The Joy of Running an Old Shed (Vol 2)
Discussion
1000 trouble free miles in the Alfa 156 2.4 JTD. A couple of Alfa Romeo 'things' do happen... Boot lock mechanism occasionally jams (including one time on a tip run), and the trip computer is very overzealous, currently reading 60mpg for mix of town / motorway driving.
It is a lovely car
It is a lovely car
Condi said:
Maybe I should add to this, not quite shed budget but with the cost of cars these days and with shed being a state of mind, then I consider this to be "shed".
Focus estate, bought last year off a fellow PHer (
) for a smidge under £2500. Top spec, 2.0 diesel and auto box. Heated seats, heated windscreen, climate, cruise etc. Just under 160,000 on the clock.
The gearbox unfortunately appears to be designed for an entirely different car to the engine, the gearing is very very wrong resulting in sub 40mpg on the motorway - pretty shocking when my previous Audi with an equivalent engine did nearly 50mpg, or 25% more mpg! I've seriously considered getting rid of it, but for the money it's a good car and so I will just put up with the crap fuel consumption. It's perfect as a tip car, has towbar for trailers, and being an auto very easy to drive. With the blacked out windows then it's smart enough to daily and secure enough to leave things in the back of.
In 8 or 9 months it's had a new turbo pipe, and the bluetooth module needed replacing - £700 from Ford or £30 from Ebay! When it's cold you need to let the gearbox warm up for a min or 2 otherwise it throws an error code, and when it gets really cold the the gearbox "bounces" around between 3rd and 4th and 30mph until it warms up a bit, which is really annoying. Solution being to go a bit faster
With the increasing number of ULEZ zones it would be nice to have something petrol, sporty and ULEZ compliant to run alongside shed.
Might be worth a transmission oil change.Focus estate, bought last year off a fellow PHer (
) for a smidge under £2500. Top spec, 2.0 diesel and auto box. Heated seats, heated windscreen, climate, cruise etc. Just under 160,000 on the clock.The gearbox unfortunately appears to be designed for an entirely different car to the engine, the gearing is very very wrong resulting in sub 40mpg on the motorway - pretty shocking when my previous Audi with an equivalent engine did nearly 50mpg, or 25% more mpg! I've seriously considered getting rid of it, but for the money it's a good car and so I will just put up with the crap fuel consumption. It's perfect as a tip car, has towbar for trailers, and being an auto very easy to drive. With the blacked out windows then it's smart enough to daily and secure enough to leave things in the back of.
In 8 or 9 months it's had a new turbo pipe, and the bluetooth module needed replacing - £700 from Ford or £30 from Ebay! When it's cold you need to let the gearbox warm up for a min or 2 otherwise it throws an error code, and when it gets really cold the the gearbox "bounces" around between 3rd and 4th and 30mph until it warms up a bit, which is really annoying. Solution being to go a bit faster
With the increasing number of ULEZ zones it would be nice to have something petrol, sporty and ULEZ compliant to run alongside shed.
Edited by Condi on Monday 3rd April 23:47
bsp23 said:
1000 trouble free miles in the Alfa 156 2.4 JTD. A couple of Alfa Romeo 'things' do happen... Boot lock mechanism occasionally jams (including one time on a tip run), and the trip computer is very overzealous, currently reading 60mpg for mix of town / motorway driving.
It is a lovely car
I like that! Quite a rare sight on the roads today these.It is a lovely car
Joey Deacon said:
Son was probably shocked at how old, basic and unrefined "old" cars feel compared to something even remotely modern. Has that car even got power steering?
I have to say, I wouldn't even want to drive that.
Unrefined and basic yes, but in shed world, this means (for me at least!) less to go wrong.I have to say, I wouldn't even want to drive that.
My 106 also doesn't have power steering, ABS, heated anything, but less to go wrong is a win win
(I wouldn't mind something more refined that said, but there is just nothing but dross out there at the moment, so i keep trucking with the 106 and fixing it on the cheap as parts prices for it are laughable!)
Sold my sheddy XJS through Autotrader ... just to avoid the EBay\Facebook idiots and also EBay's fees.
Obviously a non-standard thing to be selling but ended up with two lads coing from 150 miles away who piad £100 below what I asked (£2k) ... loads of pictures and very honest ad meant little interest but the three people that did ask all were genuinely interested.
Obviously a non-standard thing to be selling but ended up with two lads coing from 150 miles away who piad £100 below what I asked (£2k) ... loads of pictures and very honest ad meant little interest but the three people that did ask all were genuinely interested.
Not a good week for daughter's Astra H. Failed MOT on "chassis rot", specifically the front subrame mounting on both sides. Something which would be difficult to spot when buying a car as kind of hidden behind the wheels unless you can jack it up on a ramp. I didnt know Astras had a problem with this but an internet search as indicated it is a weakness. Then on way home car hesitated badly when accelerating fairly hard up a dual carriageway and EML came on. Sounded rough when I got home. This morning drove to garage and seemed smooth and quiet enough. Diagnosed as "Cylinder Number 2 miss-fire". Again, an internet search indicates its not an isolated problem with the 1.6 petrol Astra. EML has been turned off, but definitely there is vibration at around 50MPH, mainly when "off throttle". Internet search suggests possibly culprit - coilpack. Any shedders got any experience with this? There was me thinking a 2009 Astra 1.6 petrol would be a fairly safe bet and that Vauxhalls generally aren't bad on rust like equivalent age Fords..... you live and learn.
Try using Gumtree when selling, it doesn't have the same number of idiots as Facebook and doesn't have fees like Ebay. Sold a nail of a Toyota Avensis on there last year, 2 Serbia lads paid £100 or so less than asking and were going to drive it home to Serbia! Rather them than me....
This looks a good buy for somebody.
- 267k miles
- 1.9PD
- 1 owner from new
- FSH
- £1k
- ULEZ forces sale
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304035...
- 267k miles
- 1.9PD
- 1 owner from new
- FSH
- £1k
- ULEZ forces sale
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304035...
dave-the-diver said:
Shedders,
Anyone have experience of SELLING sheds?
I have an absolute shed of an early Audi A4 I need gone.
Thinking of sticking it on ebay with a low start price and letting it find its level.
Is that the best approach or has anyone got a better ideas?
David
Scrap it.Anyone have experience of SELLING sheds?
I have an absolute shed of an early Audi A4 I need gone.
Thinking of sticking it on ebay with a low start price and letting it find its level.
Is that the best approach or has anyone got a better ideas?
David
You hope you will meet a lovely person from this thread who will understand what they are buying, but that won't be the case.
What you will come across is a constant list of time wasters who will message you along the lines of "£300 in hand cash today" or will want to swap it for a Staffy, Drugs, another knackered car, dirt bike etc.
Anyone who phones about the car will have a sob story about why they need the car today (Dying father in Scotland, wrote the car off this morning and need to see their kids on the other side of the country, they are a key worker, have a disabled child etc.) and they only have £XXX because payday is 3 weeks away and cost of living crisis etc. Basically they will be masters of making their problem your problem.
They will also have impossibly high expectations and will assume they are buying a perfectly working car with zero issues, and if there are any issues in future you will fix them or give them their money back if they don't like it.
When it fails it's MOT in six months they will message you along the lines "That car you sold me failed it's MOT and my mechanic says it needs £500 of work, what are you going to do about it?"
Seriously, scrap it and get on with life.
Pieman68 said:
Looking for a cheap lobotomy? Drove on of these as a mini-cab for a short period - the dullest drive i think i ever experiencedCondi said:
Maybe I should add to this, not quite shed budget but with the cost of cars these days and with shed being a state of mind, then I consider this to be "shed".
Focus estate, bought last year off a fellow PHer ( ) for a smidge under £2500. Top spec, 2.0 diesel and auto box. Heated seats, heated windscreen, climate, cruise etc. Just under 160,000 on the clock.
The gearbox unfortunately appears to be designed for an entirely different car to the engine, the gearing is very very wrong resulting in sub 40mpg on the motorway - pretty shocking when my previous Audi with an equivalent engine did nearly 50mpg, or 25% more mpg! I've seriously considered getting rid of it, but for the money it's a good car and so I will just put up with the crap fuel consumption. It's perfect as a tip car, has towbar for trailers, and being an auto very easy to drive. With the blacked out windows then it's smart enough to daily and secure enough to leave things in the back of.
In 8 or 9 months it's had a new turbo pipe, and the bluetooth module needed replacing - £700 from Ford or £30 from Ebay! When it's cold you need to let the gearbox warm up for a min or 2 otherwise it throws an error code, and when it gets really cold the the gearbox "bounces" around between 3rd and 4th and 30mph until it warms up a bit, which is really annoying. Solution being to go a bit faster
With the increasing number of ULEZ zones it would be nice to have something petrol, sporty and ULEZ compliant to run alongside shed.
Early PowersFocus estate, bought last year off a fellow PHer (
) for a smidge under £2500. Top spec, 2.0 diesel and auto box. Heated seats, heated windscreen, climate, cruise etc. Just under 160,000 on the clock.The gearbox unfortunately appears to be designed for an entirely different car to the engine, the gearing is very very wrong resulting in sub 40mpg on the motorway - pretty shocking when my previous Audi with an equivalent engine did nearly 50mpg, or 25% more mpg! I've seriously considered getting rid of it, but for the money it's a good car and so I will just put up with the crap fuel consumption. It's perfect as a tip car, has towbar for trailers, and being an auto very easy to drive. With the blacked out windows then it's smart enough to daily and secure enough to leave things in the back of.
In 8 or 9 months it's had a new turbo pipe, and the bluetooth module needed replacing - £700 from Ford or £30 from Ebay! When it's cold you need to let the gearbox warm up for a min or 2 otherwise it throws an error code, and when it gets really cold the the gearbox "bounces" around between 3rd and 4th and 30mph until it warms up a bit, which is really annoying. Solution being to go a bit faster
With the increasing number of ULEZ zones it would be nice to have something petrol, sporty and ULEZ compliant to run alongside shed.
Edited by Condi on Monday 3rd April 23:47
t gearbox, definitely change the fluid. dave-the-diver said:
Shedders,
Anyone have experience of SELLING sheds?
I have an absolute shed of an early Audi A4 I need gone.
Thinking of sticking it on ebay with a low start price and letting it find its level.
Is that the best approach or has anyone got a better ideas?
David
You could always consider selling it to me. If you're not a million miles way, you'll get a straight sale, no comeback, and the joyful knowledge that your pride and joy is likely to be soldiering on in some god forsaken outback, and giving someone a good service, while hopefully making me some money. I don't normally pay much though. Anyone have experience of SELLING sheds?
I have an absolute shed of an early Audi A4 I need gone.
Thinking of sticking it on ebay with a low start price and letting it find its level.
Is that the best approach or has anyone got a better ideas?
David
BenS94 said:
Early Powerst gearbox, definitely change the fluid.
Yes, an early powerst gearbox, definitely change the fluid. t box indeed, but it is at least the one with an oil immersed clutch so doesn't overheat regularly. The gearbox fluid was only changed about 15,000 miles ago so isn't due yet, but I'll probably get round to it before winter. Pieman68 said:
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