URGENT!!! opinions required from all re: i have a dream

[chriscarterstevens]

righy ho,

this is regarding jaba's post re: stockpiling bx's etc

i am aware we all have different locations (of course)

however, i have found promising workshop space with parking etc,

a 20ft x 10ft unit with electric and water paid is £100 pcm and i thought it could be a possibility for repairs and a meeting place etc (though much bigger units are available)

i havent viewed anything yet, as it would not be worth me doing this alone, but if many of us were willing to put in for a meeting/repair place we could all use then it could really take off.

like jaba, if this is at all possible i would like to see it benefit us all, as i know it would as we all have both loyalty to our cars and our friends and a shared intrest.

please everyone read this and let me know what you think....

good or bad!

fingers crossed

p.s it would make a good tinkering place for the BXagon participants...

[DavidRutherford]

a 20ft x 10ft unit with electric and water paid is £100 pcm

Nice idea, but I think even £100pcm for a space big enough for one vehicle only isn't really worth it, especially as it would only be of benefit to anyone close enough to it. You've then also got the issues of security, use of space, conflict of interests, etc.etc.

TBH, my garage is bigger than that. If people want to come and make use of that, they'd be welcome.... I don't expect a flood of people at my door... again, the location means that for most people, that offer is completely useless: It would be cheaper to have a garage do work on their car then drive to me.

[chriscarterstevens]

thats the smallest unit they have, there are many others, im not sure of the going rate, but of course anybody within a certain distance would be benefitted by it i would suspect.

im purely trying to gauge the response and go from there.

to make it of use to people what sort of size would it need to be?

thanks

chris

[Philip Chidlow]

To be brutally honest, it isn't worth it. A 'free' X000 sq. ft leak-free barn might be but even then, given how much time is at a premium these days, the distances to cover cost too much in time and in fuel. It makes it unrealistic. For collectable Ferraris or other appreciating classics, maybe someone would be prepared to spend £££'s a year to visit their projects in a dry and secure store... but a BX? Not yet, I'm afraid.

[docchevron]

I have a delapidated barn, well, more a roof on legs really, thats £500 a month, but for the amount of buses it houses it's worth it.
Now, the number of BX's you could get in there is fairly immense, but it's full of buses so tough!
But, farm buildings tend to be cheaper than industrial units, and if you find an amenable farmer that likes pictures of the queen on a regular basis then it's a winner.

again though, due to the rather scattered geographical nature of the members here it makes it a little bit of a PITA for the majority really..

[cavmad]

Cracking idea and you should be congratulated for suggesting it Chris though alas I fear it wouldn't work as others have suggested.
I can rent a secure 'yard' (more of a compound really) not far from here that would probably hold twenty odd cars and is secure but it's £335 per month and I can't justify that unfortunately.

[MULLEY]

£500 a month i presume thats a shared cost, otherwise i'm going for a career change & will shortly be driving bus's Thats a shed load of money (no pun intended). How much would it cost to buy somewhere that size? Might be worth thinking about if you were renting longterm, might work out cheaper?

[chriscarterstevens]

at the end of the day chaps, i was wondering if theres anyone in the area of doc or myself, and whether anyone fancied going together or renting a place of some sort.

any size is available, just depends if there are any takers, as long as its good value then it could benefit us all.

the only other suggestion is there is an actual used car lot.... no joke...
up for rent 5 mins away from cheltenham, though its been up for rent for ages, might be cheap and has ramps and a workshop and space for 20-30 cars....

is that worth thinking of? we could have a bx club yard!

dont laught lol

what do we all think???

[MULLEY]

Trouble with renting is that say that venue you mention is spot on, price is right & a few members go for it, what happens when a couple of years down the road they decide to put the rent up, think of the hassle of trying to move a fleet of cars, spares & all the non-runners being done up to another location.

Sorry to sound negative, but this would appear to be a rich man's game. By all means, dont listen to me, it would be great to have access to a place like that, so dont stop your search on my account.

I would suggest finding out some prices/details etc...to see if there are any members prepared to join you, too far south for me unfortunately, although i would come down for the odd visit now & again for tea & fettling...

[chriscarterstevens]

hi all,

anyone who might be interested in renting a premesis as a group in south west england, let me know on here or pm me.

property in question is a old car lot with worshop and undercover storage for 20-30 cars

has been up for rent for a while, no definite price yet, any even remotely interested parties gimme a shout.

thanks

chris

[Way2go]

Although Chris, you have a good idea in principle, shared renting of such a garage area can only be mainly of interest to those club members within say a 30 mile radius of the chosen site and then only to those who have more than one BX. Also remember that some have other cars than a BX as their additional steeds so 'BX only' cannot be a mantra. As to the parts storage, well that seems to work incredibly well by the existing 'distributed holdings' of the BX club as a whole.

Phil may have summed up well as follows:

To be brutally honest, it isn't worth it. A 'free' X000 sq. ft leak-free barn might be but even then, given how much time is at a premium these days, the distances to cover cost too much in time and in fuel. It makes it unrealistic. For collectable Ferraris or other appreciating classics, maybe someone would be prepared to spend £££'s a year to visit their projects in a dry and secure store... but a BX? Not yet, I'm afraid.

Mulley also makes a good point of the problems of moving a central storage stash if continuation of renting become impossible due to rent increases or maybe exiting contributors.

Your dream is an attractive dream for us all if that facility could be organised in all of our respective localities but the cold facts are that the BX club is spread across the whole of the UK and beyond so there is no 'right' place for it to be.
Best plan really if you want to go ahead is to find interested people in your area whatever their car interests and see if is then viable for your group.

Doc has already done this with his mates and associates so it can work if you find reliable like minded people.

One last caution, do not be lulled into a false sense of security by looking at the membership number of the BX Club and drawing the conclusion that there are loads of members ready to jump for this within your area. The membership number is extremely misleading as many have been spammers, or never had a BX, never posted and others who have been active have since migrated away from BX's.

[cavmad]

/\

True enough. I also wouldn't be tempted by people saying they'll come in with you unless you see rent in advance.
When I got the chance of the yard mentioned above the world and his wife (on another forum) all wanted an in on it. Then I mentioned how much the rent was and that it could be split evenly and fairly. Not one of them got back to me.

[BX Bandit]

.....Doc has already done this with his mates and associates so it can work if you find reliable like minded people.

Doc & Associates Makes him sound like a solicitor!!!!

Your idea is great Chris, it really is, but as others have said it's very difficult to make it work in practice and financially. If I had land I'd gladly snap up 'to be scrapped' bx's to save the parts, but there is still the issue of time and money! I'm not convinced there is a group based solution, sadly. But it's right to discuss it in case a way forward comes to light!

[roughbert]

a 20ft x 10ft unit with electric and water paid is £100 pcm

sod the car, one could live in that!

[Jaba]

Hmmm - I still have a dream but it does not look, judging by the ambiguously supportive comments, as though I will be dreaming with many of you.

My original post was partly to find out how many like minded people there might be, not to have a philosophical discussion on the viability of it all -and then to go ahead if there was suitable support.