Beater Cars

[Bill in San Jose]

Originally Posted by Brickboy240

My favorite beater car?

Easy...the Volvo 240!

The "chick magnet" as my son called it in high school?



My Dodge RAM (12 mpg) sits in the driveway, and I drive the '91 240 wagon we 'kept' for the kids to drive through high school and afterwards as a back-up car.

242,000 dependable miles, and the engine is just starting to break-in! I did rebuild the tranny at around 180k I think. The rubber is wearing out- window trim, body trim, and the bushings on the suspension arms with age, but the little machine keeps on running!

I was getting 20 mpg around town. Did a tune-up. Airfilter was filthy, plug wires were old, one was down to a single copper strand to the plug boot. One plug's metal top came off when I pulled the boot. New NGK plugs. New Bosch wires. New rotor and distributor cap.

After? 21 mpg around town. The car will continue running, well on 2.5 cylinders I'm convinced.

While it takes a little time to get there, I find myself cruising at 75-80 on the freeways with it, it drives that smooth.

If I needed another commuter car, I'd be on craigslist (or crazedlist.org to search multiple craigslist locations at the same time) daily looking for a bargain.

[Brickboy240]

Yep...Bill...my sedan is a 91, too.

The wife used to drive it as her daily driver. Then, as it got around 230k on the clock, we found a deal on a slightly used 03 S-40 Volvo and were thinking of trading the 91 240 in, but they would not give us diddly squat for it. Well...I decided I'd keep it as a back-up and sell it off, when I had time. I could probably get more than on trade in...they always screw you on that.

As time went by and gas got higher and higher...I just decided to keep the old 240 and fix the few things wrong with it, like new shocks and brakes. I did those myself in my spare time with parts bought online.

Glad I kept the old 240! With gas around 4 bucks a gallon and my 05 Tundra getting maybe 14-16mpg...I drive the 240 to work most of the time. It gets around 22mpg in the city and 27 on the highway.

They're the Glock of the auto world: boxy and utilitarian but utterly dependable and might run forever.

I'd buy another Volvo 240 or 740 in a heartbeat!

- brickboy240

PS: I will say that I was leery of buying the wife's new fangled FWD S-40, but it now has 107k on the clock and all I have done to it is tires and brakes....apparently Volvo's dependability applies to their newer cars as well.

[tjg4]

to save money during our oil crisis my neighbor bought a 1992 Geo Metro for $200 and it gets 40 MPG. That's a beater for ya.

[jshu0949]

My uncle has a 2005 Saab sedan and that thing is a blast to drive. Looks like there are about 8 Volvo's within 40 miles of me on CL, not many old Saabs though. I'll have to go drive one of those Volvos.

[Bill in San Jose]

I've considered buying a 240 wagon with a better looking body than mine has that has a blown engine/tranny cheap on CL, and moving the engine/tranny over, cannibalizing the rest for future spare parts, and then junking what's left. Then common sense overtakes me and I get into the 240 and start it up.

I've put the rear seat down, driven to the Sierras, gone up logging roads and mule deer camped and hunted out of it a couple of weekends before I bought my pickup.

[Barbarossa]

Originally Posted by Bill in San Jose

The "chick magnet" as my son called it in high school?

Chico State Alum?

[oldfart]

Best beater I ever owned......too bad it didn't come with a trailer for the boat but WTF, just improvise. I used to put that sucker on and off by myself.

Other than the 55, I had a 68 that would clear 3 lanes when you hit the on ramp - no one wanted to be near it. (too much smoke but it was only $300 and it only smoked if you got your foot in it) As for the new stuff, I am an old fart, I don't have a clue these days!

[billbrasky]

out the word out to friends family co workers, and put a wanted add on craigs list. Dont be in a hurry. I have bougth two vehicles for $500 and one for $1000 i would have driven them anywhere. At the $1000 range go for low rust, somethign worth putting money into, hoepfully somehting of a known history from a friend co worker, or one degree of seperation. Like say your uncles neighbor etc and he vouches that the guy is p8icky about his cars, this car is just old etc. Thats the car you want, dont bother looking for a particular make at $1000, youll look for ever. There are lots of good choices depending on needs. I would find stuf fyou think is doable, then post up, and ask the car gurus if there are any problems that plauge said model. Like say crappy trans on many fwd chrylsers, craked exhaust manifolds on jeeps, leaky main seal on jeeps etc. There is a decent cumulative car knowledge base on this site .... for not being a car site. Post up contenders you find on craigs list, ask what to look for interms of problems and then go test drive.

[billbrasky]

Originally Posted by Bill in San Jose

I've considered buying a 240 wagon with a better looking body than mine has that has a blown engine/tranny cheap on CL, and moving the engine/tranny over, cannibalizing the rest for future spare parts, and then junking what's left. Then common sense overtakes me and I get into the 240 and start it up.

I've put the rear seat down, driven to the Sierras, gone up logging roads and mule deer camped and hunted out of it a couple of weekends before I bought my pickup.

or drop in a small block chevy and a 700r4 or 4L60E.

[billbrasky]

Originally Posted by rockerz71

After reading Brickboy's posts I have a lot more respect for my mom's '89 240DL wagon

a 240 is cool in a homnely vw van soprta way, except you can make it up hill and not die in a front end collision, and have heat in the winter (air cooled vw engine for the non car guys).

240s are tanks, wagons are cool to me, i like wagons and hatchbacks, especially if its a beater. Dont get me wronf i would preder a mid engine 2 seat sports car for cool, but its practical cool. Like a swiss army knife. RWD for the win. I have a jeep and in the city and burbs on paved roads i hardly ever needed 4wd even in hill country of kalamazoo or ann arbor. FWD is highly overated, properly infalted tires, or a second set oc steelie rims on snow tires in a RWD car are very equal or superior to a FWD with 60/40 weight distribtion and all seasons.

If you have a 240 with a roof rack, think thule for the flat cross bars and flat stock steel not the tube of a yakima rack, you can carry 4x8s on the roof, and darn near anythign inside that would fit in a pick up truck.

I dont get the "Cross over"craze. REAL wagons are where its at, give me a GM b body with an LT1 wagon, a 240 Wagon, even an accord wagon over most of todays needlessly high heavy and costly "cross over" that has no offroad ability, handles like crap, is weighty and fuel thristy. Hell none of them carry any more than my jeep, and with some skid plates and a rear locker a $1,500 jeep cherokee can go anywhere ....... and every cross over can get left in the dust by an accord wagon, or just ruined by a LT1 gm b body (caprice, olds cruiser wagon etc). I laugh at cross over buyer that think their car is cool, cause its not a wagon like their mom had in the 60s or 70s, but its more senseible than a real SUV. Crap, they are fat heavy poor handling high cars, that cant do what suvs do, or what a wagons does, they are the worst of both worlds. REAL wagons are cool

I kinda want a tricked out vista cruiser byt he way.