The Joy of Running an Old Shed (Vol 2)

[GlenMH]

Gordon Hill said:

If it did fail the MOT in spectacular fashion I would be sorely tempted to get another diesel W211 with less miles (230k). 3 to 4 grand seems to buy a decent one.

The thing is, I have got a 212 350CDI estate as well. And apart from some fancy climate control and bluetooth telephony, it just isn't as good: fuel economy is properly crap, the interior space particularly in the shed bit is nowhere near as good, its wider, turning circle worse, steering is just numb, seats less comfy etc etc And it still needs regular fettling to get through MOTs: MB paid for the rear subframe replacement last year. It is quicker but that is about it.

[carinaman]

Thanks for the Autodoc feedback.

[cedrichn]

Steve93 said:

Shedding has taken an odd turn for me...bought something completely out of my usual and the complete opposite of my P38 Range Rover



IMG_20230331_174727 by Steve, on Flickr

So before anyone gets in with the hairdresser jokes or anything It cost £200 with a boot full of spares.

Basically a friend bought this car with a broken timing belt to do a charity rally thing around all the UKs race tracks, swapped in the 1.8 that came out of my coupe when I did the B204 conversion...ran it for a few hundred miles after the rally and the clutch went, and it's been parked up since with half the job done. So seeing as I've known the engine since it had 6k on it, and I've never owned a convertible I decided it'd make a great summer shed and if I hate it I can move it on with the leather interior swapped with the cloth out of my coupe

Pardon the mess of the workshop and the mud all over the front from trailering it home

First class that is! So much to hate, and at the same time, so much want!!!

The charity event sounds like good fun too!!

Share the updates, and good luck!

[Condi]

What is shed budget these days? Just to know if I can post here or not.

[Gordon Hill]

Condi said:

What is shed budget these days? Just to know if I can post here or not.

There is no budget, it's a mentality not a price tag.

[Gordon Hill]

GlenMH said:

Gordon Hill said:

If it did fail the MOT in spectacular fashion I would be sorely tempted to get another diesel W211 with less miles (230k). 3 to 4 grand seems to buy a decent one.

The thing is, I have got a 212 350CDI estate as well. And apart from some fancy climate control and bluetooth telephony, it just isn't as good: fuel economy is properly crap, the interior space particularly in the shed bit is nowhere near as good, its wider, turning circle worse, steering is just numb, seats less comfy etc etc And it still needs regular fettling to get through MOTs: MB paid for the rear subframe replacement last year. It is quicker but that is about it.

Yes I've heard that there is a lot not to like from the W212, I'd go for a late W211 with lowish miles, easy to obtain a good one for around the 4 grand mark.

[Ryyy]

Gordon Hill said:

There is no budget, it's a mentality not a price tag.

when a budget was mentioned it seemed to be £1500 but as above really. And times have changed, you can't get the cheap cars you could before.

[7 5 7]

There is still load of cheap cars way below <£1500, posted this a while back, just can't be fussy at all what might turn up.

Just done another autotrader search, (20 mile radius, £1500 MAX, petrol and diesel) there is 86 cars available, yeah some rough ones cosmetically and odd thing not working, but many from my very little time looking have MOT's.

Are shedders getting too picky these days?

[james6546]

My saab is back in working condition. It got a new auto gearbox cable and an o ring on one of the coolant pipes to solve the leak.

MOT is booked for Thurs, I just need to work out the best way to put temp insurance on it to get it there.

Then it can be sold. I'll bloody miss the damn thing.

[SimonTheSailor]

You can buy temp insurance for 1/2/3 days - normally about 20 quid per day.

Is it a petrol or diesel Saab ?

[Ryyy]

james6546 said:

My saab is back in working condition. It got a new auto gearbox cable and an o ring on one of the coolant pipes to solve the leak.

MOT is booked for Thurs, I just need to work out the best way to put temp insurance on it to get it there.

Then it can be sold. I'll bloody miss the damn thing.

That is lovely as for temp insurance, I've used cuvva quite a bit, can get insured for as little as an hour but never(if at all) much for an extra hour ot two depending on how long you insure it for

[Gordon Hill]

7 5 7 said:

There is still load of cheap cars way below <£1500, posted this a while back, just can't be fussy at all what might turn up.

Just done another autotrader search, (20 mile radius, £1500 MAX, petrol and diesel) there is 86 cars available, yeah some rough ones cosmetically and odd thing not working, but many from my very little time looking have MOT's.

Are shedders getting too picky these days?

You have to be picky when said shed is your only car and 2 of you rely on it for work, you have to get it right. It's all well and good buying any old heap when you have other cars to fall back on. Yes you might get lucky and get a sub £1500 car (used to be £500), that lasts for years as mine tend to do, 2 sheds in 10 years, but in today's market it's more of a risk because traders are asking that price for what is not much better than scrap, the world has gone mad over the last 3 years.
Go back to 2019 and we would be talking about £1,500 getting an absolute minter, my last 2, a Kia, £475, 41,000 miles and a Peugeot 206 also £475, 46,000 miles lasted best part of a decade with minimal fuss. Same cars now are fetching up to 2 grand!
As a serial shedder I try to minimise risk. Shedding in it's true form isn't about price though. We have thread after thread on PH where people are all precious about the metal they drive, nothing wrong with that, after all it's their pride and joy. But with shedding such things don't matter. Shiny paintwork, rust free, what other people think, they are meaningless. So as a result it leads for a care free motoring experience. Price limits have nothing to do with it, you can have a 10 grand car and still have a shed mentality, I know a few who do.

[cedrichn]

Condi said:

What is shed budget these days? Just to know if I can post here or not.

Just post it, too much teasing

Would be great if it is a 911 full of dents

Best criteria for me is that you will never send your car to a bodyshop, regardless of the condition or damages. If your car ownership style is "spray can" or "CBA", then you are welcome

[james6546]

SimonTheSailor said:

You can buy temp insurance for 1/2/3 days - normally about 20 quid per day.

Is it a petrol or diesel Saab ?

Thanks, I'll probably go that route.

I toyed with keeping it and running it as a dog car but the insurance is £500 a year.

It's a 2.8 V6 Turbo petrol. Fantastic engine

[bearman68]

Car shopping for me this morning. A little 08 plate Citroen C1 with 147k and no MOT. £800 after a very non spirited haggle. Drove it home, and it seems fine.
Certainly better than last weeks Volvo.

[Jaguar steve]

cedrichn said:

Best criteria for me is that you will never send your car to a bodyshop, regardless of the condition or damages. If your car ownership style is "spray can" or "CBA", then you are welcome

My ideal criteria is any car that has minimal impact on my time energy and money, because that frees all those up for other things.

In the same way as a hotel Concierge it's there to provide a service so it's perfect when it does the Honda advert thing from a few years ago and just works.

[Bumblebee7]

Hello,
Looking to get rid of my BMW E90 saloon as it's getting no use at all. We have a family car and I drive a van for work.

I would love a bit of a more utilitarian vehicle, bonus points if it's fun to drive. Thinking of getting an old Forester as that could be perfect.

Firstly, I'd prefer a manual but they seem to be in the lower power 2.0 guise or if you want more power they're auto and 2.5. Which is the better to go for and what's reliability like? I don't want to spend a fortune running it but reliability isn't paramount given it's an occasional car at best.

Lastly, any other similar recommendations would be great. Jimny would be fun but a bit too small inside and slow. I quite like the short wheelbase Mitsubishi Shogun but i bet they're less fun to drive.

Thanks!

[Slow]

7 5 7 said:

There is still load of cheap cars way below <£1500, posted this a while back, just can't be fussy at all what might turn up.

Just done another autotrader search, (20 mile radius, £1500 MAX, petrol and diesel) there is 86 cars available, yeah some rough ones cosmetically and odd thing not working, but many from my very little time looking have MOT's.

Are shedders getting too picky these days?

Cheap cars are still everywhere.

I mean I got a 330i for £2k, if your less picky on engine there are loads for cheaper. Can even get into Range Rovers at this price point.

Its the sub £500 cars that seem to have gone away mostly.

[GlenMH]

Slow said:

Its the sub £500 cars that seem to have gone away mostly.

Hardly surprising considering cartakeback will give me 450 quid for a very rusty but running fine 22 year old E class estate. Why would I bother with the hassle of selling it when I can get rid of it with one filling of a web form?

[Gordon Hill]

I have use of my sons Dacia Sandero Stepway for the next 3 weeks while he's on holiday in Canada. It's a 14 plate with 70,000 miles on it. Now I'm in no way a badge snob and I know that there is a lot of love on here for these but notwithstanding that it's awful. Tinny, rattly, nasty piece of sh#t. Slow, noisy, felt like it was built on a Sunday afternoon for a tenner. And then there's the engine, 3 cylinders of complete misery.
It's staying where it is for the next fortnight. Either he's not looked after it or he got a bad one because the comments about them on here are mostly favourable. The quarter of a million mile Merc is sooooo much better to drive in every way. I've had some heaps in my time but nothing rattles and crashes over bumps like this thing does, my old Peugeot was a veritable Bentley in comparison.