[Nilesh5417]

Voted No.

Would I buy a beater car? No - an activa makes more sense in metro. Esp if you have a man friday running errands. And then there is always the Ola/Uber around the corner.

Would I keep an old yet perfectly running car as beater car? No - cause what-if it fails will always be a worry for me personally. And if I have 2 cars needed as primary cars in the household, I would rather have two later models. I do understand that trading-in an old yet working car won't bring me in much money but am not a DIY or FNG kinda guy.

And where is the parking for anything more than 2 cars even if I want to stick to a car for keeps.

[madrasilemon]

Being from a city where the single car parking space allotted to me in the apartment complex itself is a squeeze, I am not able to dream about the concept of a beater car. My Bolero takes me everywhere, for shopping, to office and the highway rides. Local trips (one or two kilometres around home) are always done on Motor cycle. Further, the concept of tighter parking spot in public places which necessitates a smaller beater car is in fact a myth. If your SUV does not fit in a tighter place, park few metres apart, walk down & complete the errands.

[samy1117]

Voted Yes.

I would like to have used Honda Jazz with all flat folding seats as a beater car for my family. Jazz ticks all the boxes. Loads of space to move the occasional big cargo around. Comparatively reliable with good mileage. I wouldn't go for small hatches like Alto, Swift, 800 as those do not serve the purpose with very limited cargo space.

[BraveArc]

No prizes for guessing which is the beater car here.


I definitely prefer to have a beater/everyday car. Not only does it keep the nicer cars in good shape but it also means I get to enjoy the nicer cars more as they feel special to drive.
This is how many km I've put on these cars since getting them:-
Jag (Feb 2018): 8700km
BMW (Dec 2018): 5500km
Duster (April 2019): 69000km

[karanddd]

A beater makes sense when the alternative is plain impractical, like a 2 door sports car with no back seats and no trunk space. If both cars are sedans or crossovers or whatever, i.e. roughly equal in terms of practicality, I'd simply pick the nicer one to drive every time.

[991.2GT3]

Voted Yes.

We've always had a beater car at home- currently on our second VW Polo, had the santro xing before that. Serves well for runabouts to tight markets and other household chores. Other cars feel special when driven and don't get too beaten up by rough use thanks to the Polo. Another bonus is that my beaters have always been petrol manuals so it feels too good to drive enthusiastically.

Off topic- but thinking of replacing the Polo with the THAR when the loan period ends!

[vikramvicky1984]

Voted yes, if one can afford ( time, money and parking space wise)

My beater car is actually the most expensive one I have: my innova- because I know it's always available for any use- going to baraats, parties, hauling stuff, airport transfers. I don't mind drivers using it- it handles abuse well. It never requires attention. Toyota takes good care of the car for little money.

But most importantly, It allows me the opportunity to buy and own cars like the cedia- which need time, money and can have a large downtime.

[ynike99]

Have just moved to a two car setup(One main and one beater), and I absolutely love that. Ignis does all city/market visits. No need to take out the bigger car out for that. Only pre requisite is that you should have good parking space as well.

[sai_ace]

Never Planned for a beater car, but my then girlfriend and now wife had her own car - an A-Star and that car post marriage has become a beater car. As she learnt to drive in it, it came with a lot of battle scars. Got the car fixed - removed the dents and painted a couple of doors. But this time I was clear the black bumpers are going to remain as such. A biker ensured that he took off one of the wheel caps and I threw out the rest 3. Love this look. And the car is a boon in city traffic.

Regarding the decision on leaving the bumpers unpainted - below is a short story in pictures.

















A collision with a biker led to a dislodged and torn bumper. Placed an order for bumper at the local MASS. The bumper came the next day. Total damage to the wallet - Rs2500 (1950 Bumper, 60 for holder and 400 for Fitment).

Yes it was a damage to my wallet, but glad it was limited to just that much.

While I cant completely call it 'beater' car (I love the car way too much to do that), I prefer to call it a small car for all city duties.

[Bibendum90949]

Voted a treble YES !

Story of my beater car Omni in Vishy76's thread. Guess i've taken the concept of 'beater' car a little too far

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post4793526 (Beater Cars: The unsung heroes! And advantages of owning one)

[swiftnfurious]

In a metro, unless you have the luxury of parking, doesnt make sense for a beater car. I struggle to find a closed parking for my Fiesta, so no way I'll get a beater in addition. In my native, we have abundant parking space, but there is no need of a beater car as traffic and parking is manageable.

On the other hand, I'd look at 2 bikes, one for City and one for the highways. Parking can be a little bit of hassle (depending on the cost of bike) but much more manageable than 4 wheelers.

PS:: In 2008, when I was working with Dell, I had a senior manager who'd come to office in an M800. I was so curious once I asked him he doesn't consider car as a luxury? He said, he has a Ford Ikon as well, the M800 is for city - he had the vision long long before anyone ilof us probably thought.

[WhiteSierra]

Voted YES! We always owned bigger cars like SUVs and MUVs. Back in 90s, along with Sierras, Estate and Premier Padmini, we had a beater scooter (our Kinetic Honda), which my driver used to use it for local errands, carrying lunch to my doctor parents to their hospitals, and other stuff.

Fast forward, post 2008, the kinetic honda completely died on us, so our these big diesel cars are used for everything right from grocery shopping in our colony to shopping for different things in congested lanes in the city. They used to idle a lot and used to consume lot of diesel for these local errands. In 2016, we bought a pre-owned 2012 November Wagon-R LXI CNG as a city beater car and in 2017 we bought a city beater scooter a Yamaha Fascino. (My Yamaha Fascino Review - Story of turning a lemon to lemonade)

Wagon-R served us well in the last 4 years not just for running local errands but also became a daily driver when Innova was taken to other city for couple of months by my brother. Wagon-R also took us on a couple of highway drives (inspired by Parag sir's tall boy thread).

I've shared a mini-review of our beater car, the Wagon-R CNG here. (Maruti WagonR CNG 3 lakh sales up!)
Please check it out!




Also I can adjust my OVRM like this without damaging it or feeling worried. Advantage of a cheap beater car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmzvIpBP2FM

[KrisTvpm]

Voted Yes.

Never had plans to have a "beater" car, or for that matter even a second car. But after getting the Ecosport at end of 2015, had to look for a second car for wifey as she wasn't quite comfortable moving from i10 to Ecosport.

Thus got the 2nd hand Nano in 2017 (a 11.5k done 2015 model Twist), and she was quite comfortable using it for her daily chores - leaving kids to tuition, picking up groceries, other odd jobs.

After an year or so, kids didn't need dropping to tuition as they prefer to cycle down and groceries etc. moved on to online ordering - Nano suddenly became jobless!

Selling it didn't look a wise option, as there'll be considerable depreciation/loss. Hence decided to keep it and use it once in a while. Couldn't believe I'd like that car so much, started relying on this one instead of Ecosport for my once-a-week office trips and all occasional errands that I had to travel alone, for which bike was relied upon.

Now Ecosport is "relegated" to strictly only for long drives or family outings, and for all other purposes it's the Nano - such a practical city car that now I'm lazy to even think of using the bike. No hassle of carrying the backpack/bag on shoulders/mobile precariously kept in pant pockets that may fall down (as happened before) /helmet/gloves/mask (btw, was a bit of a health freak so used mask always while riding bike, even before covid times).

Pandemic-induced lockdown happened and now both the cars are more or less jobless, just sitting in the garage. Even now, for any odd errands that I've to go alone - be it bank/minor purchases/odd jobs - Nano is the preferred one! The cute bug for me in one word - PRACTICAL!

And a pluspoint : no heartburns even if it's slightly scratched / the reckless biker pushes its RVMs by an unsolicited 90degrees ;-)

[torquecurve]

Currently we have a Manza (1.4FIRE) and two Nano’s (Manual and Automatic) gracing our parking. The Manza replaced the Superb for long runs (and I can call upon a Hexa if needed). The Nanos are beaters in the literal sense. The XTA Nano with super light steering and almost anywhere parking can go to most places a two wheeler can!

[Breathe2drive]

My beater car is an Alto K10 and my highway and weekend drive is a Honda City.

This beater car serves me very well when squeezing through narrow lanes and busy traffic and parking at really tight spots. Moreover, it doesn't bother me much when a biker brushes it or when it has scratches, which are common in the metros.

Also, I'm able to maintain my City much better as it has limited usage and I can give it the preferential treatment I want.

Moreover, as my daily drive is the beater, it always feel special when I drive the City, which would not have been the case had it been the only car.