The Beloved Beater
How I learned to stop worrying and love my beater.
I drive a 2003 Toyota Matrix. Daily. The Matrix is a hatchback version of Toyota’s reliable Corolla model. You are sure to have seen one on the road this morning — the sporty wagon with a crossover SUV look. I purchased mine over the Memorial Day Holiday in 2002, after just returning from an overseas assignment with the Navy. Normal mileage for an 18-year old car would be over 200,000 miles using the accepted average of 12,000 per year, but my Matrix has nearly 500,000 miles and is still going strong. My wife and both of my daughters learned to drive in this car. This car is a member of our family.
To be honest, I have had to replace the engine (in 2008 at 200,000 miles), and the transmission (in 2016 at nearly 300,000 miles). Both repairs were replacements from donor vehicles with similar mileage to mine.
Why did I keep this car rather than throw in the towel? I thought I would share with you my reasoning, and maybe help decide whether to keep your beloved beater.
Nobody likes a car loan
The dreaded loan might be reason enough to reconsider ditching your current ride. A recent article from Business Insider (Knueven, 2020) used Experian data in the first quarter of this year and found 5.61% as the average auto loan interest rate for a new car…
