Winter is coming and i was thinking of getting a winter beater.

1. Would you recommend putting winter tires on the stang and drive it in the winter or spend 2k-3k on a winter beater?

2. If you selected winter beater- what would you recommend vehicle of your choice in that price range.

just for starters i was thinking of this vehicle
http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/cto/2032262990.html

Also post up your winter vehicles that you currently have.

MODS i think this would be better in the general vehicle discussion- sorry for posting it here.

 

a old ford taurus(1991-95) would make a great winter beast for about 1k for a nice one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1994-...item53e45cb3f6

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/burga...item19c0857094

 

I've Had 2- SHO's i love them but i dont want to be replacing components all the time.

even though its going to be a winter car id like to take it on long trips to indiana and be a fuel saver so a 4 cylinder will be awesome.

 

Our winter car/family car/trip car is a Subaru Forester XT, and I swap on snow tires at the first forecast of snow. It will pretty much get us anywhere in any kind of weather we see around here. My wife and I work opposite shifts, so we usually park the other three cars for the winter and both drive only the Subaru. The Mustang stays parked unless we have a winter day above 30° with no salt, snow, ice, or slush on the roads.

Most FWD cars with full-tread all-season or snow tires will do for most areas in the winter. For $2-3k it is hard to make a good suggestion, because at the lower price ranges it usually comes down to condition and availability in your area, although tons of Tauruses were made, and there should be some in your price range locally. An Escort would make a decent, cheap winter car too, and be better on gas than the Taurus.

A Mustang on snow tires would probably do ok in the snow, in years past I would drive my 5.0 V8 Fox Mustangs year round on all-season tires, but I don't like to subject my "nice" cars to the ravages of winter roads, and all the corrosion that salty roads bring, so I just leave them parked and drive a winter car instead.

 

My winter car for a few years was a 2003 Taurus with 130K+ miles on it. It was quite reliable with the vulcan V6. I would recomend a car like that to anyone looking for a winter beater.

After it got too rusty to be economical to fix I purchased a 2006 Altima 2.5S. I now regret not buying American but at the time a 22K mile mid-size car for $9,500 seemed like a deal.

It runs great and gets decent mileage. I hope to have it for quite awhile and put 150K+ miles on it. At my current rate that will get me another 5 years and make it 9 years old.

 

Out of these 3 which one would you pick?

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/cto/2030997452.html

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/cto/2031642772.html

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/cto/2032068017.html

 

I would low ball them on the taurus for like $1900

 

Tell me more about why not the truck.
I use my truck for winter driving.
Yours s/b even better.

 

The truck is fine for the winter but i also have a wife and we both need vehicles to get around lol. Plus in the summertime i dont have to lug the truck around i can use this 4 cylinder car to save on fuel.

I have the truck to haul our dirt bikes and motorcycles around

Ill be using the truck in the winter time for sure. I just need another one lol

 

I say if you can afford another vehicle then go for it! But also think of age and mileage on the beater and extra costs of repairs and upkeep that it will require.

That's why I have to put snow tires on my '02 GT. I try to keep it as clean as possible in winter by running it through the car wash periodicaly to spray the salt and crap from the underside and keep it from building up and freezing etc. And to this day my car has no rust, body is solid! (knock on wood) I also have an electronic rust protection unit installed by the dealer that is supposed to electronicaly repel the particles that cause rust and prevent them from sticking throughout the body. Whether this unit realy works I don't know but I've seen no rust thus far and had the car 4 1/2 years.

 

put some winter/all season tires on your stang and don't look back. If you buy a beater thats not up to snuff and you have to buy parts and labor for it. That will be a drag. I had a beater one year bought it from a friend so I knew it was a pretty good car (honda civic) part way through the winter I ended up having to put a cv joint on it. It was down for a few days while I waited for parts. So on top of buying a car and ins I needed to buy parts and put them on. I think its kinda hard to find a cheap car that will need nothing but gas for the whole winter.

 

heres our winter beater

The dude was super **** and had all the records and just did a 400 dollar tune up on it. Has so many new things so i feel comfortable it will last- i like to keep it for 3 years. Trans shifts great- engine is super quiet and runs great. Has new ball joints and tie rods and brakes. Rear struts are new as well. The only thing probably needing new after winter is tires. I dont mind some things needing replacing since it is old but its better than driving the stang in the winter. Plus itll save me gas taking this to work instead of the truck.

Details
2001 Taurus SEL loaded 24v duratec
leather
moonroof
6 disc cd
auto climate
power everything

Pics

 

My winter truck.

 

Looks good, and it's nice it's loaded. That makes the humdrum Taurus a little more livable. I have had 3 over the years and never been disappointed.

 

Ill get some pics of my truck this winter

 

heres mine

 

^^ **** you have me beat- nice taurus/ 500hundred