The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[matchmaker]

LukeyP_ said:

MK1? What engine?

1.8T VRS

[tomble22]

martin mrt said:

tomble22 said:

martin mrt said:

tomble22 said:

For some reason, it appears I have bought an Audi A2 diesel for £550 which is located about 200 miles away from me.

I'm not entirely sure why, but I'll use the velominati cycling rule of n+1 for the timebeing!!

If that runs and is motd then it’s a bargain at £550

TDIs are sought after

Runs and MOT'd until August. 150k on the clock and seems tidy enough. Clutch done last year but might be playing cambelt roulette.

The current owner is also having a new windscreen put in before collection as it's got a big crack in it at the moment.

For £550 you’d be mad to chance a belt, with that done it would be £850 all in factoring approx £300 from an independent

You could run that for a year and still be in profit

Yeah, I'll see what the history is like when I get it and then go from there, if its pretty tidy otherwise then I'll probably get the belt done, or else give it a go myself, it's the next step up for me mechanically, I'm pretty handy with everything outside the engine!

Picture of the little A2 from the ad for you lovely shedders

[W00DY]

tomble22 said:

Yeah, I'll see what the history is like when I get it and then go from there, if its pretty tidy otherwise then I'll probably get the belt done, or else give it a go myself, it's the next step up for me mechanically, I'm pretty handy with everything outside the engine!

Picture of the little A2 from the ad for you lovely shedders

A steal. I do like an A2.

[Salmonofdoubt]

Any A2 will become a classic, definitely worth keeping it tip top because you will at least see your money back.

That said I'm definitely leaning towards better the car I know. I'm getting very tempted to fix the niggles on my shed, leak somewhere around the manifold, air-conditioning that hopefully just needs gas as it works just badly. The only other annoyances are one number plate light that needs rewiring/solder and the passenger window that's split from the runner.

I'm hoping that the leak of gases is a fairly simple fix. Then the other bits and a suspension refresh should see me take a car to 200k for the first time.

[anonymous-user]

I've decided to move my 53 plate XJ8 from "cherished barge" into "shed" and operate a policy of managed retreat with repairs. I feel liberated already

[V6todayEVmanana]

stickleback123 said:

I've decided to move my 53 plate XJ8 from "cherished barge" into "shed" and operate a policy of managed retreat with repairs. I feel liberated already

The transition shed Hope it goes well. Will feel liberating but think it will be hard to break the sentimental connection that a shed shouldn’t have.

Will the XJ8 start appreciating? Could complicate things.

[figtree]

figtree said:

This is now mine after a painless haggle down from £995 to £650, was previously advertised for £1495. 1992 Toyota Carina II XL. 1587cc of 16 valve Japanese loveliness, MoT'd till May. Electrics all working, well the sunshine roof keep fit windows and no airbags.

Not perfect by any means, 45k, no history but MoTs add up. I'm the 3rd keeper. Will give it a service and hopefully lots of life left in it yet. It's had a scrape down the offside, pushed the headlight in a touch and a bit of paint/rust to sort on the wing. The glovebox is held closed with a tie wrap cos the latch has fallen off at some point, the original radio/tape player plays some sounds, what they are though who knows and the display is shot. Will pick up a cheapy for my commute.





Drives ok on 13" wheels, remember them?? The door cards appear to be a luxurious carpet in the same pattern as the comfy seats. The indicator stalk is on the wrong side, cue comedy wipers action for the first few junctions when picking it up, the same position as the drive selector on my other car...what could possibly go wrong...

Needs wipers all round, the rear washer nozzle de-clogging and a patch repair on the back box (or may treat it to a new one)

Other than that it's not a half bad 27 year old shed

DISASTER!!

It's now undriveable....well till Wednesday anyway when a new water inlet pipe arrives, £30 from Toyota. It's had a new backbox and last week was treated to a coolant flush and replace which it then promptly started emptying itself of through a pinhole in the above mentioned inlet pipe.

I managed to avail myself of one of ECP rare sales promotions and get 5l of oil, filter, air filter, sump plug and seal and (another) 5l of ready mixed coolant for £33.

Incidentally, the coolant from ECP is advertised at £16.49 but is actually £8.99 instore.

https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/triple-qx-red-ready...

[Davie]

Salmonofdoubt said:

In theory the V70 should be the perfect shed for everything. But I'd suspect that the reality of one is of constant worries about something expensive breaking and wondering what you need to replace to make it better than it is.

I keep looking at V70/S60s as a replacement for my shed. But the last Volvo of that generation I owned was a mint 12k miler which was still fresh everywhere and felt as good as a nearly new car should, I suspect a 12+ year old one would be a massive let down.

With my current Ceed estate I can see your V50 situation. I've grown very attached to it because it just keeps going and I'm actually tempted to keep fixing little things that make it better to live with and keep it safe forever and eventually buy something newer but interesting to sit alongside it.

Pretty much hit the nail on the head.

I always ran a fairly sheddy car alongside something retro / quick / weekend... nothing dear, just 850R models and such like. When single life moved to family life, I bought the V50 diesel as the main car / wife's car as it was cheap, light to drive, economical and could fit all our crap in it. I then still had a weekend "toy" which was a P2 V70R and various V70 D5's. The D5's were fine as tools as I knew I had the R, which I had no problem spending on as it was worth it for the drive and the kudos if you like.

Now, expanding family and rural life (abuse) meant I sold the V70R at a good time and ran another sheddy V70 but this one I have now needs some TLC and I just can't face spending money on something that is pretty dull and uninteresting, more so when my wife's ever faithful old V50 is just the nicer all rounder to drive day in, day out. As has been said, two very similar estates is perhaps the issue as is the fact I've kind of done P2 V70's to death and I'm just not feeling the love and with no love, there's no desire to spend money I'll never get back.

So, as I type it looks like it's going tomorrow bar any unforeseen changes. I've found a pretty nice P3 XC70 and having been mulling it over for weeks, it's something that does tick many boxes for me / us as a main family car, ie for my wife to run around in. Granted, it's not a mega dear one and yes, the cost / complexity worries me a bit as it's less "disposable" than a shed spec V70 but it should hold its value and be more suited to life and also a bit less crap, thus I'll probably look after it more too.

I say more suited and yes, pretty much any car will handle rural life but we're off the beaten track and both cars catch the ground if you're not careful plus with miles of untreated, poorly maintained single track I spend most my time dodging holes, in the ditches to pass other vehicles or trying to get out the drive when it snows. Plus an XC70 is pretty soft and refined so good for new baby / toddler duties. A full fat 4x4 is maybe a bit overkill so hopefully an XC70 is a good compromise. Or... a crap one,

The V50 will stay and will rack up miles commuting... it's just too good at what it does and hopefully, long may that continue.

Edited by Davie on Saturday 23 May 17:02

[anonymous-user]

V6todayEVmanana said:

The transition shed Hope it goes well. Will feel liberating but think it will be hard to break the sentimental connection that a shed shouldn’t have.

Will the XJ8 start appreciating? Could complicate things.

Breaking that connection is the hardest thing, I think of it more as a shifting of the relationship so that I appreciate what it does in a different way.

Like all big Jaguars the XJR and top end supercharged ones might bottom out a bit higher than the others but a common or garden 4.2 SE will be a £2k - £5k car (depending on condition) for a very long time. The X300 models are only just now seeing any appreciation in values and even then only for the decent ones; a 3.2 with half cloth seats is still a £1500 car even if it's clean.

[STIfree]

figtree said:

DISASTER!!

It's now undriveable....well till Wednesday anyway when a new water inlet pipe arrives, £30 from Toyota. It's had a new backbox and last week was treated to a coolant flush and replace which it then promptly started emptying itself of through a pinhole in the above mentioned inlet pipe.

I managed to avail myself of one of ECP rare sales promotions and get 5l of oil, filter, air filter, sump plug and seal and (another) 5l of ready mixed coolant for £33.

Incidentally, the coolant from ECP is advertised at £16.49 but is actually £8.99 instore.

https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/triple-qx-red-ready...

My god, that is disastrous! How will you ever afford the repayments for that catastrophic bill?





Also, just a tip that I don't know if it has been mentioned before on here -


Car Parts 4 Less. https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/

Looks the same as ECP, infact is the same company as ECP. But sometimes is cheaper than them. It's deliveries only, which at the moment isn't too bad at all.

I know my last few orders have been a good few quid cheaper from Carparts4less than Euro even though they're the same damn company.

Edited by STIfree on Sunday 24th May 00:37

[Bonefish Blues]

Also worth comparing Autodoc, too

[vikingaero]

STIfree said:

figtree said:

DISASTER!!

It's now undriveable....well till Wednesday anyway when a new water inlet pipe arrives, £30 from Toyota. It's had a new backbox and last week was treated to a coolant flush and replace which it then promptly started emptying itself of through a pinhole in the above mentioned inlet pipe.

I managed to avail myself of one of ECP rare sales promotions and get 5l of oil, filter, air filter, sump plug and seal and (another) 5l of ready mixed coolant for £33.

Incidentally, the coolant from ECP is advertised at £16.49 but is actually £8.99 instore.

https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/triple-qx-red-ready...

My god, that is disastrous! How will you ever afford the repayments for that catastrophic bill?





Also, just a tip that I don't know if it has been mentioned before on here -


Car Parts 4 Less. https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/

Looks the same as ECP, infact is the same company as ECP. But sometimes is cheaper than them. It's deliveries only, which at the moment isn't too bad at all.

I know my last few orders have been a good few quid cheaper from Carparts4less than Euro even though they're the same damn company.

Edited by STIfree on Sunday 24th May 00:37

I would say that 70% of my CP4L orders are delivered in a local ECP van, the rest coming via DHL etc.

[anonymous-user]

A word of warning about CP4L... My experience recently has been... (trying to pick the right word) abysmal.

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

[grumpy52]

Right shredders it's advice time !
I need to change the shed , I need something with good seat height, room between the seat squab and the A pillar, big comfy leather seats , automatic and A/C .
My thoughts are Jap 4x4 or an MPV .
I have health issues and I am a very big old lump .
At the moment I run a Mk2 Focus Ghia that has cost peanuts to run and bits are as cheap as chips. As my back and knees are deteriorating it is getting painful to get in and out of and drive in traffic for more than 20 mins at a time .
I will steer clear of any of the super cheap Range Rovers ,Discovery or big BMW X5s that appear regularly as they all seem to be ticking time bombs .
The Focus has MOT extended until November and will be tested and sold if it passes or scrapped if the repairs cost more than £250 .
Budget to be £1250-1500 , what are the thoughts on a cheap Volvo XC90 ,XC70 or a V70 AWD otherwise it's a top of the range Galaxy type thing .
Over to you wise people .

[CX53]

RX300?

[Bonefish Blues]

Santa Fe. I run Volvos and I'd advise against the XC90, nice as they are.

[g3org3y]

greenarrow said:

egor110 said:

CJ1 said:

Just swapped a 2016 Golf R for a 2005 BMW 330i N52.

Unfortunately the shed life just isn’t for me! It spent its first week under my ownership having its climate control unit replaced as it decided the AC didn’t exist and all the Brakes were warped. Now all that is sorted it seems like a pretty solid car, but just doesn’t excite me... it’s a nice locally owned car, loads of paperwork including the original window sticker for £39000 and Supaguard ceramic coating booklet!

Already looking at leasing a new Megane R.S for £200 a month...

Make sure you let us know in here when it's up for sale

Is a N52 330i a true shed? I've never seen one for sale at less than £2,000, most are £3,000 upwards.

Shed life is <£1.5k. I think Deep Thought managed to blag an E90 330 around that price, absolute bargain at that price.

@ CJ1 - do mention in passing when you're planning to sell your 330i. BMW section should get first dibs.

[Scootersp]

Honda FRV Exec spec? perhaps too low

[Jazoli]

grumpy52 said:

Right shredders it's advice time !
I need to change the shed , I need something with good seat height, room between the seat squab and the A pillar, big comfy leather seats , automatic and A/C .
My thoughts are Jap 4x4 or an MPV .
I have health issues and I am a very big old lump .
At the moment I run a Mk2 Focus Ghia that has cost peanuts to run and bits are as cheap as chips. As my back and knees are deteriorating it is getting painful to get in and out of and drive in traffic for more than 20 mins at a time .
I will steer clear of any of the super cheap Range Rovers ,Discovery or big BMW X5s that appear regularly as they all seem to be ticking time bombs .
The Focus has MOT extended until November and will be tested and sold if it passes or scrapped if the repairs cost more than £250 .
Budget to be £1250-1500 , what are the thoughts on a cheap Volvo XC90 ,XC70 or a V70 AWD otherwise it's a top of the range Galaxy type thing .
Over to you wise people .

Rav4 or CRV would be my choice although the D4D in the rav can have issues annoyingly.

[Jimmy Recard]

grumpy52 said:

Right shredders it's advice time !
I need to change the shed , I need something with good seat height, room between the seat squab and the A pillar, big comfy leather seats , automatic and A/C .
My thoughts are Jap 4x4 or an MPV .
I have health issues and I am a very big old lump .
At the moment I run a Mk2 Focus Ghia that has cost peanuts to run and bits are as cheap as chips. As my back and knees are deteriorating it is getting painful to get in and out of and drive in traffic for more than 20 mins at a time .
I will steer clear of any of the super cheap Range Rovers ,Discovery or big BMW X5s that appear regularly as they all seem to be ticking time bombs .
The Focus has MOT extended until November and will be tested and sold if it passes or scrapped if the repairs cost more than £250 .
Budget to be £1250-1500 , what are the thoughts on a cheap Volvo XC90 ,XC70 or a V70 AWD otherwise it's a top of the range Galaxy type thing .
Over to you wise people .

I have a Mercedes ML shed and it has been very cheap and easy to run. Does high 20s mpg day to day (29.96 on the last tank) to mid 30s on a motorway run. It's a W163 with the 270 CDI engine.

In 18 months or so and something like 25k miles, I've had to replace the MAF (£53) and thermostat (£60.60 from local Mercedes dealership)