The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[davamer23]

My shed for next 6-8months Ceed 1.6 sr petrol. Four new tyres,new battery,new clutch and new discs/pads all round. Fully stamped history book. 102k miles. £1600.

[bearman68]

davamer23 said:

My shed for next 6-8months Ceed 1.6 sr petrol. Four new tyres,new battery,new clutch and new discs/pads all round. Fully stamped history book. 102k miles. £1600.

Should this be in the 'Spotted in South Wales' thread? Caerleon Grove? I'm just outside Usk.

[davamer23]

bearman68 said:

Should this be in the 'Spotted in South Wales' thread? Caerleon Grove? I'm just outside Usk.

It’s a housing development with streets named after locations in wales that have castles.
It’s in Merthyr Tydfil so not really near Usk.

[Captain Answer]

James_N said:

Spot on. After using a combination of GSF (As ECP don't list a fuel filter or oil filter for my car!), the total price is £20.

The air filter from ECP actually comes in after discount, at a dizzy price of £1.42. I think even sheds ethos of "only change it if it absolutely needs it!" would allow me to bypass this rule once and change the air filter for that price!!

I always forget to check GSF tbh... tend to use ECP as there is one near my office while not always the cheapest they tend to have a good stock

I always keep my sheds well serviced personally, cheap enough when you're doing it yourself

[redandwhite]

davamer23 said:

My shed for next 6-8months Ceed 1.6 sr petrol. Four new tyres,new battery,new clutch and new discs/pads all round. Fully stamped history book. 102k miles. £1600.

Ah, you missed 'shed' status by £100, you should have negotiated harder

[dgswk]

V6todayEVmanana said:

Those Giuliettas rack up big mileages, the diesels seem well regarded in the Alfa forums, lot's Alfa independents around to help if you were unlucky.

I've not driven a diesel version so excluding the engine I think the rest of the car is very well built, had little issues but easy and well documented fixes. I was using mine for a 98mile round trip to work. Easy to service (petrol anyway). Very cheap to run unlike my other Alfa.

It's a fun car to drive, handles well. I'm tempted to take it on track one day I was tempted to change it for something different but was worried I'd end up with something less reliable. So in that way you lose some of the traditional Alfa owner experience and MOT time is boring.

The only thing that may bother you is the refinement after coming from an A6, I'd assume that excels in NVH.

Thats really good to know, the A6 is alright in terms of noise, but the wife's '16 plate 500X is just as good to be honest even though it has shonky 18" wheels with stupid low profile tyres. I'd expect the Alfa must be around that level or better on some 16-17's. Its irrelevant, anyway because its an.... ALFA!

greenarrow said:

if that's the 1.6 bi turbo diesel found in the Vauxhall Insignia/Astra, its a good engine. Feels way torquier than you'd think. Made the 1.6 diesel loan Insignia I had feel as grunty as my own 2 litre diesel.

But can you find one for shed money? They've only been out 5 or 6 years from memory.....

Yeah and thats the issue, I paid shed money for the A6, been offered £2,100 for it last week(!), early ones are 2010 and seem to be sitting around £2,500+. But its an.... ALFA! And my wife hates the A6 shed, too big, hates driving it, silver repmobile, impractical saloon..... la la la la.....

[danllama]

Well my 8 day owned Octavia split a fuel hose yesterday and lost about 10 litres i reckon! That'll explain the front end scrubbing out on the rounabout All sorted quickly enough for the sum of £15. The honeymoon period will continue.

[STIfree]

Eeek, I'm very tempted by this as a new shed. Seems to be about a third of the price of others.


Do I really need a 3rd daily shed, and a second gold Lexus?

[vikingaero]

STIfree said:

Eeek, I'm very tempted by this as a new shed. Seems to be about a third of the price of others.


Do I really need a 3rd daily shed, and a second gold Lexus?

]

Always remember n+1!

That's quite a price drop.

[egor110]

Is anyone running a mazda 3 ?

Looking on the local facebook marketplace there are loads of these sub 1k with under 100k miles .

[STIfree]

vikingaero said:

Always remember n+1!

That's quite a price drop.

I think the missus might hit the roof if I park another car we don't 'need' in front of the house.

egor110 said:

Is anyone running a mazda 3 ?

Looking on the local facebook marketplace there are loads of these sub 1k with under 100k miles .

I had a 2007 1.6 petrol last year. Bought it for £500 with 13 month MOT.

They rust from every panel, think Ford KA.

Pretty gutless, inside was okay, maybe a bit bland.

Unsure what the long term issues would be with them as I sold mine after a month.

[bartelbe]

Got to love a shed, a whole car for what others pay for a set up tyres.

I have a knackered old 75 diesel. OK not the greatest car in the world but it keeps going with minimal maintenance and costs sod all to insure.

[Alfahorn]

bartelbe said:

Got to love a shed, a whole car for what others pay for a set up tyres.

I have a knackered old 75 diesel. OK not the greatest car in the world but it keeps going with minimal maintenance and costs sod all to insure.

Yep, I do most of my driving in the shed car and I marvel at how little I paid for it (£500) and how much I enjoy driving it.

[magpie215]

Shed Galaxy earning its keep yesterday.

Wheelbarrow and cement mixer in the back....not too many vehicles can manage that.

[Red Sleeper]

I'm trying my best to keep the shed mentality and not finance something for around 8k that's a bit nicer to sit in and a bit more stylish. But it's hard somethings driving old heaps.

[V6todayEVmanana]

Alfahorn said:

Yep, I do most of my driving in the shed car and I marvel at how little I paid for it (£500) and how much I enjoy driving it.

Is that the Alfa 147, had one on loan recently whilst my GTV was in the garage and was a fun car to drive around in. Super comfy seats too.

Are you sticking to the cambelt change schedule?

[A500leroy]

Red Sleeper said:

I'm trying my best to keep the shed mentality and not finance something for around 8k that's a bit nicer to sit in and a bit more stylish. But it's hard somethings driving old heaps.

You can still play the shed if you keep it for 10 years, it works out at £800 a year then which is shed money just in one hit instead of 10 different sheds.

[M4cruiser]

egor110 said:

Is anyone running a mazda 3 ?

Looking on the local facebook marketplace there are loads of these sub 1k with under 100k miles .

I haven't bought one of these yet, but I'm watching closely.
The good ones are more like £2K. The bad ones have issues (yes, rust, & suspension joints). All fixable but at a price.

I've been advised to keep clear of the top models with Traction control, I've heard the module can cause problems (basically an MoT fail warning light on) and costs over £1,000 to fix.

But I think the more basic ones are ok.

[kentbloke]

I've run sheds for years, you can't beat them, you can park them anywhere, had Ka,s for years but rust is a nightmare, last 3 years been running Peugeot's (206) apart from oil weeps at the o/s of the head you can't knock them.

[CX53]

Red Sleeper said:

I'm trying my best to keep the shed mentality and not finance something for around 8k that's a bit nicer to sit in and a bit more stylish. But it's hard somethings driving old heaps.

I go through this in my head almost every day. I've seen a lovely 2014 Mercedes C Class coupe for £8.5k, or £160pcm.

Much more fitting for a young-ish lad who has a long commute and would like a better looking, more comfortable auto car than the current Astra, which is worth a touch over shed money but it's absolutely a shed in my eyes, doesn't even have alloy wheels...

But it's hard to justify when the Astra just plods dutifully on. I don't know if I fancy paying that money month in month out for something that just gets older and more knackered over time, losing its value.

It's a tough one, I know it's not a lot of money to some of the stair dominating beasts on these forums but it still goes a long way. For example, If I overpay my mortgage by the same 160pcm and run sheds, it'll take 5 years and 8 months off the term of the mortgage, taking it from 24 years down to 18 left.

I must admit though I do feel like st after stepping out of my heap, and, I'm not usually one to care about what others think, but I'm young and work I.n motorsport, most ofmy colleagues have nice cars....