heners54's gallic adventure into shedding
Discussion
Having followed loads of shedding threads on the forum and how much fun can be had with a car so little, I decided to take an opportunity to venture into the world of sheds as I sold both of my current cars to give a change of pace from warm hatch dailying and the Integra dc2 weekend weapon and to give time to decide on any worthy replacements. I'm a bit behind with what's been happening with this car as I've had it since the 8th of April, so here we go....
My experiment/question to myself was simple; can someone who is not a mechanical whiz by any stretch buy and maintain a shed on a shoestring budget? I can do basic servicing but a competent repair DIY'er I am not; however I was willing to buy a car purely on condition, logic and gut feeling for future reliability and upcoming cost, with no other real requirements; would I keep costs minimal, or would I be stuck with a repair I couldn't manage and be out of pocket? I'm sure there are plenty of people out there on the forum wondering this themselves with so many amazing threads on shedding and also so many horror stories about cars over in SP&L so I've put my wallet on the line to see for us
Anyway to the classifieds/auction sites; Old Japanese petrol car I hear you all screaming! But from the title you may have guessed this wasn't how things ended up......
The car at hand; A Renault Scenic Sport Alize! An ebay special that actually didn't sell; I saw the car listed, elderly chap who had given up driving had the car listed by his grandson, MOT due in 2 weeks and on SORN, no test drive. Oh and a cat C However the car looked immaculate, good MOT history, just 200 miles since its last pass, sat in a tidy double garage in a nice area, photos of the interior showed the guy had cut house carpet to cover the original floor mats and boot.
When the auction finished I had a bit on an exchange with the grandson about the history of the car, Every receipt from new present through renault/the ex renault mechanic when the garage closed including cambelt and water pump not due, 4 michelins on the car, new battery, good condition discs and pads all round, garaged its whole life washed weekly and waxed regularly. The car had a prang in 2009 which insurers didn't want to cover, the gent wanted this car on the road and went as far as additional remedial work cosmetically totaling nearly 3k, again all receipts from reputable bodyshop nearby.
The chap wanted 1k for it and had set this as a reserve, after a chat in person and a look round I took the car home for £500. Quick run home along the M6 confirmed all seemed well considering the old bus had been laid up for some time, and all the electrical gubbins working well once the CD player learnt after 18 years what a CD was
So in for its MOT it went, first day available at my trusted local garage as the apprehension to see if I could be as smug as I thought or if I would have egg on my face in week 1 of shedding was growing by the minute after tucking it into the garage at home. Results were a fail..... on a CV boot not being attached properly; a new clip and some grease sir, want us to do it for £20 and come back for it later? so for £50 all in we were shedding for 12 months/till catastrophic failure. At this time I replaced one of the tyres, Although all michelin one on the back was the original beauty at 62k miles and 18 years old, so on went a part worn avon from my local indy tyre fitter for £20 to keep my mind at rest from motorway blowouts, a bit different from the tyres they normally shod my cars in for me
New wipers all round for £6 as the others were as hard as nails and had been cleaned and silicone sprayed for the MOT but now needed replacing as I had decided we were in it for the long haul and the last of my remaining original fleet was sold.
And the old Girl:
And sporting the dual sunroofs
So that was the beginning of this journey, there's more to update already but that's probably enough content for one post
Any questions for the unlikely shedist or veteran welcomed as this experiment progresses.
Cheers,
Henry
My experiment/question to myself was simple; can someone who is not a mechanical whiz by any stretch buy and maintain a shed on a shoestring budget? I can do basic servicing but a competent repair DIY'er I am not; however I was willing to buy a car purely on condition, logic and gut feeling for future reliability and upcoming cost, with no other real requirements; would I keep costs minimal, or would I be stuck with a repair I couldn't manage and be out of pocket? I'm sure there are plenty of people out there on the forum wondering this themselves with so many amazing threads on shedding and also so many horror stories about cars over in SP&L so I've put my wallet on the line to see for us
Anyway to the classifieds/auction sites; Old Japanese petrol car I hear you all screaming! But from the title you may have guessed this wasn't how things ended up......
The car at hand; A Renault Scenic Sport Alize! An ebay special that actually didn't sell; I saw the car listed, elderly chap who had given up driving had the car listed by his grandson, MOT due in 2 weeks and on SORN, no test drive. Oh and a cat C However the car looked immaculate, good MOT history, just 200 miles since its last pass, sat in a tidy double garage in a nice area, photos of the interior showed the guy had cut house carpet to cover the original floor mats and boot.
When the auction finished I had a bit on an exchange with the grandson about the history of the car, Every receipt from new present through renault/the ex renault mechanic when the garage closed including cambelt and water pump not due, 4 michelins on the car, new battery, good condition discs and pads all round, garaged its whole life washed weekly and waxed regularly. The car had a prang in 2009 which insurers didn't want to cover, the gent wanted this car on the road and went as far as additional remedial work cosmetically totaling nearly 3k, again all receipts from reputable bodyshop nearby.
The chap wanted 1k for it and had set this as a reserve, after a chat in person and a look round I took the car home for £500. Quick run home along the M6 confirmed all seemed well considering the old bus had been laid up for some time, and all the electrical gubbins working well once the CD player learnt after 18 years what a CD was
So in for its MOT it went, first day available at my trusted local garage as the apprehension to see if I could be as smug as I thought or if I would have egg on my face in week 1 of shedding was growing by the minute after tucking it into the garage at home. Results were a fail..... on a CV boot not being attached properly; a new clip and some grease sir, want us to do it for £20 and come back for it later? so for £50 all in we were shedding for 12 months/till catastrophic failure. At this time I replaced one of the tyres, Although all michelin one on the back was the original beauty at 62k miles and 18 years old, so on went a part worn avon from my local indy tyre fitter for £20 to keep my mind at rest from motorway blowouts, a bit different from the tyres they normally shod my cars in for me
New wipers all round for £6 as the others were as hard as nails and had been cleaned and silicone sprayed for the MOT but now needed replacing as I had decided we were in it for the long haul and the last of my remaining original fleet was sold.
And the old Girl:
And sporting the dual sunroofs
So that was the beginning of this journey, there's more to update already but that's probably enough content for one post
Any questions for the unlikely shedist or veteran welcomed as this experiment progresses.
Cheers,
Henry
£500 with the belt changed, epic value! Esp with an owner like that. A £600 job, most don't change the belt and just wait. Sooner or later it snaps. Then they just buy another one!
Still miss the bus-like steering wheel and utter disconnect between it and the front wheels,
and the sheer practicality of mine. Wafer thin doors, compact dimensions, those rear seats completely out, and they're a great van.
You always get through 50/50 gaps too. All oncoming traffic assumes you don't GAF so will let you pass. Or maybe that was just my not-washed-for-8 year one!
Still miss the bus-like steering wheel and utter disconnect between it and the front wheels,
and the sheer practicality of mine. Wafer thin doors, compact dimensions, those rear seats completely out, and they're a great van.
You always get through 50/50 gaps too. All oncoming traffic assumes you don't GAF so will let you pass. Or maybe that was just my not-washed-for-8 year one!
Croutons said:
£500 with the belt changed, epic value! Esp with an owner like that. A £600 job, most don't change the belt and just wait. Sooner or later it snaps. Then they just buy another one!
Still miss the bus-like steering wheel and utter disconnect between it and the front wheels,
and the sheer practicality of mine. Wafer thin doors, compact dimensions, those rear seats completely out, and they're a great van.
You always get through 50/50 gaps too. All oncoming traffic assumes you don't GAF so will let you pass. Or maybe that was just my not-washed-for-8 year one!
Thanks, I've been enjoying the massive load area and the relaxed driving style this car has brought about! The massively slow steering rack and angle of the steering wheel really do give the bus effect Still miss the bus-like steering wheel and utter disconnect between it and the front wheels,
and the sheer practicality of mine. Wafer thin doors, compact dimensions, those rear seats completely out, and they're a great van.
You always get through 50/50 gaps too. All oncoming traffic assumes you don't GAF so will let you pass. Or maybe that was just my not-washed-for-8 year one!
No at that price I can't see it having a belt in my ownership, not due for another 2 years mind!
So bringing us up to date, the car has been doing daily duties crawling into the local city centre and sitting in a multi storey before crawling home again perfectly well, getting 32mpg thus type of driving which is more or less what my last daily got so thumbs up.
Some niggles, the air con died as seems to be the way with most cars stood a while, I had a refill kit from an old car which I've used and it worked brilliantly for a week and then settled into mediocrity, no further money being sent that route for now though.
Also in the heat we've had I've noticed on occasion the steering being heavy without a few extra rpm when doing low speed maneuvering, probably a tired pump but again this is a minor niggle at this time so will be left well alone.
Also a young girl left me a message written with eye liner for my return to the car one day to explain why I was missing some of my paint on the back end!
Any other car I'd be livid, on this occasion a shrug, quick phone call and some money my way and I'm enjoying the updated figures on my spreadsheet (it did T-Cut out)
The car is proving useful as a camping bus and has been to wales for this and also as a bike carrier, again not worrying about mud and being careful getting the bikes about/resting them on the car is a real liberty.
Currently I'm 1500 miles in at 42p per mile excluding fuel and insurance, long may it continue!
Some niggles, the air con died as seems to be the way with most cars stood a while, I had a refill kit from an old car which I've used and it worked brilliantly for a week and then settled into mediocrity, no further money being sent that route for now though.
Also in the heat we've had I've noticed on occasion the steering being heavy without a few extra rpm when doing low speed maneuvering, probably a tired pump but again this is a minor niggle at this time so will be left well alone.
Also a young girl left me a message written with eye liner for my return to the car one day to explain why I was missing some of my paint on the back end!
Any other car I'd be livid, on this occasion a shrug, quick phone call and some money my way and I'm enjoying the updated figures on my spreadsheet
(it did T-Cut out)The car is proving useful as a camping bus and has been to wales for this and also as a bike carrier, again not worrying about mud and being careful getting the bikes about/resting them on the car is a real liberty.
Currently I'm 1500 miles in at 42p per mile excluding fuel and insurance, long may it continue!
Edited by heners54 on Tuesday 29th May 21:22
Edited by heners54 on Tuesday 29th May 21:23
Brief update, the bus is now on 3252 miles in my ownership and we're sat about 21p per mile. Air con is well and truly dead which has been a pain in the recent weather but otherwise all seems well. A few long trips recently for camping etc, currently sat down Southampton docks having covered a few hundred miles at 40mpg, again impressed by this for an 18 year old 1.6 in a pretty slab shaped car
Easy to leave in undesireable places and not worry, and the weekend toy kitty is looking rather healthy, long may continue!
Easy to leave in undesireable places and not worry, and the weekend toy kitty is looking rather healthy, long may continue!
Croutons said:
...
and the sheer practicality of mine. Wafer thin doors, compact dimensions, those rear seats completely out, and they're a great van....
I borrowed my parent's one for an Ikea run, the gearstick on the dashboard means you can slide a 2m long flat-packed wardrobe between the front seats.and the sheer practicality of mine. Wafer thin doors, compact dimensions, those rear seats completely out, and they're a great van....
Gallons Per Mile said:
Good shedding! 21 PPM is good going too. My Mk4 Golf is at about the same rate of value for money too. 
Its amazing really how good value cheap cars can be, for context my last daily was a nearly new fabia monte carlo i had for 3 years and put nearly 40k miles on and had no real bills other than servicing, tyres an a small oil leak repair, plus very strong residuals that managed 19p per miles which I thought was good going in itself.So ive matched 3 years hassle free motoring just by avoiding the main stealer network! Touch wood all stays hunky dory.
Edited by heners54 on Sunday 22 July 14:21
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