What is your breaking point? (Owning the Beretta)

[Smitty]

So I knew my 95 Beretta had some issues when I bought it. But it had only 51,000 miles and was a single owner car. I had the driver seat and head rest recovered and started buying parts. Then it started.

The hood latch cable snapped, the air went out and it needed paint bad from sitting out in the sun.Took care of the cable and air and got it painted for cheap but the paint looks like crap so I want to have it repainted but another color.

Now it has 58,000 but it seems never ending the problems that keep popping up. For me it's the water leaking. I fixed it once before. Took out the cowl and sprayed a bunch of rubber seal in there and it actually worked-for a few months. Now it's worse.

I still haven't figured out the parking brake thing and I don't want to dump anymore money into it until I figure out the water leak. Hell, I would gladly pay good money to someone who knew what they were doing and reseal it for me.

But for now, that's going to be my breaking point. I know it can be a great car IF I can fix it or someone that can fix it for me. The good and the bad is that this site is great for pointing out how to fix things on cars and the bad is that the more I read the more I find wrong with my car, lol. Example would be the window trim. I didn't know you couldn't buy replacement trim for them until I saw it on here.

So what about the rest of you? When did you decide to sell?

[ifixalot]

Depends on what kind of Beretta you have and the condition everything else is.
A base model has interior problems too with the seats dry rotting etc.
Every used car is going to have defects, that is why people sell them.
You are thinking of selling, right?
Or are you going to send it to the crusher?
Where are you located? Maybe somebody is nearby and will help you.
I keep working on all my cars. They are old but I was reading yesterday the cost of driving a new
car is about 10k a year in deprecation, insurance etc. So I keep fixing the old ones.

[themadness]

i dont know a whole lot about cars but what i do know i learned on my berettas. i'd smack a kitten with a tennis racket to have another one worth working on. i have a 96 camaro that i enjoy and look forward to doing things to get it back in great shape. berettas are great to start learning on. plus with a community like this one you have an excellent resource to find what you need. some things like the window trim you may have to improvise or dig deep for parts but in the end if you have a car you put your sweat into and learn something along the way......its a win/win situation.

i'm not a fan of newer cars either. zero personality IMHO........

[berettaboi]

the breaking point for me is when rust gets too far... I've repaired my fair share, but when the rear subframe is holey and just about rotted out above the axle, and the inner rockers are completely deteriorated and you feel and hear the car (doors) move/flex under the tension... the firewall is always an issue on the rusty cars as well, doesn't help when driven hard, the steering rack tears itself off...

you have very low mileage. the small issues you are dealing with are not uncommon for an almost 20 year old car. you just have to decide whether you would rather put up with a car payment, or fix some small stuff every month...

[Smitty]

I knew it would have issues but man it's almost too much. The car is nothing special, a DD 95 base. I am going to try sealing the firewall next where the cowl exits and see if that does anything. I wanted to have fun with the car, heck I even have a set of lowering springs in the trunk! But yeah, all these issues, I even sprayed a can of rust converter on the rear subframe as it was rusted. I wouldn't even have checked unless I read about it in this forum

[woody90gtz]

All my cars are at least 20 years old. Some stuff can be really annoying, but I enjoy driving something I've built.

[3X00-Modified]

So what about the rest of you? When did you decide to sell?

Seems like an odd question for a forum of Beretta Owner enthusiasts...

[Smitty]

I know, I know, but I thought I would ask as many on here have had quite a few in their collection in the past.

[3X00-Modified]

I would say about 50% of those were retired due to severe rust issues and quite possibly the other 50% were due to lack of interest... it may be more like 30% lack of interest and then 20% financial reasons. BUT in the end if your an enthusiast you spend the time to fix those types of issues because you love and enjoy the car, and most owners don't break because of those issues.

[Ozzwoman9]

Let's see...
I still have mine. As of the just last 2 years...
Baseball sized hail dents all over hood, roof, trunk. Transmission out of a 99 Alero. Paint starting to chip and rust forming in door jambs and between wheel well and gas tank. Driver's side floor board a wet mess.
Most remember mine as a beauty at bfest 2011 and now it looks like most normally aged Berettas after sitting for a year before getting it licensed again. But I still drive it to work 45 miles one way every day and it runs fine...and some day it'll be all fixed body wise.

[themixer]

If your posting about your car on this site, you actually like your car. Fix it and stop worrying!

[88corsica5spd28]

Even if I don't like a car I still fix it when it breaks because I enjoy working on cars.

I mean, I'm probably going to replace my whole transaxle just because my input shaft seal leaks and nobody makes one anymore.

What breaking point?

[berettaboi]

transmission shop could source that input shaft seal for you. but it's a good excuse to swap to something better if it's leaking badly...

[88corsica5spd28]

Yeah it's leaking everywhere else too.

[Koots]

My $100 Corsica was a parade of breaking points for me. It's why It's still sitting around nearly 2 years after I bought it and spent over $2000 turning it into a sleeper.

I must add that I was having a myriad of issues with my 1983 K5 Jimmy before I bought the car, hoping that it was a quick weekend worth of fixes and I'd have a decent beater until I could get my truck fixed again...So I was not in the mood for any surprises, which I should have expected with a $100 car LOL

I think too fast to apply logic sometimes