Make up my mind before the snow flies
 

:bonk: I can't pull the trigger on deciding on running the Camaro through winter, or picking up a beater vehicle. I went the beater route in the past. I would run the sports coupe unless the roads were bad, then I would take the beater. I would love to be able to leave the Camaro parked in the garage during the times of snow, but I'm not sure if I want to dive back into the beater world either :smiling1:. It is going to be a hassle with being in the way parked in the driveway, extra insurance, extra registration, and possibly extra repair costs.

The other thing is I will probably only have the Camaro for the next 2-3 years. I never hang on to vehicles much longer..so the salt isn't a huge concern but I still don't want chips, pitting, etc. I would likely buy a dedicated set of winter rims/tires if I ran the Camaro through the winter.

If you can find one that is in decent shape then do it! Maybe a Subaru! This is my winter/rain car.

Im going the beater route, gonna be a nice change of pace for a bit with cutting mileage in half, insurance a fraction of the Camaro and crazy low tax lol. But then, I live inna very different country, and driving a RWD sports car in the winter here is not very advisible. If the salt wasnt enough to deter one, the price of studded tyres on these tyres would do lol.

Cheapest route to go if it suits you is what I do, set of winter tires and have them swapped on the OE wheels for the season. Anything else just stacks up the costs. I can get mine mounted and balanced for $100 each time so I absorb that. I've gone the wheel tire route and I just don't "need" all that or too much of a snow/ice tire to justify that cost.
Tires alone has been my most affordable option.
Ive tried Xi3 snow/ice tire and wheel set and those suck to drive on, really good tire but I really only face 5-7 snow days a year, so I just stay home.
I ran an All Season with OK results, those days I could have used a little more snow/ice capability largely to ensure that I can GET home when it starts during the day.

So this year I'm going Performance winter tire, the Alpin PA4.

It's tough choices. A Beater as you said is a significant cost in buying, insuring, taxes, licensing, maintenance...I never chose that route for those reasons. Too like you I'mj going to have this thing ~3 years so I don't care about the doomers that beat the sand and salt drum of corrosion.

In the past I would sell within 3 years with less than 8k on them and move on but i still had a daily driver/winter beater as I would not drive them in the rain never mind snow. Recently I have been just keeping them and moving on to the next because I felt that I was losing way too much to just "fire" sale them. My daily/winter beater is a 2020 gmc 2500 at4 diesel which serves as a winter toy tow vehicle also.

Kind of going through the same thing prior to my Camaro delivery in a few weeks.

Girlfriend has a 2010 Mazda 3, which is technically a ‘beater’. The airbag light is on (due to wiring harness that needs replaced), the A/C compressor gave out and we it’s not worth enough to drop $2,000 into it at this point to fix those issues at about 50% of the value of the car itself. It has new tires and I did a bunch of maintenance on it recently (power steering, coolant, oil, brake fluid, pads/rotors, etc…)… So mechanically, it’s in good shape minus the A/C and airbag light. It has 85K on it and paid off for nearly 5 years now.

I currently lease a 2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid SE with 13K on it. Lease is up next October, with a buy-out of like $15.5K at that time. Was planning to trade in the Camry (and gain the tax benefit and higher-than-I-owe value on it for the buyout) when the Camaro arrives, but the girlfriend inquired the other day about taking it over instead and potentially buy it out at the end of the lease to replace her car. If that is the case, we will have the Mazda to use as the winter beater which would be ideal. I kind of hope she goes that route, but I’m not pushing it. She can decide.

But if she doesn’t want the Camry, then I will likely be looking for another cheap beater for winter driving for those rare times I would need to go somewhere. It would be nice to avoid the insurance and such of having three cars for two people, though. We could likely trade in the Mazda, too, and just have the Camry/Camaro duo. But again, would likely want the beater option…

Choices…

I timed my order so that I could take delivery in March or April, given the amount of road salt spewed here and the fact that I want to keep the car longer term.

Even if I didn't care about corrosion or anything else, though, I would definitely go with a $1-2k winter beater instead of buying a Camaro just before the cold season and then driving it... what fun things can you do with a not yet broken in RWD sports car in sub-30 degree weather, having little to no traction, that you can't do with a beater? Snow drifting and donuts? Probably just me and my appreciation for the Camaro, but it feels weird.

I mean a beater has other perks besides the winter driving portion of it. I can go wherever/park wherever I please with little worry. I can haul things in it that I wouldn't dare put in my "nice" vehicle. There are things that I miss about having a beater but also things that I don't LOL

Another example, since a previous poster had mentioned rain haha. I would be one to take the beater during the middle of summer if there's a chance of rain or the roads are wet, because I don't want to dirty a fresh detail.

I am fortunate that I also have my wife's Jeep Wrangler for whenever I want (we also have a minivan), but I am putting winter tires on my Camaro and driving it as long as there is not much salt and snow on the ground. Last winter we had little to no snow and I just don't want to park the car for 5-6 months, especially when so many of those days are clear with nothing on the ground but the temperatures a low.

These NA V8's love cold air :)

I would love to have a Jeep Wrangle as a second vehicle. I can't justify spending that amount (for one that I would want) for a second vehicle. We typically have a solid 2-3 of having a good amount of snow on the ground.

Cheap beater with good tires, battery & heat, preferably AWD.

I drive my SS all season (Extreme contact DWS06 tires) in the harsh midwest winter no problems. I'd rather enjoy my car than drive a beater all winter. Just my .02 cents

Yeah my wife and kids love it. They drive it most of the time, but I can use it in a pinch on a bad weather day. But my job is flexible so I can work from home with snow on the ground anyway. I just don't want to park my Camaro all winter, it's way too much fun to drive and I make the payment whether is it sitting or being driven.