Rent my car out for track day?
Discussion
I think you may find the trackday car rental scene to be more complicated / costly than you first anticipate, and Im not certain you'd be able to make the price low enough, especially working on a single car basis and not doing it as part of a larger business.
Assuming you'd not let someone just drive off with your car for a couple of days with no prior knowledge of their skills or even honesty, you'd probably want to accompany it to the event to look after the car, or pay someone to do that for you. You've then got to factor in the costs of tyres/brakes/wear'n'tear etc and I suspect there would also be some liability issues you'd need to insure against, as well as insuring the car in case of damage etc and working out the logistics of what happens if it breaks down or gets bent, who pays to get it home etc. You also have to think about what happens if you have a couple of bookings in a short timeframe but the car gets damaged after the first event and isn't able to make the second - would you compensate the second person for the loss of the trackday booking for example?
With all that in mind I can't see how you'd make it worth your while with the amount that most would be willing to pay. Bear in mind that the likes of BaT etc bolt their car rental on the side of the trackday business, which helps them keep costs lower because they already have staff at the event anyway, and obviously they make a profit from the trackday entry as well, which is one reason why they're able to rent out Caterhams for £3-500 per event including fuel, tyres, wear/tear and insurance. To get near that kind of pricing and level of support / backup in your situation is going to be nigh on impossible I would think. I know they're different types of car and you may get the odd Evo fan that specifically want to drive one and is willing to pay a premium to do it, but Im not sure many people would pay much more than the cost of renting a Caterfield even though your overheads would undoubtedly be far higher.
Apologies for the negative slant to this post. Im just thinking out loud, hopefully being realistic and perhaps raising some things you haven't yet thought of that may otherwise cost you money later on.#
Maybe a simpler alternative if you want to raise a bit of cash would be to offer to share your car on trackdays that you do yourself, in return for a suitable amount of compensation your way, perhaps covering all of the fuel and entry costs in return for 50% track time?
Chris
Assuming you'd not let someone just drive off with your car for a couple of days with no prior knowledge of their skills or even honesty, you'd probably want to accompany it to the event to look after the car, or pay someone to do that for you. You've then got to factor in the costs of tyres/brakes/wear'n'tear etc and I suspect there would also be some liability issues you'd need to insure against, as well as insuring the car in case of damage etc and working out the logistics of what happens if it breaks down or gets bent, who pays to get it home etc. You also have to think about what happens if you have a couple of bookings in a short timeframe but the car gets damaged after the first event and isn't able to make the second - would you compensate the second person for the loss of the trackday booking for example?
With all that in mind I can't see how you'd make it worth your while with the amount that most would be willing to pay. Bear in mind that the likes of BaT etc bolt their car rental on the side of the trackday business, which helps them keep costs lower because they already have staff at the event anyway, and obviously they make a profit from the trackday entry as well, which is one reason why they're able to rent out Caterhams for £3-500 per event including fuel, tyres, wear/tear and insurance. To get near that kind of pricing and level of support / backup in your situation is going to be nigh on impossible I would think. I know they're different types of car and you may get the odd Evo fan that specifically want to drive one and is willing to pay a premium to do it, but Im not sure many people would pay much more than the cost of renting a Caterfield even though your overheads would undoubtedly be far higher.
Apologies for the negative slant to this post. Im just thinking out loud, hopefully being realistic and perhaps raising some things you haven't yet thought of that may otherwise cost you money later on.#
Maybe a simpler alternative if you want to raise a bit of cash would be to offer to share your car on trackdays that you do yourself, in return for a suitable amount of compensation your way, perhaps covering all of the fuel and entry costs in return for 50% track time?
Chris
I'm sure lots of people would be interested but it all comes down to cost.
You'll have to factor in tyres, petrol, consumables, insurance (for the car and liability insurance for the driver & spectators). Then you'll have to sort some system to get it to and from circuits unless you're going to have it based near one circuit only.
I worked it out once (in about 2000) for my VW Corrado and I'd have to charge £1000 a day to make any profit assuming I could drive it to and from a circuit myself (i.e. not damaged and needing recovery).
That comprised a set of tyres (£300), 2 tanks of petrol (£100), a set of DS2000 pads (£120), track day insurance (£100 with £2000 excess), liability insurance (£2000 a year or £50 a day based on renting it 40 track days a year - in case a mechanical problem caused an accident and someone was injured). Then there were the regular maintenance items like suspension, bushes & mounts, brake discs, servicing.
Then you've got to factor in any downtime when the car is out of service - which would also mean giving refunds for people who've booked it.
If you live at the circuit, own an insurance company and have a motorsport engineering background then you'll save a few quid by insuring & fixing it on the cheap - but the parts are still going to cost.
Edit: bleedin' time machine hamsters...that post wasn't there when I posted this - and I've said basically the same anyway.
You'll have to factor in tyres, petrol, consumables, insurance (for the car and liability insurance for the driver & spectators). Then you'll have to sort some system to get it to and from circuits unless you're going to have it based near one circuit only.
I worked it out once (in about 2000) for my VW Corrado and I'd have to charge £1000 a day to make any profit assuming I could drive it to and from a circuit myself (i.e. not damaged and needing recovery).
That comprised a set of tyres (£300), 2 tanks of petrol (£100), a set of DS2000 pads (£120), track day insurance (£100 with £2000 excess), liability insurance (£2000 a year or £50 a day based on renting it 40 track days a year - in case a mechanical problem caused an accident and someone was injured). Then there were the regular maintenance items like suspension, bushes & mounts, brake discs, servicing.
Then you've got to factor in any downtime when the car is out of service - which would also mean giving refunds for people who've booked it.
If you live at the circuit, own an insurance company and have a motorsport engineering background then you'll save a few quid by insuring & fixing it on the cheap - but the parts are still going to cost.
Edit: bleedin' time machine hamsters...that post wasn't there when I posted this - and I've said basically the same anyway.
Edited by mmm-five on Monday 30th June 13:32
Are you on the MLR? There's a member on there called Lengthmeister (aka Liam) who has a business renting out a couple of Pug track cars. Give him a shout to see if he's got any advice. His website's here:
http://www.trackdayuk.com/
Also, what's the spec on the car you're looking to rent out?
http://www.trackdayuk.com/
Also, what's the spec on the car you're looking to rent out?
mmm-five said:
I'm sure lots of people would be interested but it all comes down to cost.
You'll have to factor in tyres, petrol, consumables, insurance (for the car and liability insurance for the driver & spectators). Then you'll have to sort some system to get it to and from circuits unless you're going to have it based near one circuit only.
I worked it out once (in about 2000) for my VW Corrado and I'd have to charge £1000 a day to make any profit assuming I could drive it to and from a circuit myself (i.e. not damaged and needing recovery).
That comprised a set of tyres (£300), 2 tanks of petrol (£100), a set of DS2000 pads (£120), track day insurance (£100 with £2000 excess), liability insurance (£2000 a year or £50 a day based on renting it 40 track days a year - in case a mechanical problem caused an accident and someone was injured). Then there were the regular maintenance items like suspension, bushes & mounts, brake discs, servicing.
Then you've got to factor in any downtime when the car is out of service - which would also mean giving refunds for people who've booked it.
If you live at the circuit, own an insurance company and have a motorsport engineering background then you'll save a few quid by insuring & fixing it on the cheap - but the parts are still going to cost.
Edit: bleedin' time machine hamsters...that post wasn't there when I posted this - and I've said basically the same anyway.
So the first thing to do is to get a track car to rent out that doesn't eat its pads and tyres in one track day.You'll have to factor in tyres, petrol, consumables, insurance (for the car and liability insurance for the driver & spectators). Then you'll have to sort some system to get it to and from circuits unless you're going to have it based near one circuit only.
I worked it out once (in about 2000) for my VW Corrado and I'd have to charge £1000 a day to make any profit assuming I could drive it to and from a circuit myself (i.e. not damaged and needing recovery).
That comprised a set of tyres (£300), 2 tanks of petrol (£100), a set of DS2000 pads (£120), track day insurance (£100 with £2000 excess), liability insurance (£2000 a year or £50 a day based on renting it 40 track days a year - in case a mechanical problem caused an accident and someone was injured). Then there were the regular maintenance items like suspension, bushes & mounts, brake discs, servicing.
Then you've got to factor in any downtime when the car is out of service - which would also mean giving refunds for people who've booked it.
If you live at the circuit, own an insurance company and have a motorsport engineering background then you'll save a few quid by insuring & fixing it on the cheap - but the parts are still going to cost.
Edit: bleedin' time machine hamsters...that post wasn't there when I posted this - and I've said basically the same anyway.
Edited by mmm-five on Monday 30th June 13:32
Like a caternailfield.
Bert
Thanks for the replies guys. Good to get some advice.
Its an EVO 4 (fine rally pedigree
) with 354BHP. I'm on the MLR and have been importing them to sell for a while now, and as the 2nd hand car market takes a dive and with the current fuel prices people seem less interested in a performance car. So I thought I'd investigate other revenue streams.
Its an EVO 4 (fine rally pedigree
) with 354BHP. I'm on the MLR and have been importing them to sell for a while now, and as the 2nd hand car market takes a dive and with the current fuel prices people seem less interested in a performance car. So I thought I'd investigate other revenue streams.Edited by sirtyro on Monday 30th June 13:54
BertBert said:
So the first thing to do is to get a track car to rent out that doesn't eat its pads and tyres in one track day.
Like a caternailfield.
Bert
Exactly, and that's why I rented one of BaT's Caterhams and bought an M5 to replace the Corrado.Like a caternailfield.
Bert
Although I prefer to call them Caterwesticals (to include Radicals and their like).
sirtyro said:
was it fun mmm-five?
Very much, and probably cost half what I would have spent using the Corrado.Even took the M5 on a dozen or so events where it performed admirably for a 2 tonne car - although the wear & tear on the M5 is double that of the Corrado, so I only do the odd track day / 'Ring trip now and marshal instead.
If you're seriously interested you could talk to us @ http://www.track-club.com and we'll offer the perspective of a company that does exactly this with lots of machinery from Clio 182 Cup through to a Palmer JP1...
BertBert said:
So the first thing to do is to get a track car to rent out that doesn't eat its pads and tyres in one track day.
Like a caternailfield.
Bert
Mine's just tried to cook it's engine (literally - after catching fire) over at the Ring!!! Tyres/pads were fine though..... The little sod has now left me with a big repair bill!Like a caternailfield.
Bert
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