To Hire or to Shed?

[GoneToLA]

Hi all.

Long term follower here; small contributor.

Returning to UK in a couple of weeks, after 5 years abroad.

No idea what car I'd like to set myself up with, although at 45 I'm thinking something fairly sensible: 4 doors, at least 250 bhp, half decent mpg [I paid $2.40 for a gallon of juice today - approx 45p per litre, so guess I'm going to have to get used to UK prices in a gentle way!].

I'd like to do some test driving when I arrive, but will need to get around in the meantime for a month or two.

Any suggestions on the best place to do long term hire of anything other than a super-mini without being ripped off? Or is a shed the way to go?

Thanks in advance for any replies.


Paul

[GoneToLA]

Thanks for this MJ85. Perhaps PM me the details when you decide.

Guys - any other suggestions? I've had a good search through other threads, but can't find anything specific.


Paul

[GoneToLA]

talksthetorque said:

Have a quick check at insurance before you buy something.
I assume you still have a UK licence, but they do ask about recent continuous residency.
Wouldn't want you to buy a shed, then find out that the insurance is prohibitive.
www.comparethemarket.com
www.gocompare.com as a start.

Thanks for this.

Hadn't thought too much about insurance. I had full NCB before I left UK, and a clean record since. I guess because I've been outside EU, the last 5 years won't help. At 45, I thought I'd left prohibitive insurance quotes behind long ago. But maybe not!

[GoneToLA]

HustleRussell said:

In August I decided to take my old BMW off the road for a respray. Hire a car or buy a shed?

I bought a shed. Seven months later with a full blown restoration in progress I'm glad I did!

What did you buy? And from where?

Buying a car from Ebay wasn't something I thought I'd ever consider, but it seems fairly common now [from reading other threads].

Does anyone have a recommendation for a reliable ebay car seller? If not allowed in forum, a PM would be great.

[GoneToLA]

Matttrakker said:

I'm in a similar situation and I can't bottom out the answer.,
I'd love a nice car, I can afford one, but I get annoyed at the drop in value.
I've tried buying a fast shed, and I get annoyed with its sheddiness.
I dint think there's a right answer! I've quite enjoyed my shed. I don't think about value too much, my main issue is my commute which is 100 miles a day and this frustrates me as it kills the value of the car.
I'd definitely shed again though

Yes, I've been there with mileage / deprecation - many times.

Been lucky enough to have a few brand new company cars over the years, but have never bought new personally.

I'm useless with spanners, which makes me just a bit hesitant about buying a shed!

[GoneToLA]

HustleRussell said:

This



£250 from Gumtree.

Gumtree! I'd forgotten all about that as a potential source - cheers for reminder.

Looks like great value for 250!

[GoneToLA]

Slow said:

Hes 45, I highly doubt it will make much difference.

Hopefully you're right Slow. I couldn't stand the thought of paying the same for a policy as a car is worth. Would be just like 1991 all over again!

[GoneToLA]

eltax91 said:

Get a shed. Go Japanese and petrol for maximum reliability and value for money.

If you want fast, maybe take a look at HOT saab's?

Agree that Japanese may be the shed way to go.

Never thought of Saab - possibly too much of a risk to me!

[GoneToLA]

Slow said:

My first year (2012) was £2700 on a 5 door focus, was the cheapest I could find. Currently paying £800 for a £200 e38

Wow - have insurance prices risen significantly in UK in the last 5 years or so ?

Reminds me of my XR3i in 1991 - 2200, TPF&T!

My last UK policy was a shade over 1000, for an E46 M3 and V8 Vantage!

[GoneToLA]

Black_S3 said:

Shed. You wont rent anything decent here for sensible money (assuming you mean rent, not HP/Lease).

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.

[GoneToLA]

Black_S3 said:

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...

Yes, this was my point about not being ripped off - I just couldn't bear the thought of spending 5k and having nothing to show for it after 7 months, even if I could afford it!

[GoneToLA]

INWB said:

This although i don't think many decent ones are around.

I could potentially go for one of these, although a quick initial search doesn't show many that appear too decent. I understand I can't be too fussy, of course!

[GoneToLA]

E46Rob said:

Lexus GS300? Comfortable, ultra reliable, great stereo, and not particularly slow!

Can't disagree with anything you've said. Not the prettiest car IMHO, but certainly one for the list - thanks!

[GoneToLA]

Chris-182 said:

My company can supply 6 month leases which would be much cheaper than renting! PM me if you want some prices

Thanks Chris. This is likely to be too expensive, however I'd appreciate more details. Tried to PM you, however 'member does not accept emails' was as far as I could get.

[GoneToLA]

seefarr said:

I faced a similar situation in reverse - we went to Canada for 3 months and had to decide whether to rent or own something. I ended up owning an F-150 for 3 months:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

When it all came back to $$$'s we ended up spending more on buying the car and re-selling (dealer to dealer sales). But we formed an emotional bond and had way more fun because we had something more ludicrous than you would even hire or actually want to own full time.

Buy.

Wow - that's quite a write up, and far braver than I could ever be. Congrats, and hope you've managed to get used to 'normal' life again.

Buying a car in California was a bit more complicated. IIRC, I needed a Social Security number and relevant visa. Used cars with service history were hard to find. There are oil change [while you wait] centres on every corner, so more often than not people use these. No MOT system either, which is why it's a joy to see so many older cars [eg Nissan 300ZX, E36 M3s, etc] on the road. Sales tax is payable every time a used car is sold, which I found a bit irritating when trying to find an M3 for approx $65k back in 2011. $6k tax on top please sir! Still, I guess it balances out [almost] to UK prices. For used cars at least. New are obviously less expensive, even with tax. Leasing is most definitely cheaper. SWMBO currently pays $329 [approx 235 at today's awful exchange rate] for a fully loaded Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, with free servicing. I'd take that for a few months in UK!

[GoneToLA]

[quote=BrightonEd]For what it's worth, I've bought many sheds over the years; more recently for friends know I can spot a good ' un.

Part of my checklist is:
New MOT
Low owners (having been moved through a family is ideal)
At least some service history
Private sale
What's the state of the sellers home? People that don't look after houses don;t look after cars!

Ideally, from a reliability point of view, I'd generally always buy Japanese at the low end of the market. Honda, ideally. They just run & run, and if you get one that's been maintained, you can skimp on it off you wish.

The last find was this Civic. Family owned, £60k, Honda S/history, working aircon - £1050

Thanks for the checklist. I'll use this as criteria if I go the shed route. Keeping things simple works well for me!

[GoneToLA]

loudlashadjuster said:

I recall trying to convince Mrs LLA that a LS430, A8 or X300 Jag was 'just the thing', but realistically the effort to move something like that on would have been more than the Ka.

I imagine I may have to have a similar conversation in the near future!

[GoneToLA]

[quote=Bispal]I even rocked up in the Micra to test drive my McLaren.

I imagine that was quite an event!

I've wondered how turning up in a shed would go down with potential test drives. Not that I'd be looking at anything exotic. So if a Micra worked for McLaren, I should be absolutely fine!

[GoneToLA]

brickwall said:

For 2-3 months, shed all the way. Check out the Bargain barges 1-5 thread for inspiration and moral support.

Ah - the Barge thread. I'm a huge fan, and follow it pretty much every day. I thought about posting there, but didn't think my situation quite met the Bargisters' criteria!

[GoneToLA]

BugLebowski said:

If you're the type of person who gets Halfords to fit new wipers then a lease would probably work out cheaper!

Sad to say that this is a fairly valid description!