The Joy of Running an Old Shed

The Joy of Running an Old Shed

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bearman68

4,644 posts

131 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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CX53 said:
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....
Mortgage overpayment is a far more sensible option. (but then I would say that as I run a shed, with no mortgage).
When you say you feel like st, is that because the Astra is uncomfortable, or just makes you feel bad. Shed's don't have to have uncomfortable seats. Or in fact be boring - Saab is the normal go to here, as it ticks both boxes.

Philvrs

531 posts

96 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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Looking to move on from my shed Vectra after 3.5 years of ownership, I've put a deposit on a van.
In anticipation I did a WBAC valuation last week, came back at £380, it has 10 months MOT but no service history and only one key plus various dints. I was expecting to get knocked down to £250ish.
That valuation expired so I've updated it this morning.......£50 nowbiggrin
I've never owned a car worth so littlebiggrin

kentbloke

121 posts

58 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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Philvrs said:
Looking to move on from my shed Vectra after 3.5 years of ownership, I've put a deposit on a van.
In anticipation I did a WBAC valuation last week, came back at £380, it has 10 months MOT but no service history and only one key plus various dints. I was expecting to get knocked down to £250ish.
That valuation expired so I've updated it this morning.......£50 nowbiggrin
I've never owned a car worth so littlebiggrin
There's a new thread right there, The £50 club, you Sir are a tread setter

tomble22

598 posts

127 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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I'm there with you as well in the Accord!! laugh


anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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CX53 said:
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.
Same here, every now and again I go through the following :

1)Instead of paying £1500 for a shed I could use that as a lease deposit and lease something for £150 a month
2)That works out at around £5K over two years, for £5K I could get myself an old BMW/Audi/Mercedes
3)£5K is in no mans land with regards to repairs, too expensive to scrap but too cheap to want to spend thousands in repairs.
4)If I up it to £10K I could get something really nice, but I don't really want to spend that much
5)Stick with the shed.

I think we tend to only focus on negatives, hence ignoring all the positives of owning a shed

1)No monthly payments
2)No depreciation
3)Don't have to worry about parking it anywhere
4)If the engine fails or someone drives into it you send it over the rainbow weigh bridge and get something else. If it is an expensive car you have to go through all the hassle and expensive of getting it repaired.
5)Service it yourself for £30 rather than paying a dealer £300 to change the oil.

You have this fantasy of how amazing it will be to own the Mercedes, but after the excitement wears off you will realise it is just a car and the list of things you took for granted with the shed will actually be turned into negatives with a nicer car.

I owned expensive cars on finance when I was younger and once the excitement wears off and the reality of the monthly payments and costs kick in I couldn't wait to get out of them. Trouble is you forget this when the excitement of a new car kicks in and you convince yourself it will be different this time.





mholt1995

567 posts

80 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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Philvrs said:
Looking to move on from my shed Vectra after 3.5 years of ownership, I've put a deposit on a van.
In anticipation I did a WBAC valuation last week, came back at £380, it has 10 months MOT but no service history and only one key plus various dints. I was expecting to get knocked down to £250ish.
That valuation expired so I've updated it this morning.......£50 nowbiggrin
I've never owned a car worth so littlebiggrin
I'll start the bidding at £55 wink


tomble22

598 posts

127 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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CX53, what about a more luxurious, stylish shed.....look at STIfree's LS, I mean it doesn't necessarily have any motorsport pedigree but it certainly makes an impression!!

A mate of mine sold an E39 525i for under a grand the other day, worth looking around for something shed money to replace the white goods Astra maybe.

The only issue with changing sheds is you could be buying a load of issues, but it's still likely to result in a saving over a £10k financed car in the long term.

Scootersp

3,107 posts

187 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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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.
Then you need to move into, semi barge semi shedding!

For just over half your £8K perhaps an IS250 SEL Radar cruise, Heated and cooled/ventilated seats, very few issues with them, reasonable tax, not horrendous fuel consumption there;s a few with low miles that I'm pretty certain would be reliable.

I agree with other the 8K used car can be an awkward price point as unlike the shed you can't just ditch it, but research is key and cherry picking from the least unreliable should see you ok?




CX53

2,964 posts

109 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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Good shout on getting something a bit nicer to live with.

As a serial Saab owner, I'd like to give those a miss, they just let me down too much over the years, apart from an intergalactic mileage 9000 which kept going and going! And yes it is the seats etc mostly, and I would like an auto... Reasonable economy is quite important too as I'm just going from being freelance with all the tax benefits of driving that goes with it, to permanently emlployed. Maybe a 93 with the 1.9 fiat lump would be worth a go, as its a decent proven engine!

I've been quite envious of how you've described your megane shed for a while Joey, I think if my stbox astra did similar MPG I'd probably be equally as fond of it, it does sound very hard to replace.

I do love a petrol lexus, very appealing, not entirely sure I could stomach the fuel costs but an Auto IS200 would be great.

I think I'll run the 'stra until Mot time in August, and whack it up for sale, I do hate selling cars, especially at this price point, but I think the consensus is right and a nicer shed is needed.

I'll keep my eyes peeled and if something suitably tempting comes up between now and then, I might just buy it!

tomble22

598 posts

127 months

Monday 29th June 2020
quotequote all
CX53 said:
Good shout on getting something a bit nicer to live with.

As a serial Saab owner, I'd like to give those a miss, they just let me down too much over the years, apart from an intergalactic mileage 9000 which kept going and going! And yes it is the seats etc mostly, and I would like an auto... Reasonable economy is quite important too as I'm just going from being freelance with all the tax benefits of driving that goes with it, to permanently emlployed. Maybe a 93 with the 1.9 fiat lump would be worth a go, as its a decent proven engine!

I've been quite envious of how you've described your megane shed for a while Joey, I think if my stbox astra did similar MPG I'd probably be equally as fond of it, it does sound very hard to replace.

I do love a petrol lexus, very appealing, not entirely sure I could stomach the fuel costs but an Auto IS200 would be great.

I think I'll run the 'stra until Mot time in August, and whack it up for sale, I do hate selling cars, especially at this price point, but I think the consensus is right and a nicer shed is needed.

I'll keep my eyes peeled and if something suitably tempting comes up between now and then, I might just buy it!
I'd certainly recommend an Accord. My tourer isn't necessarily stylish but looks ok and is a nice drive, heated leather, cruise, sat nav (bit out of date but works ok), electric everything etc and I'm getting just under 40mpg with quite a few short trips.

Can easily be had for around £1k as well now.

giblet

8,824 posts

176 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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I started off shedding when I passed my test with a plethora of Honda engined Rover 200s and 400s. Gradually moved onto nicer cars (joys of cheap finance) but now firmly back in shed territory.

I find it interesting how what I class as a shed has changed over the years. Went from sub £500 to sub £2000 now.

Been running a 9-3 aero wagon for almost 2 years now. It was a massive drop down from a Lexus ISF but I enjoy not caring about where I park and no longer have to use V Power. The only downside is the high RFL bracket.

I do less than 8000 miles a year now and as much as I try to justify a quick motor or leasing something fun it just doesn’t make any sense especially when my commute is a whopping 1.5 miles each way

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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Scootersp said:
Then you need to move into, semi barge semi shedding!

For just over half your £8K perhaps an IS250 SEL Radar cruise, Heated and cooled/ventilated seats, very few issues with them, reasonable tax, not horrendous fuel consumption there;s a few with low miles that I'm pretty certain would be reliable.

I agree with other the 8K used car can be an awkward price point as unlike the shed you can't just ditch it, but research is key and cherry picking from the least unreliable should see you ok?
Semi barge, semi shedding is what I tend to look towards now and I am sure is going to be the next step for me. For me the challenge is to find the ultimate comfort, reliability and lowest NVH for a maximum of £5K with an automatic gearbox.

The issue I have been finding is that any £5K Mercedes W204, BMW E90/E92 or Audi A4/A5/A6 always has some engine related Achilles heel that will inevitably happen to me and cost nearly the purchase price of the car to rectify.

I have actually looked at a couple of W204 220CDis but the engine from cold sounded worse than my shed 2007 Megane DCi.

Like you say, the answer seems to be the Lexus although I worry about what the real world fuel economy is like?

ajprice

27,322 posts

195 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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Joey Deacon said:
Like you say, the answer seems to be the Lexus although I worry about what the real world fuel economy is like?
Lexus hybrid?

STIfree

1,903 posts

158 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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ajprice said:
Joey Deacon said:
Like you say, the answer seems to be the Lexus although I worry about what the real world fuel economy is like?
Lexus hybrid?
Can hybrids be had at shed money?

That would pose the next question, would you want to? Or does heavily used, old batteries pose a big risk on repairs for shed life?



So far I've put about 2000 miles on my LS430 in the past 2 months, no issues arrissen apart from a squeaky aux belt that cost £13 and a genuine 10 minutes to fix (never known something so easy!). Driving it to Germany on Sunday.


I've been impressed with the Lexus/Toyota build quality over the years. Yes they rust underneath like all older Japanese cars. But as far as mechanical issues, very minimal. I had a '01 GS300 for a year, faultless. Wafted around in great comfort with more extras inside than your current base spec 3 series.


I'd recommend a IS/GS/LS for sure. Or something like a Toyota Avensis if you're not too interested in image but want something comfy and reliable.

Captain Answer

1,347 posts

186 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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STIfree said:
Can hybrids be had at shed money?

That would pose the next question, would you want to? Or does heavily used, old batteries pose a big risk on repairs for shed life?



So far I've put about 2000 miles on my LS430 in the past 2 months, no issues arrissen apart from a squeaky aux belt that cost £13 and a genuine 10 minutes to fix (never known something so easy!). Driving it to Germany on Sunday.


I've been impressed with the Lexus/Toyota build quality over the years. Yes they rust underneath like all older Japanese cars. But as far as mechanical issues, very minimal. I had a '01 GS300 for a year, faultless. Wafted around in great comfort with more extras inside than your current base spec 3 series.


I'd recommend a IS/GS/LS for sure. Or something like a Toyota Avensis if you're not too interested in image but want something comfy and reliable.
Yes.. plenty of older Prius and Honda IMA's you do see around shed money.. I think you'd need some brave pills tho to actually get one

STIfree

1,903 posts

158 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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Captain Answer said:
Yes.. plenty of older Prius and Honda IMA's you do see around shed money.. I think you'd need some brave pills tho to actually get one
Certainly.

I know (for the Prius/Camry) you can switch out the battery packs for second hand ones. I worked in a breakers yard that sold a lot of them. No idea what the prices are like for them and the labour required but suppose it could be done in a DIY sense. But I personally would be worried to tinker with hybrids, even with an electrical background hehe

Captain Answer

1,347 posts

186 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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STIfree said:
Certainly.

I know (for the Prius/Camry) you can switch out the battery packs for second hand ones. I worked in a breakers yard that sold a lot of them. No idea what the prices are like for them and the labour required but suppose it could be done in a DIY sense. But I personally would be worried to tinker with hybrids, even with an electrical background hehe
Plus a lot of them are sky high mileage and probably been used as Taxi's etc..

I'm still tempted.. saw a honda IMA on Ebay going for about £400 with a short MOT the other week that I nearly bought but really got no use for it and already got 3 sheds on the drive (was 4 up to yesterday, that's gone to its new home now)

greenarrow

3,552 posts

116 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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STIfree said:
Captain Answer said:
Yes.. plenty of older Prius and Honda IMA's you do see around shed money.. I think you'd need some brave pills tho to actually get one
Certainly.

I know (for the Prius/Camry) you can switch out the battery packs for second hand ones. I worked in a breakers yard that sold a lot of them. No idea what the prices are like for them and the labour required but suppose it could be done in a DIY sense. But I personally would be worried to tinker with hybrids, even with an electrical background hehe
Would you need a brave pill to run an older hybrid? The Prius routinely rated top 5 or 10 in reliability surveys and I know there is a high mileage club somewhere on the net where Prius' with excess of 300K miles are routinely recorded. Aside from the hybrid system and battery, which seem to do the distance, its just a fairly bullet proof Toyota isn't it? Has anyone here got any experience of running an old hybrid?

giblet

8,824 posts

176 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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Colleague has a 08 RX400h with over 100k on the clock and the batteries seem fine. Has been checked over by both Lexus and a specialist.

The current gen IS will make for a good shed once prices drop

Edit - I ran a sub £5k Renault Zoe for 6 months a couple of years ago. Went from a (leased) 4C spider to the Zoe which was a massive change. Battery health was fine despite the age of the car

Edited by giblet on Monday 29th June 11:10

ajprice

27,322 posts

195 months

Monday 29th June 2020
quotequote all
Autotrader has a few RX400h with 100k-120k miles for £5000
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