On mobile so format isn't the greatest.
I got a beater, 1300$ 2000 civic 150k. NYC area.
Car has 3 small rust spots on the side and very little rust on the bottom.
Here's my experience and cost.
Ran good for 3 months and broke down Issue:
alternator-$120 , 4 hours of going along with a YouTube video later it was fixed.(my first time working on a car and had to get the hang of things, i changed alternators again in my brothers same Civic and only took me 1.5 hours) while i was changing the alternator i changed the belts too so i totaled $150.
Engine mounts -$25
Exhaust has rotted beyond repair and was loud. i was embarrassed to drive it so i had to change it, $150 later i had a new stock exhaust, gaskets, and sealer. 3 hours later and i was done.
Oil pan wouldn't unscrew so i just changed it, 90$ for pan gasket and sealer. 2 hours of labor and done.
I purchased a set it rotors, breaks and calipers for around $120 and have yet to install them.
Those are the main issues I've had and here's my cost and real cost total.
Cost-
Car-1300
Alternator and belts-$150
mounts -$25
exhaust-$150
oil pan-$90
breaks-$120
TOTAL-$1735
Ive had the car for over a year and it runs perfect and I put around 15k miles into it. Love it. 25$ a week and I'm set on gas. I see $1000 -$2000 Civic all the time on Facebook market they're not unicorns.
Now time for the real cost- I had to buy the tools to work on it since I had none and have no mechanic experience. Harbor freight is basically heaven.
Sockets -25$(honestly you just need a short and long 8mm/10mm/14mm for 95% of the things i did)
socket extenders- $8
jack and jack stands- $150
wrench and breaker bar-$35
torque wrench- $30
gloves-$5
electric socket wrench-$85 (you do not need this it was just on sale and I got it later near the time i did my exhaust to make life easier and it honestly did)
goggles-$4
crappy jeans and sweatshirt from Goodwill-$10
TOTAL $352
hours of labor- 9 hours.
hours of research- I'd estimate 4 hours.
Real cost total- $2087
Note- With a beater car you are almost expected to do some work yourself and you HAVE to put some of your car budget for tools. Mechanics wanted to charge me $350+ for each of the things i listed and if you can afford that then great, but i couldn't.
PROS- You will learn about cars and you will feel more comfortable fixing just about anything with your car, is cheap and honestly fun.
Cons- -Will require time and tools to fix the car. -Something might happen anytime since it's a car from 2000 - you will spend more time on forums and YouTube finding a solution to the car issue.
This is the price of I paid for a beater car, and with the knowledge I gained doing this i managed to go into some random persons house who had a 2000 Civic just sitting in his driveway and after telling me it's broken i purchased it for $200. The timing was off, took me 5 hours to fix and i drove it home, later the alternator broke and after that i got my brother a car. I purchased some other things like spark plugs and engine starter fluid, ectect bringing the grand total to $500.
This is my experience with beater cars and I hope you learned something from my journey.
Submitted April 30, 2019 at 11:52AM by moopoop12 http://bit.ly/2XUfW9j
