The Joy of Running an Old Shed (Vol 2)
Discussion
Mildlyinterestd said:
RenesisEvo said:
If that existed here (does it..?) I'd fear I'd spend far too much time trying out random cars I've always been curious about, even without any actual need to rent something.
+1 on Zafiras, my grandfather ran an early (2002) 1.8 auto for 11 years, no issues at all, and passed it on to my cousin as family transport. It had 'OAP' in the number plate, one of the reasons he bought it in the first place! I still see some around, although some look very neglected/abused. Very popular with the car boot sale enthusiasts I hear (I've never been so can't comment, I just recall reading that somewhere). I have debated whether I could stomach a later Zafira as a family tool but I'm leaning towards the previously suggested RX450h or a CR-V - neither currently shed budget granted.
There's a place up here in Newcastle that rents out sheds weekly/monthly with no ongoing contract. Currently has a 58 plate 2.0d Mondeo for £60 p/w, an 09 c3 1.6d for £60 p/w and a 16 plate 208 diesel for £85.+1 on Zafiras, my grandfather ran an early (2002) 1.8 auto for 11 years, no issues at all, and passed it on to my cousin as family transport. It had 'OAP' in the number plate, one of the reasons he bought it in the first place! I still see some around, although some look very neglected/abused. Very popular with the car boot sale enthusiasts I hear (I've never been so can't comment, I just recall reading that somewhere). I have debated whether I could stomach a later Zafira as a family tool but I'm leaning towards the previously suggested RX450h or a CR-V - neither currently shed budget granted.
Fairly reasonable I suppose.
Mildlyinterestd said:
There's a place up here in Newcastle that rents out sheds weekly/monthly with no ongoing contract. Currently has a 58 plate 2.0d Mondeo for £60 p/w, an 09 c3 1.6d for £60 p/w and a 16 plate 208 diesel for £85.
Fairly reasonable I suppose.
Very reasonable if you compare it with a quote from Enterprise! Fairly reasonable I suppose.
How do they even make any money at that? By the time you have paid insurance, tax, MOT, there can't be much left if the clutch goes or you need a new alternator etc. I guess depreciation is minimal, and if you can buy well to start with then can probably get a couple of years before there are any problems, but people are not going to care for it the same as a newer car either, and the demographic you're renting to are probably not going to be that mechanically sympathetic if it's only costing them £60 a week.
Edited by Condi on Monday 27th June 16:47
Hello Chaps 
Just been schmoozing in Greece. I thought Greece was the ultimate land of sheds, as rust is not normally an issue, but my little island was subject to Russian billionaire influence. I ended up renting an I20, which was nicer than most things I drive, but it cost me a weeks salary for every day I had it. <shiver> It did go down a very rough dirt track though, so not all bad.
Anyway, life in the ultimate shed fantasy is pretty quiet here at the moment. We have run out of VAT headroom, and we are all sitting around drinking tea, and wondering what to do about it. I don't want to have to pay VAT, and I don't want hauling over the coals for doing something wrong, so we are busy fixing what we have (when not drinking tea, or Ouzo), getting ready for the next big adventure.
In the meanwhile my nicely welded up fiesta was reversed into the path of an oncoming bus this morning, which has resulted in the need for a trip to the scrapyard in the morning.
So in a remarkable and unlikely series of meeting, tomorrow I'm off to the scrappies to buy a boot lid, then to the estate agents to look at an office.
Apart from that, shed land is remarkably quiet. Having fallen out with my rental customer who sold my Vectra to an Eastern European, I now only have an exhaust to fit to a C1, which is unlikely to break the bank, or my spirit. The C107 I am personally running about has now done 250 odd miles on half a tank of fuel, which cost me a grand total of £52, so I'm thinking that is pretty frugal, even by current fuel prices.
And on a different note - Lagunas - love 'em, especially the 2.0 M9r diesel engines.
Anyway, if someone would like to suggest a name for a new business renting sheds, I'm all ears. You lot are normally pretty witty, well observed and clever, so that should be interesting.
Just been schmoozing in Greece. I thought Greece was the ultimate land of sheds, as rust is not normally an issue, but my little island was subject to Russian billionaire influence. I ended up renting an I20, which was nicer than most things I drive, but it cost me a weeks salary for every day I had it. <shiver> It did go down a very rough dirt track though, so not all bad.
Anyway, life in the ultimate shed fantasy is pretty quiet here at the moment. We have run out of VAT headroom, and we are all sitting around drinking tea, and wondering what to do about it. I don't want to have to pay VAT, and I don't want hauling over the coals for doing something wrong, so we are busy fixing what we have (when not drinking tea, or Ouzo), getting ready for the next big adventure.
In the meanwhile my nicely welded up fiesta was reversed into the path of an oncoming bus this morning, which has resulted in the need for a trip to the scrapyard in the morning.
So in a remarkable and unlikely series of meeting, tomorrow I'm off to the scrappies to buy a boot lid, then to the estate agents to look at an office.
Apart from that, shed land is remarkably quiet. Having fallen out with my rental customer who sold my Vectra to an Eastern European, I now only have an exhaust to fit to a C1, which is unlikely to break the bank, or my spirit. The C107 I am personally running about has now done 250 odd miles on half a tank of fuel, which cost me a grand total of £52, so I'm thinking that is pretty frugal, even by current fuel prices.
And on a different note - Lagunas - love 'em, especially the 2.0 M9r diesel engines.
Anyway, if someone would like to suggest a name for a new business renting sheds, I'm all ears. You lot are normally pretty witty, well observed and clever, so that should be interesting.
Not caught up on the thread yet but I will do. My boss has just purchased a bungalow for doing up. Garden was a bit overgrown though so she asked if I’d mind helping. This is the joy of running an old (but reliable) shed! 
As a thanks to my shed. On the way back, I managed to snag an oil filter, air filter and a spare rear light bulb (still water getting in somehow!) for the sum of £2.43.
/edit - don’t know why the picture has flipped, sorry!
As a thanks to my shed. On the way back, I managed to snag an oil filter, air filter and a spare rear light bulb (still water getting in somehow!) for the sum of £2.43.
/edit - don’t know why the picture has flipped, sorry!
I think I'm on the verge of committing the ultimate shed sin. Entering the finance world I don't drive, much, but my partner does a good 250 miles per week. The trusty £700 Saab MOT is looming and I'm not optimistic it will pass. She also hates the thing. We've had it approaching two years and spent next to nothing extracting 30,000 miles from it but I fear this won't be a cheap one to get over the line now.
It's desperate for a service. Has a fairly substantial knock from the front and the steering rack is a bit groany. Will need rubber all around very soon. Needs a new clock spring as it has a permanent airbag light and the horn doesn't work. Intermittent ABS light (wheel speed sensor? crusty ABS ring?) Discs and pads for the rear.
She needs reliability and stress free motoring, the allure of something 3 to 4 years old is quite tempting.. I've rolled the shed dice for the last 5 years and barely spent a penny. Is it time to get out?
It's desperate for a service. Has a fairly substantial knock from the front and the steering rack is a bit groany. Will need rubber all around very soon. Needs a new clock spring as it has a permanent airbag light and the horn doesn't work. Intermittent ABS light (wheel speed sensor? crusty ABS ring?) Discs and pads for the rear.
She needs reliability and stress free motoring, the allure of something 3 to 4 years old is quite tempting.. I've rolled the shed dice for the last 5 years and barely spent a penny. Is it time to get out?
Jimmy No Hands said:
I think I'm on the verge of committing the ultimate shed sin. Entering the finance world I don't drive, much, but my partner does a good 250 miles per week. The trusty £700 Saab MOT is looming and I'm not optimistic it will pass. She also hates the thing. We've had it approaching two years and spent next to nothing extracting 30,000 miles from it but I fear this won't be a cheap one to get over the line now.
It's desperate for a service. Has a fairly substantial knock from the front and the steering rack is a bit groany. Will need rubber all around very soon. Needs a new clock spring as it has a permanent airbag light and the horn doesn't work. Intermittent ABS light (wheel speed sensor? crusty ABS ring?) Discs and pads for the rear.
She needs reliability and stress free motoring, the allure of something 3 to 4 years old is quite tempting.. I've rolled the shed dice for the last 5 years and barely spent a penny. Is it time to get out?
Absolutely time to get out. There are tonnes and tonnes of models out there that won't moan about your Saab It's desperate for a service. Has a fairly substantial knock from the front and the steering rack is a bit groany. Will need rubber all around very soon. Needs a new clock spring as it has a permanent airbag light and the horn doesn't work. Intermittent ABS light (wheel speed sensor? crusty ABS ring?) Discs and pads for the rear.
She needs reliability and stress free motoring, the allure of something 3 to 4 years old is quite tempting.. I've rolled the shed dice for the last 5 years and barely spent a penny. Is it time to get out?
Serious point though, you've had trouble free motoring for 5 years. What you're doing is working. Age is not a guarantee of reliability by any stretch of the imagination, either. The more modern a car is, the more sensors and useless features it has to cause a problem when it stops working. Choose a car carefully and you should continue to have trouble free motoring for a long time, no matter how old the car is.
Jimmy No Hands said:
I think I'm on the verge of committing the ultimate shed sin. Entering the finance world I don't drive, much, but my partner does a good 250 miles per week. The trusty £700 Saab MOT is looming and I'm not optimistic it will pass. She also hates the thing. We've had it approaching two years and spent next to nothing extracting 30,000 miles from it but I fear this won't be a cheap one to get over the line now.
It's desperate for a service. Has a fairly substantial knock from the front and the steering rack is a bit groany. Will need rubber all around very soon. Needs a new clock spring as it has a permanent airbag light and the horn doesn't work. Intermittent ABS light (wheel speed sensor? crusty ABS ring?) Discs and pads for the rear.
She needs reliability and stress free motoring, the allure of something 3 to 4 years old is quite tempting.. I've rolled the shed dice for the last 5 years and barely spent a penny. Is it time to get out?
Just get her a C1/107/Aygo/Yaris/Panda. Then she will regret the Saab. Then you can buy an old powerful saloon again without her complaining (too much). Job done! It's desperate for a service. Has a fairly substantial knock from the front and the steering rack is a bit groany. Will need rubber all around very soon. Needs a new clock spring as it has a permanent airbag light and the horn doesn't work. Intermittent ABS light (wheel speed sensor? crusty ABS ring?) Discs and pads for the rear.
She needs reliability and stress free motoring, the allure of something 3 to 4 years old is quite tempting.. I've rolled the shed dice for the last 5 years and barely spent a penny. Is it time to get out?
Jimmy No Hands said:
She needs reliability and stress free motoring, the allure of something 3 to 4 years old is quite tempting.. I've rolled the shed dice for the last 5 years and barely spent a penny. Is it time to get out?
It won't pass the MOT with the airbag light on, will it? If you wanted out then sell it while it still has an MOT, someone will give you £500 or maybe £700 for it, then look for something else. You've had 30,000 miles of almost free motoring. There are plenty of cars in the £2k region which might be more appealing to the wife, and £2k now seems the "sweet spot" between finding something modernish and in decent condition, while avoiding shed territory and all that comes with.
I second that. ^^^^^^^^
Women don't like cars that might be unreliable, particularly in the rain or at night.
My wife has a 22 year old Saab 9-5, but it was bought well 7 years ago and is reliable.
Yet she is now worrying about driving it 130 miles each way in broad daylight to have a weekend with her sisters, and is considering not going.
In 7 years it has only let her/us down once, when It shed it's auxiliary belt (failed pulley) at the worst time possible**, but that apart it has been good.
As anyone who has had a petrol Saab will know, it's not a job for the RAC in the dark and the rain in February.
It's a 2 hour job in the warm and dry for an experienced mechanic with a ramp.
Women don't like cars that might be unreliable, particularly in the rain or at night.
My wife has a 22 year old Saab 9-5, but it was bought well 7 years ago and is reliable.
Yet she is now worrying about driving it 130 miles each way in broad daylight to have a weekend with her sisters, and is considering not going.
In 7 years it has only let her/us down once, when It shed it's auxiliary belt (failed pulley) at the worst time possible**, but that apart it has been good.
As anyone who has had a petrol Saab will know, it's not a job for the RAC in the dark and the rain in February.
It's a 2 hour job in the warm and dry for an experienced mechanic with a ramp.
- worst time possible = she turned up at 7.30pm on a cold night in February last year, 25 miles from home, to collect me from hospital following a day case operation where I had had an epidural for the surgery. I was having post-op problems and wasn't able to leave the ward, and the belt came off about 200 yards from the hospital entrance, in an awkward place. All she could tell me was she had suffered sudden loss of power steering. She is profoundly deaf, so cannot use a phone to call me. I diagnosed what was wrong by text and called the RAC, who, unusually for them, over the next 5 hours proceeded to fail us repeatedly. The hospital staff were great and pushed the car to a place of safety, and in the end the RAC put us in a taxi home and got the car recovered. At 1.30 am, and minus 5 outside, I was out in the road outside our house in my dressing gown, having to start and drive her car 40 yards, including round a 90 degree turn into our drive, when it came off the private recovery truck the RAC had arranged, with no power steering to help me. She hasn't trusted it since.
And not much less likely to happen on a new-un.
My Mrs put a dent in our Mazda 5 the other day. I was still a bit peeved - I would prefer not to have a dent. But now she has a car with a dent.
She summed it up well enough "this is why I'm not allowed nice things". She does trust that if I say it's OK to drive, it is OK, even if clonky or whatever, though. And if I'm wrong, I fix it.
My Mrs put a dent in our Mazda 5 the other day. I was still a bit peeved - I would prefer not to have a dent. But now she has a car with a dent.
She summed it up well enough "this is why I'm not allowed nice things". She does trust that if I say it's OK to drive, it is OK, even if clonky or whatever, though. And if I'm wrong, I fix it.
QBee said:
I second that. ^^^^^^^^
Women don't like cars that might be unreliable, particularly in the rain or at night.
My wife has a 22 year old Saab 9-5, but it was bought well 7 years ago and is reliable.
Yet she is now worrying about driving it 130 miles each way in broad daylight to have a weekend with her sisters, and is considering not going.
There is plenty of recent stuff with warning lights on the side of the road: wait for one and show it/them to her Women don't like cars that might be unreliable, particularly in the rain or at night.
My wife has a 22 year old Saab 9-5, but it was bought well 7 years ago and is reliable.
Yet she is now worrying about driving it 130 miles each way in broad daylight to have a weekend with her sisters, and is considering not going.
My C5 was driven daily by the OH for 6 months: she politely waited for her to change job, now taking the underground, do 30 miles with me at the wheels, and let the clutch release bearing go. What a polite shed
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff