RE: The joy of Shed
Discussion
t Peugeot's in this city, and it ain't you.I have just started running a shed at the moment. It is a car my brother brought new. My father has owned it twice, I have owned it twice and on this occasion it cost me £200 with 7 months tax, 4 new tyres just fitted and 1/2 a tank of fuel. Does 50+ mpg and potters along on the 13 miles to work. Like the OP an e36 track car on the drive and more money to put towards the 8mpg on track and tyres.
I bought a Legacy in 2011 as part winter car part workhorse and i only paid 550 for it and 4 months after buying it, put it through an MOT and passed without me doing anything, ok the advisories were pages long but it passed.
I've treated it like utter dirt and cleaned it once becuase the birds crapped all over the mirrors, when I say cleaned, I meant hosed and that was it. Thing is, it was quite good when I got it but i've ruined it, spilt cooking oil, flour, a whole gallon of petrol and rusty bits and even a garden full of bushes.
Sadly MOT is up next month and where the cat used to be is a bit of welded pipe and that's the tip of the iceberg. It's been good and i'd easily buy another, it's great having a car that you don't mind smashing. My wife wants to take it to her dads farm to rag around and destroy it in a fitting rally-esque way.
I've treated it like utter dirt and cleaned it once becuase the birds crapped all over the mirrors, when I say cleaned, I meant hosed and that was it. Thing is, it was quite good when I got it but i've ruined it, spilt cooking oil, flour, a whole gallon of petrol and rusty bits and even a garden full of bushes.
Sadly MOT is up next month and where the cat used to be is a bit of welded pipe and that's the tip of the iceberg. It's been good and i'd easily buy another, it's great having a car that you don't mind smashing. My wife wants to take it to her dads farm to rag around and destroy it in a fitting rally-esque way.
Well done that man..!!
Incidently what would 9hours worth of his hard graft and specialist gear cost joe public..??
Incidently what would 9hours worth of his hard graft and specialist gear cost joe public..??
Pookster said:
Glad I'm a shedder amongst friends.
Ref the cleaning then massive thanks to Richard Tipper from Perfection Valet who worked nine hours on the car without a break for 'fun'. He does my CSL and decided that the 306 had to be done to see if it could be done, and the answer was a resounding yes. He's much more used to Ferraris, Porsches and Astons but there is just something about this old 306. Interior is now like new, the biege really comes out in the sun.
Ref the cleaning then massive thanks to Richard Tipper from Perfection Valet who worked nine hours on the car without a break for 'fun'. He does my CSL and decided that the 306 had to be done to see if it could be done, and the answer was a resounding yes. He's much more used to Ferraris, Porsches and Astons but there is just something about this old 306. Interior is now like new, the biege really comes out in the sun.
Sheds are great fun, couple years back I had a £300 1.2 Renault Clio. Nick named her the dirty French as I never washed her and she liked it rough! Kept the dirt and salt of my 997 GT3 RS. Liked it so much I upgraded to a Clio 172 Cup, not exactly a shed but still cost me less than a set of tyres for the GT3RS! Sold the 1.2 to my mate who at the time had a Gallardo Coupe and he had great fun with her for six weeks until a meeting with the central reservation of the M27 cut her life tragically short 
I guess I've driven sheds all my life. Not one has been bought under 10 years old but the figures no matter what your financial position are hard to argue with.
People may laugh on the road at my 1.3 automatic granny spec Yaris whilst they drive their financed 1.6 A3's. But if it costs less than £1000 per year (including fuel) to run, then it saves me as much as possible so I can spend it wisely on fuel/new gearboxes for the RS6.
People may laugh on the road at my 1.3 automatic granny spec Yaris whilst they drive their financed 1.6 A3's. But if it costs less than £1000 per year (including fuel) to run, then it saves me as much as possible so I can spend it wisely on fuel/new gearboxes for the RS6.
Ah, this is where I belong!
The current daily is a £330, 195k Volvo V70 2.5T, now with £150 worth of "R" alloys with excellent tyres. Comes up great with a wash and generally fools people in to thinking it cost a lot more than it did.
Also have a Cavalier SRi, bought from an old couple complete with almost full tank of fuel for £500, it's been to the ends of the country (nearly) and managed 8k in 6 months.
Other favourites are the SAAB 9000 CSE 2.3T I got with 88k for £550, that did 20k in under a year without a cough and with a free remap embarrassed many expensive cars and the free 106 1.0 I was given from a colleague, the bonnet was so faded it had turned white (green car), I even did a track day in that car!
Generally I find that the cheap cars I buy are far better than the dear/modern ones!
The current daily is a £330, 195k Volvo V70 2.5T, now with £150 worth of "R" alloys with excellent tyres. Comes up great with a wash and generally fools people in to thinking it cost a lot more than it did.
Also have a Cavalier SRi, bought from an old couple complete with almost full tank of fuel for £500, it's been to the ends of the country (nearly) and managed 8k in 6 months.
Other favourites are the SAAB 9000 CSE 2.3T I got with 88k for £550, that did 20k in under a year without a cough and with a free remap embarrassed many expensive cars and the free 106 1.0 I was given from a colleague, the bonnet was so faded it had turned white (green car), I even did a track day in that car!
Generally I find that the cheap cars I buy are far better than the dear/modern ones!
Currently killing a £650 328i eBay shed, best fun I have had in years.
Strange though, as I bought it to use as a station car so if its gets bumped or scratched I wouldn't care. The problem is, I really am quite precious about it!
What was supposed to be something I was going to "not care about" has somehow become a project, I have already replaced a few bits that were bothering me........I am missing the point, aren't I?!
Strange though, as I bought it to use as a station car so if its gets bumped or scratched I wouldn't care. The problem is, I really am quite precious about it!
What was supposed to be something I was going to "not care about" has somehow become a project, I have already replaced a few bits that were bothering me........I am missing the point, aren't I?!
I paid 2250 for my shed for the winter, a 2002 vw passat W8 with 60k and a FSH. the 4.0 returns around 24 mpg on a decent run and about 18 mpg around town. It has permenant 4wd and is super comfy with heated seats - perfect for snow and stupidly cold days.
I had a 500 quid Volvo 850 last year but it died over the summer and wasnt the most comfy so if I get two winters out of the vw I am more than happy.
I had a 500 quid Volvo 850 last year but it died over the summer and wasnt the most comfy so if I get two winters out of the vw I am more than happy.
Good story, however.
My man maths works a bit better. We sold my wife's VX Meriva (pre-me purchase) and bought a Golf GTi mk2 16v oak green rust free for shed money. Anyway with the money left over we have fitted winter tyres and tidied it up and we are still a few hundred quid better off.
My man maths works a bit better. We sold my wife's VX Meriva (pre-me purchase) and bought a Golf GTi mk2 16v oak green rust free for shed money. Anyway with the money left over we have fitted winter tyres and tidied it up and we are still a few hundred quid better off.
Sir, I salute you.
I had a basic 1.4 petrol 306 once and it was the best car I've owned by some margin. There is a road near hear, a fairly nondescript road that links Chenies with Chesham - but it's savage! A real test of a car's chassis and the 306 is still the only car I've been able to tame that road in.
For true shedding I would take the route of a deeply unhip Merc in a dodgy colour (say a 1997 C200 in bright blue) - £500 or therabouts - and just drive it very slowly. In my long experience of cheap, cheap motoring I've learned driving slowly is the key. Suddenly change the usage pattern of a car and it will disintegrate pretty quickly.
I had a basic 1.4 petrol 306 once and it was the best car I've owned by some margin. There is a road near hear, a fairly nondescript road that links Chenies with Chesham - but it's savage! A real test of a car's chassis and the 306 is still the only car I've been able to tame that road in.
For true shedding I would take the route of a deeply unhip Merc in a dodgy colour (say a 1997 C200 in bright blue) - £500 or therabouts - and just drive it very slowly. In my long experience of cheap, cheap motoring I've learned driving slowly is the key. Suddenly change the usage pattern of a car and it will disintegrate pretty quickly.
No matter how much I try, I just can't do this.
Many years ago, I had a mine Alfa GTV 3.0 V6 and bought a Corsa as a daily. It became and ornament down the side of my house; 'hmm... do I take the 1.0 Corsa or the 3.0 V6 Alfa with most of the silencers removed?' I could afford to run the Alfa, so I took that every time.
I now have a 911 C2S, E36 M3 track car, and 2 Mk1 Escorts. The 911 is my daily and gets packed with luggage, shopping, and mud after days out. I love driving it, so that's what I do - drive it.
On Sunday I collected a Mk1 Escort Mexico. I've put 250 miles on it since then in the rain and snow, and I used it to attend business meetings in a rainy Manchester all day yesterday. Again, I bought it to drive and not just to look at.
Life's too short to worry about cars getting dirty or rotting away IMO.
Many years ago, I had a mine Alfa GTV 3.0 V6 and bought a Corsa as a daily. It became and ornament down the side of my house; 'hmm... do I take the 1.0 Corsa or the 3.0 V6 Alfa with most of the silencers removed?' I could afford to run the Alfa, so I took that every time.
I now have a 911 C2S, E36 M3 track car, and 2 Mk1 Escorts. The 911 is my daily and gets packed with luggage, shopping, and mud after days out. I love driving it, so that's what I do - drive it.
On Sunday I collected a Mk1 Escort Mexico. I've put 250 miles on it since then in the rain and snow, and I used it to attend business meetings in a rainy Manchester all day yesterday. Again, I bought it to drive and not just to look at.
Life's too short to worry about cars getting dirty or rotting away IMO.
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