The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[aaron_2000]

Those of you who were shedding 20+ years ago, what did you run as sheds in the 90's to the early 00's? Pictures if you have them

[greenarrow]

aaron_2000 said:

Those of you who were shedding 20+ years ago, what did you run as sheds in the 90's to the early 00's? Pictures if you have them

Haven't got any pictures unfortunately but in the mid 90s I ran a Morris Minor Traveller for two years. It cost only £995 back then. Before that it was mostly old Ford Sierras, Cortina MK4s, escort Mk2 type stuff. So running a Mk1 Focus now after I feel like I've come full circle! The modern Ford sheds are a damn sight better than the rubbish I drove in my younger days though!!!

[Eyersey1234]

aaron_2000 said:

Those of you who were shedding 20+ years ago, what did you run as sheds in the 90's to the early 00's? Pictures if you have them

My dad had a few sheds in the late 90s early 2000s, I don't have any pictures but there was an A reg Mk2 Fiesta, A reg VW Polo, C reg Mazda 323 and D reg VW Polo

[Captain Answer]

aaron_2000 said:

Those of you who were shedding 20+ years ago, what did you run as sheds in the 90's to the early 00's? Pictures if you have them

First car was also my first shed - it was a Renaut 5 1.4litre Campus, bought probably around 2000 for £500, my mum had it for her car and I learnt to drive in it then it passed to me around 2002 and mum got a Merc A class. I had it for about 2/3 years and bought a MK2 Mondeo 2litre for about £600 from BCA again and had that a couple years

Not sure if i've got pictures handy of either in digital form

[tomble22]

aaron_2000 said:

Those of you who were shedding 20+ years ago, what did you run as sheds in the 90's to the early 00's? Pictures if you have them

My first car was an L reg Laguna, dark blue and think it was an RT. Don't remember how much it was but it would have been a few hundred quid. Bonnet catch broke as i was going round a corner and i smashed it into a hedge.

After that i had a H reg Orion 1.6i Ghia. Bought that for £500. Eventually more or less right across the chassis due to rust.

Then follows circa 50 other cars, of which probably half were sheds!!

[anonymous-user]

£475 Pug 206 passed MOT needing just a lower wishbone so £90 all in and 13 months test. I changed the other side last year and knew that I should have done both sides at the same time but idleness got the better of me. Its only done 5,000 miles in the last 12 months so it's now done 58,000.

I shall now treat it to some fully synthetic 5w40 and a filter and we're good to go for another years shedding.

I know that they get a lot of stick on here but these small petrol engined French sheds seem to me to be quite reliable if you find a good one. Cheap as chips to run, not needy in any way, fairly anonymous, parts so cheap that they are virtually free, love em.

Edited by dunc01965 on Friday 19th February 11:09

[LukeyP_]

Some of you may remember I had some trouble with my MK1 Octavia with a boost and whine coming from the belt area.

It's going over to a family member on Monday to have a look as we can use his ramps to get underneath, but this whine I had

https://youtu.be/Gb0t-yAefYs

Only seems to come when car is upto temperature, which worries me - it could water pump area related!

[greenarrow]

dunc01965 said:

£475 Pug 206 passed MOT needing just a lower wishbone so £90 all in and 13 months test. I changed the other side last year and knew that I should have done both sides at the same time but idleness got the better of me. Its only done 5,000 miles in the last 12 months so it's now done 58,000.

I shall now treat it to some fully synthetic 5w40 and a filter and we're good to go for another years shedding.

I know that they get a lot of stick on here but these small petrol engined French sheds seem to me to be quite reliable if you find a good one. Cheap as chips to run, not needy in any way, fairly anonymous, parts so cheap that they are virtually free, love em.

Edited by dunc01965 on Friday 19th February 11:09

I think the simple basic spec n/a petrol French cars are fine and what I admire with the French cars is that compared with a lot of stuff they don't rust as badly. Friend of mine is running a 2001 Citroen Xantia estate as a shed daily. A very rare car now in fact. He's put 100K on the thing and it only cost him £500. Not a single spot of rust anywhere. The 1.8 petrol engine is also very sweet at 150K miles and doesn't use any oil between services. Just the clonks from the complicated pneumatic suspension that would worry me

[anonymous-user]

greenarrow said:

dunc01965 said:

£475 Pug 206 passed MOT needing just a lower wishbone so £90 all in and 13 months test. I changed the other side last year and knew that I should have done both sides at the same time but idleness got the better of me. Its only done 5,000 miles in the last 12 months so it's now done 58,000.

I shall now treat it to some fully synthetic 5w40 and a filter and we're good to go for another years shedding.

I know that they get a lot of stick on here but these small petrol engined French sheds seem to me to be quite reliable if you find a good one. Cheap as chips to run, not needy in any way, fairly anonymous, parts so cheap that they are virtually free, love em.

Edited by dunc01965 on Friday 19th February 11:09

I think the simple basic spec n/a petrol French cars are fine and what I admire with the French cars is that compared with a lot of stuff they don't rust as badly. Friend of mine is running a 2001 Citroen Xantia estate as a shed daily. A very rare car now in fact. He's put 100K on the thing and it only cost him £500. Not a single spot of rust anywhere. The 1.8 petrol engine is also very sweet at 150K miles and doesn't use any oil between services. Just the clonks from the complicated pneumatic suspension that would worry me

You are exactly right on the rust front, 18 years old and not a spot of rust anywhere.

[mercedeslimos]

LukeyP_ said:

Some of you may remember I had some trouble with my MK1 Octavia with a boost and whine coming from the belt area.

It's going over to a family member on Monday to have a look as we can use his ramps to get underneath, but this whine I had

https://youtu.be/Gb0t-yAefYs

Only seems to come when car is upto temperature, which worries me - it could water pump area related!

Is it leaking coolant? Water pumps like to leak. Could also be the idler pulley on the tensioner, or the clutched pulley on the alternator.

[Touring442]

aaron_2000 said:

Those of you who were shedding 20+ years ago, what did you run as sheds in the 90's to the early 00's? Pictures if you have them

I was buying and selling a lot of cheap snotters in the late 80's and early 90's. Sierras were good bangers but you needed a Pinto one. FWD CVH Escorts were just junk as were Onions. Austin Rover stuff was a waste of time unless Honda powered. Vauxhalls were okayish. BMW's could be a pain in the arse so no change there. It's surprising how flimsy and generally rubbish eighties cars were at 10 years and 100k.

Best bangers were Nissans, Hondas and Toyotas. Mitsubishis like the Galant etc were good too. In my experience, VW's like the Mark 2 Golf etc were crap. Water leaks, carb dramas etc. The most reliable sheds I ran in the 90's were Boxer Alfas, both Sud and 33. I bought a 1984 A reg 33 1.3 for £60 in 1994 and ran it for a year. I would leave it for a week or more in Blackbushe BCA car park and it always started first time, ready for a 50 mile blat home. I spent nothing on it in that time.

[anonymous-user]

aaron_2000 said:

Those of you who were shedding 20+ years ago, what did you run as sheds in the 90's to the early 00's? Pictures if you have them

There wasn't the choice back then that there is now so the usual rubbish is the answer, Cortinas, Sierra, escort, metro, ital, fiesta, nothing lasted too long nor was it expected to. If a petrol engine made it to 100,000 miles you knew it was on borrowed time but there were trade offs.

For example scrap yards were the go to place for parts, servicing was cheap and easy, badge snobbery was not really in vogue because there were less credit card millionaires and nobody where I grew up was interested in the slightest with impressing the Jonses ,no complex electrics to go wrong.

Cars were simpler back then but so was life in general.

[egor110]

aaron_2000 said:

Those of you who were shedding 20+ years ago, what did you run as sheds in the 90's to the early 00's? Pictures if you have them

Ford sierras , vauxhall cavaliers .

[irish boy]

rborhara said:

i bought my 2007 2.2 ex cdti civic, for £11K with 10000 miles on it in 2008

its 2021 now and its got 180,000 miles on it (only managed 3000miles during covid 2020) worth next to nothing . but everything just works these are genuinely built to last and a honda forum will tell you to fix the faults yourself
One recommendation if new is to get honda to service it and do all the recalls but avoid all the brakes and tyre thread is low.
I last had it serviced over 3 years ago (oil change) and just do the top ups when the light comes on. Mot have generally sailed thru, except the lost 2 where a shock absorber leaked and springs the other year.

If i were to ever sell it it drives much better than a £7000 car but without the price tag , These are built to last. i have friends at work with Peugeots , Vaux, Mondeos who are always at garages getting their cars issues sorted. Oh the battery went last year, which was a little hassle as the garages were saying the batteries fine. Local Mechanic gave some free advise and said 90% of the time its the battery and it was

tomble22 said:

Because, today i went out and bought another shed!!

A 2006 Honda Civic i-CDTi in that grey gold colour, 120,000 miles on the clock, MOT until October. Relatively clean and tidy for the princely sum of £600!



I turned up to view it in a car park opposite the chaps house in the beat up Alfa (which is still there as i couldn't get a lift over earlier), proceeded to do my usual shed checks (yeah, looks ok), drove it round the car park a couple of times (drives very much like a small version of my Accord Tourer funnily enough) and transferred the money in a heartbeat.

A humorous thing occurred during the transaction. I opened the oil cap while the engine was running, as you do, and felt a spit of oil come towards me. Didn't think anything of it. As it happened the bank transfer took about 25 minutes to go through (cue us sitting the car awkwardly waiting for the money to go across). After about 15 minutes i happened to catch myself in the mirror....I had oil all over my bloody face, and he didn't even tell me!!

Anyway, a new shed experience begins.....I'm sticking with Honda from now on!!

I like the look of those civics but I've driven 2 and both were slipping the clutch in 4th gear, I googles it and it seems an expensive job. Has yours been fine?

[mercedeslimos]

irish boy said:

I like the look of those civics but I've driven 2 and both were slipping the clutch in 4th gear, I google it and it seems an expensive job. Has yours been fine?

Can't figure out why, but the 2.2 diesel Honda seems to have extremely expensive clutches and flywheels. A friend with a 2010 Accord asked me would I fit one, as the parts were €900 alone

[loskie]

I hd 2007 CDTI CRV and it was about £1050 to supply and fit LUK clutch/flywheel at local indie garage. There's a fair bit of time involved

[tomble22]

irish boy said:

I like the look of those civics but I've driven 2 and both were slipping the clutch in 4th gear, I googles it and it seems an expensive job. Has yours been fine?

This one had a new clutch and DMF about 20,000 miles ago and feels fine at the moment.

My old Accord Tourer slipped a bit for most of the time i owned it (say 8,000 miles) but towards the end it stopped, that was the original clutch (car was on just under 200,000 miles).

My current Accord Tourer is on 177,000 and clutch is spot on, not sure if that one has been replaced though. Also remapped and copes with it fine.

I was quoted just under a grand on my first accord for the DMF & Clutch. The invoice for the Civic is £950 odd.

[anonymous-user]

Reading through some of the past posts on this thread there seems to be 2 schools of thought here. Firstly buy as cheap as you can, extract every mile you can with zero maintenance and scrap when it breaks making for very cheap motoring if you get lucky.

Second option is to buy something in good condition in the first place and look after it and keep it years.

I belong to the second school, I find changing cars both expensive and stressful with no guarantee that what you buy will be any better than what you had. I can't see the point of abusing something just because it's cheap.

[magpie215]

aaron_2000 said:

Those of you who were shedding 20+ years ago, what did you run as sheds in the 90's to the early 00's? Pictures if you have them

Mainly Mk 3 Granada's for me. I had 3 back to back each one benefitting from the improving parts moving from the dead one onto the replacement.

I had a 2L pinto then a V5 lastly a good one where all 6 cylinders worked.

[obscene]

I can finally get in on this thread.

New to me, 04 320d (mapped!) 135k, £650. It had been sat for 4 years as owner became progressively ill then got passed onto the guy I bought it off. Currently retrofitting cruise control for £20 and tidying it up with a few other bits with parts from the local breakers. I'm an E46 nut so know them inside and out but not had a diesel or a touring. Just need a rear spring and it should sail through an MOT. Also, no rust!




Excuse the poor first picture.