Hey all, We're opening up a new car share club in LA in March and are looking to acquire a 360 Spider as one of our signature cars. Done a lot of research, but a few questions pop up: 1. Heavy Mileage: We'll be putting 10k+ miles a year on the car. How will that affect maintenance costs (other than getting to a major/minor service more quickly)? 2. Minimize Cost: If we are putting a lot of miles on a car, any reason not to save a few $$ and start with a car that already has high miles (15,000+)? 3. Euro Spec: It seems there are a handful of nice 360s out there that are Euro spec with US conversions. On average, they seem to run $15-$20k less than US models. Any reason not to bite? 4. F1 vs 6-speed: I've heard the 6-speed holds up better to wear than the paddle-shifting F1 trans. Any thoughts? 5. Salvage: I can almost hear you all squirming in your chairs... But there are a lot of cars out there that have been pulled back from salvage by highly reputable restorers. If they end up costing $20-$40k less and we're gonna put a lot of wear on it anyway... It's a big question. 6. Insurance: Our members' insurance will be primary when they're driving. But we need backup coverage on the cars. Who are you all using for your Ferraris? I already know about Hagerty, but not sure they will work with a car share club. In a nutshell, I'd rather spend $130 than $175k considering the use this will likely get. But I also don't want to get burned and end up paying a fortune after the fact to rectify a bad purchase decision. This is one of our biggest purchases and I'd like to make the smart, yet prudent choice. Thanks, all. Dale Fox
I'll take a crack at it. 1. It may be more the way customers absue the car than how much mileage it is driven. Ordinary maintenance may not apply. Can't you find actuarial data comparing maintenance costs of regular and renter use? 2. Why pay a premium for a car? If the motor is sound, I would subordinate mileage to cost. You are not going to make a profit selling these cars in any case so why worry about mileage? 3. For reasons (1) and (2) find a Euro or anything for less. 4. You will get different answers to this question, but in the end it may be more whose driving than the transmission. It is hard to "miss a shift" with F-1 or burn a clutch relative to a 6 speed. 5. Why lay out money now when your "cash flow" can cover maintenance later? This is no investment, the "value" of the car will its cost/rent basis. Buy anything for the least amount of money as long as you can verify damage and find it immaterial. 6. Leland and AAA, are two. Admittadly not my area of expertise. Best
I thought about this idea a few different times. In the end, I did not think this would be a profitable business plan as the maintenance and high cost of repairs would negate any profit. Also, since you will be using these cars for commercial activities, all warranties are void and the liability part is too great. Just my 2 cents
I think a spider top and F1 will be high maint/ repair cost items for that type of use. Should consider getting cheap 6sp Modena.
The fact is that there are several membership based car-share groups out there. Classic Car Club in NY comes to mind (I visited their location). Another is OTTO club here in MA. I cant speak to the profitability of the programs however. Issue with these programs is the tradeoff between yearly "dues" and the amount of miles you get in the cars. I think this model works well in cities where not everyone owns a car (NY London). If you need an toy to go to the Hamptons 6 times a year, it may be well worthwile to join a club as opposed to renting a Ford Explorer. You get to drive many different types of cars, and when done right, these clubs have a cool social component. The cars I have seen at these clubs have not been show quality by a long shot. They are drivers. Pick up a Euro 360 for $90k and put $10k into it. Put 20k miles on it and in 2 years kick it. My guess you still will get mid $70ks... so your into it for $1.50/mile plus maintainance. Or buy 2 Lotus Exige's! As far as the comment regarding the warranty, I am not sure the previous post is 100% correct in assuming there is no warranty coverage for cars in these programs.. (Euro conversions aside).. Good luck!
didn't mean to sound harsh in my last post, I think it's a great idea and gives club members avariety of cars to drive. I just looked into doing something like this briefly, and in the end, there were too many variables to make this work. I know there is a place outside of Chicago, http://www.curvyroad.com/ http://www.exoticcarshare.com/AboutECS/Index.html I initially thought about buying new cars with warranty, then when warranty ended, selling them back. It's more of a fractional ownership type deal.
Great replies all. RBK, thanks for the detailed thoughts. I tend to share your opinion, but wanted to run it up the flagpole first. As for the business, I don't want to sideline this thread too much, but I'll share with you that it turns out to be a solidly profitable business if you structure and run it right. As they say, God is in the details. And I'm a seasoned entrepreneur with a track record of success in challenging ventures like this. Frankly, it's the fuel on which I run! The company is called "Spin" and will be located in Venice. We aren't associated with any of the other clubs who keep claiming to be opening up a club here, but never seem to actually do so. This is a new, well-funded venture and one with a...well...a different spin. ;-) You'll have to stay tuned to get all the details as we get closer to opening date! So let's presume that we get a reasonably low-cost, high-mileage 360 Spider and it gets driven by a select group of well-screened drivers. Not the daily rental joyriding audience, but also not the doting private owner. What would you expect the maintenance and repairs to look like over a two year period of 10,000+ mis/yr? /df
here's a cheap euro spider on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2001-360-modena-spider-F-1-AZ-title_W0QQitemZ260075038213QQihZ016QQcategoryZ84156QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
