Shed market is depressing at the moment
Shed market is depressing at the moment
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JohnsMCS

Original Poster:

369 posts

126 months

Wednesday 27th February 2019
quotequote all
A couple of years ago, all I ran was sub 1k beaters. Usually I could find a plethora of reasonably local, well looked after, older cars which were cheap purely because they were older and less desireahle.

Now, all I can seem to find is completely abused, neglected wrecks, adverts written by Ali G (best price 2day bruv), adverts written by people who have limited grasp of the English language etc.

Is it just me or has anyone else found buying a cheap decent runner next to impossible?

anonymous-user

75 months

Wednesday 27th February 2019
quotequote all
Do the right thing and buy an old Saab.

Quick check on eBay shows a good selection of 9-5s looking for new homes.

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 27th February 21:42

Weekendrebuild

1,120 posts

84 months

Thursday 28th February 2019
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Up your budget there’s loads at 2 /3k most people spend more than that on weekend away. Got to move with the times.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

211 months

Thursday 28th February 2019
quotequote all
Weekendrebuild said:
Up your budget there’s loads at 2 /3k most people spend more than that on weekend away. Got to move with the times.
Most people?

anonymous-user

75 months

Thursday 28th February 2019
quotequote all
300bhp/ton said:
Weekendrebuild said:
Up your budget there’s loads at 2 /3k most people spend more than that on weekend away. Got to move with the times.
Most people?
This is Pistonheads after all, where everyone is a powerfully build company director, has a collection of £10k watches they give "wrist time", pays cash for everything and has £100k in a slush fund for fun.

They don't seem to understand that if you are going to pay £1500 for a car you are probably not going to spend £2/3k on a weekend away.


anonymous-user

75 months

Thursday 28th February 2019
quotequote all
wormus said:
Do the right thing and buy an old Saab.

Quick check on eBay shows a good selection of 9-5s looking for new homes.

Edited by wormus on Wednesday 27th February 21:42
Why do so many old SAABs want new homes, what's the catch?!

Always fancied owning a SAAB at some point but why so much car for the money, are they major money pits or can they be easily home-spannered?

anonymous-user

75 months

Thursday 28th February 2019
quotequote all
yellowbentines said:
Why do so many old SAABs want new homes, what's the catch?!

Always fancied owning a SAAB at some point but why so much car for the money, are they major money pits or can they be easily home-spannered?
Not at all they are easy to fix and quite tuneable. My old 150hp 2.0t now makes 225hp with a stage 1 remap. Great for annoying the “sooters” in their wheezy contemporary BMWs and Audis. Had a cooking spec 3 series tried to push me out of the way this morning. Floored my steed in 3rd and left him for dead. Very satisfying and super comfy whilst listening to my tape deck.

Pre 2004 models had a problem with the PCV breathers disintegrating and blocking the sump strainer, starving the engine of oil but it’s a simple fix. Apart from that they are are honest, reliable Vauxhalls underneath. Best heaters in the world too, get a manual petrol model if you can.


Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 28th February 16:41

egor110

17,617 posts

224 months

Thursday 28th February 2019
quotequote all
wormus said:
yellowbentines said:
Why do so many old SAABs want new homes, what's the catch?!

Always fancied owning a SAAB at some point but why so much car for the money, are they major money pits or can they be easily home-spannered?
Not at all they are easy to fix and quite tuneable. My old 150hp 2.0t now makes 225hp with a stage 1 remap. Great for annoying the “sooters” in their wheezy contemporary BMWs and Audis. Had a cooking spec 3 series tried to push me out of the way this morning. Floored my steed in 3rd and left him for dead. Very satisfying and super comfy whilst listening to my tape deck.

Pre 2004 models had a problem with the PCV breathers disintegrating and blocking the sump strainer, starving the engine of oil but it’s a simple fix. Apart from that they are are honest, reliable Vauxhalls underneath. Best heaters in the world too, get a manual petrol model if you can.


Edited by wormus on Thursday 28th February 16:41
I don't even think saabs are that cheap now .

In the past i've had 2 9-5' 2lires and a 9-5 aero all for under £700 .

I haven't seen a aero that cheap for ages .

anonymous-user

75 months

Thursday 28th February 2019
quotequote all
egor110 said:
I don't even think saabs are that cheap now .

In the past i've had 2 9-5' 2lires and a 9-5 aero all for under £700 .

I haven't seen a aero that cheap for ages .
That’s because good ones are becoming hard to find and they are charming old cars with a loyal following. Still a lot of car for the money, even at £1500. Everyone wants the Aeros but the Vectors are still worth a look.

Strong Horse

94 posts

84 months

Thursday 28th February 2019
quotequote all
JohnsMCS said:
A couple of years ago, all I ran was sub 1k beaters. Usually I could find a plethora of reasonably local, well looked after, older cars which were cheap purely because they were older and less desireahle.

Now, all I can seem to find is completely abused, neglected wrecks, adverts written by Ali G (best price 2day bruv), adverts written by people who have limited grasp of the English language etc.

Is it just me or has anyone else found buying a cheap decent runner next to impossible?
In 2012 I bought a 12 year old Focus with a full main dealer service history for 950. Looking at receipts the previous owner spent about £1,700 annually on upkeep and main dealers sure aint cheap for maintenance.

The car was solid as a rock for 5 years I owned it until its crash with a 1970's MG whose driver decided to try and take my car doggy stye (rear ended) which wrecked my beloved Focus.

Someone who lives round the corner from me was advertising his 90,000 mile Volvo V70 for £550. Days later I see the car parked outside my neighbours place. Apparently he bought it for £500 and its been golden for almost a year. The only reason it was for sale was the seat was falling apart but I see a new seat has now been fitted.


Last year my girlfriend bought a 2001 Golf for £1100 and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. It just sailed through the MOT with no advisories. I like the car so much I am thinking about trying to find one for myself.

I suspect that £1000 is not what its used to be to due to inflation. But I agree half the cars advertised on Facebook seem to be sold by Romanians who don't speak a word of English. Not that I have anything against Romanian people and I know many Romanians who are fantastic people but its a bit of a piss take not to write the advert in English. Alternatively the cars sold have been given tacky after market wheels and some dodgy paint job.


Don't even get me started on dishonest car sellers. I remember phoning to see a Nissan
Almera. The man says the car is perfect and there is nothing wrong with it. The clutch was so gone I could barely drive the thing.


After I spoke to a lady selling a Focus. Again I asked if anything was wrong with the car. Apparently nothing was wrong with it. For some reason they would not actually let me start the car and her father in law had to start the car for me. So he grabs the keys before I have a chance to and runs to the car and clug clug clug clug. I hear the engine turn over for about 10 seconds before the car reluctantly fired up. Lets just say I did not buy the car.

The mans who runs my local garage likes to buy old BMW's for repair and sell them on. He tells me he will always ask what is wrong with the car and the person will usually say it just needs a new clutch or something like that.

So he will take his trailer hundreds of miles to see the car. Usually people are very economical with the truth and it just needing a new clutch turns into a new fuel pump, ECU, Steering rack and a plethora or hundreds of other problems. Basically the car is not economical to fix.

He tells me at this point he usually starts to get really angry at them for lying to him and he even asked them to pay for his wasted petrol to go and visit the car.......


CaptainSlow

13,179 posts

233 months

Thursday 28th February 2019
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Petrol 159

Jamescrs

5,763 posts

86 months

Saturday 2nd March 2019
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Weekendrebuild said:
Up your budget there’s loads at 2 /3k most people spend more than that on weekend away. Got to move with the times.
Dare I ask what you spend on 2 weeks in the sun in the summer?

mike74

3,687 posts

153 months

Saturday 2nd March 2019
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Welcome to the biggest credit fuelled asset price bubble the world has ever known... it doesn't just inflate the price of desirable cars, it even drags up the price of sheds that at one time people would struggle to give away.

MissChief

7,781 posts

189 months

Saturday 2nd March 2019
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Most sheds end up on Gumtree, Facebook selling groups or get WBAC’d for way less hassle.

Kinky

39,898 posts

290 months

Saturday 2nd March 2019
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Some interesting stuff appears here occasionally, under the 3 sub-groups (whichever takes your fancy) smile

http://forum.retro-rides.org/board/58/cars-sale