[BoneCollector]

Voted Yes.

My Wagon R serves as the beater car. Since last 15 years, we've had 2 cars in household, one for daily driving and city car, another for outstation trips. Earlier, we had hatchbacks for both the duties but now Brezza does the outstation and highway trips since last 4 and half years.

My city is a tier 3 city with narrow to narrower bylanes. Taking Brezza to such spots would be a pain. Wagon R fits the bill perfectly. It's already nearing 9 years and needs suspension overhaul as it travels across not so good roads. We intend to keep it for another few years. It fits into tight parking spots, small lanes, basically everywhere. Although it's replacement would be another new car but of similar or smaller dimensions as we prefer new cars than second hand ones.

[architect_santo]

I feel its good to have a beater car, we have a 2013 Amaze and a 2017 S Cross. Did not plan buying on a beater car, but when we needed another car at family for my work, the previous one ended up as a beater.

I prefer taking the Amaze within the town and the S Cross to outskirts. My wife drives the Amaze for her office which is in the town. My work requires me to frequent highway trips, for which S Cross helps with its Crossover design.

Amaze being made of the Brio's platform, its convenient to drive within the town, and we don't bother the scratches and fender benders either, we just keep the car mechanically sound.

[1.2TSI7DSG]

While we are looking for a new car, the sensible choice would be an Endeavour. However, if we do go for it, I will surely retain my GT TSI for the daily drive.

[vivek_lm]

Voted NO.

Reasons:

1. To begin with, I hate driving in a city like Bangalore, period. I'd happily opt for company transport any day over self-driving to office.
2. Even for weekend trips, Ola/Uber makes much more sense than enduring the pain of driving in Bangalore traffic! Haven't done any math but I just feel that this makes more economical sense than owning a second car.
3. Extra parking slot is another BIG concern if you are in middle class neighborhoods.
4. If the car itself is not comfortable (w.r.t ride, seats, etc.), then that just makes matters worse according to me (while booking Ola/Uber I make it a point to get cars with comfortable rides as much as possible: Etios > Logan/Verito > Dzire).

[groom]

I want to vote - Considering after reading and getting inspired by this thread. 😊

[auxsend]

Originally Posted by rahul_kej

That's my 20 year old beater car. Does it's city duties pretty well and touchwood never left me stranded on road any day. Though the mileage is only 1 lac km which is pretty less seeing it's age but yes since last 6 years it's not seeing much of kms due to short city runs.

Trying to keep it mechanically fit as much as possible. Have no intentions to sell it in near future. I procure it's parts mostly from Delhi or through online portals.

Have done lot of road trips in this car including Bhutan road trip and many more hills drive too. Since last 6 years the airport runs and my road trips are handled by xuv, since then lancer is doing it's city run pretty well.

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Great to see a Lancer in the beater thread. Definitely a reliable car. Makes me wish i hadn't sold mine.

[Nitronium]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Voted NO.

I love the idea of a beater, and truth be told they do most of the running at home leaving the Germans for the fun drives.
Bad roads, tight parking, airport runs, running errands, etc. they're perfect and I try to pamper them as much with high quality replacement parts (tyres, lights, battery etc.) and detailing.

However would I buy one used? Truth be told its a tough question and I would have to say NO for the following reasons:
1) Very few cars NEW meet my safety requirements, in the pre-owned segment this reduces even more as Airbags & ABS are not necessarily standard equipment on older cars
2) Popular cars see minimal reduction in price - look at a swift, i20, etc.
3) Entry level hatchbacks are often used by newer drivers and see a fair amount of abuse
4) Brands that I would like to buy new - such as Tata, Mahindra for their incredible jump in quality & safety - I don't have the same comfort buying them used as they aren't reliable cars and I am not sure how the owners took car of the ride given most people associate these brands with more utilitarian vehicles.
Same for Skoda / VW especially if it's a DSG!

That being said, there are a few cars meeting my criteria that I would love to explore - Yaris, Corolla, etc.

Couldn't agree more with point 1. Beater cars by definition of this thread are either small, old or heavily run with a potentially sketchy servicing past

Given the average urban speed is only going to go up and our daily errand runs may not typically just be around the corner from our houses, I'd have problems transporting my family around in the off chance there's an accident. I'd rather buy from a segment above the Alto/Wagon R and not become a crumple zone myself!

[maddy42]

Voted for a strong Yes! When a car is the second most expensive item after a house in a majority of folks life, it makes no sense to let one go away quick to just get a flashy new ride in the garage.

We run a farm so have the old jeeps (International, 540) doing the beater duty and the bolero exchanging hands between my brother and myself as a mode of transportation. Every 7-8 years we do a overhaul of the jeeps which extends their life by another decade. International is a 91 model and the 540 is a 95 make. Bolero is a 2003 model. Keep them running and maintain them well and they will take care of you.



Maddy

[sgm]

Voted Yes.

A reliable, "fill it, shut it, forget it", car is essential for city life. Parking woes are my major worry while doing daily errands, so a small footprint, a petrol beater car is a great help for those quick and short trips. If you are not living in a congested Urban jungle, keeping a beater may not a good idea.

[Napalm]

I only have a single compact car right now. But in a few years when I upgrade to a larger car (mostly second-hand) like a a Harrier, XUV5OO or one of upcoming VW/Skoda SUVs) which may be very inconvenient to drive/park in cities due to their size, I plan to buy a second-hand 4 star rated Tiago-AMT or HBX if it gets a 5 star GNCAP safety rating. It will be perfect sized automatic for city runabouts with a good safety rating.

I feel the 2nd-hand car market should mature more in India like the western/developed countries. A 2nd-hand car is a much better/economical investment than buying a new car specially if there is a proper manufacturer warranty on it.

[vsathyap]

Yes - Absolutely! My humble Alto K10 AMT is the beater car for all the city driving and the goto vehicle for quick hops and trips. Being an automatic (AMT nevertheless), it gets picked 9 out of 10 times for any outings within the city. Given the addicting high revving thrum of the 3 pot K10 engine, its a sprightly machine - and is always ready to go. The Honda spends most weekdays in a covered Garage while the Alto spends weekdays around the (erstwhile, pre Covid era) bustling roads of Namma BengaLuru. Its the other way around during weekends, unless we are visiting crowded places and parking is hard to find.

The Honda City has seen most of its miles on the highways. Frankly speaking, the "City" has been our highway car and the Alto has been our "City" car (Pun Intended!)

Came across this rare photo of both cars in the same frame and thought I'd share it here! Although the Alto is a beater, its been taken care of quite well and has received more or less the same amount of pampering like the City, with Quartz treatments and frequent DIY detailing sessions at home.

[sumeethaldankar]

Beater car means having more than one parking spot which in congested cities like Mumbai is just . So no even though I would love to have more than one car it would not be practical to care for and park a second car especially if you are the lone person blessed with driving skills in the family. Best for those occasional short trips (in a non-pandemic situation) to haul oneself in the rick/Uber etc.

[turbowhistle]

Voted Yes,

We somehow never bought a car particularly as a beater but the old car automatically became the beater when I got another set of wheels.

When we got the i20, Getz became the beater automatically and it was used to hauling stuff or lending it to friends. We never needed two cars that time honestly and got rid of it after a year when it started requiring major maintenance.



Same happened with i20 when we got the Duster as Duster was a pre-owned example and needed a lot of work in the first six month so visited my FNG very frequently. We could not sell the car and even after Duster was fixed, we felt like keeping it for the rainy day Was a good decision in the end as when I left India, it was easier to get rid of Duster and keep using i20 as it did not require much maintenance.

[svsantosh]

My daily driver, a humble 6 year Chevy Sail UVA Tcdi has seen over 1.6Lac kms and still going strong. Does over 3-4K kms every month and I intend to cross 2Lac kms surely and then decide what to do with her.

Roadside mechanic, personally supervised oil changes and brake jobs, amazon and boodmo for spares and oil and filters have made car ownership a bike-like affair. Have played around with the mechanicals a bit too and learnt a bit.

It was my primary family car, now a kwid AMT has taken over the primary duty because its easier to drive around city and its quieter and petrol smooth to drive around. We dont have a need for a sedan or a suv for now.

[ads11]

Absolutely yes for our family. Ever since we moved back to India we've always had a beater car in the family. Starting with mum's first car (WNC reg Maruti 800); to a Mk1 Santro; followed by a Ford Ikon and now my car, our 2007 Santro Xing.
Out of all our cars, the humble little Santro is particularly beloved, especially for me. It's the one car of ours that has never let us down. It's absolutely spartan but it's the car that none of us have any worry about when lending it for family occasions (be it weddings or funerals, etc) when we know it'll be used by outside chauffeurs (mum, dad & I are very much self driver advocates).
Over the years the Santro is usually parked outside the house and it's collected a whole host of predictable dings and bumps from when it's been used by those other drivers, but nowadays I delight in being able to go anywhere, however rough it is, with the car and not have to worry about it. If aggressive drivers pressure me, I often chuckle considering how dearer the damage would be to them than for my humble little car.
I must admit with new emissions norms etc coming forward, I'm not sure what would be our beater car, and I fully understand that my family are in a privileged position of affording an extra beater car that might be used sparingly even. I also understand that in crowded cities parking is an issue, again we're in a lucky position that way, it's clearly not environmentally the best policy to just have a car like that lying around. That being said, it's just so enormously convenient to have one, if you can afford it, it's an indulgent no brainer.