber/Ola serves the purpose of a beater car for me. Quick errand runs, going to places with no or limited parking, traffic heavy routes etc. are easily solved by using a two wheeler and a taxi for me. I mostly use my car only for commuting to work and for travel outside the city.

[Moto_Hill]

Excellent thread ! For folks like me who work and stay far from their native. Keeping four cars (2 at each place) isn’t economically practical. I have a i20 at my native place and Punto at my workplace. Poor souls have to play both roles

[raj981]

The coinage "beater car" though unknown, the concept has been used in my family for years. My Honda Jazz AT is what does this duty now. A very decent sized boot, loads of rear bench space and practicality thrown in makes a very good case for the beater car.
It drops and picks up kids from the school, takes them to various activities during week days. Does duty for my ageing aunts and courier services while distributing sweets to relatives spread all across Mumbai and Thane. Most importantly it is the go to car after a night of clubbing/boozing as wifey is more comfortable doing "designated driver" duty in it than driving the Sedan.
Of course there are a couple of motorcycles in the garage to do that short sting to the Sabzi wala or getting the Kheema and Mutton from the butcher when the driver is off duty on a sunday morning.

Missing my ghar ka Sindhi Khana (read Mutton Chawal) as i write this from Atlanta, GA!

[irdevanand]

Ah finally I got a word to justify my purchase of Polo as a second car in the family. We are blessed to have reliable paid drivers (acting drivers) bcos of the company I work for and that made the decision in favour of Ola vs polo. We call couple of hours in advance and they come right in. 500 rs for 5 hours. Hospital runs, temple runs, inter city all in all 7000kms in 7 months so far. I got it for around 6.4 lakhs or so. Paid in full. My other car city has done 15k in 2 years !!!

[84.monsoon]

A 4.5 year old Diesel Ecosport makes a perfect beater car for me. Needs to be serviced only once a year and service costs are really low, around 5K. Insurance costs around 9K per year. The machine has been very reliable so far, have had zero mechanical or electrical problems. The running is low, so the car is still on its original set of tires. Only thing I have had to replace is the battery, at the 4 year mark.

It is built like a tank, has all the safety features including 6 airbags, offers great visibility, can do a highway run very well if demanded of it (I generally don't use it for this purpose). A big bonus is that it seems to depreciate very less, purchased it for 10.8 Lacs on road in August 2013, and it still seems to hold a value of around 6 Lacs on OLX, after close to 5 years. Still looks fresh and people are lining up today to buy what is essentially an unchanged car, after the recent facelift.

[SPARKled]

My Figo 1.4 TDCi Titanium has now become my daily beater car since I got my Crysta 2.8G Auto. Love the 2.8 for all the comfort and power it offers but its too big for an everyday city and errands car. The Figo has done long distance highway cruising multiple times and that too real far and real fast all the way to Bhuj in the north and Banglore in the south without any issues and is equally at home on the streets of Mumbai. I sold off my Ritz Vdi this year as I hated its turbo lag in the city and the Figo which is a much more driveable car, has been extremely reliable with just regular servicing needed so far. Hope to extract another couple of years out of it or even more, even though there might be some potential suspension jobs as the next big ticket repair items, but I am fine with that as they just don't make cars like the old Figo anymore.

[bharatbits]

Have a Chev Beat, a Ford Classic and a Fiat Linea at home with dad driving the Ford and i the Fiat. All 3 diesel. Bought the Beat because i was staying in a different city 15 days a month. Now that i moved to the other city permanently i am planning to dispose the Beat.

My reasoning:
1. My guideline before buying any car was to see if i could take the car anywhere, anytime without thinking if it would be economical or worry about fuel and maintenance. I could have easily bought a car that would cost me twice as much as the Linea and then worry about putting mileage on it, maintenance costs, fuel expenses etc. Having gotten used to the comfort in the Linea i don't like travelling by the Beat anymore. So, if i think of retaining the Beat and using it as a 'beater' car the obvious question that would come to my mind is Can i not afford using the Linea for everything? The answer is 'Yes i can'.

2. I generally tend to keep my cars till the end of their life. So, even by modest estimates if i think Linea and Beat can last me 1.5 lakh kms each it would take me double the time to go for a new car.
(Assuming i do 30k kms a year, to use both the cars till end of life would take me 10 years since the running is now split. I would be more happy driving a newer car at end of 5 years). Not to mention the resale value of a 1.5 lakh km run Linea that's 5 years old and another that's 10 years old.

3. Upkeep of 2 cars, daily washing and cleaning, battery life etc all double your efforts, time and $$$. Like any other T Bhpian i keep my cars in top shape. Again the guiding principle is - if i have to suddenly make a trip to Bangalore from Hyderabad at 5am tomorrow morning my car will be ready. I should not have to worry about the tyres, alignment, heating issues or something as silly as a puncture or a bad stepney.

Hypothetically, if i were to buy a S class it would be when i can use it for anything, everything and everywhere. I am not into offroading and my usage is in cities and highways only.

Cars are complex machines and like any machine it's going to wear and tear with age. Better to extract the value out of the car while it's still young and sell it than to delay it's time with you and have a troublesome ownership in the second half of it's life.
The above may not apply to all. I am a 2 member family - wifey and me and the wifey doesn't drive nor has the time.

P.S For the rarer situations like where there's going to be narrow lanes, no parking spaces, servicing day every 15k kms we all have Uber.

[COMMUTER]

When we bought the Ameo 1.5, there was an opportunity to have the XETA as a beater for another 5 years. The fact that we got chump change for exchange was another incentive to do that. I decided against that because I valued the added safety of the Ameo to the XETA. Families choose to use the less safer car to their safest one for a lot of practical reasons.

I do believe that those reasons can be safely ignored.