Beaters

[Bob in St. Louis]

I love that '71 Chevy.
Someday.....

[clodhopper]

My best beater was a 97 Saturn wagon. Bought it with 68,000 miles, and squealing belt tensioner.
Yeah it needed the usual, batteries, put in an alternator, clutch at 225,000, radiator, tires.
Thought it was going to 500,000, but just shy or 300thou the idiot driving (me) dumped it into second at 55. The motor seized. That car gave plenty of good travel for the expense.

Two years later, just a few days ago, got a 2002 Saturn coupe with the same motor and tranny as the ole wagon, 124,000 miles, new windshield, body almost perfect but a couple paint scratches.

Drove it 1250 miles to Cheyenne and back with the cruise set at 80, 31 mpg.
I just love the plastic body with no rust, stainless exhaust and five speed manual. 1.9L sixteen valve four cylinder is plenty motor.

Good ole Montana, you can buy a permeant license for vehicles past depreciation, (8 years) going to cost me about 150 bucks. And never have to buy license plates again for as long as I own the car.
For people with new vehicles the licensing fees are extravagant, my wife bought a used 2002 jeep liberty in 2005, the first year she had it, the license plates cost $1,500, the price slowly shrinks until the ninth license year when you reach the minimum fee. Pay double the minimum fee for permanent plates.
No restrictions, except the age of the vehicle.

Thanks to all my fellow citizens who drive 50,000 dollar vehicles, and keep my county commissioners well funded.

[30calflash]

In Montana, if a vehicle is over ten years old, you pay a one time fee to license it, and then you pay nothing else for as long as you can keep it running. It seems the fee ran around $120 on my vehicles.

Any other states do this?

Not a bad deal on your end, wish it was that way here in Ct.

In Ct. you pay annual property taxes on it, renew registration every 2 years and pay for emissions testing every two years also. If it doesn't pass testing you have to fix it, if late for testing a late fee. Registration void if it doesn't pass the inspection.

In some towns, when it gets older some smarta** tax collector wants to charge the going rate for a restored antique vehicle.

When you get rid of it you have to show that you turned the plates, transferred to another car or sold it. If not or they will continue to tax you on it until you can prove you have disposed of the vehicle.

Socialism at it's finest!

[starmac]

IN Alaska, it cost 25 bucks extra for a lifetime license, IF you ask them too, I have noticed they do not mention it unless you ask.

[bikerbeans]

Come to think about it, it was a 2.8.
My wife says my memory is slipping.

My mind slips as well and I have had my bands adjusted.


BB

[paul h]

In Montana, if a vehicle is over ten years old, you pay a one time fee to license it, and then you pay nothing else for as long as you can keep it running. It seems the fee ran around $120 on my vehicles.

Any other states do this?

Alaska has proposed such a law, not sure where they are at with it. I'd certainly like to get permanent registration on boats and trailers. It's hard to keep up with all the stuff you need to register, would be nice if you could do it once and be done with it.

[starmac]

Paul, Alaska has it for vehicles ten years old or older. Like I said you have to ask for it, they will not mention it at the dmv, at least thye have never mentioned it to me.
The only restriction is you can not use the vehicle for any commercial purpose, and the tags do not g with the vehicle like regular tags when sold.

[MaryB]

I wish! My 2001 F-150 costs me $60 a year to license!

In Montana, if a vehicle is over ten years old, you pay a one time fee to license it, and then you pay nothing else for as long as you can keep it running. It seems the fee ran around $120 on my vehicles.

Any other states do this?

[Plate plinker]

Michigan has permanent trailer plates.

[jcwit]

The vehicle that cost me the least was far from being a "beater", it was a 72 corvette. I kept records for everything it cost me to own it, insurance, plates, oil & filter changes, everything, kept it for 5/6 years, sold it for just over what it cost me and what it cost me to own it for all the years to own it. In short, it never cost me a penny to own it.

[Bullwolf]

My beater stories.

My 1992 V6 black short bed Toyota 4x4 truck currently has 363K miles on the odometer. The head gaskets have been done once so far.



Guess it qualifies as a beater. I use it on the Ranch to do stuff like moving stumps off the road, cut and move firewood with it and so on. I also have a lifted up 1988 Toyota 4x4 with the 4 cylinder 22RE fuel injected motor with a long bed, and less miles (180K) on the odometer. I use the long bed truck for moving sheets of plywood, sheetrock, concrete board, or when I need to haul a bit more of something. The lifted 1988 Longbed Toyota 4x4 sits un-driven for long periods, and doesn't get driven nearly much as my black 1992 Toyota does.

Had 240K miles on the ex wife's 1982 4 cylinder single carb 22R Toyota 4x4 truck, before she got rid of it for an SUV. Was nothing wrong with the truck at all. Really should have kept it, but she wanted a SUV, so she got a SUV. Replaced the Toyota 4x4 with a Mitsubishi Montero, and she had nothing but problems with it.

I put 188K miles on my old 1983 Toyota 22R 4x4, mostly doing pickups and deliveries for work, and driving back and forth commuting from the Ranch. When I sold the truck, the gentleman who wanted to purchase it handed me a compression gauge and asked me do a compression test on the engine. Each cylinder ran around 180 PSI during the check which surprised me. It was a great truck, but it had issues with the fusable links. I had to replace them twice while I owned it. The headlights would turn off at night on me, then come back on after a time when they cooled down. I ended up running accessory fog lights on a separate circuit, because the headlights went off often enough to make me uncomfortable. I was constantly replacing upper and lower radiator hoses on the truck as well, though I never overheated it. The guys at the radiator shop knew me pretty well from constantly replacing cores, since I lived off road. That was more my fault due to where I lived, and the terrain I drove on than the trucks though.

Those Toyota 22R 4 cylinder engines will run darn near forever if you don't overheat them. My uncle took over my Grandmother's 1984 Toyota standard pickup after she passed. It had the 4 cylinder 22R motor. He drove it to work into Reno daily until the body completely rusted off the truck. He went over 400K miles before that happened, but it did get a replacement motor somewhere around 280-300K.

Last one is for the Ford people out there. Purchased a friends used 1995 Ford Explorer that already had over 200K miles on the odometer, mostly from him commuting to and from work. Took it to 248K miles. May have been a few more miles than that actually, but the trip odometer broke at 248k. Just got rid of that 95 Ford Explorer this year. It was a bit rough around the edges trim and paint wise, but the motor still ran strong and never let us down. Only things I replaced while driving it (other than tires) were a serpentine belt idler pulley, and the battery and terminals after the first couple years. Those older Ford Explorers will run for quite a while with a little bit of maintenance.



- Bullwolf