Trackday car hire- experience
Discussion
A pal has a couple of ex- race cars (fully caged) he's considering offering for hire at local trackdays (Cadwell/Blyton/Donnington) initially.
Golf Gti and a MG Maestro cup car - both reliable and easy to drive, both fun in a fwd type of way.
Having looked round at current hire costs for trackday type cars (everything from an mx5 to 911 GT3 Cup cars are available) it would be interesting to hear thoughts/ comments/suggestions from anyone who's hired something for trackdays before.
Specifically what did you have to pay as a deposit in terms of write offs, how much for the day etc, and if you think it's worthwhile as a side line for him?
Cars are owned outright probably only worth £5-10k max, and his main business is running a garage building engines/cars/track stuff, so he's already got everything he needs in terms of a company/tools/trailers/skills etc.
A caged westy/caterham is also possibility to offer something a bit more rwd fun.
It would be an add on to what he does already as such and isn't something he'd need to go out and grow massively, it's reasonably low cost in terms of setup really other than specific liability cover etc plus his own time/rebuild costs.
Thoughts/comments appreciated as to expected cost per day etc, £500 plus trackday cost seems to be the absolute bottom end of the market upto £5k per day for the exotics
Golf Gti and a MG Maestro cup car - both reliable and easy to drive, both fun in a fwd type of way.
Having looked round at current hire costs for trackday type cars (everything from an mx5 to 911 GT3 Cup cars are available) it would be interesting to hear thoughts/ comments/suggestions from anyone who's hired something for trackdays before.
Specifically what did you have to pay as a deposit in terms of write offs, how much for the day etc, and if you think it's worthwhile as a side line for him?
Cars are owned outright probably only worth £5-10k max, and his main business is running a garage building engines/cars/track stuff, so he's already got everything he needs in terms of a company/tools/trailers/skills etc.
A caged westy/caterham is also possibility to offer something a bit more rwd fun.
It would be an add on to what he does already as such and isn't something he'd need to go out and grow massively, it's reasonably low cost in terms of setup really other than specific liability cover etc plus his own time/rebuild costs.
Thoughts/comments appreciated as to expected cost per day etc, £500 plus trackday cost seems to be the absolute bottom end of the market upto £5k per day for the exotics
a tricky business as the flow of new offerings and closures demonstrate.
TDO packages tend to survive, but then they've got staff already onsite for the day anyway.
upmarket stuff like Hype do well with corporate events too, but from a pure driving perspective they're pricey and probably wouldn't never survive without the company funded participation (just my feel there, no access to the books). Elsewhere you've got small operations trying to cover costs of racing and that effort is supported by friends and family.
definitely need an introductory session at the start of each hire to assess and reign in the exuberant types...
get contracts and liability sorted.
maybe consider a spare car too avoid a bad reputation when a customer car is off road.
£500 is the absolute bottom that I haven't seen recently. struggling at £750
TDO packages tend to survive, but then they've got staff already onsite for the day anyway.
upmarket stuff like Hype do well with corporate events too, but from a pure driving perspective they're pricey and probably wouldn't never survive without the company funded participation (just my feel there, no access to the books). Elsewhere you've got small operations trying to cover costs of racing and that effort is supported by friends and family.
definitely need an introductory session at the start of each hire to assess and reign in the exuberant types...
get contracts and liability sorted.
maybe consider a spare car too avoid a bad reputation when a customer car is off road.
£500 is the absolute bottom that I haven't seen recently. struggling at £750
CABC said:
a tricky business as the flow of new offerings and closures demonstrate.
TDO packages tend to survive, but then they've got staff already onsite for the day anyway.
upmarket stuff like Hype do well with corporate events too, but from a pure driving perspective they're pricey and probably wouldn't never survive without the company funded participation (just my feel there, no access to the books). Elsewhere you've got small operations trying to cover costs of racing and that effort is supported by friends and family.
definitely need an introductory session at the start of each hire to assess and reign in the exuberant types...
get contracts and liability sorted.
maybe consider a spare car too avoid a bad reputation when a customer car is off road.
£500 is the absolute bottom that I haven't seen recently. struggling at £750
Yea fair points. Hype seem to have a lot of offerings and people like RMA also offer cars to the top end of the rental market. There probably is room for a small reliable operation I guess if the liabilities can be covered ok. TDO packages tend to survive, but then they've got staff already onsite for the day anyway.
upmarket stuff like Hype do well with corporate events too, but from a pure driving perspective they're pricey and probably wouldn't never survive without the company funded participation (just my feel there, no access to the books). Elsewhere you've got small operations trying to cover costs of racing and that effort is supported by friends and family.
definitely need an introductory session at the start of each hire to assess and reign in the exuberant types...
get contracts and liability sorted.
maybe consider a spare car too avoid a bad reputation when a customer car is off road.
£500 is the absolute bottom that I haven't seen recently. struggling at £750
750 quid does feel a lot plus your trackday tbh
I sold my track car a few years ago because I wasn't using it enough, and thought I'd look at rentals because I didn't mind paying a premium for a couple of days a year if it meant I didn't have the responsibility and expense of my own car anymore, but any I found that felt reasonably priced eventually disappeared. The only one left is Puretrack Racing who seem to be around £750 for a day at Donington, which is about the limit of what I'd pay when you consider cost of the track day itself too. Any other providers seem to be focused on the very high end/corporate type stuff.
It's difficult, because I imagine the expense and work required to run such an operation means it isn't a particularly cheap venture these days (before you even get into the stress and responsibility and not being exactly sure what standard of driver your customers will be!). However, once costs start getting to £1k+ for a single day in a stripped hot hatch, man maths kick in and your average punter would probably look at just buying a cheap Mini Cooper S or Clio or something, which is likely why the high end/corporate day type operations seem to be the most successful.
If your mate can make it work for a reasonable fee though I'd probably happily hire the Golf! Please keep us updated if he manages to make anything of it or not.
It's difficult, because I imagine the expense and work required to run such an operation means it isn't a particularly cheap venture these days (before you even get into the stress and responsibility and not being exactly sure what standard of driver your customers will be!). However, once costs start getting to £1k+ for a single day in a stripped hot hatch, man maths kick in and your average punter would probably look at just buying a cheap Mini Cooper S or Clio or something, which is likely why the high end/corporate day type operations seem to be the most successful.
If your mate can make it work for a reasonable fee though I'd probably happily hire the Golf! Please keep us updated if he manages to make anything of it or not.
The costs should be something like this
1 day labour prep - £300. Might only take. Couple of hours though.
Car hire on the day - £300
1 person looking after the car on the day £300.
Entry fee £150-£650
Accident damage . A ding or a dent probably no charge as that comes under the 1 day labour prep
A proper smash, you could add insurance , be self insured, take the risk, or ask for a £1000 deposit.
A proper shunt on a track day is a rare thing.
1 day labour prep - £300. Might only take. Couple of hours though.
Car hire on the day - £300
1 person looking after the car on the day £300.
Entry fee £150-£650
Accident damage . A ding or a dent probably no charge as that comes under the 1 day labour prep
A proper smash, you could add insurance , be self insured, take the risk, or ask for a £1000 deposit.
A proper shunt on a track day is a rare thing.
Burny16v said:
I sold my track car a few years ago because I wasn't using it enough, and thought I'd look at rentals because I didn't mind paying a premium for a couple of days a year if it meant I didn't have the responsibility and expense of my own car anymore, but any I found that felt reasonably priced eventually disappeared. The only one left is Puretrack Racing who seem to be around £750 for a day at Donington, which is about the limit of what I'd pay when you consider cost of the track day itself too. Any other providers seem to be focused on the very high end/corporate type stuff.
It's difficult, because I imagine the expense and work required to run such an operation means it isn't a particularly cheap venture these days (before you even get into the stress and responsibility and not being exactly sure what standard of driver your customers will be!). However, once costs start getting to £1k+ for a single day in a stripped hot hatch, man maths kick in and your average punter would probably look at just buying a cheap Mini Cooper S or Clio or something, which is likely why the high end/corporate day type operations seem to be the most successful.
If your mate can make it work for a reasonable fee though I'd probably happily hire the Golf! Please keep us updated if he manages to make anything of it or not.
Pretty much how I'd see it too. I had a trackday car and trailer for years, really enjoyed it then sold up. I'd happily pay £500 ish for something cheap n cheerful fun. It's difficult, because I imagine the expense and work required to run such an operation means it isn't a particularly cheap venture these days (before you even get into the stress and responsibility and not being exactly sure what standard of driver your customers will be!). However, once costs start getting to £1k+ for a single day in a stripped hot hatch, man maths kick in and your average punter would probably look at just buying a cheap Mini Cooper S or Clio or something, which is likely why the high end/corporate day type operations seem to be the most successful.
If your mate can make it work for a reasonable fee though I'd probably happily hire the Golf! Please keep us updated if he manages to make anything of it or not.
I think because the cars owe him next to nothing plus are cheap to maintain generally that its probably worth doing at local tracks rather than the expense of running around the UK etc. Keep it small/relatively inexpensive and fun still.
Dynion Araf Uchaf said:
The costs should be something like this
1 day labour prep - £300. Might only take. Couple of hours though.
Car hire on the day - £300
1 person looking after the car on the day £300.
Entry fee £150-£650
Accident damage . A ding or a dent probably no charge as that comes under the 1 day labour prep
A proper smash, you could add insurance , be self insured, take the risk, or ask for a £1000 deposit.
A proper shunt on a track day is a rare thing.
Yea I think engine issues from over revs etc probably more likely than a total loss shunt. 1 day labour prep - £300. Might only take. Couple of hours though.
Car hire on the day - £300
1 person looking after the car on the day £300.
Entry fee £150-£650
Accident damage . A ding or a dent probably no charge as that comes under the 1 day labour prep
A proper smash, you could add insurance , be self insured, take the risk, or ask for a £1000 deposit.
A proper shunt on a track day is a rare thing.
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