The Joy of Running an Old Shed
Discussion
LukeyP_ said:
Sold my shed on eBay last night at 20:30. Guy shoves a last minute bid, wins the auction. Sends me a message straight away, for mobile - that was last I heard from him.
Really boils my P**s it does!!
This is the reason I have vowed never to sell a car on eBay again via Auction or Buy It Now. It just brings out all the time wasters who love the idea of buying a car but don't actually want to leave their house. They get all excited about the whole bidding process and then change their mind as soon as the buzz has worn off and they realise they don't actually want it. If you want to use eBay only list it as a classified ad that stays live until the car is driving away.Really boils my P**s it does!!
Last car I listed the guy bid at the last second and immediately messaged to me say he didn't have the money until payday and would I mind waiting. I stupidly said yes and then I got messages every two days for two weeks telling me how excited he was to collect the car and if I was still OK for him to collect it.
Surprise, surprise the night before collection day I got a message saying that due to unforeseen circumstances he was no longer able to collect the car and how disappointed he was. I relisted the car and then got lots of "What happened, thought this was sold" from all the previous timewasters who sent me a massive list of questions and "had others to look at"
I would recommend Facebook Marketplace, you seem to get a lot less time wasters and it is free.
LukeyP_ said:
Sold my shed on eBay last night at 20:30. Guy shoves a last minute bid, wins the auction. Sends me a message straight away, for mobile - that was last I heard from him.
Really boils my P**s it does!!
Yep had this one from an Eastern European guy with no feedback who won the bid for my Rover 45 in the last 10 seconds " pliz meester me cnnt com bicus me grit grit grit grit grindmutha eeeen hozputil" pi$$ at 110 degrees celsius Really boils my P**s it does!!
A bit naughty, but my strategy is this - use ebay as nothing more than a place to host an advert, as it has the biggest audience you will ever get - via a no-reserve 7 day auction.
Write up the add, nice pics, well worded (good and bad points) and then a polite paragraph at the bottom to set out your stall. I used to this explain that "silly offers will be ignored", "no test drives with proof of fully comp insurance", "the car is advertised elsewhere, I fully reserve the right to sell elsewhere", "car will not be shipped to Uganda on the promise of a wired transfer" etc. I think this also helps reassure the buy that you are a genuine / decent person to deal with.
Completely ignore any messages from people:
If you arrange for someone to view and buy, you simply remove the advert. Yes its against the rules and is not considered "fair" in the grand scheme, but it avoids situations like have been described above. And if someone is genuinely in the market to buy a car like yours, and likes the cut of your jib, they will contact you directly. Its that simple. I do exactly the same when I am looking and NEVER expect an auction to run its course.
I am not a dealer, but in the last 10 years i've successfully achieved private sales of my Mk1 Golf GTi, 205 GTi, Dad's CRV, Mk2 Golf GTi, Civic VTi and Accord Type S using this strategy, and have always got the money I wanted. Some of which have been shed money, so it does work across the board, and I will be doing the same again very shortly with my Wife's CRV.
Write up the add, nice pics, well worded (good and bad points) and then a polite paragraph at the bottom to set out your stall. I used to this explain that "silly offers will be ignored", "no test drives with proof of fully comp insurance", "the car is advertised elsewhere, I fully reserve the right to sell elsewhere", "car will not be shipped to Uganda on the promise of a wired transfer" etc. I think this also helps reassure the buy that you are a genuine / decent person to deal with.
Completely ignore any messages from people:
- Who have less than 20 feedback,
- Whose user name is "BigBadManTingzzzzGal_004493"
- Say "will give you £1500 and collect tomorrow"
- Ask "what is your lowest price"
- Use correct English words and phrases when they contact you
- Ask how much the car is advertised for elsewhere
- Ask sensible grown up questions (are the tyres matching, has the cambelt been changed etc)
- Generally fill you with a bit of confidence they are genuine and interested (not saying hi, or using one line of text, does not do this for me)
If you arrange for someone to view and buy, you simply remove the advert. Yes its against the rules and is not considered "fair" in the grand scheme, but it avoids situations like have been described above. And if someone is genuinely in the market to buy a car like yours, and likes the cut of your jib, they will contact you directly. Its that simple. I do exactly the same when I am looking and NEVER expect an auction to run its course.
I am not a dealer, but in the last 10 years i've successfully achieved private sales of my Mk1 Golf GTi, 205 GTi, Dad's CRV, Mk2 Golf GTi, Civic VTi and Accord Type S using this strategy, and have always got the money I wanted. Some of which have been shed money, so it does work across the board, and I will be doing the same again very shortly with my Wife's CRV.
Shed Updates....
Nissan X-Trail ... running nicely and serving main car duties at the moment, I accidently put 2ltr of petrol in it 2 weeks ago but no issues since
Saab 9-3 ... sadly taken the decision to scrap this, its been leaking inside over winter and is absolutely hanging inside with mold, still have slight respiratory issues from having Covid so decided to take the easiest route with it. £225 for it scrap and being picked up next week.
Chrysler Grand Voyager ... still being used as an actual shed, will be starting up on house extension again soon so hopefully get it empty by easter then finish the camper conversion on it
Citroen C4 Coupe ... also being scrapped, £205 and being picked up next week, the plan was always to scrap this after we'd done with it plan was to keep until end of MOT at end of June, this will make way for...
Toyota RAV4 - only just in thread budget at £1500, Mrs found it online yesterday, collecting at weekend
Nissan X-Trail ... running nicely and serving main car duties at the moment, I accidently put 2ltr of petrol in it 2 weeks ago but no issues since
Saab 9-3 ... sadly taken the decision to scrap this, its been leaking inside over winter and is absolutely hanging inside with mold, still have slight respiratory issues from having Covid so decided to take the easiest route with it. £225 for it scrap and being picked up next week.
Chrysler Grand Voyager ... still being used as an actual shed, will be starting up on house extension again soon so hopefully get it empty by easter then finish the camper conversion on it
Citroen C4 Coupe ... also being scrapped, £205 and being picked up next week, the plan was always to scrap this after we'd done with it plan was to keep until end of MOT at end of June, this will make way for...
Toyota RAV4 - only just in thread budget at £1500, Mrs found it online yesterday, collecting at weekend
MattyD803 said:
"...the car is advertised elsewhere, I fully reserve the right to sell elsewhere", "car will not be shipped to Uganda on the promise of a wired transfer" etc. I think this also helps reassure the buy that you are a genuine / decent person to deal with.
You may need to be careful with that, as far as I know it's against eBay's rules to have an item that may go out of stock listed before it finishes.Otherwise, great advice which I will likely use myself, thank you!
On another note, I've been trying to hunt down a knocking/rattling/generally clunky/tappy sound from the offside rear of my ('57) Focus.
I haven't a video at the moment, but it seems to happen only when driving and it's a similar sound to when your exhaust is knocking against the bodywork, however it happens at all speeds (slowly is less pronounced) and usually when driving over rough surfaces, but it doesn't always happen, for example if I go over a speed bump it might not happen but then a rough bit of road a couple of seconds later and it'll knock-knock-knock.
I've checked the boot, checked underneath, shaken the exhaust, nothing, jacked up, hammered, pulled, and pleaded at the wheel, nothing.
Heatshields are all fixed well, no excess play in the suspension that I can feel.
Brake pad retaining clip is present, all pipes look fairly solid... there was what I assume to be the handbrake cable a little loose, but I've cushioned it with a ball of duct tape and it may have helped but hasn't cured it completely.
Any more ideas before I lose my mind?
OllieJolly said:
You may need to be careful with that, as far as I know it's against eBay's rules to have an item that may go out of stock listed before it finishes.
Otherwise, great advice which I will likely use myself, thank you!
On another note, I've been trying to hunt down a knocking/rattling/generally clunky/tappy sound from the offside rear of my ('57) Focus.
I haven't a video at the moment, but it seems to happen only when driving and it's a similar sound to when your exhaust is knocking against the bodywork, however it happens at all speeds (slowly is less pronounced) and usually when driving over rough surfaces, but it doesn't always happen, for example if I go over a speed bump it might not happen but then a rough bit of road a couple of seconds later and it'll knock-knock-knock.
I've checked the boot, checked underneath, shaken the exhaust, nothing, jacked up, hammered, pulled, and pleaded at the wheel, nothing.
Heatshields are all fixed well, no excess play in the suspension that I can feel.
Brake pad retaining clip is present, all pipes look fairly solid... there was what I assume to be the handbrake cable a little loose, but I've cushioned it with a ball of duct tape and it may have helped but hasn't cured it completely.
Any more ideas before I lose my mind?
Trailing Arm Suspension bush is a quite common one on that age of focus that goes, I changed out one on mine and it was a right arse, the other side I found a garage to do itOtherwise, great advice which I will likely use myself, thank you!
On another note, I've been trying to hunt down a knocking/rattling/generally clunky/tappy sound from the offside rear of my ('57) Focus.
I haven't a video at the moment, but it seems to happen only when driving and it's a similar sound to when your exhaust is knocking against the bodywork, however it happens at all speeds (slowly is less pronounced) and usually when driving over rough surfaces, but it doesn't always happen, for example if I go over a speed bump it might not happen but then a rough bit of road a couple of seconds later and it'll knock-knock-knock.
I've checked the boot, checked underneath, shaken the exhaust, nothing, jacked up, hammered, pulled, and pleaded at the wheel, nothing.
Heatshields are all fixed well, no excess play in the suspension that I can feel.
Brake pad retaining clip is present, all pipes look fairly solid... there was what I assume to be the handbrake cable a little loose, but I've cushioned it with a ball of duct tape and it may have helped but hasn't cured it completely.
Any more ideas before I lose my mind?
Captain Answer said:
Trailing Arm Suspension bush is a quite common one on that age of focus that goes, I changed out one on mine and it was a right arse, the other side I found a garage to do it
Trailing arm bush needed doing on my Focus Mk1 last year. The bolts were rusted solid and garage had a huge job trying to do it for the MOT. Cost me a small fortune and if the other side needs doing this year I'm afraid the car will be sold for spares.....Along with rust, the trailing arm bush seems to be the only achilles heel for the Mk1 Focus.greenarrow said:
Trailing arm bush needed doing on my Focus Mk1 last year. The bolts were rusted solid and garage had a huge job trying to do it for the MOT. Cost me a small fortune and if the other side needs doing this year I'm afraid the car will be sold for spares.....Along with rust, the trailing arm bush seems to be the only achilles heel for the Mk1 Focus.
Mine's a Mk2 so I don't imagine it'll be too different, but I'll grab a picture or two this evening and see how bad they are.OllieJolly said:
greenarrow said:
Trailing arm bush needed doing on my Focus Mk1 last year. The bolts were rusted solid and garage had a huge job trying to do it for the MOT. Cost me a small fortune and if the other side needs doing this year I'm afraid the car will be sold for spares.....Along with rust, the trailing arm bush seems to be the only achilles heel for the Mk1 Focus.
Mine's a Mk2 so I don't imagine it'll be too different, but I'll grab a picture or two this evening and see how bad they are.Just read through some of the posts on the "reasons why you don't go to a main dealer for a service " thread and wow, some of the comments. More money than sense doesn't even begin to cover it.
How is it possible for a rational, sane human being to justify spending £400 plus on a "service" comprising of 5 litres of goop and a few filters that's assuming that they actually do change the filters and not just smack them against a wall and put them back.
The money that people waste is beyond belief, must be a case of easy come, easy go. So another reason to run a shed, not to be beholden to the main dealer c@ck wombles and their £150 an hour labour charges so that they can patronise you from their shiny floored glass dome dealerships.
How is it possible for a rational, sane human being to justify spending £400 plus on a "service" comprising of 5 litres of goop and a few filters that's assuming that they actually do change the filters and not just smack them against a wall and put them back.
The money that people waste is beyond belief, must be a case of easy come, easy go. So another reason to run a shed, not to be beholden to the main dealer c@ck wombles and their £150 an hour labour charges so that they can patronise you from their shiny floored glass dome dealerships.
dunc01965 said:
Just read through some of the posts on the "reasons why you don't go to a main dealer for a service " thread and wow, some of the comments. More money than sense doesn't even begin to cover it.
I've had to do both sadly. My Evora can be serviced myself (I choose not to because I'd prefer a stamp in the book) but some stuff is dealer only so last week it cost me £420 for a TC light to be switched off, an O2 sensor and an MOT. Conversely I service the daily mk5 Golf myself and it costs me peanuts to run.
Actually, if you're resourceful a service on the Lotus can be as little as £130 (my last two minor services were this amount).
Going to the dealer is strictly off limits to me, unless I have no other option.
I think maybe my wife's mk6 Astra has become a shed.
It's on an 11 plate, one previous owner full history, giffermatic, low mileage low spec model. As in 44k
The spare wheel well is a water feature. Things in the boot have started to go a bit mouldy.
And we've been having scrape ice off the inside of the front screen.
I've dried it out and drilled 8 mm holes in 3 plastic binge. Left a fan heater in it yesterday with the windows slightly open. I suppose I should try to work out where the leak is.
My wife says she's too busy to sit in the boot whilst I spray the hose pipe at the car.
It's on an 11 plate, one previous owner full history, giffermatic, low mileage low spec model. As in 44k
The spare wheel well is a water feature. Things in the boot have started to go a bit mouldy.
And we've been having scrape ice off the inside of the front screen.
I've dried it out and drilled 8 mm holes in 3 plastic binge. Left a fan heater in it yesterday with the windows slightly open. I suppose I should try to work out where the leak is.
My wife says she's too busy to sit in the boot whilst I spray the hose pipe at the car.
Well although the price point doesn't quite sit into most people's idea of shedding, I have bought this car for the purpose of running it until it's uneconomical to repair and therefore it is now my shed 
It's a BMW 525d M Sport Touring and had 115k miles when I bought it last October. It was cheaper than anything else I could find and with that mileage that wasn't completely ruined, I thought it would be a good long termer. I paid £3,250.
It needed an alternator, glow plugs & controller, 3x thermostats, swirl flap blanks and the front bumper towing eye cover.
Due to lockdown and various reasons it hasn't done many miles since I got it but I am almost at the end of the repairs and servicing to get it to a point where I'm happy about reliability and will use it for work, taking me all over the south of the country.
There has been a couple of setbacks, namely a blocked DPF (due to the thermostats and glow plugs) and the diversity antenna packed up due to water ingress in the boot spoiler, but otherwise it's been ok.
It currently stands me in at £4,306 (yes I'm a loser with a spreadsheet) and should be good for another 100k miles with nothing more than servicing and consumables.
It's a BMW 525d M Sport Touring and had 115k miles when I bought it last October. It was cheaper than anything else I could find and with that mileage that wasn't completely ruined, I thought it would be a good long termer. I paid £3,250.
It needed an alternator, glow plugs & controller, 3x thermostats, swirl flap blanks and the front bumper towing eye cover.
Due to lockdown and various reasons it hasn't done many miles since I got it but I am almost at the end of the repairs and servicing to get it to a point where I'm happy about reliability and will use it for work, taking me all over the south of the country.
There has been a couple of setbacks, namely a blocked DPF (due to the thermostats and glow plugs) and the diversity antenna packed up due to water ingress in the boot spoiler, but otherwise it's been ok.
It currently stands me in at £4,306 (yes I'm a loser with a spreadsheet) and should be good for another 100k miles with nothing more than servicing and consumables.
Pit Pony said:
I think maybe my wife's mk6 Astra has become a shed.
It's on an 11 plate, one previous owner full history, giffermatic, low mileage low spec model. As in 44k
The spare wheel well is a water feature. Things in the boot have started to go a bit mouldy.
And we've been having scrape ice off the inside of the front screen.
I've dried it out and drilled 8 mm holes in 3 plastic binge. Left a fan heater in it yesterday with the windows slightly open. I suppose I should try to work out where the leak is.
My wife says she's too busy to sit in the boot whilst I spray the hose pipe at the car.
Get a smoke machine and switch it on inside the car with everything closed. I used this method (as seen on WD on an Aston) to locate two leaks on a car once and it worked perfectly! It's on an 11 plate, one previous owner full history, giffermatic, low mileage low spec model. As in 44k
The spare wheel well is a water feature. Things in the boot have started to go a bit mouldy.
And we've been having scrape ice off the inside of the front screen.
I've dried it out and drilled 8 mm holes in 3 plastic binge. Left a fan heater in it yesterday with the windows slightly open. I suppose I should try to work out where the leak is.
My wife says she's too busy to sit in the boot whilst I spray the hose pipe at the car.
Edited by p4cks on Friday 26th February 09:21
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