Madman's Shed of the Week

[hotrodalex]

I had to do it for a couple of years with our Cutlass Cruiser.  The novelty wears off very quickly and then turns into car sickness.  It's not that cool.

No new "real" wagons today outside of Audis and MBs have them in the US. 

The wagons available in the US are horrible compared to the wagons available in the 50's, 60's, and 70's.

[omicron]

The wagons available in the US are horrible compared to the wagons available in the 50's, 60's, and 70's.

Hear, hear.

[Madman]

6-12 April 2008:

Let's stick with the wagon theme, shall we?



What's this?  Oh no, not a ditchwater-dull Honda Accord?  Well, yes but it's no ordinary Accord.  It's the Accord wagon.  A 1992 Accord EX Wagon, to be specific.  These EX wagons were the top of the range back then and came with everything Honda had to offer at the time as standard.  Power windows, locks and sunroof, alloys, keyless entry, tilt steering wheel, air-con, four wheel disc brakes with ABS and a driver's airbag.  Power comes from a 2.2 litre DOHC 16 valve four-pot (140 horsepower) and this one has the optional four speed automatic with "sport" and "economy" shift modes.  EX wagons with slushboxes were rated at 20 MPG city and 26 MPG highway so this should be a reasonably thrifty family bus.

These wagons were never big sellers and, as a result, stand out from the common-as-dirt Accord sedans of this era.  Sure, the Accord wagon's rear end looks like a clumsy afterthought but there's no denying the benefits of the vastly increased cargo area.  And I have to admit teal green isn't my favourite colour but since when has a dyed-in-the-wool shed hunter given a toss about colour?  As usual, the dealer is keeping his mouth shut about miles, so I can only assume it's been to Mars and back!  $2,850 from a local beater dealer.


Cheers,
Madman of the People

[Laconian]

$2850 for a 16 year old car with unknown miles isn't a great deal, wagon or not.

[Madman]

$2850 for a 16 year old car with unknown miles isn't a great deal, wagon or not.

No, it's not a "great' deal, but the condition is supposed to be very good and, being a wagon, probably has been driven by an adult and not some pimply-faced, backwards baseball cap wearing Rice Boy who has beaten the shit out of it.  If I was actually interested in buying this car (doubtful, but this whole thread is speculation after all) I would haggle that price down considerably.  $1,500 to $1,800 would be my target price or I'd walk.

I also saw a beautiful 1999 Volkswagen Passat wagon with the 1.8 turbo and Tiptronic going for $4,300 but that's just slightly outside my theoretical $4,000 maximum budget.  In the so-called "real" world, that's the car I would make a bee-line towards.


Cheers,
Madman of the People

[Cookie Monster]

Madman, you need more stickshift sheds. They get better gas mileage you know.

[Madman]

Madman, you need more stickshift sheds. They get better gas mileage you know.

I agree.  But, as I've said before, finding them is the problem.  And the situation is not getting any better.  It seems the newer the car you look at, the less likely it will have a manual.  I've been to some VERY big car lots and not one single car in the whole damn place had a proper gearbox!  What is this world coming to?

Cheers,
Madman of the People

[Soup DeVille]

I had to do it for a couple of years with our Cutlass Cruiser.  The novelty wears off very quickly and then turns into car sickness.  It's not that cool.

No new "real" wagons today outside of Audis and MBs have them in the US. 

For the best rear facing rear seat experience, you have to find an AMC Pacer.

The rear window on these is beyond huge, and extends all the way down. There's about a two inch section where you can rest your feet and the rest is glass.

It's like being in a helicopter almost.

[Cookie Monster]

I agree.  But, as I've said before, finding them is the problem.  And the situation is not getting any better.  It seems the newer the car you look at, the less likely it will have a manual.  I've been to some VERY big car lots and not one single car in the whole damn place had a proper gearbox!  What is this world coming to?

Cheers,
Madman of the People

That's true. Try harder!

[Tave]

For the best rear facing rear seat experience, you have to find an AMC Pacer.

The rear window on these is beyond huge, and extends all the way down. There's about a two inch section where you can rest your feet and the rest is glass.

It's like being in a helicopter almost.

My friend Nick had a Toyota something wagon with a third row facing backwards out the hatch. We called it the Stormtrooper seat.

[Madman]

13-19 April 2008:

And yet another wagon for your consideration....


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Yep, we're still running with the wagon theme.  Here's one that I've had my eye on for a few weeks now.  The price has just been reduced by $500, putting it firmly into the SOTW spotlight.  It's a 1997 Subaru Legacy Outback in Glacier White with gold body moulding.  It has the 2.5 litre 16 valve boxer four (165 horsepower) and automatic.  Goodies include alloys, air-con, cassette and CD players, grey cloth upholstery, heated seats, power locks and windows and a tilt adjustable steering wheel.  The car has 221,755 miles but the dealer claims it's a one-owner car and it's just had a major service.  A very tempting looking shed, indeed!  $3,438 from a local used car dealer.


Cheers,
Madman of the People

[Cookie Monster]

That's a lot of money for the miles...

[Madman]

Here's an amazing coincidence: I spotted the most recent SOTW on my way to work!

My daily commute takes me through the middle of a very large public park.  This morning, there was some sort of event at the park and there were a bunch of cars parked on the grass near the side of the road.  One of the cars, I noticed, was a white Outback, like the one in the last SOTW posting above.  In fact, it was the very SAME Outback as the one posted above!  I recognised the name of the dealer on the plate and also noticed it had a temporary registration card in the back window.

It looks like dropping the price by $500 finally got somebody's attention after many weeks of being listed.  I wonder how much the new owner actually paid for it?  I would have haggled hard for a sub three-grand price and a full tank of go-juice. (That's worth a LOT these days!)  Anyway, it seemed to be quite a decent looking example.

Someone got themselves a nice looking shed this week.  And the new owner will never know his/her car was featured in a world-renowned venue such as this!


Cheers,
Madman of the People

[Madman]

20-26 April 2008:

From Wolfsburg, with love.



Well, it's really from Puebla, Mexico but we won't let minor technicalities get in the way of a clever introduction.  Feast your eyes upon this 1999 Volkswagen Jetta Wolfsburg Edition.

Whoa, wait a minute!  That's a MK III Jetta.  It can't be a 1999 model, right?  Wrong.  Volkswagen has this weird habit of changing models mid-year.  These early 1999 cars were the last of the MK III Jettas.  The MK IV is technically a 1999 1/2.  Same applies to the Golf.

This Wolfsburger is powered by the ubiquitous 2.0 litre 8 valve four banger (115 thundering horses) and has a five speed manual gearbox.  Equipment includes Air-con, alloys, CD Player, rear spoiler, keyless entry, tilt steering wheel, alarm and foglamps.  Silver with black interior, this car has just 113,834 miles on the odo.  There looks to be plenty of miles left in it, too.  $2,900 from a local beater dealer.


Cheers,
Madman of the People

[Madman]

27 April - 3 May 2008:

Mean Green VR6-Powered Machine.


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Here's quite a nice find.  A 1996 Volkswagen Passat GLX 2.8 VR6 Auto.  VW's narrow-angle VR6 is reliable, torquey and not too thirsty.  (18 MPG City, 25 MPG Hwy with Auto)  The slushbox is a bit of a disappointment, but shed hunters on a budget can't be too picky.

The original buyer of this Passat ticked all the options boxes on the order form.  You've got creamy beige leather, sunroof, cassette stereo, alloys, anti-lock brakes, electronic traction control, trip computer, air-con, cruise control, alarm and power windows and locks.  Trunk space is huge and the split-fold rear seats make this an excellent cargo carrier.

The grille badge is missing and there's a small scrape on the left rear bumper, but neither of these are deal-breakers.  With a bit of polish to bring out the shine and a good scrubbing on those wheels, I think it will look quite smart.  In all, this appears to be quite a serviceable rig.  $2,990 from a nearby used car dealer.

EDIT: This Passat has only 124,218 miles on it.

Cheers,
Madman of the People

[omicron]

When new, those Passats sold here for $50k - horrid value then, but much better now as used examples.

[nickdrinkwater]

Used cars in the US are expensive.  I'd have that Passat though - my uncle had a TDI of that era and it pretty much saved his life in a major accident.  Very solid cars for the time.

Madman, can you increase budget to $5,000 next time?!

[Madman]

4-10 May 2008:

Party like it's 1999!



Let your mind wander back to those halcyon days at the close of the last century.  Gas was just a buck a gallon and the internet bubble had yet to burst.  Thanks to hyper-inflated IPOs, it seemed everyone was a millionaire.  On paper, at least.  We thought the good times would never end.  Oh what heady days they were!  And this was the sort of thing we would buy back then.

This is one of those "too good to be true" ads.  Or could it be indicative of how hard it is to sell a gas guzzling SUV these days?  Here we have a 1999 Land Rover Discovery Series II in radiant maroon red.  You already know what it has inside, but I'll review the highlights anyway.  4.0 litre V8, auto, 4WD, leather, alloys, cassette stereo, dual sunroofs, power everything and the optional running boards.  Miles are unlisted but the thing looks mint.

Here's the kicker.  The price is just $3,000.  Yep, that's right.  Three grand!!!

For less than the cost of a new Vespa motor scooter you can drive the plushest SUV ever made, short of a Range Rover.  With gasoline prices zooming past the $3.50 per gallon mark and all the so-called experts saying it will hit $4.00 by summer, it seems all those thirsty SUVs from the good old days are now worth less than used toilet paper.  I knew dealers were getting desperate to shift this big piles of metal but I didn't think they were THIS desperate!

But lets just say your name begins with "Sheikh" and your oil wells are providing you with a bit of disposable income burning a hole in the pockets your gold-trimmed robes.  Suddenly this Disco starts to look like a sensible buy.  A base Series II Disco listed for $34,150 back in 1999.  Options often pushed that figure north of $40,000.  A $3,000 asking price represents a more than 90 per cent discount off the base price.  If you can afford the go-juice at 13 MPG city and 16 MPG Hwy, you'll want to party like it's 1999 after getting a deal like that!


Cheers,
Madman of the People

[Soup DeVille]

For three grand, I could free up enough funds to justify buying the gas.

[ifcar]

An old Discovery is far, far from the "plushest SUV ever made."

[CALL_911]

For $3k, that thing probably has a LOT of miles on it.

[J86]

Thats about what those things usually go for all the time around me...

[CALL_911]

Thats about what those things usually go for all the time around me...

The resale is THAT shitty? I was not aware of this.

[J86]

The resale is THAT shitty? I was not aware of this.

Yup.

[omicron]

Now, that does look like fun.

[hotrodalex]

Now, that does look like fun.

Yeah. I'm not an SUV guy, but for 3 grand it's a deal.

[Laconian]

Eeek. That Disco definitely breaks the bank if you factor in cost of maintenance.

[CALL_911]

Eeek. That Disco definitely breaks the bank if you factor in cost of maintenance.

One of my good friend's Dad had a Disco of this gen., and a previous gen Range Rover.

I saw him in loaners more often than not.

[Soup DeVille]

An old Discovery is far, far from the "plushest SUV ever made."

I think you failed to detect the sense of self-mocking salesmanship madman was trying to convey.

"The plushest SUV, short of a Range rover..."

[ifcar]

I think you failed to detect the sense of self-mocking salesmanship madman was trying to convey.

"The plushest SUV, short of a Range rover..."

It didn't come across as self-mocking to me, but I may be slow.