The Joy of Running an Old Shed
Discussion
A500leroy said:
500 quid, even if it lass 6 months you're a winner on that.TheJimi said:
Each to their own, to be fair :-)
As said, a shed, for me is a useful tool.
It's not an inherently enjoyable experience, for me as a petrolhead, beyond the aspects of being able to park it anywhere and generally drive stress free.
I don't get any other pleasure from owning a s
theap, so hence, I'm kinda baffled when folk choose to buy and own multiples thereof 
I completely agree to a point that each to their own, and i love the fact everyone is different. Would be a boring world otherwise. As said, a shed, for me is a useful tool.
It's not an inherently enjoyable experience, for me as a petrolhead, beyond the aspects of being able to park it anywhere and generally drive stress free.
I don't get any other pleasure from owning a s
theap, so hence, I'm kinda baffled when folk choose to buy and own multiples thereof Edited by TheJimi on Wednesday 11th December 19:36
But i would also add that being a petrolhead isnt just the car you drive but your attitude and love of cars bikes etc..
For me i love my sh!tbox cars... and i also love my £150 seat leon cupra that i drove from Wales, to Italy, Swiss Alps, Nurburgring, Belgium to home in 5 days with a like minded bunch of guys... "the whole game of what was that noise"
You should come with us one year and see if we change your mind
Edited by Superchickenn on Thursday 12th December 15:09
clayts450 said:
Just another bonus of multi-shed ownership. Four out of my six were unusable due to a variety of maladies/jobs in progress. For most people having four cars out of action means relying on other modes of transport. Not me, I still have two sheds I can use.....now up to three again as I managed to fix one of the dead 'uns this morning.
The only issue for me is it's all the wafty long barges which are working when ideally I need one of the smaller ones for parking near work due to small and minimal amounts of spaces. Never mind, waft into work, park miles away and get a sweat on walking the rest of the way.
Am now looking at a cheap 200-300 quid small car snotter to temporarily add to the collection and to tide me over...
The only issue for me is it's all the wafty long barges which are working when ideally I need one of the smaller ones for parking near work due to small and minimal amounts of spaces. Never mind, waft into work, park miles away and get a sweat on walking the rest of the way.
Am now looking at a cheap 200-300 quid small car snotter to temporarily add to the collection and to tide me over...
i love your mentality, my kinda guy Edited by Superchickenn on Thursday 12th December 15:09
Superchickenn said:
TheJimi said:
Each to their own, to be fair :-)
As said, a shed, for me is a useful tool.
It's not an inherently enjoyable experience, for me as a petrolhead, beyond the aspects of being able to park it anywhere and generally drive stress free.
I don't get any other pleasure from owning a stheap, so hence, I'm kinda baffled when folk choose to buy and own multiples thereof
I completely agree to a point that each to their own, and i love the fact everyone is different. Would be a boring world otherwise. As said, a shed, for me is a useful tool.
It's not an inherently enjoyable experience, for me as a petrolhead, beyond the aspects of being able to park it anywhere and generally drive stress free.
I don't get any other pleasure from owning a s
theap, so hence, I'm kinda baffled when folk choose to buy and own multiples thereof Edited by TheJimi on Wednesday 11th December 19:36
But i would also add that being a petrolhead isnt just the car you drive but your attitude and love of cars bikes etc..
For me i love my sh!tbox cars... and i also love my £150 seat leon cupra that i drove from Wales, to Italy, Swiss Alps, Nurburgring, Belgium to home in 5 days with a like minded bunch of guys... "the whole game of what was that noise"
You should come with us one year and see if we change your mind
Edited by Superchickenn on Thursday 12th December 15:09
It then strikes me that there’s a shed subculture where some of you deliberately buy sheds because you find pleasure in it, extended to the extremes with some nutters buying and running multiples of the things.
By all means have a ridiculous number of cars, but multiple sh*theaps? Doesn’t compute for me.
That goes beyond my vision of what a shed represents. I mean, you reckon it’s fun to take some cr@pper around Europe?! Nutter
Thanks for the invite, but no, I think I’ll pass
A500leroy said:
Another quick question, private reg on a shed yes or no? I already have it and need to use it soon before i loose the rights to it.
Absolutely. Best place for one IMO.Not only does it imply you have the means to afford a more expensive car but you've deliberately chosen a cheap Shed instead, which naturally outrages those who always spend every penny they can scrape together on the most prestigious car they can get their hands on but also the combination of expensive plate and cheap car also deeply offends the number plate fetishists who can't get their heads round somebody doing that.
Win win there. Go for it
Jaguar steve said:
Absolutely. Best place for one IMO.
Not only does it imply you have the means to afford a more expensive car but you've deliberately chosen a cheap Shed instead, which naturally outrages those who always spend every penny they can scrape together on the most prestigious car they can get their hands on but also the combination of expensive plate and cheap car also deeply offends the number plate fetishists who can't get their heads round somebody doing that.
Win win there. Go for it
Totally agree. I put my plate on my shed which was worth 5x the car. Got a bit worried it might fail MOT and may not get plate off so transferred it to something niceNot only does it imply you have the means to afford a more expensive car but you've deliberately chosen a cheap Shed instead, which naturally outrages those who always spend every penny they can scrape together on the most prestigious car they can get their hands on but also the combination of expensive plate and cheap car also deeply offends the number plate fetishists who can't get their heads round somebody doing that.
Win win there. Go for it
Much prefer it on the shed
Jaguar steve said:
A500leroy said:
Another quick question, private reg on a shed yes or no? I already have it and need to use it soon before i loose the rights to it.
Absolutely. Best place for one IMO.
The only time I think a private plate is cool is when it's either on what is clearly a shed, or when a hideously expensive plate is on something completely ordinarily and innocuous.
Like the two character plate that's on a reasonable old Polo in my village
TheJimi said:
Jaguar steve said:
A500leroy said:
Another quick question, private reg on a shed yes or no? I already have it and need to use it soon before i loose the rights to it.
Absolutely. Best place for one IMO.The only time I think a private plate is cool is when it's either on what is clearly a shed, or when a hideously expensive plate is on something completely ordinarily and innocuous.
Like the two character plate that's on a reasonable old Polo in my village
I'm still interested in how much tax and insurances is costing the guys who have many (e.g. seven) sheds?
Are they mostly the £30 VED econoboxes and insurance is a multicar job and you've found it stops increasing much once you get past two cars, because you can only drive one at a time?
The reason I'm perplexed is that a quick bit of mental arithmetic suggests if the sheds are "average" emissions cars at say £200 each per year for VED, then 7 of them would be £1400 just on VED. If the insurance is another £1400 (£200 each) then you're up at nearly £3000 before you buy petrol or spare parts. Which seems like a false economy, having just two (a fun car and a small car) at those prices would save ~£2000 to spend on keeping those two in better condition so they weren't all broken down.
Are they mostly the £30 VED econoboxes and insurance is a multicar job and you've found it stops increasing much once you get past two cars, because you can only drive one at a time?
The reason I'm perplexed is that a quick bit of mental arithmetic suggests if the sheds are "average" emissions cars at say £200 each per year for VED, then 7 of them would be £1400 just on VED. If the insurance is another £1400 (£200 each) then you're up at nearly £3000 before you buy petrol or spare parts. Which seems like a false economy, having just two (a fun car and a small car) at those prices would save ~£2000 to spend on keeping those two in better condition so they weren't all broken down.
TheJimi said:
Financial necessity aside, it seems that most of us buy a shed because of the stress free aspect – being able to park it anywhere, and not worry about it, maybe even free up some cash in the process to sweeten the deal.
It then strikes me that there’s a shed subculture where some of you deliberately buy sheds because you find pleasure in it, extended to the extremes with some nutters buying and running multiples of the things.
By all means have a ridiculous number of cars, but multiple sh*theaps? Doesn’t compute for me.
That goes beyond my vision of what a shed represents. I mean, you reckon it’s fun to take some cr@pper around Europe?! Nutter
Thanks for the invite, but no, I think I’ll pass
I am definitely in the stress free camp, although the massive financial benefit is another major reason for me. My current shed is perfect, everything works, four good tyres all the same brand, no suspension knocks and the steering is perfectly straight and doesn't wander. It has passed the last six MOTs without a single advisory and I have not spent a penny on it in the 2 years I have owned it. The alloys are in great condition as is the body work and I am not embarrassed to drive it.It then strikes me that there’s a shed subculture where some of you deliberately buy sheds because you find pleasure in it, extended to the extremes with some nutters buying and running multiples of the things.
By all means have a ridiculous number of cars, but multiple sh*theaps? Doesn’t compute for me.
That goes beyond my vision of what a shed represents. I mean, you reckon it’s fun to take some cr@pper around Europe?! Nutter
Thanks for the invite, but no, I think I’ll pass
Four months ago I got bored of my shed and ended up buying another one on eBay. It was filthy dirty, but I took great delight in cleaning it and fixing all the little issues with it. Trouble is, it clearly had other issues with a noisy starter motor, slightly binding brakes and a loud suspension knock. Despite my ten hours of cleaning it still smelt slightly musty and the interior had scratches and marks all over the place. While the exterior looked great from ten feet away, you could see the previous owner didn't care about the car and every panel had scratches and marks. Basically when I drove it I was putting up with a lot of annoyances just to drive a cheap car.
I tried to love it, but after three months I went back to my original shed and sold it. I did think about keeping it as a backup shed, but then I thought what is the point. If anything happens to my main shed, I could literally have another one sorted out from eBay in an afternoon.
The point I am making is there are sheds and there are sheds. There are the cars with numerous problems that are one mot failure away from the scrapheap and there are cars that despite being old are still great. I certainly don't want a load of crappy old cars with issues littering my drive.
Flooble said:
I'm still interested in how much tax and insurances is costing the guys who have many (e.g. seven) sheds?
Are they mostly the £30 VED econoboxes and insurance is a multicar job and you've found it stops increasing much once you get past two cars, because you can only drive one at a time?
The reason I'm perplexed is that a quick bit of mental arithmetic suggests if the sheds are "average" emissions cars at say £200 each per year for VED, then 7 of them would be £1400 just on VED. If the insurance is another £1400 (£200 each) then you're up at nearly £3000 before you buy petrol or spare parts. Which seems like a false economy, having just two (a fun car and a small car) at those prices would save ~£2000 to spend on keeping those two in better condition so they weren't all broken down.
You're not wrong at all, the debit column in the clayts450 accounts book for 'car(s)' is terrifying and probably would bankrupt many. I'm fortunate in having no particular demands on my disposable income (i.e. sad lonely old fart).Are they mostly the £30 VED econoboxes and insurance is a multicar job and you've found it stops increasing much once you get past two cars, because you can only drive one at a time?
The reason I'm perplexed is that a quick bit of mental arithmetic suggests if the sheds are "average" emissions cars at say £200 each per year for VED, then 7 of them would be £1400 just on VED. If the insurance is another £1400 (£200 each) then you're up at nearly £3000 before you buy petrol or spare parts. Which seems like a false economy, having just two (a fun car and a small car) at those prices would save ~£2000 to spend on keeping those two in better condition so they weren't all broken down.
But ultimately it's a hobby that I thoroughly enjoy, so I don't see it as a waste of money. Some people (and I used to be one) religiously follow their favourite team all around the UK and spend insane amounts on travel and tickets etc. Others blow a wodge of cash on shiny phones, clothes, going out, etc.
I gub my wages on rubbish 90s cars. What's not to like ? Petrol/spare parts ? Well, annual mileage divided by six keeps those costs down, so it's really only the insurance and RFL that hits the wallet. And 30 quid MoTs at my friendly F1 Autocentre
Joey Deacon said:
The point I am making is there are sheds and there are sheds. There are the cars with numerous problems that are one mot failure away from the scrapheap and there are cars that despite being old are still great. I certainly don't want a load of crappy old cars with issues littering my drive.
Agreed - one of the sextuplets (a Rover 214) is seriously testing my patience and was going to be the one heading for the Council garage as it's a bit rare. Now I'm close to cutting my losses and getting shot. The other five are all regularly used, and the failures are often minimal and usually easily solved by a bit of home mechanic-ing.For me, shed driving does actually mean putting up with each of the car's idiosyncracies - a whining fuel pump here, repeating brake caliper binding there, you know the drill. All the other five get driven regularly, they're useless otherwise.
I drive them now because I stopped driving for 20 years, so I'm catching up on cars I want to drive before they become extinct.
What I don't do is start spending stupid money on them - rule of bangernomics applies : never spend more on fixes than the car cost me in the first place. Hence why one got fragged when the cost of putting right the MoT fails exceeded the 250 quid I splashed out for it.
Sum total of buying the six cars on fleet presently is 1627.56.
I am serial sheddist and I claim my five pounds.
Nothing wrong with that Sir. I would have cars as well maybe a couple extra as spare and for variety. My other half doesn’t really get it and to be fair we don’t have time and space at the moment for that. In a few years I angolinha to have 2 sheds but nice ones and like you be it a little hobby. Tinkering is therapeutic...
Joey Deacon said:
The point I am making is there are sheds and there are sheds. There are the cars with numerous problems that are one mot failure away from the scrapheap and there are cars that despite being old are still great. I certainly don't want a load of crappy old cars with issues littering my drive.
Oh I'd be very tempted by a nice pile of sheds had I the space to keep them. I think it's fun to turn something a bit rubbish into something usable and a lot less rubbish -- bonus points if it can be done really cheap. There's a plethora of cheap cars that I find interesting, Previa, Espace, Xedos 9, IS300, NB MX5, cheap Z3s and petrol 1 series, Yeti, Swift, Ignis, E38s, Alfa GT or 159... Just the selection of the day -- _so_ much out there.Fortunately (for the marriage) this won't work living in a flat. So two cars max.
I'm really thinking of getting rid of the Golf again (worth a bit over €20k now) and getting something for max half the price and then keep that going until it breaks. But what to buy? Currently back to BMWs, there's a nice green E46 Touring close by, or a Z4 Coupe, or a manual zero options E38 730i. Or alternatively get a well run in diesel (never had an Alfa) now they are falling out of fashion. Hm.
Sorry for waffling on
if there's any point I wanted to make is that there different ways of looking at "shedding". For me it's really attractive to have something with depreciation done where you get joy keeping it in reasonable nick and like putting miles on it instead of thinking do I need to really do this journey (as it will cost in depreciation). CrgT16 said:
Nothing wrong with that Sir. I would have cars as well maybe a couple extra as spare and for variety. My other half doesn’t really get it and to be fair we don’t have time and space at the moment for that. In a few years I angolinha to have 2 sheds but nice ones and like you be it a little hobby. Tinkering is therapeutic...
A shed is really something cosmetically flawed but mechanically sound.But I'd still have a backup to my good shed. I also have a non-runner that is a project, but could become my next shed.
Yes, my neighbours hate me, but I'm ok with that. I don't live in a posh area but I watch them playing games against each other. If I walk 100 yards from my front door I see a BMW 5-series, a Lexus Hybrid, an Audi, a Range Rover and another BMW. It's all rather fun.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff