Depends on the beater car. If you go the cheap car route, you'll need two cars, because one car will just stop working every once in a while and you'll still need something to drive while it's being repaired, even if you're the person doing the repairs.
While tools aren't expensive, you'll at least need a garage/someplace to work and the time to diagnose and work on whatever car isn't working. Depending on what's happening in your life, that might not be possible. The canbus code readers make finding problems so much easier, cars now are much easier to diagnose and fix than ever.
I've gone the beater route for cars to save money and spent far less than new(er). You can fix most problems with a cheap car, it comes down to having the time to do the work, a place to wrench on your car and having a spare car for when rockauto needs 10 days to deliver your parts.
Depends on the beater car. If you go the cheap car route, you'll need two cars, because one car will just stop working every once in a while and you'll still need something to drive while it's being repaired, even if you're the person doing the repairs.
While tools aren't expensive, you'll at least need a garage/someplace to work and the time to diagnose and work on whatever car isn't working. Depending on what's happening in your life, that might not be possible. The canbus code readers make finding problems so much easier, cars now are much easier to diagnose and fix than ever.
I've gone the beater route for cars to save money and spent far less than new(er). You can fix most problems with a cheap car, it comes down to having the time to do the work, a place to wrench on your car and having a spare car for when rockauto needs 10 days to deliver your parts.