The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[oOJamesOo]

Justin Case said:

I have a 2007 petrol Mazda 6.It just doesn't go wrong. They can rust and usually do, but that is due to neglect. Mine has a regular visit to the jetwash and is pretty rust-free , but even then the amount of crud that comes off is surprising, so try and look at it on a ramp. Mazda 6s of course are valuable, worth at least twice anything equivalent (if only but I would say that anyway

What would you say it’s worth with more than average scuffs but the low mileage?

[g3org3y]

v15ben said:

So random question on a hot Wednesday afternoon, but how many miles has your shed done?

About 162k, E46 330Ci.

[magpie215]

Galaxy 248200 odd .

I was hoping to top the 250k this year but covid.

[CDP]

oOJamesOo said:

CDP said:

As I understand it a their rust issues are mostly to do with poor body sealing around the rear wheel arches. Mine had a little when I bought it but for £1150 with full history from a garage (I needed a car in a hurry). I put on about 55,000 miles in 3 years. The only issue was a solenoid on the fuel system for about £200 over regular servicing plus wear and tear parts but they were peanuts. About £15 each for rear discs and another £15 for pads - easy DIY.

It's an easy car to work on. I would buy another.

Sounds good. Would prefer an accord but if the price is right then I may well buy it. Checked motorway for a guide price and they’re saying around the £800 mark. But the bodywork isn’t in good nick (not seen rust but lots of scuffs) and there wasn’t an option to adjust for that. The wheels seemed to have what looked like bubbling and rust rather than the arches themselves. The main thing it’s got going is low mileage but get the feeling they’re expecting a lot for it because of that. So they may well want too much for it.

If it's not rusty just scuffed probably about 400 to 600. If the tyres are all good, long MOT, working aircon and drives like its mileage would suggest maybe a bit more. Old cars like that are cheap. £800 might expect the odd scuff but not lots, but then I don't know your definition of lots.

Really it's down to what you want to give.

[Eyersey1234]

magpie215 said:

Galaxy 248200 odd .

I was hoping to top the 250k this year but covid.

There's still a few months of the year, will you mot do 2000 miles by December?

[Pig benis]

I have a BMW e46 330ci with 140k on the clock. I bought it unseen on eBay one evening for £975, as I fancied a project.

So far I am 2k in on this car and I'm still enjoying it.

Recently I have replaced the old knackered bushes with Polybushes, Michelin Cup 2 tyres and fitted Bilstein suspension. I've also removed a lot of the interior and it is a hoot to drive.

I never intended to have this as my daily, but my E91 330D sold a few weeks ago, so the 330ci was chucked in the deepend of being my daily.

Time for a new daily drive, but unsure of what to buy. Maybe an e92 M3

[magpie215]

Eyersey1234 said:

magpie215 said:

Galaxy 248200 odd .

I was hoping to top the 250k this year but covid.

There's still a few months of the year, will you mot do 2000 miles by December?

Possibly not its only really a dedicated tip car or big load mover may only get used once or twice a week locally short runs in the main.

[Oak Green]

My shed MK4 Golf GT TDI 130 has done 212k and going strong.

[bearman68]

Joey Deacon said:

For the last few months the Megane diesel shed has occasionally stalled 10 seconds after the first start of the day. It then takes a bit of cranking over to restart or you can squeeze the priming bulb and it starts straight away afterwards. For the last week I have had to do this every time I drive the car.

It is obvious that air is getting into the fuel system somewhere, but after investigating the issue today it became clearer.



I got back from a 700 mile journey to Wales last week, I am just thankful the pipe didn't pop out on the motorway as I would have had no way to fix it.

I am just about to order a new one, but I think today I am going to get some cable ties from poundland, clean up the top of the bulb, wrap it in gaffer tape and put as many cable ties around it as I can.

Really common problem. Remove the pump, and replace with a bit of 10mm fuel hose. Cheaper, more reliable. When you change (if), then you can bleed it with a miti vac.

[gman88667733]

Does fuel economy every push any of you to changing sheds?

I have an 02 petrol auto Honda CRV. My last tank got me 22.6mpg, or £50 for about 225 miles. The was mostly made up of 7-8 miles to work and 7-8 miles back (coming back it is ridiculously hilly). On more mixed driving, we get about 25mpg.

I've spent a fair chunk on it this first year of ownership (mostly brakes as they are well known for the original brake calipers to seize) and it is pretty much sorted. There are a couple of jobs left for me to do, but none that stop me using the car.

Just wondering if it is daft to spend so much money on fuel when it isn't exactly worth a lot anyway?

I do absolutely love the car, it will manage 30mpg on a run, just...
If I were to change it, I'd probably look on eBay most days to see if any decent ones come up for sale again. It is a very bland car to most, but I really like it. If it got better fuel economy, I don't think i'd consider changing it for a very long time.

Just interested if anyone has jumped ship due to fuel economy?

Edited by gman88667733 on Friday 14th August 09:08

[giblet]

Good question gman.

My Saab 9-3 aero wagon is currently on 118k, in a few months time I will have owned it for 2 years which is the longest I’ve owned any car.

My two main grips with it are road tax and fuel economy. I’ve averaged 25.48 mpg in just over 10k miles which isn’t great but it’s an old 2.0T with an automatic box so was never going to be that economical. I rarely drive it spiritedly but it’s nice to have a small (210bhp) amount of power.

The road tax is the highest bracket as it’s a 2008 car, the idea of paying £560ish for a years tax on a car that cost me less than £2k is annoying me but I have no idea what I would replace it with

[Toaster Pilot]

Swapping a known good for an unknown to save fuel is a good way to spend any savings on repairs

That’s what I tell myself with my 20mpg X5 anyway.

[gman88667733]

I suppose. I am fairly certain the car is going to give me years of service.
But I agree, paying £300+ in tax on a car that is now worth £1.5k is a pain. The only thing I'd want to replace it with is something similar like a Grand Cherokee. Auto + big load area is what I am usually after for our larger car.
I doubt anything of a similar type of car will get much better fuel economy. Our old 2.5L Kia Sorento auto tended to get 20-25mpg as well.

[anonymous-user]

gman88667733 said:

Just interested if anyone has jumped ship due to fuel economy?

Kind of, last year I was bored of the Diesel shed and fancied a change so I ended up with a Honda Civic Type S 2.0 Petrol. The diesel shed has £30 road tax, does 60MPG all day long and can easily do 700+ miles to a tank. The new Civic shed was £265 road tax and on my motorway commute the fuel light came on at 350 miles.

I also preferred the torque of the diesel, as soon as you started to drive the civic anywhere near the rev limit I swear you could see the fuel needle move. Having to fill up with fuel twice as often soon got boring.

It wasn't the only reason I went back the diesel shed but it was definitely a major factor.

[PrinceRupert]

gman88667733 said:

Does fuel economy every push any of you to changing sheds?

I have an 02 petrol auto Honda CRV. My last tank got me 22.6mpg, or £50 for about 225 miles. The was mostly made up of 7-8 miles to work and 7-8 miles back (coming back it is ridiculously hilly). On more mixed driving, we get about 25mpg.

I've spent a fair chunk on it this first year of ownership (mostly brakes as they are well known for the original brake calipers to seize) and it is pretty much sorted. There are a couple of jobs left for me to do, but none that stop me using the car.

Just wondering if it is daft to spend so much money on fuel when it isn't exactly worth a lot anyway?

I do absolutely love the car, it will manage 30mpg on a run, just...
If I were to change it, I'd probably look on eBay most days to see if any decent ones come up for sale again. It is a very bland car to most, but I really like it. If it got better fuel economy, I don't think i'd consider changing it for a very long time.

Just interested if anyone has jumped ship due to fuel economy?

Edited by gman88667733 on Friday 14th August 09:08

Surely it depends how many miles you do? My 75 averages a pretty miserable 27mpg and probably high teens around town but as I don't do many miles it doesn't bother me. If I was doing 15000 a year it might be a different story...

[gman88667733]

PrinceRupert said:

Surely it depends how many miles you do? My 75 averages a pretty miserable 27mpg and probably high teens around town but as I don't do many miles it doesn't bother me. If I was doing 15000 a year it might be a different story...

This last year it did 9k miles. It would have been closer to 13/14k had we not bought shed #2 Fiat Panda In January and chucked more miles on that instead.

I expect this year it will do 5-6k, maybe 7k at a push.

[gman88667733]

I think if I really disliked the car, I wouldn't carry on with such low MPG. But it is tricky, because I really do like the car.

I'd hate to switch to something that gets 40+ mpg and then spend all my time hankering over another CRV. Isn't it strange how to most unassuming cars really get under your skin!

[tomble22]

What about a diesel CRV? The 2.2. CDTi is a strong unit, half decent economy (my Accord averages just under 40).

[gman88667733]

tomble22 said:

What about a diesel CRV? The 2.2. CDTi is a strong unit, half decent economy (my Accord averages just under 40).

Yes, that is an option. I would miss the auto though, but not a deal breaker.
The diesel Gen 2 CRVs all seem to have mega miles on now and are still strong money. I suppose people that like the 2nd gen CRV would rather have the 35+ mpg of the diesel!

There is much less to go wrong in the petrol though.

[M4cruiser]

Toaster Pilot said:

Swapping a known good for an unknown to save fuel is a good way to spend any savings on repairs

That’s what I tell myself with my 20mpg X5 anyway.

^^ This is exactly the gamble I'm puzzling over right now. My mpg and Road Tax are poor by modern standards, but there's no guarantee the overall cost would reduce, until my current shed(s) need a big repair.