The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[Pat H]

My default choice for mid range tyres is presently the Yokohama Blue Earth.

Running them on my 2007 Focus, wife's MINI and daughter's Swift.

No complaints from me.

[Jazoli]

Shominy said:

So the time has come to get some new tyres for my 2008 petrol Focus. Have owned it for coming up to 2 years now and have had the same mismatched ditchfinders on it the entire time. Having looked online I am unsure what to go for but I'll definitely be going upper mid-range to premium as I just don't think it is worth the saving to go for budgets when it comes to tyres.

Does anyone have any specific recommendations? 205/55/R16 is the size. I have looked around and can get Pirelli Cinturato P7s all round for £210 fitted. Goodyear EfficientGrip Perfomance 2 seem to be the most highly recommended in tests but not sure they're worth the extra £50. I know anything half decent will be bette than what's on there at the moment but I'd favour something direct and sporty feeling over comfort and economy.

P7's are crap, they have poor wet grip and are noisy, I thought I'd save money by fitting them to my car and I was not impressed, honestly, you won't go far wrong with Uniroyal Rainexperts or the Goodyears, depending on where you live it might be worth you fitting an all season tyre such as the CrossClimate or Goodyear 4 seasons.

[A500leroy]

Shominy said:

So the time has come to get some new tyres for my 2008 petrol Focus. Have owned it for coming up to 2 years now and have had the same mismatched ditchfinders on it the entire time. Having looked online I am unsure what to go for but I'll definitely be going upper mid-range to premium as I just don't think it is worth the saving to go for budgets when it comes to tyres.

Does anyone have any specific recommendations? 205/55/R16 is the size. I have looked around and can get Pirelli Cinturato P7s all round for £210 fitted. Goodyear EfficientGrip Perfomance 2 seem to be the most highly recommended in tests but not sure they're worth the extra £50. I know anything half decent will be bette than what's on there at the moment but I'd favour something direct and sporty feeling over comfort and economy.

Cross climate

[DailyHack]

giblet said:

The only real downside to my particular shed of choice. Somewhat annoying given it’s only a 2.0T and worth around £2k plus I rarely use it these days

£50'ish a month not too bad, much better than £200/300 for a boring lease

[Shominy]

Jazoli said:

P7's are crap, they have poor wet grip and are noisy, I thought I'd save money by fitting them to my car and I was not impressed, honestly, you won't go far wrong with Uniroyal Rainexperts or the Goodyears, depending on where you live it might be worth you fitting an all season tyre such as the CrossClimate or Goodyear 4 seasons.

Yeah, I had heard some not so good things about the P7s but assumed they would be more than reasonable. Perhaps not. I had considered an all season tyre since it'll be November when I get them fitted but wasn't quite sure whether it was worth it since I only do about 5k miles a year and they're about £80 a corner. Just seen I can get Avon ZV7s for just less than £170 fitted. They're not going to be the best of the best but for that price they'd be hard to beat surely?

Pat H said:

My default choice for mid range tyres is presently the Yokohama Blue Earth.

Running them on my 2007 Focus, wife's MINI and daughter's Swift.

No complaints from me.

Not a bad option, works out about £25 cheaper than the premium brands all round I think.

[Digby]

Hmm, my Passat 1.9tdi temp is bang on 90 now after doing the temp sensor and stat, but it’s still only showing 30 mpg as an average. Maf / egr?

Starts fine, goes well, runs great and yet my E46 330D manual used to get 50ish on a run and 40+ around town.

[giblet]

DailyHack said:

£50'ish a month not too bad, much better than £200/300 for a boring lease

True but I was once paying £400 a month on a 4C Spider!

The 9-3 wagon does the job granted I’ve covered very few miles this year

[anonymous-user]

Starting to think about a new shed at the moment as my Girlfriend is finally interested in driving in the UK. Biggest issue is it must be an Automatic (because Australian) and I have never bought an auto shed before. Even initial searches are highlighting that he majority of sheds are manual.

Aside from being an Auto the only other criteria is it must be no bigger than a Megane/Astra. Preferably an old school slush box, possibly consider a CVT and no old school 4 speeders please.

I initially started thinking of a Honda Jazz, but I must admit I have a hatred of all things Honda after owning a Civic Type S. Manufacturer is not important, I have run lots of French cars in the past and mostly they have been great. Happy to take a gamble on something German rather than go for the safe option.

Not really got a budget, happy to go up to a totally un-shed £4K for the right car. However, a £2K gamble on a high mileage A3 sounds way more exciting.

[Calmchap]

Joey Deacon said:

Starting to think about a new shed at the moment as my Girlfriend is finally interested in driving in the UK. Biggest issue is it must be an Automatic (because Australian) and I have never bought an auto shed before. Even initial searches are highlighting that he majority of sheds are manual.

Aside from being an Auto the only other criteria is it must be no bigger than a Megane/Astra. Preferably an old school slush box, possibly consider a CVT and no old school 4 speeders please.

I initially started thinking of a Honda Jazz, but I must admit I have a hatred of all things Honda after owning a Civic Type S. Manufacturer is not important, I have run lots of French cars in the past and mostly they have been great. Happy to take a gamble on something German rather than go for the safe option.

Not really got a budget, happy to go up to a totally un-shed £4K for the right car. However, a £2K gamble on a high mileage A3 sounds way more exciting.

It won't be exciting when she's on the side of the road if you've had the bad luck to buy one that goes pop. Mind you, will give you plenty of time to admire the worn out buttons all over the interior.

Go Japanese and you'll happy all round. An old Audi that costs less than a set of headlights on a new A8 doesn't impress anyone so ignore the badge and go for reliability. Toyota auto boxes are more reliable than Honda too.

At a push Korean if it's a bargain and you can get it for a disposable price. Mazda look great, but at that budget you will probably end up buying one of an era where they were mainly Ford and often had substantial rust problems. And avoid Renault based Nissans, which basically means avoid Nissan.

[A500leroy]

Calmchap said:

Joey Deacon said:

Starting to think about a new shed at the moment as my Girlfriend is finally interested in driving in the UK. Biggest issue is it must be an Automatic (because Australian) and I have never bought an auto shed before. Even initial searches are highlighting that he majority of sheds are manual.

Aside from being an Auto the only other criteria is it must be no bigger than a Megane/Astra. Preferably an old school slush box, possibly consider a CVT and no old school 4 speeders please.

I initially started thinking of a Honda Jazz, but I must admit I have a hatred of all things Honda after owning a Civic Type S. Manufacturer is not important, I have run lots of French cars in the past and mostly they have been great. Happy to take a gamble on something German rather than go for the safe option.

Not really got a budget, happy to go up to a totally un-shed £4K for the right car. However, a £2K gamble on a high mileage A3 sounds way more exciting.

It won't be exciting when she's on the side of the road if you've had the bad luck to buy one that goes pop. Mind you, will give you plenty of time to admire the worn out buttons all over the interior.

Go Japanese and you'll happy all round. An old Audi that costs less than a set of headlights on a new A8 doesn't impress anyone so ignore the badge and go for reliability. Toyota auto boxes are more reliable than Honda too.

At a push Korean if it's a bargain and you can get it for a disposable price. Mazda look great, but at that budget you will probably end up buying one of an era where they were mainly Ford and often had substantial rust problems. And avoid Renault based Nissans, which basically means avoid Nissan.

This has Corolla written all over it

[Calmchap]

A500leroy said:

This has Corolla written all over it

Spot on, for most requests of this nature Corolla or, if you need something larger, Avensis (2.0 model), is the right answer.

[James_N]

So what's everyone's opinions on Cambelt changes. Now my ultra cheap £250 Pug 106 has passed its MOT, i was going to lavish some love on it. I was going to service it myself, and as i have no history with it, i was going to get my father in law to do the cambelt on it.

However, he's been diagnosed with heart failure this week, so although changing the cambelt wasn't ever an urgent task, i now have to rethink things a little. I do know a decent mobile mechanic, but hes almost retired, and really just sorts next doors cars out, just to keep his hand in, so he's probably out. There is also a very good indy garage just round the corner. Question is, do i go to that expense, on something worth £250, or do i play the roulette game. I haven't spent anything on the car really since ive had it apart from 4 tyres and some wipers, so i dont mind spending a bit on it despite the fact it still leaks like a sieve on the passenger side , but a cambelt? not sure.

What do people do with cambelts on sheds? take the risk or get it changed?

Edited by James_N on Thursday 29th October 21:52

[magpie215]

Grotrod MOT-------- T-12 hours.


Its already a guaranteed fail....but..how bad?

[Toaster Pilot]

James_N said:

So what's everyone's opinions on Cambelt changes. Now my ultra cheap £250 Pug 106 has passed its MOT, i was going to lavish some love on it. I was going to service it myself, and as i have no history with it, i was going to get my father in law to do the cambelt on it.

However, he's been diagnosed with heart failure this week, so although changing the cambelt wasn't ever an urgent task, i now have to rethink things a little. I do know a decent mobile mechanic, but hes almost retired, and really just sorts next doors cars out, just to keep his hand in, so he's probably out. There is also a very good indy garage just round the corner. Question is, do i go to that expense, on something worth £250, or do i play the roulette game. I haven't spent anything on the car really since ive had it apart from 4 tyres and some wipers, so i dont mind spending a bit on it despite the fact it still leaks like a sieve on the passenger side , but a cambelt? not sure.

What do people do with cambelts on sheds? take the risk or get it changed?

Edited by James_N on Thursday 29th October 21:52

It’s a really easy job on those. Won’t cost much. Do it.

I’m the kind of idiot that lavishes loads of money on a shed though so don’t listen to me.

[anonymous-user]

The cam belt is worth doing on a car that is otherwise good, has 12 months MOT, and 4 new tyres on it. If the cam belt snaps you’ve then got to find yourself another car, with unknown issues lurking. Do it if the money is “spare”.

[James_N]

mstrbkr said:

Do it if the money is “spare”.

Not really with job losses looming over our company but if its an easy job at a garage, i'll get a few quotes! Thanks

[Shieldsy94]

James_N said:

So what's everyone's opinions on Cambelt changes. Now my ultra cheap £250 Pug 106 has passed its MOT, i was going to lavish some love on it. I was going to service it myself, and as i have no history with it, i was going to get my father in law to do the cambelt on it.

However, he's been diagnosed with heart failure this week, so although changing the cambelt wasn't ever an urgent task, i now have to rethink things a little. I do know a decent mobile mechanic, but hes almost retired, and really just sorts next doors cars out, just to keep his hand in, so he's probably out. There is also a very good indy garage just round the corner. Question is, do i go to that expense, on something worth £250, or do i play the roulette game. I haven't spent anything on the car really since ive had it apart from 4 tyres and some wipers, so i dont mind spending a bit on it despite the fact it still leaks like a sieve on the passenger side , but a cambelt? not sure.

What do people do with cambelts on sheds? take the risk or get it changed?

Edited by James_N on Thursday 29th October 21:52

Depends if you envisage keeping the car for years. If you do, get it done. Better to spend money on a car you know than replace the car and need to do the cambelt + other things if needed.

[Eyersey1234]

James_N said:

So what's everyone's opinions on Cambelt changes. Now my ultra cheap £250 Pug 106 has passed its MOT, i was going to lavish some love on it. I was going to service it myself, and as i have no history with it, i was going to get my father in law to do the cambelt on it.

However, he's been diagnosed with heart failure this week, so although changing the cambelt wasn't ever an urgent task, i now have to rethink things a little. I do know a decent mobile mechanic, but hes almost retired, and really just sorts next doors cars out, just to keep his hand in, so he's probably out. There is also a very good indy garage just round the corner. Question is, do i go to that expense, on something worth £250, or do i play the roulette game. I haven't spent anything on the car really since ive had it apart from 4 tyres and some wipers, so i dont mind spending a bit on it despite the fact it still leaks like a sieve on the passenger side , but a cambelt? not sure.

What do people do with cambelts on sheds? take the risk or get it changed?

Edited by James_N on Thursday 29th October 21:52

Personally if its a good car that's a known quantity I'd get it done, not worth the risk of it snapping IMO

[STIfree]

magpie215 said:

Grotrod MOT-------- T-12 hours.


Its already a guaranteed fail....but..how bad?

It will be a very sad day if its the end of the ultimate shed.

[LukeyP_]

I felt the same about the cambelt, but given I had put a few thousand the Skoda and it was faultless, £250 seemed a drop in the ocean to ensure it would fine for even longer. Now if I come to sell it, I have a selling point!