To Hire or to Shed?

Author
Discussion

GoneToLA

Original Poster:

91 posts

245 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
Glutton said:
I work for one of said big four and we won't continuously rent for more than 28 days. Our risk profile goes through the roof on long term private rentals. I'd shed it, done properly you'll make your money back!
Interesting to learn this - thanks. Although I've no idea why a long term rental would increase risk profile? Logic would suggest the opposite applies!

GoneToLA

Original Poster:

91 posts

245 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
helix402 said:
HustleRussell said:
Bispal said:
Rob175kks said:
Shed! E39 5 series! (528/530)
Too expensive to repair, you can easily throw away £5,000 into a bad one that needs repairs, £700 for a caliper, £2,500 for an engine management module, £800 for an auxiliary fan, £150 for each tyre, £160 for each maff sensor and so on... been there and done that
Those must be dealership prices / new parts?
They are imaginary prices. Or someone has done some spectacular overcharging.
E39 certainly has potential for me. There was a 540 Sport on Barge thread recently that had me interested. Bills on these also have potential though!

GoneToLA

Original Poster:

91 posts

245 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
bearman68 said:
Fancy a really good Rover 75 Tourer. I have a diesel one for shed money. been really well looked after, and is close to pristine.
It's got matching tyres and a good history. Would suit perfectly. (except for the 250 hp)
Would never have thought of one of these, but why not?

GoneToLA

Original Poster:

91 posts

245 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
nonsense said:
Why not hire a shed? Depending on where in the country you are you can hire an ~2001 Honda Accord, Lexus ls400, other reliable jap for ~£35-50 a week. Aimed at American servicemen so loads around bases. ~£600 no risk, no insurance to pay, well serviced, no huge damage issues as with other rentals... Just a thought!
Just a thought?! This might be just the answer... Details, please!

only1ian

688 posts

194 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
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Black_S3 said:
only1ian said:
I took brave pills and bought a "shed" unseen and in secret off ebay for my 2 weeks honeymoon in Scotland. £5400 for a 2000 xkr convertible with 90000miles!

Spent £2000 on cosmetics a big service and a gearbox oil change but seemed to work out ok! Honeymooned in reliable style and sold it for £9500 paying for honeymoon in the process! Here is me introducing the wife to the idea at the airport:

Hows the divorce going? biggrin
Two years in! Its ok i had form the wedding car was an E30 BMW

QuattroDave

1,466 posts

128 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
only1ian said:
Black_S3 said:
only1ian said:
I took brave pills and bought a "shed" unseen and in secret off ebay for my 2 weeks honeymoon in Scotland. £5400 for a 2000 xkr convertible with 90000miles!

Spent £2000 on cosmetics a big service and a gearbox oil change but seemed to work out ok! Honeymooned in reliable style and sold it for £9500 paying for honeymoon in the process! Here is me introducing the wife to the idea at the airport:

Hows the divorce going? biggrin
Two years in! Its ok i had form the wedding car was an E30 BMW
This is how I buy cars. I set my mind on what I want spec wise, find a few suitors and then set about finding the most bargainlisious one.

Currently driving a seven year old, one owner, full extended audi service history, very high spec (tv/bose/cornering lights/keyless etc etc etc) A8 4.2V8 petrol 350bhp that I got for less than £5,200. Normal private rate is £2k higher and on a forecourt it's £8-9k in my spec and condition.

Figure I can run it for two years and still sell on at a profit. Had it's MOT last week, straight through!

The old "quick sale needed" is always a good guide then a decent chat with the owner to gauge whether they're selling a ton of trouble or not!

Bispal

1,618 posts

151 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
helix402 said:
HustleRussell said:
Bispal said:
Rob175kks said:
Shed! E39 5 series! (528/530)
Too expensive to repair, you can easily throw away £5,000 into a bad one that needs repairs, £700 for a caliper, £2,500 for an engine management module, £800 for an auxiliary fan, £150 for each tyre, £160 for each maff sensor and so on... been there and done that
Those must be dealership prices / new parts?
They are imaginary prices. Or someone has done some spectacular overcharging.
It was an E39 M5 at a dealer.....




HustleRussell

24,699 posts

160 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
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So basically entirely irrelevant to this thread.

I've got an E34 525i and while I wouldn't necessarily suggest one as a car to shed (they are rusty), I have been pleasantly suprised by BMW's parts availability and prices. The cooking models don't attract the '///M' tax and who in their right mind would take a shed to a dealer for repair anyway.

MrTree

139 posts

166 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
Shed all the way, a long term hire is dead money, at least with a shed you can drive it not worry to much about minor niggle problems and you will still be able to re-coup so money afterwards instead of paying and getting nothing back.


i always shed i love the idea of a shed and i have never lost money on one.


Just recently i sold my bmw compact 2004 it had one owner before me and stacks of history with a long MOT i bought it as spares or repairs so cost me less than half shed money i spend 80 on a new VVT motor and fitting and it never put a foot out of line after that i sold it last week and made a decent profit and passed a decent shed onto someone else.


as long as you give it a good check over check the history and give it a proper service once bought (long MOT is always a plus as if you are only looking to keep it for a couple of months then this will help on resale value and you wont have to spend any money or time on it) then you will be on to a winner, you will not have spent half as much as a rental which you wont be able to re-coup any money back from and you will have had an experience in the process.

i have heard people suggesting a HOT Saab if you are looking for something with a bit of poke and sensibility, i agree they are good cars (current saab owner) just make sure before you look at one have a look at what to look out for if they have been looked after which a lot of them have been you can pay anywhere from £500-£1500 and you should be able to re-coup most of that back.

there are a lot of other options so you are not limited to Saabs.

if you have any questions then just ask!

Dale487

1,334 posts

123 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
What did you have whilst living out of the UK? A new car or something more shed like?

Because a shed could save you all the money in the world but if you want or are acustom to interated sat nav, reversing cameras, wifi & the like - you'll end up chopping it in after a few months.

If up to date tech doesn't bother you, get a shed! - A Saab would be great, just watch for pricey parts.

MrTree

139 posts

166 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
Dale487 said:
What did you have whilst living out of the UK? A new car or something more shed like?

Because a shed could save you all the money in the world but if you want or are acustom to interated sat nav, reversing cameras, wifi & the like - you'll end up chopping it in after a few months.

If up to date tech doesn't bother you, get a shed! - A Saab would be great, just watch for pricey parts.
Parts are not as bad as people think, due to saab becoming GM in the more recent years you dont pay much more than what you would for vauxhall bits.

I think the OP is looking for something interim whilst making a decision on a long termer.

MrH

484 posts

208 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
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Happy to help with the hire side if needed, we see many clients between cars or similar who take a brand new car from us for 3-12 months

Details in my profile if you wanted to chat.

Cheers, Mark

Foodhoover

36 posts

148 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
Having read the start of the strand and wanting in excess of 250 bhp and 4 doors means that my favourite sheds (alfa 166/ Audi A6/ Rover 75 V6/ W210 E class mercs) do not apply so we are into the stealth sleepers. Now don't laugh but early Audi A8's, Old jags (dangerous plan but an X308 or even at 245 bhp a 4.0 litre X300) can be found with enough life in them to actually not depreciate over a few months, test drive a few and you'll be able to spot a good 'un by feel and smell. You might even want to go for something rarer is a w140 merc S420 if you can find one it'll last and it won't depreciate.
That said, I do love the plan for an 9-5 Hot Saab. Torque steer rules!
pity that at 15K (or 20 sheds in my book) that a VXR8 is so much over budget, you could buy one of these, run it, valet it and sell it on without losing anything and you'd have a corvette engine!!!!!!!

NickJC

15 posts

144 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
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Black_S3 said:
GoneToLA said:
Yes - car rental is what I meant. 2-3 months approx.

Nobody has suggested this would be a decent option yet, so I assume long-ish term rental isn't sought after business for the big UK companies.
There are companies that do 6 month lease options... They are only used by other companies, not individuals, as they're a very expensive way of having a base model car for 6 months.

For example it would cost £5200 to lease a 2.0 diesel A3 for 7 months from these people:

https://www.carsondemand.co.uk/short-term-car-leas...
Worth also emailing leasing companies to see if they have any vehicles that have been handed back a few months early, or taken back?

Slow

6,973 posts

137 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
GoneToLA said:
E39 certainly has potential for me. There was a 540 Sport on Barge thread recently that had me interested. Bills on these also have potential though!
I bought a E38 for a whopping £200, under £200 of bits that were needed for the MoT and its on the road. Bills arent bad on older bmw's if you will work on them yourself.

vsonix

3,858 posts

163 months

Thursday 14th April 2016
quotequote all
Bispal said:
Rob175kks said:
Shed! E39 5 series! (528/530)
Too expensive to repair, you can easily throw away £5,000 into a bad one that needs repairs, £700 for a caliper, £2,500 for an engine management module, £800 for an auxiliary fan, £150 for each tyre, £160 for each maff sensor and so on... been there and done that, hence I would suggest a cheap Micra or Ka and keep the money for something better when you find it. Not saying E39's are bad, they are very nice cars, but in context of this thread it could work out cheaper to rent a Porsche Boxster for 8 weeks!
I think that's missing the point a bit, you can throw good money after bad on any car. It's perfectly possible to pick up a well maintained 528i SE for 1500 quid, it would probably be auto as manual ones command a premium at this point in time, it would probably be a dull shade of metallic light blue or beige with frumpy turbine wheels. It's assumed that if you're into the idea of shedding enough to be seriously considering it as an alternative to renting, you should be able to spot things like tyres and callipers very quickly indeed, the rest of it is about how much you trust the vendor and the car's history. Furthermore when you're paying shed money for an old BMW - these cars are *always* worth a decent wodge as parts so even broken ones sell for a price that will mean you won't have lost too much money if you decide to get rid instead of fix up.

I would pretty much always pick shedding over renting although obviously when overseas getting a car on the road legally can be hard or impossible if you don't live there or have friends who do; so in those circumstances I might consider renting.

GoneToLA

Original Poster:

91 posts

245 months

Friday 15th April 2016
quotequote all
QuattroDave said:
Currently driving a seven year old, one owner, full extended audi service history, very high spec (tv/bose/cornering lights/keyless etc etc etc) A8 4.2V8 petrol 350bhp that I got for less than £5,200.
Sounds like a great find. If I could locate something similar, I could forego both shedding and renting.

GoneToLA

Original Poster:

91 posts

245 months

Friday 15th April 2016
quotequote all
Dale487 said:
What did you have whilst living out of the UK? A new car or something more shed like?

Because a shed could save you all the money in the world but if you want or are acustom to interated sat nav, reversing cameras, wifi & the like - you'll end up chopping it in after a few months.

If up to date tech doesn't bother you, get a shed! - A Saab would be great, just watch for pricey parts.
2008 M3, mine from 2011. So certainly not new, but not a shed either. Good point ref tech - thanks, although a lack of it isn't an issue to me if I go the shed route short term.

GoneToLA

Original Poster:

91 posts

245 months

Friday 15th April 2016
quotequote all
MrTree said:
if you have any questions then just ask!
If I go for a Saab, I'll do just that - cheers!