£10,000 challenge
Discussion
Let's say you need 4 cars to start a wedding car hire company.
You need something smart and classy a chueffeur can drive to cart the bride and groom around etc.
You also need something fun and quirky to hire out as a self drive option or chueffeur option if needed.
What I have suggested is:
BMW 7 series
Some sort of jag maybe
Classic mini
Caterham 7 (would really push budget)
It's to help a friend who is trying to start his own wedding and sports car hire company. He said he would like 4 cars to start him off. I rekon only the 1 for now and concentrate on the chueffeur side first.
So PH let's see what cars you can come up with for 10k.
You need something smart and classy a chueffeur can drive to cart the bride and groom around etc.
You also need something fun and quirky to hire out as a self drive option or chueffeur option if needed.
What I have suggested is:
BMW 7 series
Some sort of jag maybe
Classic mini
Caterham 7 (would really push budget)
It's to help a friend who is trying to start his own wedding and sports car hire company. He said he would like 4 cars to start him off. I rekon only the 1 for now and concentrate on the chueffeur side first.
So PH let's see what cars you can come up with for 10k.
I think a mint classic Mini is quite pricey, no?
White Mulsanne or Silver Spirit for around £10k. Spend more money on more cars if the cash flow can finance it. 4 cars for £10k I think not?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...
White Mulsanne or Silver Spirit for around £10k. Spend more money on more cars if the cash flow can finance it. 4 cars for £10k I think not?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...
Tell him not to bother.
£10k will just about cover his expenses for six months, and that's without even buying any cars!
His insurance alone will be £1500+ just for the BMW as a private hire car.
Every Tom Dick and Harry does weddings.
Even if he could get the work he won't hire out every car at the same time and most weddings are Friday, Saturday and Sunday which means he will have to do other work like private hire, but only with the BMW (or whatever). Don't kid himself that there's a market for "Chauffeurs". There isn't. It's just airpport transfers and every Tom Dick and Harry does that.
He will start, realise it's bleeding money then seell all the cars at a loss, part from the Mini!
£10k will just about cover his expenses for six months, and that's without even buying any cars!
His insurance alone will be £1500+ just for the BMW as a private hire car.
Every Tom Dick and Harry does weddings.
Even if he could get the work he won't hire out every car at the same time and most weddings are Friday, Saturday and Sunday which means he will have to do other work like private hire, but only with the BMW (or whatever). Don't kid himself that there's a market for "Chauffeurs". There isn't. It's just airpport transfers and every Tom Dick and Harry does that.
He will start, realise it's bleeding money then seell all the cars at a loss, part from the Mini!
Edited by GTIR on Monday 29th September 19:32
GTIR said:
Tell him not to bother.
£10k will just about cover his expenses for six months, and that's without even buying any cars!
His insurance alone will be £1500+ just for the BMW as a private hire car.
Every Tom Dick and Harry does weddings.
Even if he could get the work he won't hire out every car at the same time and most weddings are Friday, Saturday and Sunday which means he will have to do other work like private hire, but only with the BMW (or whatever). Don't kid himself that there's a market for "Chauffeurs". There isn't. It's just airpport transfers and every Tom Dick and Harry does that.
He will start, realise it's bleeding money then seell all the cars at a loss, part from the Mini!
And the Caterham will get wrapped.£10k will just about cover his expenses for six months, and that's without even buying any cars!
His insurance alone will be £1500+ just for the BMW as a private hire car.
Every Tom Dick and Harry does weddings.
Even if he could get the work he won't hire out every car at the same time and most weddings are Friday, Saturday and Sunday which means he will have to do other work like private hire, but only with the BMW (or whatever). Don't kid himself that there's a market for "Chauffeurs". There isn't. It's just airpport transfers and every Tom Dick and Harry does that.
He will start, realise it's bleeding money then seell all the cars at a loss, part from the Mini!
Edited by GTIR on Monday 29th September 19:32
k all, and with a mesh grille kit they look a lot more expensive than they are, just don't put a Bentley badge on it If he's hoping to get 4 cars for £10k for this, then he's not going to get top quality motors by any means. An average of £2.5k per car is something that many enthusiasts could afford if they wanted to, so they could probably afford to buy these cars if they wanted to. IMO customers are going to want one of two things out of this enterprise.
1) A driver. In this case, screw the driving dynamics (and, to a degree, the performance) and get something as comfortable as possible that looks the part. See the 300C, X300/308 Jag XJ or a W220 Merc S class maybe. This is not where the problems lie.
2) Something quirky that they might like to hire for a weekend but not live with all the time. Alfa GTV V6, Fiat Barchetta, RX-8, MG Midget, MGF, MX5, Spitfire, Ford Anglia, Morris Minor. Maybe an XJS even. But, the trouble is, for this kind of car, anything you get in this price bracket needs to be treated as a project, especially the older it gets.
He's going to need to be pretty handy with the spanners to be able to keep a £10k 4-car fleet running and in condition to be handed over to whoever to hoon around in, let alone even thinking about the logistics of running the business and making any money, and then taxing and insuring for private hire or rental.
There's plenty of interesting cars out there around this sort of money, I grant you, but I'd need a lot of convincing that this is a sound business idea - and I've given it a bit of thought myself over the years (not quite this extreme though!)
1) A driver. In this case, screw the driving dynamics (and, to a degree, the performance) and get something as comfortable as possible that looks the part. See the 300C, X300/308 Jag XJ or a W220 Merc S class maybe. This is not where the problems lie.
2) Something quirky that they might like to hire for a weekend but not live with all the time. Alfa GTV V6, Fiat Barchetta, RX-8, MG Midget, MGF, MX5, Spitfire, Ford Anglia, Morris Minor. Maybe an XJS even. But, the trouble is, for this kind of car, anything you get in this price bracket needs to be treated as a project, especially the older it gets.
He's going to need to be pretty handy with the spanners to be able to keep a £10k 4-car fleet running and in condition to be handed over to whoever to hoon around in, let alone even thinking about the logistics of running the business and making any money, and then taxing and insuring for private hire or rental.
There's plenty of interesting cars out there around this sort of money, I grant you, but I'd need a lot of convincing that this is a sound business idea - and I've given it a bit of thought myself over the years (not quite this extreme though!)
There is money to be made in Chauffeur type work but probably not just doing weddings.
Apart from the set up costs which include a decent chauffeur type car, the biggest issue will be establishing a client base in a very competitive market. Doing weddings only will not support this, so other PH work will be necessary which means being licensed.
Do it right though and you can make a good living.
Apart from the set up costs which include a decent chauffeur type car, the biggest issue will be establishing a client base in a very competitive market. Doing weddings only will not support this, so other PH work will be necessary which means being licensed.
Do it right though and you can make a good living.
Another thing - something that you or I as an enthusiast owner would be willing to overlook in something of our own would be a serious problem if a car is being loaned out, or being used to chauffeur people around. Loose head lining, stray wires, scruffy carpets, blistered paint, inoperable windows etc would all be a killer for customer experience if you've paid good money to get the use of the car, whereas an owner going out for a Sunday drive wouldn't care about some of these things.
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