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Do you drive a beater?

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Old 12-12-2007, 07:32 PM
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Do you drive a beater?

My car has given me a lot of grief ever since I bought it.
But i love the thing to death and am still amazed at how awesome and sexy it is even still after over a year of ownership.

So despite some little voices in my head, i've decided on keeping her till the wheels fall off.

Problem is, i want to keep her in good shape, and so want to drive her less.

Right now she is my daily driver and i rack up about 300km on an average week, maybe 200km on a good week, 400km if im busy.

So it's a lot of k's. I'm already at 50, 000km and want to start reducing the general wear and tear and delay the inevitable 60,000km service rort.

At my driving rate i won't last much more than half a year before i hit 60,000km.

Plus my car just seems to attract all manner of **** like hail, rear-enders while parked on my street, getting keyed etc.

So i thought i'd get a beater to drive for most of the k's, to park wantonly at Westfields and on side streets without fear of getting side-swiped.

I'd be looking at spending under $2k on the car with 3rd party insurance.
Petrol would go down, it could hail buckets and i could dance to the beat of the stones making dents in the bonnet.

What do you guys think?

Waste of money? Only problem i have is paying my premium on the 8 and not really driving it as often.
Old 12-12-2007, 08:24 PM
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The issue here is that we all enjoy driving our 8s.

I have a similar problem to you. I have done 40,000 kms in 2.5 years.

I am going to enjoy every minute of driving her to her grave, then I'm going to buy a new one.

Why limit your driving pleaseure to weekends only?
Old 12-12-2007, 09:11 PM
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Yeah i think economically i'm not sure if i can afford another car ATM with the promise of saved fuel and servicing costs later down the road.

I just hate sitting idle in traffic, 1st gear, 2nd gear, N, 1st gear, N, 1st, 2nd, N...

I enjoy driving her though, just not through traffic.

I'm looking into trying to fix up the centre console to be like the US one with room for a sat nav.

Kind of like Kunz's computer in there. Should ask him how he did it. Need more in-car entertainment for peak hour...
Old 12-12-2007, 11:21 PM
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Originally Posted by mogley
Yeah i think economically i'm not sure if i can afford another car ATM with the promise of saved fuel and servicing costs later down the road.

I just hate sitting idle in traffic, 1st gear, 2nd gear, N, 1st gear, N, 1st, 2nd, N...

I enjoy driving her though, just not through traffic.

I'm looking into trying to fix up the centre console to be like the US one with room for a sat nav.

Kind of like Kunz's computer in there. Should ask him how he did it. Need more in-car entertainment for peak hour...
I hear you ... I'm watching my odometer clock up by 10k every 4-6 months! Since 2004 I've done over 87k ... it's getting a better run than my other car, which saw me do over 150k in 5 years.

I've noticed that putting it in neutral and coasting uses more petrol than keeping it in gear in most cases. That said, I'm not too worried about petrol economy, but with the type travel I do I'm usually hovering around about 12L/100km depending on traffic conditions and stuff.
Old 12-13-2007, 02:15 AM
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Laugh all you want. My 8 is my daily drive (in fact it's my only car) and in almost 3 years i'm still short of 15k yes, fifteen thousand.
Old 12-13-2007, 03:48 AM
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Originally Posted by azzaboynt
Laugh all you want. My 8 is my daily drive (in fact it's my only car) and in almost 3 years i'm still short of 15k yes, fifteen thousand.
I did 10k a year and I thought no one can beat me
Old 12-13-2007, 03:16 PM
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Did just under 10,000 k's last year, and yes it is my daily driver. Averaging 13.5 L/100k, so it doesn't get treated with kid gloves After three years and approx 35,000 k's, still in love with it.

Other car is Golf GTI under lease so it does tend to get all the longer trips (gotta keep the K's up)
Old 12-13-2007, 03:49 PM
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It's not a collector item FFS!

Just drive it till it don't go any more (or you're sick of it or can afford a new one) and then sell it.

You'll hate driving the beater!
Old 12-14-2007, 05:49 PM
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A month shy of 4 years old and 106K on the clock. It drives as hard and strong as it ever has. I think the secret to long life is to not stress the drive train i.e: get it rolling before you plant your foot. And change your oil/filter on a regular basis.

Cheers... Otto
Old 12-15-2007, 02:46 AM
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At present, I'm doing 15k a year, which means the 6 monthly services are only 7.5k apart. Oil and filters are therefore changed before the specified interval. Cross fingers, it's running like the day I bought it.
Old 12-15-2007, 02:59 AM
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How do you define a beater? I've seen an NA1 MX-5 on sale for under 7k... that's certainly not a beater
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