Going topless on a warm, sunny day with an ample quantity of torque to keep you pressed into your seat is something most beaters don’t provide.
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Which is why we name them…
If you can wrench it yourself, that’s half the battle. If it’s a fairly common model, the aftermarket is the other half. Otherwise:
“OEM fuel pump: $1700!?! That’s worth more than the car!”
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Most models had the design fixed in ‘05.
You really have to fuck up a manual transmission design to make it unreliable when mated up to:
- Low weight
- Low torque
ETA:
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True dat - just replaced the clutch on the Acura for the first time this past spring at 18 years of age. Mr. Kidd and the secondary mechanic at the dealership have been claiming for the better part of 10 years that it needing replacing. Meanwhile, the primary mechanic never said boo about it, probably because the clutch has had the same feel since year 4. 
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The inverse of that is the 2005-2009 Suabaru Outback XT. 280 ft.lbs. torque and 3500 lbs. Clutch replacement is required more often than brake pads. 
Of course, it helps if you’re not training new drivers on how to drive a manual…
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Damn you yanks with your lack of annual vehicle inspections!
Having to get my car through an MoT test every year somewhat limits how crap my car can get, but this year they fucked up and postponed mine for six months (because no garages were open to do the test), which means now my little Peugeot 206 has now gone one and a half years with zero maintenance, and is unlikely to pass without some expenditure.
I think I’m going to miss it when it’s gone. It’s only nineteen years old, and although it has dents on every panel, and rust on half of them, it’s never actually broken down for me. It’s basically a little French cockroach.
Also, it’s got a lovely healthy coating of moss and lichen:
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Yes, they do. My second Scion xB was a red one.
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100% correct. When I still lived in Maine, I had a Suburu with on demand 4-wheel driver, and it was a hell of a beater car. A few months shy of needing bondo given the rust, but never had any mechanical problems with it or trouble in the snow.
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Actually depending on the age of the car, it does get yearly emission tests in most states, if that’s what you mean. I live in a red state, and it’s yearly here, so I assume states like California have stricter requirements. Some cars are exempt here though (anything that qualifies as a classic car and very new cars, and obviously, electric cars).
But other than that, I keep up on my maintenance outside of that (oil changes, tire rotates, etc), because that ensures that any problems get caught before hand.
What does the year inspection consist of where you are?
I love that little moss collection!
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One of the fun storylines from Better Call Saul was his complicated relationship with his Suzuki Esteem.
“It’s just little old me in my little old Suzuki Esteem. And there has never been more than 50 bucks in an Esteem in the history of Esteems. So, no one’s gonna look at me twice.”
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And THAT’S why most Germans don’t know the joys of beater cars. Sure, they may be much safer on the road while spewing less pollution into the air than Americans, but is it really worth it? I pity them, really.
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There are lots of beater cars on German roads, and I can proudly say that I have done my bit to make it so. It’s just that they meet the absolute minimum of safety standards, most of which benefit other road users.
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I liked the part in season 2 where he left his lucrative job with the company car and started driving this one again.
Kim: “I see you got your old car back.”
Jimmy: “Yeah, the kidney people wouldn’t take it.”
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Another vote for used Lexus. You want fast, cheap, comfy and reliable? The answer is well-used Lexus.
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Ok, I’ll have to take your word for it, but some of the details in the Jalopnik article I linked to do make it sound like a real ordeal. If David Tracy spent over a month preparing his minivan for inspection (with the support of skilled mechanics) and still failed miserably, I think many of us wouldn’t stand a chance.
Edit to add: I spent a little time in Germany and didn’t notice a lot of old beaters, but I wasn’t exactly looking for them either. I guess it’s all relative. The average age of a car on German roads is 6.8 years, which is slightly newer than some of its neighboring countries but not a huge outlier for Europe. The average age of a car on American roads is 11.9 years, so we really do have a lot more old beaters stateside, for better and for worse.
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That’s cos he lives in Michigan and is notorious for exclusively owning horrible shitboxes, even by Michigander standards. If you showed him a rust-free corolla, it’d be like the apes in 2001 being confronted by the black monolith, bless him
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The short answer would be, emissions and safety equipment, but it depends on the age of the car and what equipment it left the factory with. There’s a full list here. Newer cars have more stringent tests.
As far as I can tell, it’s less rigorous than Germany’s TUV, but roughly in line with the rest of Europe…
(It’s still known as an “MoT test”, despite the Ministry for Transport being renamed fifty years ago)
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Cool! Thanks!
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I had to look up what’s covered in PA, because I’ve seen stuff on the roads here that never would’ve passed in NJ. I mean, plastic bags in place of windows, non-functioning doors, bumpers about to fall off, etc.:
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