7 Reasons Why I Drive a Beater

The car that I make the eight-mile drive to and from my home to the City Hall where I have toiled for going on seventeen years is a serious beater.

I drive it to other places, as well, but that is the main path that my minivan with myriad engine and tire problems takes me with the exception of one day per week when I typically work from home.

I am halfway proud and halfway ashamed of the fact that my everyday vehicle is a rusted-out Chrysler minivan that I first leased way back in the spring of 2006 when our twenty-three-year-old son and eighteen-year-old daughter were only seven and two years old, respectively.

I can recall how excited we all were to upgrade from the older-model coupes that my wife and I drove back then to something that we could all easily fit into comfortably.

Well, those days are long gone and these days yours truly often finds himself parking a rusty old minivan with mechanical issues too lengthy to detail in a story of reasonable length between current year model Teslas, Mercedes, and Bimmers.

The fact that, as the long-time economic development representative of a slightly uppity community in the Chicago suburbs, it has been suggested to me more than once that I should consider upgrading my transportation, but there are reasons why I do not although I do not entirely disagree.

The fact that a nice, smart, diligent, hard-working, and professional employee should be judged less well due to the fact that I do not go out and purchase or lease a vehicle “more befitting to my position” is frustrating but, again, as a representative of my community, I understand where those comments are coming from.

After all, if you are going to spend your Sunday looking at multimillion-dollar home listings, you too may judge your realtor somewhat if he or she showed up driving my car instead of the requisite luxury sedan that they most likely would. You would not want your doctor or lawyer to show up driving a rusty sixteen-year-old minivan, would you?

You would likely not care at all even if your realtor, doctor, or lawyer told you that he or she had ten million dollars free and clear in various accounts and just paid a quarter-million dollars to put two children through school.

So I am getting off my chest that I certainly do not appreciate the little digs and jokes that I occasionally take from colleagues and associates about driving what looks like a broken-down soccer mom minivan that should be donated for parts.

Because I have neither the time nor the inclination to fully disclose to everyone who lobs these remarks to me the seven reasons why I drive what I drive until it won’t drive anymore, I feel that the time is right to share the reasons on this platform.

Reason #1

I hate car payments. I mean I really hate, loathe, and despise them.

Because this particular publication is quite civil, I shall restate that I strongly dislike car payments.

On second thought, I’ll be honest — I fucking hate them!

I would imagine that most people do not like them, but I recently heard second-hand from one of our neighbor/friends that another of our neighbors is paying over $700 per month to lease the luxury SUV that I see the wife shuttle kids to and fro with every day.

Granted, the mother who drives the newer SUV looks better than I do while shuttling their young ones to and from their school and whatever other activities still take place during the pandemic.

I assure you that our neighborhood trends toward the lower end of the middle class and consists of municipal workers like me, airline employees, many nurses, even more Polish contractors, and retirees on a fixed income. Few if any people in our neighborhood are successful business owners, doctors, lawyers, finance professionals, or engineers.

So while I understand that I should not be overly judgmental about the neighbors who lease SUVs and Mercedes for more than our mortgage payment, it does make me question their choices.

They may look down on me for the beater that they see me drive, but the joke will be on them in the long run as I strive to Pay Ourselves First while the only ones they pay first are their creditors.

Reason #2

I get my van serviced wherever I want.

My wife still takes our Subaru to the dealership, where they ream us to the tune of something like $100 for an oil change.

She worries about keeping to the warranty agreement, which is a valid concern but one that I have not had for years.

Oil changes? Jiffy Lube.

Engine work? Car-X.

Not that those options are so cheap, but I can assure you that they are less costly than taking your newer Tesla to the dealership would be for the exact same service.

Reason #3

Want to dent my van?

Go right on ahead.

Just a few years ago, I was forced to cough up in excess of $1,400 due to my new-driver daughter denting some asshole’s Tesla.

If you were wondering, Yes, I had her pay me back a portion of the expenditure over a period of months, and, Yes, we completely avoided insurance.

It did not help that the Tesla belonged to a police officer in a neighboring town and that it was automatically recorded on the vehicle’s security cameras.

But if your shopping cart slides into my van or your new driving kid dents it a bit while backing up — Hey, I’m cool with that.

If you do some serious damage, then, of course, I must take some actions or make a claim. But those little dings that would upset me if it was on our Subaru?

Have at it. What’s one more?

Reason #4

Pushing Reason #3 a bit further, I dropped collision insurance on our van so long ago I cannot even remember when.

Sure, I carry liability per state law and so we don’t get bankrupted should one of us be found liable for major damage.

But if someone trashes the car in an accident or while it’s parked?

I’m not saying that I would be happy about it. That beater is my ride to and from work four days per week. I typically avoid driving if I can on Wednesdays.

What I would do is have the car towed away and begin looking for a comparable beater to drive into the ground.

Reason #5

I realize that it is not too smart, but I typically do not even lock the side sliding doors on my van.

Not in the parking lot at work and not on the street at night.

The best anti-theft device that you can have is parking the least desirable vehicle in your neighborhood or in a parking lot or garage.

I assure you that even the entry-level folks in their twenties drive better cars than I do (I did too in my twenties) and any would-be thief would be more interested in breaking into their cars than my own.

Reason #6

You have undoubtedly heard that old adage that your new car loses ten percent of its value the moment you drive it off the lot.

According to NerdWallet, your car’s value decreases around 20% to 30% by the end of the first year. From years two to six, depreciation ranges from 15% to 18% per year, according to recent data from Black Book, which tracks used-car pricing. As a rule of thumb, in five years, cars lose 60% or more of their initial value.

While I am sure that my beater has some monetary value, its greatest value obviously lies in its ability to deliver me to and from the location where I earn over ninety percent of my family’s income.

If the trade-in value is at $1,000 today or in the few hundred dollars worth of metal that makes it up or in its working catalytic converter, it surely cannot lose much more. A sixteen-year-old rusted-out beater minivan with engine trouble simply cannot depreciate much more without sitting in a scrapyard.

Reason #7

Even though at some point nearly every day I feel some semblance of shame over driving a rusty old minivan, I remind myself that I am not what I drive.

In one of my two all-time favorite personal finance books, “The Millionaire Next Door” by Stanley and Danko, they report that only 23.5% of millionaires own a car from the current model year. In fact, the majority of millionaires that consist of 55% of them own a car older than two years old.

Also, they note that most doctors are not even millionaires, and a large percentage of doctors in their thirties have a negative net worth. This shows that if the majority of millionaires do not drive brand new cars, then why should you worry about not being able to drive a new one?

Being frugal is a significant reason why members of the used vehicle-prone group are wealthy. They invest a large portion of their annual incomes into assets that generate income and appreciate in value.

In my own personal sphere, I find this to be true. Just mentioning four millionaires closest to me, one drives a Prius, another drives a Subaru Outback (same as my wife’s), one drives a Toyota Highlander and another drives a well-used Land Rover as his daily car.

While none of their vehicles are in as rough shape as mine, or as old, none of them drive the Porsches, Mercedes, or high-end sports cars that poseurs prefer to show in their “Look How Rich I Am” photos.

They mostly drive economical, functional cars and own them for a decent number of years.

My mother did have one uncle who purchased a new Cadillac for his wife every year, but he was in a tax bracket beyond what you or I could contemplate and, well, you would have had to know his wife to understand that those were dollars well spent.

As for me, I feel an odd combination of pride and shame while commuting daily in my beater.

Although I know that any car dealership in the world would instantly approve me to finance a newer, nicer vehicle in the $40,000 to $50,000 range, I suppose that my priorities have shifted over the years from trying to convey an image of wealth to actually becoming a Little Bit Wealthy.

I would rather be retired in my late fifties with a functional eight- to ten-year-old Subaru or Toyota in my driveway rather than continuing to work a stressful job at least partly due to making payments for the vehicle used to drive me to and from it.

It’s just one more thing for you to consider as you continue your own path towards greater wealth.

While you and I may feel better about ourselves by driving more stylish late-model cars, it is one of those things that can take a serious bite out of your wealth-building. Especially if you are making payments in the $600-range every month for the privilege of driving it.

I am not suggesting that you drive a hand-me-down rusty old minivan as I do, but at least you can better understand the reasoning of why I continue to drive this beater until it will not drive anymore.

I would rather put those funds towards building long-term wealth than simply looking a bit cooler while driving.