The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[Jimmy Recard]

Actually, I think this is my main philosophy for shed maintenance:

1) I change fluids, belts and filters when they’re due. I think it’s a false economy to ruin an engine for the sake of these simple things.

2) if I loaded it up to its gross train weight and set off on a long journey, would I be confident it was safe and would make it without a breakdown? If not, repair whatever would impede that.

[Majorslow]

Replacing number plates has come up.....some don't bother unless likely to fail an MOT test....

But....what if when selling the car the purchase of £20-25 worth of plates could make said shed look younger, better looked after and get back more than your 25 squid outlay?

Also people talk about low miles "sheds"....is a car a shed with less than 200k on the clock?

[oOJamesOo]

I’m in the market for a shed. Not sure what to go for but would like a saloon or estate. Not keen on a hatch personally.

I’m thinking an Accord, avensis, e90 3 series or a c class. What would you guys go for given that choice and a budget of £1,000. Could tickle that up to £1,500 if it’s a really nice car.

[danllama]

I'm on the lookout for a shed. Willing to travel 100 miles from Folkestone. Needs to be diesel and have cruise control (mway commute).

So far considering an Accord or Volvo s40/60.

Anybody have something they could recommend? If you're really bored have a look on ebay and say what you'd go for

[Jimmy Recard]

Majorslow said:

Replacing number plates has come up.....some don't bother unless likely to fail an MOT test....

But....what if when selling the car the purchase of £20-25 worth of plates could make said shed look younger, better looked after and get back more than your 25 squid outlay?

Also people talk about low miles "sheds"....is a car a shed with less than 200k on the clock?

Agreed, that makes it worth it. My sheds usually stay with me until they’re beyond economical repair so go to scrap or I need a different kind of shed (I went from hatchback to big 4x4)

In your case I agree, it’s worth replacing the plates. On my ML or magpie’s Galaxy, I think that it’s moot

[Jimmy Recard]

As for mileage, I think it depends on context. An immaculate 2010 Lexus LS with 200,000 miles isn’t a shed. A 2002 Astra or Focus or Golf 1.6 with 200,000 miles is a shed

[tomble22]

oOJamesOo said:

I’m in the market for a shed. Not sure what to go for but would like a saloon or estate. Not keen on a hatch personally.

I’m thinking an Accord, avensis, e90 3 series or a c class. What would you guys go for given that choice and a budget of £1,000. Could tickle that up to £1,500 if it’s a really nice car.

My accord estate https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... is going well. Cost me £500 and has only thrown up a new battery in the 6 months I've had it.

Comfortable ride, enough power, cruise, heated seats, sat nav, sun roof, power boot etc. It does what most modern cars can do without the cost. I'll be getting another one when this one croaks it.

[Jimmy Recard]

danllama said:

I'm on the lookout for a shed. Willing to travel 100 miles from Folkestone. Needs to be diesel and have cruise control (mway commute).

So far considering an Accord or Volvo s40/60.

Anybody have something they could recommend? If you're really bored have a look on ebay and say what you'd go for

Mondeo and Vectra are not glamorous, but they’re robust, cheap and designed to do exactly that, with massive supplies of cheap parts.

I don’t know the Mondeo that well, but in the case of the Vectra C, you can retrofit cruise control yourself easily and cheaply. £10 for the stalk, 3 minutes to fit and whatever a Saab/Vauxhall garage would charge to code it in.

Also Saab 93/95 would fit your criteria

[gman88667733]

Spent a lot more on the Panda shed than intended...
Purchased for £840 in January, knew it needed a few bits to get it up to scratch but was going to wait a good while first. Ended up really liking the car, it is annoyingly fun to drive around. So have ended up spending more than the purchase price in maintenance in the first 6 months alone!
Cambelt + Water pump, starter motor (old one failed), quality discs and pads, 4 new tyres, full service, both front strut assemblies (2nd hand off a much newer car, only 1 year old parts), plus various other bits I can't think of off the top of my head. Helped keep the cost down by doing most of it myself, but still, have gone a bit overboard!

On the plus side, I now have a very low mileage car that runs perfectly and should go on for years to come now. Only thing left to do currently is sort out an annoying exhaust rattle, but that isn't urgent.

Even with all the work done, the car has cost less than some of the other cars I looked at when trying to find a cheap runaround that were all in serious need of maintenance.

Sometimes it pays to splash out.

[W00DY]

oOJamesOo said:

I’m in the market for a shed. Not sure what to go for but would like a saloon or estate. Not keen on a hatch personally.

I’m thinking an Accord, avensis, e90 3 series or a c class. What would you guys go for given that choice and a budget of £1,000. Could tickle that up to £1,500 if it’s a really nice car.

danllama said:

I'm on the lookout for a shed. Willing to travel 100 miles from Folkestone. Needs to be diesel and have cruise control (mway commute).

So far considering an Accord or Volvo s40/60.

Anybody have something they could recommend? If you're really bored have a look on ebay and say what you'd go for

VW?Skoda/Audi with the 1.9 TDI. I've got a Golf mk5 estate and it is so cheap to run with low tax and insurance and 60mpg average whilst being comfortable and eating up the miles. An E90 320d would've cost twice as much to insure which really put me off. Cheap to maintain too compared to my experience of Volvos.

[magpie215]

Jimmy Recard said:

In your case I agree, it’s worth replacing the plates. On my ML or magpie’s Galaxy, I think that it’s moot

What do you mean.....

[STIfree]

Number plates are one of my gripes too, if it looks old and tatty, even if the car was mega cheap and the rest of it is a wreck, I can't help replacing them. It's like tyre shine when selling a car, makes f all difference to the condition of the vehicle, but it just makes it look 'cared for' or better when quickly glancing.



Been a little quiet myself recently, LS430 is plodding along just fine. Managed a 260 mile motorway trip and averaged 24mpg, LPG tank covered 250 of those miles and cost me about £30 to fill. So I'm relatively happy with those costs.

Booking a ferry over to the continent in the next couple days for next month. That shows my level of commitment to this £1k shed.

I've been thinking, I have no idea when the belts were last done on the car (160k, 19 years, so I'm hoping at least once!). What rough cost would it be to change the timing belt/water pump on a car like this? I'm almost embarrassed to say that I've never had this work carried out on any of my previous cars, never own them long enough!

Quick snap from last week




I've also picked up another shed (that'll make 3 in my possession at the moment). It's more a cheap retro thing than a shed, but it was £500 and its 30+ years old. I pick it up Saturday (hopefully it drives the 3 hours home), so pictures then!

[ajprice]

This isn't shed related at all, but I'm the same with number plates. I had a Smart, I saw a picture on a forum or Facebook group of a Smart with Rover 75 shaped rear plate, which fits just right on the Smart recess. Off to Halfords I went



A Rover 75 with standard rectangular rear plates just isn't right. I'm a lot happier with how the back of a car looks when the plate fits the recess shape properly.

[oOJamesOo]

tomble22 said:

My accord estate https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... is going well. Cost me £500 and has only thrown up a new battery in the 6 months I've had it.

Comfortable ride, enough power, cruise, heated seats, sat nav, sun roof, power boot etc. It does what most modern cars can do without the cost. I'll be getting another one when this one croaks it.

Nice, just read the whole thread. Certainly makes it a tempting purchase but does sound like you got an amazing deal. Struggling to find anything close by with decent history.

[oOJamesOo]

W00DY said:

VW?Skoda/Audi with the 1.9 TDI. I've got a Golf mk5 estate and it is so cheap to run with low tax and insurance and 60mpg average whilst being comfortable and eating up the miles. An E90 320d would've cost twice as much to insure which really put me off. Cheap to maintain too compared to my experience of Volvos.

Good point. You always hear great things about the 1.9tdi engine. Hadn’t put much thought into insurance. I’ll do some comparisons to see how it changes.

I’m quite keen on a saloon or estate. Coming from a 17 plate Jag XE so would miss the saloon feel if I went for a hatch. I’ll check out Superb, Octavia and A4’s as well.

[Demelitia]

oOJamesOo said:

Good point. You always hear great things about the 1.9tdi engine. Hadn’t put much thought into insurance. I’ll do some comparisons to see how it changes.

I’m quite keen on a saloon or estate. Coming from a 17 plate Jag XE so would miss the saloon feel if I went for a hatch. I’ll check out Superb, Octavia and A4’s as well.

The 1.9’s are great, I’ve got a pd130 in a b5.5 Passat Estate that’s great to potter around town in.
With that being said...try find one that’s had decent oil changes. They are about, and don’t command that much of a premium over the nags that people have for sale. It’s worth paying that little extra for piece of mind.

[LukeyP_]

I can't fault the 1.9 TDI in my Skoda, keep getting told they are bulletproof. Vanes are a bit gummy now though so do get no boost occassionally.

Mine is the ASV 110 non-PD.

[swampy442]

W00DY said:

oOJamesOo said:

I’m in the market for a shed. Not sure what to go for but would like a saloon or estate. Not keen on a hatch personally.

I’m thinking an Accord, avensis, e90 3 series or a c class. What would you guys go for given that choice and a budget of £1,000. Could tickle that up to £1,500 if it’s a really nice car.

danllama said:

I'm on the lookout for a shed. Willing to travel 100 miles from Folkestone. Needs to be diesel and have cruise control (mway commute).

So far considering an Accord or Volvo s40/60.

Anybody have something they could recommend? If you're really bored have a look on ebay and say what you'd go for

VW?Skoda/Audi with the 1.9 TDI. I've got a Golf mk5 estate and it is so cheap to run with low tax and insurance and 60mpg average whilst being comfortable and eating up the miles. An E90 320d would've cost twice as much to insure which really put me off. Cheap to maintain too compared to my experience of Volvos.

I swear by Octavia's, had a few, theyre normally my go to shed. 1.9tdi 110 or 130 if you can get one cheap enough. Roomy, cheap to run, great.

[swampy442]

LukeyP_ said:

I can't fault the 1.9 TDI in my Skoda, keep getting told they are bulletproof. Vanes are a bit gummy now though so do get no boost occassionally.

Mine is the ASV 110 non-PD.

Easy fix, Mr Muscle oven cleaner down the EGR pipe, fixed previous VW diesels

[A.J.M]

Due to a change in circumstances, it looks like I’ll be joining shed club.

What’s the thoughts on the 1.4 PD tdi unit found in Polos and Fabia’s?
I quite fancy a cheap Fabia for cheap worry free motoring.