Viper Rentals...who would beinterrested?

[Allan]

I got a track buddy (a Lotus guy), going out to Las Vegas next month to do that "drive exotics thing" or whatever. I guess I don't get it. Also last year at an HPDE, there were a couple of guys that rented a C6 Corvette from Hertz, brought it to the track, and 'got their money's worth out of it'. I asked them if they knew that insurance wouldn't cover damage at the track, they just laughed/ didn't care. Lucky for them nothing bad happened. Anyway, the point is there is a market for such business.

 

[Moundir]

What do you think is a good price? Keep in mind you'll burn thru $3k in tires, pads, fluids, etc. Wear on the track is 10:1 vs. the street (increased replacement of steering/suspension/drive components). Add in transportation, at least $1k to track of renters choice.

I figure:
$3k tires, fluids, pads, etc.
$1k transportation
$2k rental fee
$1k ???????

I noticed after my 1st track event in the ACR all the squeaks & rattles that popped up. Tracks are very ******* cars & to maintain the integrity of a car for that use it does cost more.

Again, not for everyone & it is pricey, but it's also not your car. Flog it on the track for a few weekends a year (~$20k). Own it/buy your own for a year and do the same (~$40k). Kind of like boats - take one all-inclusive fishing trip once a month for $10k (12/yr = $120k). Own your own & you better triple that number at a minimum.

There are many pros to renting/leasing excluding the tax benefits.

If the renters are only HPDE events then I doubt they will be going thru a set of tires and pads a weekend I've seen Zo6s go for 1k a day and open racers go for around $1000-1500 a day as well. Id say $2000 a day would be just about right IMO. I would stick to street rentals as that is the more profitable business model. Good luck, and hope you do go for it!! Remember my buddie did this as way to supplement his income and now he has a stable of 25 exotics that he plays with and drives for FREE! That and he makes a killing having fun!

 

[Leojmcca]

I actually used to rent a viper every other month for about a year. It was a 1998 silver GTS owned by a 25 year old. He would offset the cost of ownership by renting out the car. I became friends with him and I was getting a pretty good deal, $250 for the weekend with 500 miles. Funny, I probably put more miles on a viper without owning one than a lot of owners. When he put it up for sale, that's when I had to pony up the $$ to buy my own (I was hooked).

The only issue he had that I knew of was when someone blew out his clutch. But for the most part, I'd say people drove the car with respect since the car really didn't seem to become beat up or run poorly.

 

[v10enomous]

I've been flirting with the idea of getting a Gen4 so it would be great if I could get some seat time. It would be worth no more than $250 to me.

I seem to recall someone who owns an exotic and limo rental company posting here a while back

 

[FastZilla]

... my buddie did this as way to supplement his income and now he has a stable of 25 exotics that he plays with and drives for FREE! That and he makes a killing having fun!

This is where I'm at with it. Make my hobbies pay for themselves. If I screw up and make money in the process it's a bonus! There is a ton of "deals" on rebuilt/salvage titled exotics. I'll talk to the attorney about the weeds.

The track car would be a very small group of cars. There are so many insurance policies out there - one will always fit the need, price varies obviously. I think around $500/day (single day rental) is about right. I get about 3 track days out of a set of tires (1.5 Viper Days events) - usually it's the fronts that go before the rears (tires). Since I don't use my brakes at all on the track my pads are still good (JK!!! Pads seem to last 3-4 track event weekends)

 

[FastZilla]

....Also last year at an HPDE, there were a couple of guys that rented a C6 Corvette from Hertz, brought it to the track, and 'got their money's worth out of it'......

This thought has crossed my mind several times as well. I too am the reason you don't buy ex-rental cars.... I might be in for a bit of karma, who knows

.....ahem....you got anything with a V8, RWD & around 3500 pounds? (left eye twitching the entire time....)

 

[2005 SRT-10]

http://www.gothamdreamcars.com a friend of mine started this company with just his one personal car. It was a 360 Modena. He now has over 5 million worth of exotics and does very very very well!!! So yeah it's a great idea fastzilla!

I've actually rented from them several times... I've met Noah on several occasions very down to earth (drives an M45 as his daily and never takes out his exotics really) I have rented just about all of the Lambos 1000-2000 per day. I asked him about the Vipers and he said they are cheap to rent probably around $400-$500 per day.

Keep in mind he is one of the few very successful exotic rental places.

Back to your original question, I personally would not rent a viper but I will tell you this...before I purchased my Viper I considered renting one based solely on how cheap I could get it for. Would anybody pay $1000 for a day in the Viper, probably not many as you can rent a Ferrari, Lambo, Aston Martin, etc for that much.

 

[-FROG-]

There's a guy in Austin renting out exotics and has a Viper in his collection. Well... "had" a Viper.... A woman wrecked it coming around a corner and "see - saw'd" it on the guard rail. I'll be at the ART Dyno day in Austin this Friday afternoon with my cute blonde girlfriend and I'll be wearing a black www.AustinExoticCars.com t-shirt so I'll be easy to find. Holler at me and I'll chat with you more about it...

 

[ViperGeorge]

There's a guy in Austin renting out exotics and has a Viper in his collection. Well... "had" a Viper.... A woman wrecked it coming around a corner and "see - saw'd" it on the guard rail. I'll be at the ART Dyno day in Austin this Friday afternoon with my cute blonde girlfriend and I'll be wearing a black www.AustinExoticCars.com t-shirt so I'll be easy to find. Holler at me and I'll chat with you more about it...

pics or it didn't happen.