The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[Milkbuttons]

I keep toying with the idea of running a shed, but I'm scared out my mind of buying someone else's problems.

I currently lease a brand new car for the wife every year or so but now we want to save for an extension on the house so we have been looking at ways to save some cash, is this a realistic way to save some money or is it a big head ache?

[magpie215]

Milkbuttons said:

I keep toying with the idea of running a shed, but I'm scared out my mind of buying someone else's problems.

I currently lease a brand new car for the wife every year or so but now we want to save for an extension on the house so we have been looking at ways to save some cash, is this a realistic way to save some money or is it a big head ache?

Can you swing a spanner and Diy some of your own repairs?

At this end of the market some non functioning items on a car are to be expected and possibly lived with.

My method is buy at under £700 as much mot as possible......run as long as possible at minimal spend.......if it breaks big time weigh in and repeat.

[Plate spinner]

Milkbuttons said:

I keep toying with the idea of running a shed, but I'm scared out my mind of buying someone else's problems.

I currently lease a brand new car for the wife every year or so but now we want to save for an extension on the house so we have been looking at ways to save some cash, is this a realistic way to save some money or is it a big head ache?

It’s all about:
Buying the right one and doing done homework.
Being choiceful about maintenance / repairs.
As much as you can DIY avoiding pro labour bills.
A bit of luck.
And genuinely not caring what others think about your choice of car.

[Milkbuttons]

magpie215 said:

Milkbuttons said:

I keep toying with the idea of running a shed, but I'm scared out my mind of buying someone else's problems.

I currently lease a brand new car for the wife every year or so but now we want to save for an extension on the house so we have been looking at ways to save some cash, is this a realistic way to save some money or is it a big head ache?

Can you swing a spanner and Diy some of your own repairs?

At this end of the market some non functioning items on a car are to be expected and possibly lived with.

My method is buy at under £700 as much mot as possible......run as long as possible at minimal spend.......if it breaks big time weigh in and repeat.

Plate spinner said:

It’s all about:
Buying the right one and doing done homework.
Being choiceful about maintenance / repairs.
As much as you can DIY avoiding pro labour bills.
A bit of luck.
And genuinely not caring what others think about your choice of car.

I can try my hand at most things, although I'm certainly not a mechanic I can give most things ago.
My biggest problem is time, I don't have a lot of free time to take a vehicle somewhere to be fixed let alone fix the vehicle myself!

Are their any vehicles that you gravitate towards?

Any mileage you think is to high to chance, over 150k etc

[Stuart p k]

If looking to spend under £1000, a petrol Toyota avensis is a very safe bet! I had mine 3 years and it passed the mot every year with no fuss. Boring but oh so reliable, comfortable and cheap to run.

[Stuart p k]

In fact my brother has m one to use as a taxi. Much to my surprise the council let him buy a £700 Avensis, plate it with the council and use the 2005 Toyota as a private hire taxi. 8 hrs a day 6 days per week and zero problems over the last 5 months, they are almost indestructible!

[M4cruiser]

Milkbuttons said:

magpie215 said:

Milkbuttons said:

I keep toying with the idea of running a shed, but I'm scared out my mind of buying someone else's problems.

I currently lease a brand new car for the wife every year or so but now we want to save for an extension on the house so we have been looking at ways to save some cash, is this a realistic way to save some money or is it a big head ache?

Can you swing a spanner and Diy some of your own repairs?

At this end of the market some non functioning items on a car are to be expected and possibly lived with.

My method is buy at under £700 as much mot as possible......run as long as possible at minimal spend.......if it breaks big time weigh in and repeat.

Plate spinner said:

It’s all about:
Buying the right one and doing done homework.
Being choiceful about maintenance / repairs.
As much as you can DIY avoiding pro labour bills.
A bit of luck.
And genuinely not caring what others think about your choice of car.

I can try my hand at most things, although I'm certainly not a mechanic I can give most things ago.
My biggest problem is time, I don't have a lot of free time to take a vehicle somewhere to be fixed let alone fix the vehicle myself!

Are their any vehicles that you gravitate towards?

Any mileage you think is to high to chance, over 150k etc

Like others have said, petrol Japanese with low street cred is the best.
Some good advice for you in the previous few posts.
Mileage itself isn't the issue, it's a question of maintenance. A "90,000 miler" could be useless. A cared-for 150,000 miler could last a few years.

[M4cruiser]

I trust this qualifies us as good shedders. This car doesn't stand around, one of us drives it most days:-

[magpie215]

M4cruiser said:

I trust this qualifies us as good shedders. This car doesn't stand around, one of us drives it most days:-

I admire your lack of detailing. ....mine has some areas of green too.

Edited by magpie215 on Saturday 7th March 16:52

[Bonefish Blues]

M4cruiser said:

I trust this qualifies us as good shedders. This car doesn't stand around, one of us drives it most days:-

I see sir ticked the Algae trim. Good choice.

[dgswk]

After spending £8 on an air freshening 'bomb' for my new shed, two weeks later, the smell of wet dog is back. I love dogs, but not the smell of wet ones. Spent another £10 on some new cabin air filters of a well known auction site. Maybe that'll help.

I never clean the outside, couldn't give a fk, but I do like the inside tidy and clean as I spend many many hours sat on the M5 in it.

Oh, and six weeks in, used the parking sensors to sniff out a wheelie bin. Oh, what parking sensors. Bang, oops, oh well, patina I think they call it.

One question - hunting down some steelies / knackered alloys with winter tyres for a planned alpine road trip. Anyone with a dead shed with such a thing to suit an 08 Audi A6, let me know.

[Demelitia]

M4cruiser said:

I trust this qualifies us as good shedders. This car doesn't stand around, one of us drives it most days:-

Extra waterproofing and working towards becoming carbon neutral at the same time.

[martin mrt]

Update on my “shed” I purchased a few weeks ago for just over shed money.

The sheer lack of shine, polish and rusty wings got to me so I’ve spent some money fitting new wings, giving it a going over with a polisher and as it needed 4 tyres I found some alloys for the same price as I would be for tyres, and the steels are sold to a mate

When I picked it up


Today


Now in keeping with proper shedding, I acquired a free Citroen C2 diesel van on Monday, it had been sitting for nearly two years and the owner was going to scrap it. I offered him scrap money but he was having none of it and was glad to be rid of it.

After fitting a new battery I stuck it in for an MOT, it’s done 3 miles since it’s last One in 2018, it duly failed on a cv boot, wiper blades and the alternator cooked itself on the mot ramp so £12 from the breakers today and I have a replacement.

Looking at less that £300 finished with a years test

Not sure what to do with it, revel in the fact its utter crap but will run for weeks on the same tank of fuel or get rid to someone that can use it

Edited by martin mrt on Saturday 7th March 19:59

Edited by martin mrt on Saturday 7th March 20:07

[Bonefish Blues]

Someone has ruined that van

[Demelitia]

dgswk said:

After spending £8 on an air freshening 'bomb' for my new shed, two weeks later, the smell of wet dog is back. I love dogs, but not the smell of wet ones. Spent another £10 on some new cabin air filters of a well known auction site. Maybe that'll help.

I never clean the outside, couldn't give a fk, but I do like the inside tidy and clean as I spend many many hours sat on the M5 in it.

Oh, and six weeks in, used the parking sensors to sniff out a wheelie bin. Oh, what parking sensors. Bang, oops, oh well, patina I think they call it.

One question - hunting down some steelies / knackered alloys with winter tyres for a planned alpine road trip. Anyone with a dead shed with such a thing to suit an 08 Audi A6, let me know.

I’ve got a vax rapide ultra 2 carpet cleaner that I used on any car that comes through the household.
It has an extractor hose for doing upholstery as well as normal carpets using the brush bar.
They can be had for around £100 refurbished and pay for themselves very quickly.
No matter how clean you think your seats are, the colour of the water that comes out of them usually proves otherwise.
A spray bottle with some cleaner mixed in is handy, wet the seats, scrub (how hard will depend on the material) with something like a hogs hair leather brush or soft nail brush and then extract the water with the vac.
I find that most of the effect comes from the extraction of clean water rather than the scrubbing. Repeated wetting and extracting seems to work well.
After that, aftershave in the footwell carpets and a magic tree hidden in a door pocket usually keep my shed smelling nice.
The air-con bombs often seem to need a second go if the bad smell is strong.

[Jimmy Recard]

Bonefish Blues said:

Someone has ruined that van

I also preferred the van in previous condition!

The C2 would make an excellent small shed too

[martin mrt]

Jimmy Recard said:

I also preferred the van in previous condition!

The C2 would make an excellent small shed too

Each to their own but I like things tidy so rusty wings, faded paint and scorched with heat gun bumpers don’t cut it for me

The C2 now that I don’t care much for

[i prefer a flan]

Mine (my shed) has had a number of water ingress problems since I acquired it 4 years ago. I patched up the leaks that I could identify but for the life of me I've not been able to find the worst leak that saturates the entire passenger side every winter. To put it into perspective water's actually sloshing around now..... It's shameful but I just can't find this leak and I've practically given up. Thing is the car's mechanically bulletproof it really is, I can't bare to get rid of it because I know the next shed will have other problems (f'ked engine probably).

Anyone else with a leaky fker? How can I justify getting rid of it!!!

[CinnamonFan]

Stuart p k said:

If looking to spend under £1000, a petrol Toyota avensis is a very safe bet! I had mine 3 years and it passed the mot every year with no fuss. Boring but oh so reliable, comfortable and cheap to run.

I have a 2007 diesel avensis which keeps on plodding. Purchased at 162k and now on 179k. It has a huge scrape down one side where I hit a scaffolding pole sticking out the end of a truck. I reversed it into a wall and it has countless other scrapes and dents. Valueless to most. I cannot fault it mechanically, but it is very very boring. I change fluids and filters annually. Passed two MOTs in my ownership without advisories. Fingers crossed for a 3rd in June! Might wash it if it passes first time.

[magpie215]

martin mrt said:

Shed


Not shed

FTFY;)