The Joy of Running an Old Shed (Vol 2)

[anonymous-user]

So purchased this yesterday. I'm loving it. Did 220 miles in it already.

2010 Avensis Estate. 2.0 D4D. TR model with the Reverse camera. 135k miles. Paid £1600 for it. Needs an MOT soon but nothing wrong with it. Needs a drivers side wing and maybe better front tyres.

Ticks a lot of boxes for me.

[Davie]

bearman68 said:

Holy Grail found and bought yesterday.

V70 163 bhp Euro3 D5, with a 6 speed manual gearbox.

Oh Yes!!.

Surprisingly late for a Euro 3 on a 2007 plate. This pleases me no end.

Great things... and that sounds like a total bargain at £800!

I bought one a few years back on an 05 plate, so still a facelift but 5 speed manual. Paid £300 for it as it had power loss issues which turned out to be a combination of the usual D5 niggles so it wasn't difficult or dear to get it going as it should. Ran it as a commuter for several months and moved it on for £1250.00, which was nice. Great things, as are P2 V70's on the whole but there days, there's a lot of rough ones out there on their last legs.

Strong work sir, you're pretty much hit peak shed with this purchase!

[anarki]

It's incredibly weird but the last couple of posts by bearman68 and muddyk were two cars in my shortlist last year but I couldn't find decent examples of either at the time! (I was after either a hatch or estate avensis)

I totally get where your coming from bearman68 as to shortlisting to a particular spec, I have always done this when looking for cars, my workmates take the piss out of me for being so specific when I've car hunted (in a good way!)

Has there ever been a shed meet? Would be awesome to wax lyrical about mundane motors. If not there should be!

[anonymous-user]

anarki said:

It's incredibly weird but the last couple of posts by bearman68 and muddyk were two cars in my shortlist last year but I couldn't find decent examples of either at the time! (I was after either a hatch or estate avensis)

I totally get where your coming from bearman68 as to shortlisting to a particular spec, I have always done this when looking for cars, my workmates take the piss out of me for being so specific when I've car hunted (in a good way!)

Has there ever been a shed meet? Would be awesome to wax lyrical about mundane motors. If not there should be!

Now I think about it, it's crazy how the Avensis is overlooked. Everybody just thinks "Taxi", but that works in the favour of the sheddist.

Spec wise, ive got a reverse camera, touchscreen (out of date mind you) Sat Nav and finally managed to connect my phone to the Bluetooth.

Have controls to change song, volume up and down, make/end call all working from the steering wheel.

Uploaded my phone book to the headunit so can make a call/recieve a call without touching my phone. (Just touch the headunit instead) Am pretty happy with the tech on board.

It had a few odd jobs that needed doing, luckily most of which have turned out to be easy jobs.

Front numberplate worn out - replaced both for £18 today inc fitting.

There was an issue with the tyres. One would spin up easily on a junction (but it was pouring it down yesterday). I just put it down to one being some landsail crap, but in fact it was because one tyre was on 47psi and the other on 26psi. Fixed easily enough tyres seem fine now.

Cig lighter wasn't working so couldn't charge my phone. - Found a second cig lighter port right at the bottom of the armrest cabin whilst cleaning it out. Happy days. Will check the fuse when I get a chance but no rush as I've got the other one working.

"Check park brake system" on the dash, but rear pads and calipers are literally brand new. And parking brake works fine (electronic button thingy) I suspect a loose cable and internet suggests checking the gear selector cable (am also not getting the shift up/down lights, and park brake won't automatically disengage when I pull off in gear unless I manually disengage it). Hoping it's a simple 5min job of reconnecting the cable as it has been mentioned a few times on other forums as a cause for this fault. Will attempt to sort tommorrow.

Took it for a wash today and bodywork wise it's actually in a decent nick. One scuff on rear quarter panel which will easily t cut out. And drivers front wing is damaged in the corner near the headlight. eBay price is around £60/£80. Just waiting for one to come in colour as it's not dangerous or anything and am in no rush to fix it.

So yeah, MOT due in about 6 weeks time. Getting it ready best as I can for that, but drives stops and steers bang on. Guess this one's a keeper. Boots frigging massive. Guess if she kicks me out I got a place to sleep now 😃

[Davie]

anarki said:

I
Has there ever been a shed meet? Would be awesome to wax lyrical about mundane motors. If not there should be!

I guess the closest there has been is the likes of Retro Rides gathering or Festival of The Unexceptional though they're a bit more older stuff meets polishing ones chrome. A shed meet would be a great shout though, it'd the the ying to your usual car show yang...

"I'll direct you to your dedicated parking area..."

You're good pal, I'll just dump it over here in this ditch, beside the bins... right beside that bloke cutting concrete with a Stihl saw then John will "park" his old Mondeo beside in a space wide enough for a scooter but it'll be fine, it'll fit. Extra points would be awarded for arriving with the contents of a tip run still aboard or having had to bodge your way there using cable ties and a prayer. Then yes, discuss all things shed in a liberating and zero f**ks environment!

I'm in!

[230TE]

Davie said:

anarki said:

I
Has there ever been a shed meet? Would be awesome to wax lyrical about mundane motors. If not there should be!

I guess the closest there has been is the likes of Retro Rides gathering or Festival of The Unexceptional though they're a bit more older stuff meets polishing ones chrome. A shed meet would be a great shout though, it'd the the ying to your usual car show yang...

"I'll direct you to your dedicated parking area..."

You're good pal, I'll just dump it over here in this ditch, beside the bins... right beside that bloke cutting concrete with a Stihl saw then John will "park" his old Mondeo beside in a space wide enough for a scooter but it'll be fine, it'll fit. Extra points would be awarded for arriving with the contents of a tip run still aboard or having had to bodge your way there using cable ties and a prayer. Then yes, discuss all things shed in a liberating and zero f**ks environment!

I'm in!

Shedfest! A shed track day could be amusing although I doubt any race circuit would touch it with a bargepole.

[993kimbo]

Supershed Sunday


Wayne Corrini, he of Chasing Classic Cars fame, did a programme called Celebrating the Lemons which I think are the Yank's version of sheds.
A clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awuxx3ixP74

[Hoofy]

I kinda like the idea of a ShedFest but I suspect people will not be concerned about bouncing off others and I wouldn't necessarily want to trash my shed.

[bearman68]

MuddyK said:

"Check park brake system" on the dash, but rear pads and calipers are literally brand new. And parking brake works fine (electronic button thingy) I suspect a loose cable and internet suggests checking the gear selector cable (am also not getting the shift up/down lights, and park brake won't automatically disengage when I pull off in gear unless I manually disengage it). Hoping it's a simple 5min job of reconnecting the cable as it has been mentioned a few times on other forums as a cause for this fault. Will attempt to sort tommorrow.

This is the thing that puts me off Avensi - the electronic parking brake will be water ingress into the parking brake ECU. If it's still functioning, but throwing codes, it might be a good idea to get it off, clean off all the copper green bits, and reseal. You can't get them repaired by the after market, so it's otherwise going to be a new unit from Toyota at £1500 or so.

[Mildlyinterestd]

Time say goodbye to my current S60 2.0t shed, going on Gumtree today


Had it 14 months, it's had a new clutch at £800, some spark plugs but was a lovely thing to waft around in.

Replaced by a lovely V70 2.3 t5 which was a bit above thread, I'll probably do a Reader's Cars thread on it at some point.



I'll suspect I'll be shedding soon to keep the T5 nice.

[ferrisbueller]

bearman68 said:

This is the thing that puts me off Avensi - the electronic parking brake will be water ingress into the parking brake ECU. If it's still functioning, but throwing codes, it might be a good idea to get it off, clean off all the copper green bits, and reseal. You can't get them repaired by the after market, so it's otherwise going to be a new unit from Toyota at £1500 or so.

This is a common theme. Potentially cheap motoring undermined by an Achilles heel for which the fix is a significant proportion of the value of the vehicle, or more. And it's surprising just how many vehicles have similar weaknesses.

[bearman68]

ferrisbueller said:

bearman68 said:

This is the thing that puts me off Avensi - the electronic parking brake will be water ingress into the parking brake ECU. If it's still functioning, but throwing codes, it might be a good idea to get it off, clean off all the copper green bits, and reseal. You can't get them repaired by the after market, so it's otherwise going to be a new unit from Toyota at £1500 or so.

This is a common theme. Potentially cheap motoring undermined by an Achilles heel for which the fix is a significant proportion of the value of the vehicle, or more. And it's surprising just how many vehicles have similar weaknesses.

The more I work on things, the more I realise that almost everything is a design error from the drawing board. Who would put BCM under the carpet (Audi), or have water ingress into the parking brake module, (Toyota), or use wet belts (PSA and Ford), or use st timing chains (BMW), etc etc etc. Everything has these weak points, just some are worse than others it seems.

[lord trumpton]

I just can't commit to shedding.

I'm just not the type who can just 'live with things' as and when they go wrong.

No matter how cheap or how expensive any car I've owned has been, Its got to be 100% both aesthetically and mechanically.

Any niggles are always dealt with and and damage sorted asap.

I genuinely wish I could just be happy schlepping around in a tatty snotter but I just can't.

Good luck to those who can though!

[mibman2004]

Bought this a few months ago.
2007 Jaguar X Type, 163k miles, drives really well. It had no MOT at the time but it cost me £60 to put it through!
2.2d so pulls well too. Bodywork is in great condition and the wheels had also been recently powdercoated...! Absolute steal at £525!

[Jaguar steve]

lord trumpton said:

I just can't commit to shedding.

I'm just not the type who can just 'live with things' as and when they go wrong.

No matter how cheap or how expensive any car I've owned has been, Its got to be 100% both aesthetically and mechanically.

Any niggles are always dealt with and and damage sorted asap.

I genuinely wish I could just be happy schlepping around in a tatty snotter but I just can't.

Good luck to those who can though!

Have you actually tried shedding?

Many discover the liberation that lies within having a shed as a means of isolating a much nicer car or more expensive to run one from daily use. Plenty find that drive a ragged old snotter all week and there's even more to enjoy in your polished garage queen over the weekend for example

It's not cast in stone that you have to drive a shed for the rest of eternity and it's certainly not some sort of life fail in choosing to have one but at it's least worth a go to see if it suits as a shed brings a unique set of virtues and advantages that you won't ever experience with anything else.

[bungz]

Just found ecp selling oil filters for my shed 307 for 87p each.

And 4L of suitable oil off eBay was 10 quid delivered.

Keep it happy for a while yet.

[ferrisbueller]

lord trumpton said:

I just can't commit to shedding.

I'm just not the type who can just 'live with things' as and when they go wrong.

No matter how cheap or how expensive any car I've owned has been, Its got to be 100% both aesthetically and mechanically.

Any niggles are always dealt with and and damage sorted asap.

I genuinely wish I could just be happy schlepping around in a tatty snotter but I just can't.

Good luck to those who can though!

It doesn't have to be tatty, or unreliable and continuously breaking. You can take pride in your cheap motoring.

[Alickadoo]

Quite a bit of corrosion?

[aaron_2000]

ferrisbueller said:

lord trumpton said:

I just can't commit to shedding.

I'm just not the type who can just 'live with things' as and when they go wrong.

No matter how cheap or how expensive any car I've owned has been, Its got to be 100% both aesthetically and mechanically.

Any niggles are always dealt with and and damage sorted asap.

I genuinely wish I could just be happy schlepping around in a tatty snotter but I just can't.

Good luck to those who can though!

It doesn't have to be tatty, or unreliable and continuously breaking. You can take pride in your cheap motoring.

My old 320d was case in point, 6 months of ownership and it was looked after religiously to the point of being detailed most weeks, never gave me a bill and was clean to the point of garages complimenting it. People who think a sub £1500 car means it's gonna be a knackered Cavalier with missing wheel trims, rotten arches and a broken thermostat need to get out of the 90's and into the classifieds, shed budget really an buy some seriously clean and well looked after cars.

[Truckosaurus]

ferrisbueller said:

It doesn't have to be tatty, or unreliable and continuously breaking. You can take pride in your cheap motoring.

Indeed. And if you buy well then (ie. a decent car to start with) then it doesn't have things breaking or not working.

Also, even if you were totally fastidious and spent money on keeping the bodywork 100% running a Concourse quality shed would probably still be orders of magnitude cheaper than running a brand new motorcar. (Unless it was a total rust bucket like an MX5 or '90s Merc).