# Mom drives nice car, Dad drives the old beater- true in your family? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 25, 2014, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210 "2014-02-25T08:51:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210/61 "2014-02-27T23:43:25Z")
Except for a time long before I was born, Mom didn’t drive. Dad or one of my siblings always drove her somewhere in one of Dad’s cars. He tended to have a small one for commuting and a large one for family trips. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210/62 "2014-02-28T05:53:34Z")
Nope. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210/63 "2014-02-28T12:52:42Z")
I buy the car I like and it’s my car, and she buys the car she likes and it’s her car. We don’t trade cars when we buy a new one. Neither one is a beater currently, but we’ve only had them a few years. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210/64 "2014-02-28T13:58:09Z")
[QUOTE=muldoonthief] My wife has always had the newer car, I’ve always had the beater. She does more driving, especially with the kids, whereas mine is mostly just for commuting to work. Can I tack on a question? For those where the wife has the newer/nicer car, when you go out as a family in that car, who drives? In our family, the owner of the car almost always drives, but I have friends where the husband always drives whenever they’re together, even when they’re in the wife’s car. [/QUOTE] She drives when we take her car: I drive when it’s mine. Except for long-distance trips, in which case I drive no matter what car we take. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210/65 "2014-02-28T14:00:21Z")
My wife’s always had the ‘good’ car in the family, because I’m in much better shape, and back before the days of cheap cell phones, I knew I could hike a few miles to a phone and call AAA if the car broke down. Nowadays, with the Firebug to drive around, it’s important that both our cars be reliable, but she still gets the newer, nicer one. Right now, I actually prefer it that way, because our older car is a stick shift, the newer one is automatic, and I strongly prefer driving a stick. Besides, you’ve gotta love a car that still feels solid and dependable after 14 years and 215,000 miles. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210/66 "2014-02-28T14:26:48Z")
It alternates in my household. We only keep one car note at a time. Currently, the wife has the new car with the car note, and I have a 2006 beater. In 2016, when her car is paid for, I get to upgrade my car. So far, we have had 2 cars last the full 10 years, mine is currently 8 years old, and hers is 3, and we only buy American. If for some reason my car doesnt last until her car note is paid, I will buy a beater used car to fill the gap. My mom has never had a license, so it was 1 car in the house growing up. ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210/67 "2014-02-28T14:48:31Z")
Nope. Always the opposite. Same in my family. Husband always has the new car and I get his old car. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210/68 "2014-02-28T16:02:02Z")
Yes. I get the hand-me-downs. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210/69 "2014-02-28T17:30:28Z")
We keep our cars forever, so right now I’m driving the newer one, and by that I mean it’s a 2009. He’s still driving the 2004 one and has no plans to trade it in. Neither of them are beaters. His is a high-end brand (Acura), but when it’s 10 years old, it loses some of its cache. ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210/70 "2014-03-02T05:54:52Z")
> [@Mesquite-oh](#): > > In your family, does Mom drive the newer nicer car while Dad drives an older high mileage “beater?” Or does Dad drive the new nicer car, or both Mom and Dad drive new nice cars or does Mom and Dad share one car? > > Since I have been married, I have always driven an older high mileage vehicle while my wife has always been the driver of the newer and better. It has become a family joke. She generally takes the kids around where they need to go, I just drive to work and back by myself. Of course in the evenings and weekends, I get to drive “her” car. My kids beg to ride in my old beater, they think it is an adventure. > > Both my parents and my wife’s parents had a similar arrangement. I just don’t see the point of making car payments on a vehicle that I just take to work and back that only I ride in. I must admit, I do feel a little something sometimes when I, one of the bosses at work, am walking with one of the 24 year old newbies to the staff parking lot. He gets into his shiny 2013 Camaro and I get into my beat up 11 year old SUV. “Son, some day, if you stick with the company, you will be successful like me- hey do you got a quart of oil on you? it looks like my head gasket is leaking again.” Well it happened again. Last night my wife and kids got a brand new vehicle. I am going to start taking her hand-me-down to work starting on Monday. I was smart this time, I made sure that the new vehicle had leather and in a color that I liked. After all, I am going to be driving it to work in 2021- ooh I can’t wait. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210/71 "2014-03-02T06:30:00Z")
No beaters allowed in my family, but lord knows I have driven many in my younger years. Had a series of VW bugs that I liked but were a constant source of headache. I don’t have to drive crap anymore and would rather live in a tent and eat roots than drive any more junk. My wife drives a truck, she has always driven trucks and probably always will. Currently a Ford F-150 with all the bells and whistles, leather, heated seats, loaded. I get to use it for a few days in the fall for hunting. I drive a muscle car. My last 3 cars have been Firebirds, the current one is a loaded WS6 Trans Am, one of the last made. It has it’s own special building where it is continually overly maintained with new parts, still pristine. Bank account for a new Corvette is building but not quite ready yet. When we go somewhere in her truck she drives and I enjoy the ride, she refers it as grandpa’s day out, being a bit younger than me. When we go on a road trip a few times a year to get away from home, we take my car and I drive. My car is a great driver’s car, like a big go cart that you speed up into the corners with, but it is not a fun ride for the passenger unless you like grabbing the “oh shit!” handle and telling me to slow down. She drives her truck just as fast but the thing has all of the road response of sitting on the couch in your living room. Because we are busy people we frequently meet someplace driving both cars, arriving and leaving separately. No, we don’t give a shit about the price of gas. Separate cars and separate computers makes for domestic happiness. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210/72 "2014-03-02T16:26:50Z")
I guess couples who switch cars when they get a new one must have similar cars? My car is a convertible, and my wife’s car is a minivan. If we switched when we got a new car, we’d both end up with completely different cars. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210/73 "2014-03-04T04:15:49Z")
Well, sorta, in that Dad’s car is always the extra one, while Mom drives the main car. But dad’s car is not mom’s old car, nor is it usually beaten up. It is more likely to have problems, but that’s because we spend less on the car that is going to be driven less often. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-drives-nice-car-dad-drives-the-old-beater-true-in-your-family/682210.md?page=3)