So the insurance is not bad at all, Ill keep that in mind. In the meantime I will start looking into autotrader until my money gets here and then I will make a final decision....

 

IMO keep driving the evo....i barely drove my eclipse b/c i didn't want to put a lot of miles on it and than some a-hole smashed it and totaled it out....so i didn't even get a change to have fun with the car....i drive my evo all the time b/c who knows what might happen in the future....good luck on whatever you decide

 

It's always nice to have a beater. In the winter, I keep the good car in the garage and drive my $1600 Jeep Cherokee. In the summer, I drive the Jeep if there's a threat of severe weather (we occasionally get hail). I ALWAYS drive the Jeep if I'm parking at the store or the mall or just running errands.

Yeah, I don't drive the good car that much (3100 miles in 7 months), but I drive it enough and it's still pristine. And as was mentioned, it's great to drive a car you don't care anything about and can park anywhere.

Regards,
Joel

 

Even if you get a beater, I would suggest that you drive the evo to work everyday. I felt more enthusiastic to go to work in an evo than in any other car. Other cars just make going to work a boring thing, especially if it's a long trip.

 

I'm in the same boat as far as driving alot. Evo is my daily driver too. It's an 04 and I've got 50K already. Oh well.

 

it's so worth getting a beater in a long term, if you find the right sorta beater at the right price.

Imagine saving on tires, brakes, engine, engine maintainance, mileage for resale, etc.

So many benefits for it.

Also, you get discounts on your insurance for multiple car policy and also on Evo for being a weekend car.

 

These are all very good inputs, I appreciate it. Keep them coming.....

 

I drive it alot even in the winter. I do have a beater too. Hey but this is an evo, awd, isn't that why u brought the car for? To drive it, to have fun, and it's performance great in winter.

I don't know, i love the evo, but that is not the car for me to "baby". Only RWD are the vehicles that i would baby in the winter.

 

I would save it, although it would depend a lot on the amount.

 

I drove my EVO as a daily driver the first 6 months I had it and I enjoyed it. My dad retired from work and he ended up giving me his work truck and Im glad that I have it. Its awesome to have a beater truck that I can just drive around town in and haul light things with.

I say get a second vehicle and turn the EVO into a weekend car. I only drive mine on weekends and nice days and it makes it that much more special when I get out and drive it.

 

I rarely drive mine. Its a show car, so I try to keep the wear and tear to a minimum.

I bought a 92 Subaru Legacy wagon for $100( a lucky deal), and have put 25k on it with only 2 oil changes, 2 new tires, and a CD player.

+1 for buying a beater

 

every situation is way different. if your evo is not fully paid for, some insurance companies will not give you a brake on your evo insurance b/c you intend to drive it less. if you drive 25k/year you spend ~$3,400 in gas(18/gal) ~$150 in brake pads, ~$375 oil changes, ~$300 tranny/diff oil change, ~$1400 tires, ~$100 washes/plugs/etc.

so ~$5,725/year to run. if you drive your beater >1/2 the time you will save 1/4 the gas money=$850 (1/2 @ 18/gal 1/2=$1,700 @ 36/gal=$850) the rest you could almost cut in half as you won't need 1g advans that run out in 15k. so ~$1,100+$850 means you're saving <$2,000/year. insurance is ~$800. so you save $1,200/yr without any maintence on your beater and without actually purchasing one. if you spent 3gs on the beater you would be in a hole about 2gs the first year to not drive your evo. this car won't save you any money until year 3 AND when you trade in your car. but when you trade it in is it going to worth a few thousand $ in a few years. all the while you drive a POS.

i bought this car to enjoy it not to retain resale value. i pay a lot of money and sacrafice a lot to have this car, i can't imagine paying this much to drive the car occasionally. but like i said, every situation is different, maybe you bought the car for other reasons or maybe you drive >25k/year. in which case it may be worth it to you. drive the beater for a month and tell me if you would pay $100 to drive that evo every second instead of that 94 civic.

 

i drive damn near 200 miles a day (90 to and 90 from) i refused to put those miles on my car. i picked up a 2002 VW GTI for 11k with 51k miles and i love it, gets damn near 400 miles off a tank. i drive the Evo on the weekend to work when i work on saturdays just to air it out but thats damn near 3/4 to 1/2 tank of gas doing that.

it cuts down cost on maintenance and i can pump 87 or 89 in the VW.

 

I used to drive 600 miles a weekend for about a year.

It was SO worth it, but it's taking it's toll on the car.

and it's getting expensive.

all the belts gotta be changed out, tires are wearing out so fast (5th set), brakes (5 sets), rotors (3 sets), seats (2nd set), carpet (2nd set), 15 set of spark plugs, 2 flashes, etc.

I mean, it's been great, but it's getting really really expensive now...

Not to mention spending $200 a weekend in gas.

Beater is way to go at certain point, but i do agree, stuff happens like idiots smashing and totaling your car at certain point, but you risk more of that when you drive everyday with it...

pros and cons...

I'm close to 70,000 miles in year and a half. lots of auto-x, lots of mtn runs...

 

I drive about 30k a year at the rate I'm driving now. I still have 5 years left on the car to pay. Why so much you ask?. Its because last year I bought the evo used and my job wasnt that good compare to now. I'm 22 and Im a cad designer. Im a full-time student still so I didnt want my car payments to be so high. I have 32k miles currently on the evo, so this past 10 mnths I drove 22k already! I know I'm still below the average of miles per year on a 03 evo. However I'm calculating by next year I will catch up or even pass the average miles for an 03 evo. I just don't like the idea of owning more than what my car is worth. Don't get me wrong I love driving this car every minute of it. Part of me says It will be hard to adapt to a beater since it is such a fun car to drive. If I do decide to drive the evo and not get a beater for a year, it will still not be so bad because I will only have about 60k miles by next year.