The Joy of Running an Old Shed (Vol 2)
Discussion
PAUL.S. said:
Lad I know has just bought his 5 yr old lease Audi from the company for £17k (which he does not have), so had to borrow the money, therefore his monthlies are still roughly the same at around £400, he has only done about 35k in those 5 years.
I told him that in relation to my chariot, his first two months payment would have bought the car, taxed and insured it for the first year, then every year after that the first months payment would have covered his next 12 months of motoring costs and the next months would cover all maintenance, again year on year. 10 months saving £400 a month therefore 4k cash in his pocket to spend on other things each and every year, if and when the car dies, simply buy another based on the same maths.
Some people get it, some don't, he would rather shell out £400 every month for that car to sit on his drive most of the week, heavily depreciating each year.
After the 4 faults over the last 3 years with my wife's astra, which is 14 years old and only has 60k on the clock, she's told me she doesn't trust it, and wants to replace it. What with? I told him that in relation to my chariot, his first two months payment would have bought the car, taxed and insured it for the first year, then every year after that the first months payment would have covered his next 12 months of motoring costs and the next months would cover all maintenance, again year on year. 10 months saving £400 a month therefore 4k cash in his pocket to spend on other things each and every year, if and when the car dies, simply buy another based on the same maths.
Some people get it, some don't, he would rather shell out £400 every month for that car to sit on his drive most of the week, heavily depreciating each year.
Edited by PAUL.S. on Tuesday 21st May 10:52
Let's recap. Its a 1.6 Auto. 115 bhp 6 speed 11 reg in piss green.
1) One front caliper seized after alot of stop start use in mid summer. When it cooled down it was fine. I put it down to not using the parking brake in traffic. I replace the pads and put a file down every sliding surface of the pad, in case the caliper is on a tolerance limit.
2) The gearbox failed. It now has an expensive reconditioned unit. Cost more than the car is worth.
3) the boot leaked. Maybe it still does. I've removed the mould. It smells a bit.
4) the Thermostat housing had to be replaced because the fan switch failed (safe)
She's been using my car 65 reg 1.4T sri Auto astra GTC 98k on the clock. And is going to visit our son some 120 miles away at the weekend because she doesn't trust her car.
I miss my car. Because faster. Better handling, DAB, and parking sensors.
I lighthearted suggested that if she bought a £20k brand new car and continued to use it for 6k Mile's a year, in 14 years time, it would have cost £1k a year in depreciation.
Which got her thinking. There is nothing she likes apart from another Astra.
If only vauxhall still made the cavalier.......
For me this is the sort of car you buy because you specifically want a Lexus IS250, not because you want a cheap shed. If I was specifically looking for an IS250 then I personally would seek out a better example. For me the issues in order are
1)Cat D
2)3rd Gear Synchro
3)leaking exhaust (it's going to be an MOT failure, how much is a new exhaust?)
4)The colour and interior
5)It's not an automatic
6)The modifications. From what I understand the throttle controller makes it feel faster as it just increases the amount the ECU thinks the throttle is open? i.e if you open it 25% the controller tells the ECU it is 40% for example. I assume this makes the fuel economy even worse?
Anybody who is looking for a cheap shed is probably going to discount it due to the 2.5 engine and £415 road tax.
1)Cat D
2)3rd Gear Synchro
3)leaking exhaust (it's going to be an MOT failure, how much is a new exhaust?)
4)The colour and interior
5)It's not an automatic
6)The modifications. From what I understand the throttle controller makes it feel faster as it just increases the amount the ECU thinks the throttle is open? i.e if you open it 25% the controller tells the ECU it is 40% for example. I assume this makes the fuel economy even worse?
Anybody who is looking for a cheap shed is probably going to discount it due to the 2.5 engine and £415 road tax.
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
For me this is the sort of car you buy because you specifically want a Lexus IS250, not because you want a cheap shed. If I was specifically looking for an IS250 then I personally would seek out a better example. For me the issues in order are
1)Cat D
2)3rd Gear Synchro
3)leaking exhaust (it's going to be an MOT failure, how much is a new exhaust?)
4)The colour and interior
5)It's not an automatic
6)The modifications. From what I understand the throttle controller makes it feel faster as it just increases the amount the ECU thinks the throttle is open? i.e if you open it 25% the controller tells the ECU it is 40% for example. I assume this makes the fuel economy even worse?
Anybody who is looking for a cheap shed is probably going to discount it due to the 2.5 engine and £415 road tax.
Thanks for the feedback. Honestly I thought the colour was a plus point. 1)Cat D
2)3rd Gear Synchro
3)leaking exhaust (it's going to be an MOT failure, how much is a new exhaust?)
4)The colour and interior
5)It's not an automatic
6)The modifications. From what I understand the throttle controller makes it feel faster as it just increases the amount the ECU thinks the throttle is open? i.e if you open it 25% the controller tells the ECU it is 40% for example. I assume this makes the fuel economy even worse?
Anybody who is looking for a cheap shed is probably going to discount it due to the 2.5 engine and £415 road tax.
I could easily omit these issues from the ad but wouldn't feel right. E.g the synchro is showing no symptoms now we have warmer weather, and the exhaust leak is so minor you wouldn't notice unless you looked.
The throttle controller is just a plug in item so in hindsight I should've removed it.
eth2190 said:
Thanks for the feedback. Honestly I thought the colour was a plus point.
I could easily omit these issues from the ad but wouldn't feel right. E.g the synchro is showing no symptoms now we have warmer weather, and the exhaust leak is so minor you wouldn't notice unless you looked.
The throttle controller is just a plug in item so in hindsight I should've removed it.
I think a lot of people wouldn't have even mentioned the Synchro and Exhaust leak, like you I am too honest for my own good when trying to sell cars. I probably would have removed the throttle controller and tried to sell it separately.I could easily omit these issues from the ad but wouldn't feel right. E.g the synchro is showing no symptoms now we have warmer weather, and the exhaust leak is so minor you wouldn't notice unless you looked.
The throttle controller is just a plug in item so in hindsight I should've removed it.
I personally find eBay auctions are the worst possible way to sell a car. Mainly because it attracts all the time wasters who get excited about bidding on a car but then suddenly lose interest when reality hits and they realise they have to leave their living room and collect and pay for it.
If you are lucky they disappear off the face of the earth but sometimes they keep the charade going for another couple of weeks promising to collect the car when they get paid, but eventually you will get the "really sorry something has cropped up" and they cannot buy the car anymore because their mum's dog had an operation or similar.
Then you relist it and get all the other time wasters contacting you saying "What happened, thought this was sold?" and you end up virtually giving it away to make the pain of having to deal with these people stop.
Another 500 miles added since last Wednesday, to add to 900 the few days before... just a little under 300 to stick on it tomorrow, then the donkey can rest.
Over 1500 miles I have averaged 47mpg, and that is fully laden/boot full of gear.
Petrol FTW! Oh the sheer joy of shedding.
Cruise control is a little....well, "not worky" when it wants, I have probably worn out the stalk contacts, but I can overlooked that as 80% it's fine.
Over 1500 miles I have averaged 47mpg, and that is fully laden/boot full of gear.
Petrol FTW! Oh the sheer joy of shedding.
Cruise control is a little....well, "not worky" when it wants, I have probably worn out the stalk contacts, but I can overlooked that as 80% it's fine.
Edited by 7 5 7 on Tuesday 21st May 17:38
I think that I might be back in Shed club?
1st wash of the year not looking to shabby for a 16 year old bus.
I'm not overly precious about cosmetics and it has the odd scratch and ding here and there.
Happy doing tip runs with it and mostly doing all my own spanner work.
A big bill on it would see me weighing up its value in parts as opposed to fixing it, which I suppose is a marker of a Sheddist.
Not a patch on the old Grotrod, though :-)
1st wash of the year not looking to shabby for a 16 year old bus.
I'm not overly precious about cosmetics and it has the odd scratch and ding here and there.
Happy doing tip runs with it and mostly doing all my own spanner work.
A big bill on it would see me weighing up its value in parts as opposed to fixing it, which I suppose is a marker of a Sheddist.
Not a patch on the old Grotrod, though :-)
magpie215 said:
I think that I might be back in Shed club?
1st wash of the year not looking to shabby for a 16 year old bus.
I'm not overly precious about cosmetics and it has the odd scratch and ding here and there.
Happy doing tip runs with it and mostly doing all my own spanner work.
A big bill on it would see me weighing up its value in parts as opposed to fixing it, which I suppose is a marker of a Sheddist.
Not a patch on the old Grotrod, though :-)
Surely thats still worth quite a bit?!?!?1st wash of the year not looking to shabby for a 16 year old bus.
I'm not overly precious about cosmetics and it has the odd scratch and ding here and there.
Happy doing tip runs with it and mostly doing all my own spanner work.
A big bill on it would see me weighing up its value in parts as opposed to fixing it, which I suppose is a marker of a Sheddist.
Not a patch on the old Grotrod, though :-)
magpie215 said:
I think that I might be back in Shed club?
1st wash of the year not looking to shabby for a 16 year old bus.
I'm not overly precious about cosmetics and it has the odd scratch and ding here and there.
Happy doing tip runs with it and mostly doing all my own spanner work.
A big bill on it would see me weighing up its value in parts as opposed to fixing it, which I suppose is a marker of a Sheddist.
Not a patch on the old Grotrod, though :-)
What on earth is that ?! Looks like a mk2 CR-V that's consumed far too many pies 1st wash of the year not looking to shabby for a 16 year old bus.
I'm not overly precious about cosmetics and it has the odd scratch and ding here and there.
Happy doing tip runs with it and mostly doing all my own spanner work.
A big bill on it would see me weighing up its value in parts as opposed to fixing it, which I suppose is a marker of a Sheddist.
Not a patch on the old Grotrod, though :-)
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
I just don't think youngsters can get their head around the idea of driving a shed.
Basically none of the kids of today have the first clue about doing DIY or any kind of maintenance. Old stuff scares the s
t out of them and despite having £400 a month to pay the rent on a 24 plate Audi A3 TDI in white with black wheels for 3 years, they don't have £1500 to buy a cheap second hand car.It's the same with property. Anything not a new build scares the s
t of them. They are only interested in stuff that will never break or if it does, they can ring a bloke up to come and sort the problem immediately for no cost. That's why most of them will debt themselves up to their eyeballs to rent something new just so they don't have to worry about anything when it breaks. The ones you do see mincing around in old stuff are because dad is good with the spanners and he'll sort it out when it breaks.ThingsBehindTheSun said:
PAUL.S. said:
Lad I know has just bought his 5 yr old lease Audi from the company for £17k (which he does not have), so had to borrow the money, therefore his monthlies are still roughly the same at around £400, he has only done about 35k in those 5 years.
I told him that in relation to my chariot, his first two months payment would have bought the car, taxed and insured it for the first year, then every year after that the first months payment would have covered his next 12 months of motoring costs and the next months would cover all maintenance, again year on year. 10 months saving £400 a month therefore 4k cash in his pocket to spend on other things each and every year, if and when the car dies, simply buy another based on the same maths.
Some people get it, some don't, he would rather shell out £400 every month for that car to sit on his drive most of the week, heavily depreciating each year.
I just don't think youngsters can get their head around the idea of driving a shed. I don't know if this is because they are worried it will be unreliable and don't even know how to open the bonnet, or if they are worried what other people might think if they drive an old car.I told him that in relation to my chariot, his first two months payment would have bought the car, taxed and insured it for the first year, then every year after that the first months payment would have covered his next 12 months of motoring costs and the next months would cover all maintenance, again year on year. 10 months saving £400 a month therefore 4k cash in his pocket to spend on other things each and every year, if and when the car dies, simply buy another based on the same maths.
Some people get it, some don't, he would rather shell out £400 every month for that car to sit on his drive most of the week, heavily depreciating each year.
Edited by PAUL.S. on Tuesday 21st May 10:52
We used to have company cars at my work but we were taken over and they stopped them. Virtually everyone I work with had only ever driven brand new cars before, so they all went out and leased something.
I found a cheap lease for a Kia Xceed for one of them at £167 a month but because his wife didn't like it (I assume the badge would not look good on the drive) he ended up getting a VW T-ROC which cost him over double.
One of them leased a car and did 10K miles in four years. The car has gone back and he has just bought a £30K Nissan Qashqai (I assume on finance)
I went for the car allowance and drove a shed for four years and I worked out I was around £20K better off once the allowance and BIK tax was taken into account.
They just don't get it, these are the people who also buy lunch every day, eat out every weekend and then moan they have got no money. They are also the people who want to own a new build Barret house, have a brand new car on the drive and fill it with new furniture, all on tick of course.
Edited by ThingsBehindTheSun on Tuesday 21st May 11:17
Gordon Hill said:
What's amusing is the sheer lather that they get themselves into and the pressure that they put themselves under to have these things, it's hilarious. Suppose that you should feel a modicum of pity towards them because it's never once occurred to them that you don't have to live that way but it would only fall on deaf ears.
You should see their faces when I tell them I drive a 13 year old car and live in a house built in 1865. One of them was telling me about the house he had just bought and how it was only 6 years old as if that was a good thing.I have explained to them before about the poor quality of new builds, lack of parking, poorly kept communal areas and everything looking tatty at the same time, but they all say "Nah, (Insert house builder name) are not like that, they are beautiful". All they care about is being able to take a dump on a Villeroy and Boch toilet in their tiny ensuite of their largely grey interior, new build semi.
Like you say, the idea of lowering themselves to pick up a paint brush is laughable, they will always get a man in.
r3g said:
magpie215 said:
I think that I might be back in Shed club?
1st wash of the year not looking to shabby for a 16 year old bus.
I'm not overly precious about cosmetics and it has the odd scratch and ding here and there.
Happy doing tip runs with it and mostly doing all my own spanner work.
A big bill on it would see me weighing up its value in parts as opposed to fixing it, which I suppose is a marker of a Sheddist.
Not a patch on the old Grotrod, though :-)
What on earth is that ?! Looks like a mk2 CR-V that's consumed far too many pies 1st wash of the year not looking to shabby for a 16 year old bus.
I'm not overly precious about cosmetics and it has the odd scratch and ding here and there.
Happy doing tip runs with it and mostly doing all my own spanner work.
A big bill on it would see me weighing up its value in parts as opposed to fixing it, which I suppose is a marker of a Sheddist.
Not a patch on the old Grotrod, though :-)
How that's shed money I will.never know
What's more weird and unfathomable is when they learn that you have a well paid job and are comfortably off but still run a shed, do all your own spanner work, cut your own grass, fit your own carpets, decorate, keep clothes for more than a fortnight etc, it just boggles the mind.
Personally I don't do debt, it never forgives, never takes a holiday and never makes allowances. As you age you give less of a sh#t what anybody else thinks or says, oh wait I never did.
Get it a lot at work from the underlings who earn about a third of my salary but all have brand new cars on lease, I get a lot of "oh you can do better than that", please define "better" to me, trying to subsidize a lifestyle that you can't afford?
Personally I don't do debt, it never forgives, never takes a holiday and never makes allowances. As you age you give less of a sh#t what anybody else thinks or says, oh wait I never did.
Get it a lot at work from the underlings who earn about a third of my salary but all have brand new cars on lease, I get a lot of "oh you can do better than that", please define "better" to me, trying to subsidize a lifestyle that you can't afford?
Edited by Gordon Hill on Tuesday 21st May 21:15
Oo all the yoof slander, if 27 is still a youngster then i go against everything youre saying 
Tatty 14 year old insignia is still doing its thing. Its thing being getting me go work everyday and out and about without any drama. Still leaks oil but i dont have any plans to sort that unless it fails on the mot
Tatty 14 year old insignia is still doing its thing. Its thing being getting me go work everyday and out and about without any drama. Still leaks oil but i dont have any plans to sort that unless it fails on the mot
7 5 7 said:
Another 500 miles added since last Wednesday, to add to 900 the few days before... just a little under 300 to stick on it tomorrow, then the donkey can rest.
Over 1500 miles I have averaged 47mpg, and that is fully laden/boot full of gear.
Petrol FTW! Oh the sheer joy of shedding.
Cruise control is a little....well, "not worky" when it wants, I have probably worn out the stalk contacts, but I can overlooked that as 80% it's fine.
Quite surprised how many of these there are. Plenty on the various selling platforms with relatively low miles for £1500-ish.Over 1500 miles I have averaged 47mpg, and that is fully laden/boot full of gear.
Petrol FTW! Oh the sheer joy of shedding.
Cruise control is a little....well, "not worky" when it wants, I have probably worn out the stalk contacts, but I can overlooked that as 80% it's fine.
Edited by 7 5 7 on Tuesday 21st May 17:38
High end option: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364898684486
Edited by ferrisbueller on Tuesday 21st May 22:09
Challo said:
It's a Honda Stepwagon, RG model.
How that's shed money I will.never know
To be fair it isn't and probably never will be.How that's shed money I will.never know
JDM cars are worth there weight in spares even if it's a basket case they still do strong money.
I'm thinking more from a how I use and think of the car rather than an arbitory value figure.
ferrisbueller said:
Quite surprised how many of these there are. Plenty on the various selling platforms with relatively low miles for £1500-ish.
High end option: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364898684486
Yeah still loads about, very cheap cars for no obvious reason than just being a Vectra it seems.High end option: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364898684486
Edited by ferrisbueller on Tuesday 21st May 22:09
Would happily have another if this one throws a wobbly - it despatches motorway miles very well indeed.
That Vectra example has raised an eyebrow here.
Currently rolling around in a 63 plate petrol Insignia ‘Exclusive’ and whilst its not let us down, at 87000 miles it’s regularly throwing up codes for bulbs or coolant etc.
I’m wondering if the Vectra is actually superior in build quality yet similarly priced?
Currently rolling around in a 63 plate petrol Insignia ‘Exclusive’ and whilst its not let us down, at 87000 miles it’s regularly throwing up codes for bulbs or coolant etc.
I’m wondering if the Vectra is actually superior in build quality yet similarly priced?
I have had Saabs for many years now. The 1980s/early 90s ones are the best made, the late 90s/early 00s ones are better made than the later 00s ones.
So what? So General Motors increasing influence in Saab is being reflected here, as they went on a mission to generate a profit and never mind the quality.
Bulbs - I would expect them all to have a similar life, surely? It's measured in hours of use, not years of age, and how many times they are turned on and off. So you are seeing them coming to end of their life. Volvos are the easiest cars I have found to relplace headlight bulbs.
Coolant? I wish my old sheds gave me any warning (other than rising steam) of a coolant issue.
I can comment generally that cars made after 2011 seem to me to be made more to a price and a toys list than to an engineering standard, and also to an mpg/emissions target rather than an enginering quality. Around 2011 was when all cars suddenly did 10+ more mpg than before.
So what? So General Motors increasing influence in Saab is being reflected here, as they went on a mission to generate a profit and never mind the quality.
Bulbs - I would expect them all to have a similar life, surely? It's measured in hours of use, not years of age, and how many times they are turned on and off. So you are seeing them coming to end of their life. Volvos are the easiest cars I have found to relplace headlight bulbs.
Coolant? I wish my old sheds gave me any warning (other than rising steam) of a coolant issue.
I can comment generally that cars made after 2011 seem to me to be made more to a price and a toys list than to an engineering standard, and also to an mpg/emissions target rather than an enginering quality. Around 2011 was when all cars suddenly did 10+ more mpg than before.
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