Shed advice

[chris mcm]

Something might be coming up at work which would require me to drive a lot more than I currently do and I don't want to put needless miles on the Clio but I also don't want to sell it. I think my best option would be to buy a cheap diesel shed. Ideally I'd want something with cheap road tax (£30), cheap insurance and good economy and maybe decent space in the boot and all for under £1500 roud: I wouldn't be too fussed on what make it was or what it looked like but I also don't want something on its last legs that will constantly need fixing.
so, any bright ideas?

 

[Pav]

my dad had a citroen xsara hdi..good economy and still look ok-ish..depends how old car you would like to get..

 

[chris mcm]

Not really concerned with age, would like it to have under 120k miles though and to be honest probably something that isn't French, they are more trouble than they are worth. But il take all suggestions seriously and do some research. I think the cheap tax might be the most dominant deciding factor.

 

[montana]

Old Skodas are meant to be cheap to run, read a thread on PH recently, will see if i can find it

 

[antnee]

Mk2 Clio DCi?

 

[Yiannis197]

Trust me when I say this, I did my research when it came to that as I was in the same boat a few months back. The answer is one, Toyota Yaris d4d.

£30 road tax, full tank (£45) takes you 530 miles (driving in London that is, might be eve more on A,B roads or motorway), chain driven so no worries about belts etc, super reliable and so cheap to run it's unreal. The ride is phenomenal (jumping over speedbumps no problem at all), decent space and pretty nippy considering.

The MOT tester told me that 99% of Yaris pass through MOT straight away. Took mine on the ramp the other day and the state of the car underneath is better than my clio, 5 years older and 40k more miles mind you. No rust at all and the suspension parts were like new! You can't go wrong with the diesel Yaris however they do hold their prices (for all the above reasons).

Good luck.

 

[Chrisgti6]

You really need to do the maths fully as it's not cheap to run a second car and may be cheaper to just put the miles on the Clio.

Yes, putting some extra miles on the Clio will reduce the value, but probably not to the same cost as buying and running a shed.

 

[chris mcm]

Well it's not even just about putting the miles on the Clio, the Clio is very hard to live with for work purposes. It's hard, loud, uncomfortable and expensive to run. All things that don't go too well with sleepy work journeys and sitting in traffic. Obviously I love it for a bit of fun but after spending an hour in heavy traffic with it a few times it is hell and I can't wait to get out.

 

[Yiannis197]

Have to agree there. It's not only "which way is cheaper" but the overall picture. With the Clio I would be very cautious how I drive, very slow on the speedbumps, try to avoid the potholes, look for a decent parking space etc. All these add to frustration when it comes to drive from A to B and not for fun.

A shed is comfortable and doesn't put any stress whatsoever because simply you don't care. Also, and if you get the right shed, it's really not that bad. I used to pay £100 for petrol only plus £40 per month for topping up my Oyster as I wouldn't drive my car in the central of London on those nasty roads. Now I pay £45 for diesel and £30 for petrol in the Clio. Oyster is now in the bin. That is before you consider any travel in the country which is now seriously cheap in the shed.

I've insured the car in a multicar policy and it was only £100 more for both cars, not bad there. Road tax is £30 and MOT + service another £70 per year.

Is it cheaper in the long run? I really don't know but what i do know is that I destroyed my ASTs driving around London, ruined a few sets of expensive tyres with my aggressive geo for no reason, same with pads. Also I can now work on the clio or leave it in the garage to have work done without worrying how I'd get to work and back.

Personally speaking, I should have got the shed as soon as I started modifying the Clio..

 

[chris mcm]

^exactly