The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[greenarrow]

Just taxed my pre 2001 Focus 1.6 for another 6 months..... using the DD method it was £141.75. Daylight robbery! Based on my recent mileage since lockdown that works out at about £0.07 per mile.

[Digby]

Bullet-Proof_Biscuit said:

First house reno project sale going though woohoo! So I'll be in the market for a daily estate shed hopefully mid December, how exciting.

I'll be wanting something reliable and double boring so prolly Jap, e.g. Honda Accord wagon, Mazda something wagon, or similar. I will steer well clear of a Subaru Legacy estate as I will definitely like it too much, as it'll need to haul ton bags of rubble about & general renovation materials...

Full thread budget in the £500 range I recon, to be fair if anyone has anything they're considering selling let me know! I'm M3 corridor / Dorset area.

Again, very exiting stuff..

NB I foresee the purchase going something along these lines: 'Does it have an MOT?' 'Yes...' 'SOLD!'

HH

This has Volvo V70 (I only like them up to 98) or 940 if you can find one written all over it 👍

[Darkslider]

Bullet-Proof_Biscuit said:

First house reno project sale going though woohoo! So I'll be in the market for a daily estate shed hopefully mid December, how exciting.

I'll be wanting something reliable and double boring so prolly Jap, e.g. Honda Accord wagon, Mazda something wagon, or similar. I will steer well clear of a Subaru Legacy estate as I will definitely like it too much, as it'll need to haul ton bags of rubble about & general renovation materials...

Full thread budget in the £500 range I recon, to be fair if anyone has anything they're considering selling let me know! I'm M3 corridor / Dorset area.

Again, very exiting stuff..

NB I foresee the purchase going something along these lines: 'Does it have an MOT?' 'Yes...' 'SOLD!'

HH

Do yourself a favour and buy a van rather than a car. Does everything so much better, don't underestimate the value of being able to fit full size boards, furniture, pipes etc in flat and dry and no messing around with roof racks. Permit application process at recycling centres is now dead easy online and gives you something like 20 visits a year with my council. You'll always be given £5/10/20 from mates for moving sofas, wardrobes and motorcycles around if you want. Plus once you get used to it tooling round in a van is far more enjoyable than any dull estate car you might get. I picked up this for £1k and it's been invaluable.

[Shieldsy94]

Darkslider said:

Do yourself a favour and buy a van rather than a car. Does everything so much better, don't underestimate the value of being able to fit full size boards, furniture, pipes etc in flat and dry and no messing around with roof racks. Permit application process at recycling centres is now dead easy online and gives you something like 20 visits a year with my council. You'll always be given £5/10/20 from mates for moving sofas, wardrobes and motorcycles around if you want. Plus once you get used to it tooling round in a van is far more enjoyable than any dull estate car you might get. I picked up this for £1k and it's been invaluable.

I hired a LWB Sprinter for moving loads of stuff from Dorset to Sheffield and tbh, I really enjoyed it. Kind of made me question driving a van around full time.

[STIfree]

So after having a rear air bag blow on the Lexus a week or two back I had 3 options

1. Replace with new airbag for ~£700
2. Fit good coilover suspension for ~£800
3. Fit eBay Chinese coilover suspension for £120

I did what a true shedder would do and bought the ebay suspension. I totally expected it to be terrible, I mean how can it be anything more when its £120 delivered?

Well I got it fitted on Friday and have done a couple hundred miles so far and it's not as awful as I was expecting.

Sure, I went from air suspension that feels like driving on a cloud to cheap coilovers so it is night and day difference. But factor in the big comfy seats and its not all that bad. I'd say it's not too far different to something like a Z4 for ride comfort.

Anyway heres a snap of it. It needs adjusting to make the front and rear hights match better but for now, I'm very happy for such a minimal amount of money and effort to sort!



I did also add 30mm spacers on the rear as it looked odd how tucked in the rear wheels sat.

[Challo]

Shieldsy94 said:

I hired a LWB Sprinter for moving loads of stuff from Dorset to Sheffield and tbh, I really enjoyed it. Kind of made me question driving a van around full time.

I have no need for a van, but for some reason would love to own one.

Maybe I can justify one with 2 dogs. lol

[Digby]

Challo said:

Shieldsy94 said:

I hired a LWB Sprinter for moving loads of stuff from Dorset to Sheffield and tbh, I really enjoyed it. Kind of made me question driving a van around full time.

I have no need for a van, but for some reason would love to own one.

Maybe I can justify one with 2 dogs. lol

Check insurance, though. I hacked around in an escort van for a while and it was double the price of an estate due to it being a commercial vehicle. This was despite me never using it for any work.

[Digby]

mercedeslimos said:

What's the CB on the steels? Anything more than a mm's difference I'd be sticking some on. Speaking from experience, a wheel fooking off is not a fun experience...

Quite a bit larger, but then I was always told the only thing a spigot ring is used for is to help line up wheels when fitting. I don’t know anyone who uses them, really. The bolts / nuts hold the wheels on. And when you think about it, given many rings are cheap plastic, they would serve no purpose at all regards keeping a wheel in place. I was told any disasters blamed on a lack of such rings will have been related to something else completely.

Ta for the offer of advice if required

[bqf]

Darkslider said:

Do yourself a favour and buy a van rather than a car. Does everything so much better, don't underestimate the value of being able to fit full size boards, furniture, pipes etc in flat and dry and no messing around with roof racks. Permit application process at recycling centres is now dead easy online and gives you something like 20 visits a year with my council. You'll always be given £5/10/20 from mates for moving sofas, wardrobes and motorcycles around if you want. Plus once you get used to it tooling round in a van is far more enjoyable than any dull estate car you might get. I picked up this for £1k and it's been invaluable.

+1, 100%. I bought a £900 Vivaro in January, and it's been INCREDIBLY useful so far. I don't know why I have not bought one before. Insurance for me is £250 through Lloyds, but I am 48 and live in a proper low crime area.

What's either great or terrible, is that I properly enjoy driving it as well

[A500leroy]

Bullet-Proof_Biscuit said:

First house reno project sale going though woohoo! So I'll be in the market for a daily estate shed hopefully mid December, how exciting.

I'll be wanting something reliable and double boring so prolly Jap, e.g. Honda Accord wagon, Mazda something wagon, or similar. I will steer well clear of a Subaru Legacy estate as I will definitely like it too much, as it'll need to haul ton bags of rubble about & general renovation materials...

Full thread budget in the £500 range I recon, to be fair if anyone has anything they're considering selling let me know! I'm M3 corridor / Dorset area.

Again, very exiting stuff..

NB I foresee the purchase going something along these lines: 'Does it have an MOT?' 'Yes...' 'SOLD!'

HH

Berlingo multispace ( windows and rear seats) all the best bits of a van, but insure as a car.

[CinnamonFan]

A500leroy said:

Bullet-Proof_Biscuit said:

First house reno project sale going though woohoo! So I'll be in the market for a daily estate shed hopefully mid December, how exciting.

I'll be wanting something reliable and double boring so prolly Jap, e.g. Honda Accord wagon, Mazda something wagon, or similar. I will steer well clear of a Subaru Legacy estate as I will definitely like it too much, as it'll need to haul ton bags of rubble about & general renovation materials...

Full thread budget in the £500 range I recon, to be fair if anyone has anything they're considering selling let me know! I'm M3 corridor / Dorset area.

Again, very exiting stuff..

NB I foresee the purchase going something along these lines: 'Does it have an MOT?' 'Yes...' 'SOLD!'

HH

Berlingo multispace ( windows and rear seats) all the best bits of a van, but insure as a car.

Often rear seats are easily removed to give a large load area. Family own one from 2012 which has been amazing. Unsure on older shed budget ones.

[magpie215]

A500leroy said:

Bullet-Proof_Biscuit said:

First house reno project sale going though woohoo! So I'll be in the market for a daily estate shed hopefully mid December, how exciting.

I'll be wanting something reliable and double boring so prolly Jap, e.g. Honda Accord wagon, Mazda something wagon, or similar. I will steer well clear of a Subaru Legacy estate as I will definitely like it too much, as it'll need to haul ton bags of rubble about & general renovation materials...

Full thread budget in the £500 range I recon, to be fair if anyone has anything they're considering selling let me know! I'm M3 corridor / Dorset area.

Again, very exiting stuff..

NB I foresee the purchase going something along these lines: 'Does it have an MOT?' 'Yes...' 'SOLD!'

HH

Berlingo multispace ( windows and rear seats) all the best bits of a van, but insure as a car.

Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambra.....remove rear seats=builders van.

[loskie]

vans seem very pricy a people carrier/estate type car looks way better value

[ooid]

I agree with Loskie,

Biscuit, Go for japanese, and estate, so Honda is the word!

[mercedeslimos]

Digby said:

Quite a bit larger, but then I was always told the only thing a spigot ring is used for is to help line up wheels when fitting. I don’t know anyone who uses them, really. The bolts/nuts hold the wheels on. And when you think about it, given many rings are cheap plastic, they would serve no purpose at all regards keeping a wheel in place. I was told any disasters blamed on a lack of such rings will have been related to something else completely.

Ta for the offer of advice if required

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Set-of-4-Alloy-Spacer-Wheel-Hub-Centric-Spigot-Rings-57-1-66-6-For-VW-Audi-Skoda/143267444406

For that money might as well! I know they are only plastic (and not trying to be preachy here - automotive engineering training coming out here), it spreads the load from being concentrated 100% on the studs/bolts to it being spread evenly around the CB and the bolts. Makes more of a difference than you'd think. It's not in normal operation that you'd ever have a problem, it's if you hit a large pothole, etc, without them all the force of that goes straight on the studs. Mine sheared off and the wheel flew over onto a grass verge luckily. Also, another thing to note is the seats of the wheels. I know a lot of VWs use ball-seat bolts, can't remember if Mercedes use a conical seat or not, last set was a set of AMG 18" Monobloc II on my old B5 back in '08!

Edited by mercedeslimos on Tuesday 3rd November 19:36

[Digby]

mercedeslimos said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Set-of-4-Alloy-Spacer-W...

For that money might as well! I know they are only plastic (and not trying to be preachy here - automotive engineering training coming out here), it spreads the load from being concentrated 100% on the studs/bolts to it being spread evenly around the CB and the bolts. Makes more of a difference than you'd think. It's not in normal operation that you'd ever have a problem, it's if you hit a large pothole, etc, without them all the force of that goes straight on the studs. Mine sheared off and the wheel flew over onto a grass verge luckily. Also, another thing to note is the seats of the wheels. I know a lot of VWs use ball-seat bolts, can't remember if Mercedes use a conical seat or not, last set was a set of AMG 18" Monobloc II on my old B5 back in '08!

Edited by mercedeslimos on Tuesday 3rd November 19:36

Happy to be educated buddy. I’m certainly no expert and am just repeating what I was told but it makes sense what you say. To be honest, regardless, they were a bit of a pain to hold up with a knee to get the bolts in, so I’ll invest!

Quite liking the lazy cruising in the Passat I must admit but as I mentioned earlier in the thread, the dash display is only showing an average of 30ish mpg. I changed the thermostat and temp sensor so she sits bang on 90 now, but it’s still the same. Egr looks clean enough so have ordered a new fuel filter and may try a maf clean.

[-Ad-]

A500leroy said:

Berlingo multispace ( windows and rear seats) all the best bits of a van, but insure as a car.

This 100x.

We had one originally as a bike wagon which then became the mobile skip. Full house interior strip out and a good chunk of a 26m garden wall was swallows in this incredible car.

It eventually went to the dealership in the sky, but I think it could have been saved with a bit of effort.

We picked up another MK1 recently for under 500 that came with roof rails and a tow bar. No central locking or ABS means it is in full Carrera T spec, so nice and lightweight

[CDP]

-Ad- said:

A500leroy said:

Berlingo multispace ( windows and rear seats) all the best bits of a van, but insure as a car.

This 100x.

We had one originally as a bike wagon which then became the mobile skip. Full house interior strip out and a good chunk of a 26m garden wall was swallows in this incredible car.

It eventually went to the dealership in the sky, but I think it could have been saved with a bit of effort.

We picked up another MK1 recently for under 500 that came with roof rails and a tow bar. No central locking or ABS means it is in full Carrera T spec, so nice and lightweight

Good call, my brother had a Kangoo which meant a hosedown rubber floor, sliding doors etc. An amazing family wagon.

[-Ad-]

Totally, they're all roughly the same car anyway.

We splashed out, removing the cracked and 2mm depth Hifly tyres and put on a new set of Goodyear Vector 4Season G3, a bargain at £180ish fitted for the full set at Costco. I love 14" Steelie rims.

It's now more capable in winter than our F15 X5 running on 20" summers. A full set of winters for the X5 costs more than the whole Berlingo with new tyres and brakes all around!

[CDP]

A500leroy said:

Berlingo multispace ( windows and rear seats) all the best bits of a van, but insure as a car.

The other bit about Berlingos and Kangoos is as they are registered as cars car speed limits apply. People have been booked for 60 on A roads in vans if the GVW is over two tonnes where in the car version they would be fine.

There's also the Doblo which is as ugly as a bulldog with a mouth full of wasps.