The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[Justatwist]

This is my current shed, a 54 plate Fabia, 1.9tdi with 180k on the clock bought for £500 In August. It was only meant to see me through the winter as I usually ride a motorcycle but I can’t see me getting rid of it. I think I’ll have to buy a maintenance charger and leave this on the drive until next winter!

[M4cruiser]

jagnet said:

Whilst I can see the value in using OE for some things, coolant wouldn't be one of them. It's just there to provide sub zero protection and anti corrosion which Triple QX or similar will manage just fine. Just choose one that meets the appropriate specs for that manufacturer as appears in the handbook.

I guess I'm still nervous from a coolant top-up done by a quick-fit type of garage a few years ago where they mixed the 2 different types of coolant (i.e. pink with blue, or orange with green). It results in a brown sludgy mess after a few warm-ups.
"Original spec" is the key, and if I'm not sure what that was (or if I'm not sure what the previous owner used) then I'll buy from the franchised dealer and give it a water flush first time I put it in. Then I know it's the right spec from then on.
We haven't had a new car for over 20 years (and don't want one), and currently our newest one is 10 years old (purchased 2 years ago), so it's quite fun to go into the franchised dealer from time to time to buy some bits, and see their reaction when I give them the registration number!

[Pothole]

Demelitia said:

Pothole said:

Mrs P got me one of those little seats on wheels for Christmas! Does yours fart when you sit down?

Quit looking for people to back up your excuses and accept responsibility for your own emissions!

Fair point...

[Pothole]

M4cruiser said:

I find it best to run our sheds like that, i.e. [something utterly irrelevant to "find(ing) it best" to do with being able to afford overpriced, repackaged all-comes-from-the-same-coolant-spring-in-the-magic-car-fluids-hills slop]

And here's what grinds my gears about shedders choosing to prop up the gouging stealership networks.

Still, each to their goat. You carry on, I'll keep getting mine from Poundland/stretcher/Home Bargains/The Range...

[Plate spinner]

I just get the right spec from ECP, it’s cheap enough with their permanent sale prices.

[mercedeslimos]

Bonefish Blues said:

I'm impressed with the RS5s I've fitted. Seem more secure than the RS3s, or perhaps just slightly stiffer in the sidewall.

They are next on the list. I always seem to change cars before I need tyres. Picked up a set of steelies with 4mm and 3mm tyres last week so will need some imminently. What is projected life like?

Sold the last Passat with RS3s on before I could tell what wear was like.

Great for the pissy wet climate!

[Dadoc2001]

Aiminghigh123 said:

Looking at replacing tyres on my Saab shed 225/45/17 94. Rears are bold on the inner edge and front right is at 2mm.
Camskill are doing uniroyal £54 a corner or eagle F1 £62 a corner. ATS usual fit for £10 a corner. Not the cheapest but I tend not to skimp on tyres.

Eagle F1 all day long. Great feel off the Uniroyals but they lasted approx 11k on my Civic - got 19k on the F1's without any real difference in grip or performance

[Pothole]

looks like I'm binning the Civic. Needs a rear brake rebuild or new calipers and that cost isn't worth it, mainly because it won't comply with Birmingham's Clean Air Zone next winter. Now I need a Euro 4 shed.

[aaron_2000]

Yet I bet the same old diesel buses that spray black clouds of cancer in your face will still be allowed.

[Pothole]

aaron_2000 said:

Yet I bet the same old diesel buses that spray black clouds of cancer in your face will still be allowed.

Not fussed enough to fight that battle. Motorcycles are exempt so it'll be a winter shed only. Compliance and heater are the only considerations.

[M4cruiser]

Pothole said:

M4cruiser said:

I find it best to run our sheds like that, i.e. [something utterly irrelevant to "find(ing) it best" to do with being able to afford overpriced, repackaged all-comes-from-the-same-coolant-spring-in-the-magic-car-fluids-hills slop]

And here's what grinds my gears about shedders choosing to prop up the gouging stealership networks.

Still, each to their goat. You carry on, I'll keep getting mine from Poundland/stretcher/Home Bargains/The Range...

That's a bit harsh - please read my other post on coolant!
Also - let me give another example: A few years ago I bought a factor's Air Filter (for the shed I still have) and it DIDN'T (Quite) FIT but it was the "right" one. It was just a cheap manufacture, a millimeter thinner than the official one, and it was therefore letting unfiltered air past itself into the throttle body. So I made a rubber gasket to seal it up. Next time I went to the main dealer for the official air filter (which was a perfect fit). Now the official one was £13. The factor one (2 years earlier) was £11.
No brainer.

[mercedeslimos]

aaron_2000 said:

Yet I bet the same old diesel buses that spray black clouds of cancer in your face will still be allowed.

It might be helpful to get your facts straight.

Most if not all of the fleets of any city buses will be EU5 at a minimum (DPF equipped and most probably SCR too)

No black clouds here.

As diesel isn't going anywhere in the heavy vehicle sector big investment is being made in improving economy, efficiency, and emissions.

I drove 2 machines back to back over the weekend on similar work. The 2010 machine with both a particulate filter and AdBlue on the older 12.6 DAF unit gave 9.8mpg (!) whereas the 2019 model gave 14+.

Big difference when you're doing thousands of miles a week.

[jagnet]

M4cruiser said:

Now the official one was £13. The factor one (2 years earlier) was £11.
No brainer.

OE can be a similar cost and sometimes cheaper than aftermarket so imho it's always worth checking prices and not dismissing OE parts off hand, eg my genuine oil filters cost £3 each whilst aftermarket ones are at least double that.

For guaranteed quality and accuracy of fit then I'll happily pay a little more for the OE item. With the appalling quality of some aftermarket parts then going cheap can be a false economy. The amount of different aftermarket brake pads that I've tried and changed early before finding some that actually perform at least as well as OE, it would've cost less to just buy the OE ones each time. Tip: Ferodo Eco Friction pads are excellent.

I can see the argument for lowest price parts on a shed that lives one MOT at a time, but there's also a place for quality and longevity within shedding as well and sometimes that can include a trip to the main dealer.

[v15ben]

Having a great shed week so far:
- Puncture last night in Leeds city centre rush hour after getting a nail in the tyre.
- Driving home after putting space saver wheel on and the headlight goes out.
- Go to buy headlight bulb today and realise sidelight is out on the opposite side too.

...other than that no issues

[Steve91]

New read N/S caliper needed. Garage wanted £120 supply and fit. I bought one for £30 and I'll fit it myself. Shouldn't be too hard!

[STIfree]

Shed bargains today.

The £350 E91 I got for my old man is due an MOT this month. The tyres (well 2 at least) are very close to the legal limit so managed to grab a set of 4 alloys from FB marketplace with decent tyres for £80. That's £20 a corner, in case you're struggling with the maths.

I took his car to collect them as I needed to pick up a bike on route too, good amount of space in these!





Got them home and realised they're not the exact same wheel but close enough.




Old vs new





Fitted




Hopefully will sell the alloys that I've taken off for around £50 and that will bring the total cost of 4 replacement tyres to £30!



I also found the E91 much easier to park. So Googled the length of it and it's actually 25cm shorter than my MK4 Mondeo (non estate)! My Mondeo is massive, even my old V70 estate is 6cm shorter.

[M4cruiser]

jagnet said:

M4cruiser said:

Now the official one was £13. The factor one (2 years earlier) was £11.
No brainer.

OE can be a similar cost and sometimes cheaper than aftermarket so imho it's always worth checking prices and not dismissing OE parts off hand, eg my genuine oil filters cost £3 each whilst aftermarket ones are at least double that.

For guaranteed quality and accuracy of fit then I'll happily pay a little more for the OE item. With the appalling quality of some aftermarket parts then going cheap can be a false economy. The amount of different aftermarket brake pads that I've tried and changed early before finding some that actually perform at least as well as OE, it would've cost less to just buy the OE ones each time. Tip: Ferodo Eco Friction pads are excellent.

I can see the argument for lowest price parts on a shed that lives one MOT at a time, but there's also a place for quality and longevity within shedding as well and sometimes that can include a trip to the main dealer.

Sensible post jagnet, thank you.

[Aiminghigh123]

STIfree said:

Shed bargains today.

The £350 E91 I got for my old man is due an MOT this month. The tyres (well 2 at least) are very close to the legal limit so managed to grab a set of 4 alloys from FB marketplace with decent tyres for £80. That's £20 a corner, in case you're struggling with the maths.

I took his car to collect them as I needed to pick up a bike on route too, good amount of space in these!





Got them home and realised they're not the exact same wheel but close enough.




Old vs new





Fitted




Hopefully will sell the alloys that I've taken off for around £50 and that will bring the total cost of 4 replacement tyres to £30!



I also found the E91 much easier to park. So Googled the length of it and it's actually 25cm shorter than my MK4 Mondeo (non estate)! My Mondeo is massive, even my old V70 estate is 6cm shorter.

Wow I would have ran your tyres for much longer.

This is my daily.

Rears are bold on the inner edge.

Edited by Aiminghigh123 on Wednesday 4th March 10:48

Edited by Aiminghigh123 on Wednesday 4th March 10:49

[anonymous-user]

Good morning shedders,

I bring a seat leon 1.9sx

Years mot,clutch,flywheel,cambelt and waterpump all done.

Less than a bag of sand and apart frol wet footwells, a sound car.

Pics to follow

[p4cks]

Mobilecommute said:

Good morning shedders,

I bring a seat leon 1.9sx

Years mot,clutch,flywheel,cambelt and waterpump all done.

Less than a bag of sand and apart frol wet footwells, a sound car.

Pics to follow

Largely bulletproof engine, favoured by taxi drivers the world over