[72GTOMN]

Hey everyone. I live in Minnesota and the winters can be pretty tough on cars. People have been telling me for years that I should just buy a winter beater. Sounds good except the idea of wrenching on a POS when it's -10 degrees out because it won't start and I need to get to work doesn't sound appealing.
So, any tips on getting a good winter beater for under $4k?

[Stuart]

The trick is buying one that's in good enough condition so you don't have to work on it in the winter, or at least take care of any repairs before winter arrives. I've always had winter beater cars, although most of mine have been in the less than $500 range. Don't worry about brand or model, just get the most you can for your money.

My current car is a 1988 BMW 325ix; it has all wheel drive, heated seats, and it was rusty and dented when I bought it so it makes a perfect winter car. It was the one exception to the < $500 rule, it cost around $4,000 but I've gotten about ten years out of it with nothing but a few repairs (a fuel pump one year, some coolant hoses another year.) Recently I've been thinking an old Crown Victoria would be a good choice, especially if you can get a police interceptor model that hasn't been run into the ground by the taxi drivers. They're pretty cheap and they're built like tanks.

[AROWHED]

Drove my 65 GP "parts car" for a good part of last winter when my diesel truck took a crap. 3.23 posi in the snow can be a little too exciting at times. Picked up an '05 Saturn Ion this past April for $600, had some minor deer strike damage, but I won't recommend that soup can for safe Winter (or Summer) transport.

[sleepy]

I got my wife a 99 Tahoe with everything on it for a "winter beater" for $6,000.
Now I can't get her out of it.

[dstryr]

I've had great luck with Ford Taurus'. Last one I bought in immaculate shape for $3k, 153,000 miles.. that was 4 years ago and it still runs like new. The one before that, about the same.

Other thing to consider is the cost of the beater plus additional insurance- does it preserve the value of your current daily driver to the extent that there is a payback or will you just end up with $4k less in your savings account and an additional insurance bill?

Good luck finding something!

[importsmasher]

Any POS will do for a winter beater. I never had to worry about it for the 38 years I lived in Phoenix, but now that I am in Utah, I have a 95 neon that I got for $100, 155,000 miles. I had to put a junkyard cylinder head on it (idiot teenager broke the timing belt at high RPM), but it has been up and running trouble free for a year now. Total investment $450. It's a POS, but it does what I need it to....drives in bad weather....my previous daily driver was my wife's 66 Mustang. This neon allowed me to finish the body work on the Mustang and get it painted, and now I am working on the interior, rather than thrashing the car in snow and ice. Plus, insurance is the same on the neon as it was on the Mustang (liability), and the Mustang is now on Hagerty, covered for $12,000, for less than $100 per year.
Importsmasher

[71GP76TA]

When I lived in snow country I always had a winter beater.... The best ones are rear wheel drive with deep tread tires on the front and bald tires on the back.....

[GT182]

My winter, spring, summer and fall 'beater' is my 4WD 2000 Jeep GC. Best and most trouble free vehicle I've owned. It'll go thru snow better than any car I've owned. But like anything you drive in the winter, ya gotta use yer head.... they ain't snowmobiles.

[sts]

And as for posis in the snow: I ran my current 3:38, 12 bolt posi in the snow when it was in my other car. Everyone warned me about it in the snow. That posi, along with any other pois, gives you ten times the vehicle control over an open rear. So it must be the driver.

[Elarson]

Originally Posted by GT182

My winter, spring, summer and fall 'beater' is my 4WD 2000 Jeep GC. Best and most trouble free vehicle I've owned. It'll go thru snow better than any car I've owned. But like anything you drive in the winter, ya gotta use yer head.... they ain't snowmobiles.

x2

Problem is...the federal government scrapped a lot of good $4k Grand Cherokees under the Cash For Clunkers program.

Eric

[GTO JOHN]

There are a boatload of potential winter beaters on CL here for under $4k. I have a '97 Cavalier with a full fold down back seat that is great for parts hauling...

[69goatboy]

Originally Posted by GT182

My winter, spring, summer and fall 'beater' is my 4WD 2000 Jeep GC. Best and most trouble free vehicle I've owned. It'll go thru snow better than any car I've owned. But like anything you drive in the winter, ya gotta use yer head.... they ain't snowmobiles.

Almost anything that had Jeep's 4.0 would be a good beater candidate.

[Engine-Ear]

How many years do you want the $4k beater to last?

I would buying something exempt from emissions tests and probably pre-computer. (You can find hundreds of '71-80 GM B-body cars out there, and non-rusty ones are plentiful if you're willing to go get it)

[Stuart]

No emissions testing in Minnesota, so that's not a problem.

[72GTOMN]

Thanks for all the responses! The difficult part for me is being able to spot a cheap car that will likely be reliable when the weather gets really cold. I'm not a mechanic but have modest mechanical abilities. What do you guys look for when you're looking at a car you know is a bit of a POS, but one that will just keep running. Is it just brand and makes that you look for or is it things like a new crate motor in an old pickup truck? Getting around in deep snow is a minor issue since in my experience it really just takes a good set of snow tires and decent ground clearance. I've thought about a police interceptor, there's a place here called xgovernmentcars.com that has some pretty good deals. I've got a Jeep Wrangler now but it's a lease and with this crappy economy I don't think I'll be able to afford the buyout. In decent weather I just ride my motorcycle to work. Dates and fun = GTO baby! So I guess I'm looking for a foul weather vehicle that will last a couple years. Thanks again!

[68gtoMN]

Remember this, the Cash for Clunkers deal really messed with used car prices - making them more expensive. I have several friends who operate small dealerships who complain that a $500 car from two years ago is now a $1500+ car.

Best advice for a car you plan to keep and drive in MN winters - second set of wheels (upullrparts) with snow tires - all 4.

[dstryr]

I 'always' drop the hammer up to around 90-100mph, let it rev fairly high w/out redlining it, then stand on the brakes from around 90 to almost stop or stop. If there are problems, it will misfire on the acceleration, get squirrely at high speed, or scare the He!! out of you trying to get stopped. Look underneath, if it is pretty clean and dry on the bottom of the trans and engine with no sign of a recent power wash to clean it up then go from there. You can always tell a perfumed pig from a clean high mile car; they look and feel worn out. The worse they are, the more armor all they get till you can't even hold the stearing wheel and the glare off the dash will blind you.

[Smasher]

I've had a Buick Roadmaster that I've beaten mercilessly for the last 6 years or so...getting a little rusty now, but still runs like a top. I've recently moved up to a 95 Suburban because I moved out of town a bit and the snow gets a little silly sometimes. I got that one for $1500 last year. It's got over 200 000 miles on it, but still runs good...the good cheap ones are out there, you just gotta look. The Suburban is a bit brutal on fuel, tho...

[Brian Baker]

1992-1998 GM 4x4 truck. My '92 that I purchased new had 319K miles on the 5.7 in it when I sold it in 2005, and it's still being used as a beater today. Hell, the new owner made almost $30K under the table last winter plowing snow with it.

[Stuart]

If you're in the Minneapolis area, I just saw a decent looking car on the way home for work: a 1989 Chevy Caprice, with $1750 written on the windshield. It's parked at the Firestone tire store just south of the intersection of 50th and Xerxes Avenue in south Minneapolis. I didn't stop, I just saw it as I drove by, but it looked really clean - I'm guessing it's an old man car.