Renting an Exotic in Seattle | FerrariChat

Renting an Exotic in Seattle

Discussion in 'Northwest' started by gmhl10, Nov 26, 2009.

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  1. gmhl10

    gmhl10 Rookie

    Apr 8, 2007
    12
    Honolulu, Hawaii
    Full Name:
    Ho-Joon Lee
    Been on google looking for a place that rents out exotics.
    The links that say that they have it in Seattle keeps linking me to renters in other cities.
    So, I figured just asking the locals would be better.
    Preferably a Ferrari or Lamborghini, but if all else fails... an Aston Martin or Audi R8 will do.

    There was this one site, however, that linked me to Park Place. It looked like the Park Place logo and all, but when I clicked on the rental option, it also went to a different city.

    Any chance there is one in Seattle?
    I don't mind going out to Bellevue or as far as Lynnwood or Tacoma to pick it up.
     
  2. Kristian

    Kristian Formula Junior

    Nov 28, 2008
    381
    Seattle area
  3. gmhl10

    gmhl10 Rookie

    Apr 8, 2007
    12
    Honolulu, Hawaii
    Full Name:
    Ho-Joon Lee
    Yea... it looks like the Corvette is the best I can get for a rental.
    Too bad I'm not really fond of American cars.
    Still, thanks for trying.
     
  4. BuzzedHornet

    BuzzedHornet Rookie

    Feb 9, 2008
    37
    Member Roy Cats was putting together a rental program a few months back. I don't know the status or regs of the program, but I am sure Roy will chime in here or you can PM him.

    Rob
     
  5. kaoss

    kaoss Formula 3

    Jul 29, 2006
    1,166
    Portland, Oregon
    Full Name:
    KAOSS
    It was actually a short term lease program...3 months sort of thing. We get asked probably once a week for an exotic rental place in the area and Park Place used to offer that service but has since stopped doing it. Not sure if there actually are any exotic rental places in the Seattle area any longer. Sorry couldn't be of more help there.
     
  6. gmhl10

    gmhl10 Rookie

    Apr 8, 2007
    12
    Honolulu, Hawaii
    Full Name:
    Ho-Joon Lee
    I guess that explains why there was a link for exotic rentals with the Park Place logo.
    Probably just didn't update it or something.
    Oh well. Anyway, thank you everyone!
     
  7. silversurfer

    silversurfer Formula Junior

    Oct 22, 2004
    293
    Seattle
    Full Name:
    Bobo
    Park Place stopped doing rentals and replaced it with their detail facility. Pretty sure that there's no one who took their place.
     
  8. TommyJames

    TommyJames Formula Junior

    Mar 30, 2008
    805
    I don't think you're going to see rentals of exotics around here. That business model seems to fail everywhere its tried. Just about every true exotic that ever goes out for rental ends up balled up somewhere after a short time. Insurance is nearly impossible to get and it's very difficult to record how the car was actually used and too often, abused.
     
  9. CliffBeer

    CliffBeer Formula 3

    Apr 3, 2005
    2,198
    Seattle, Washington
    Full Name:
    Cliff
    There was an exotic car rental place in Maui I used to check out when I was there visiting - the owner was a super nice easy-going guy (had to be!). He told me that one out of every two times he rented out one of the Ferraris (360s) they would come back with some kind of serious damage. Most typically it was things like bent wheels and damaged suspension parts (from hitting curbs at high speed) or cooked brakes or over revving the engine. He closed down when his insurance company refused renewing his policy any further....

    What a bunch of dumb asses.....
     
  10. TommyJames

    TommyJames Formula Junior

    Mar 30, 2008
    805
    We all know that average rental cars get a lot of abuse. Exotics are that times ten. Every yahoo wants to see how far they can push it and don't have any concern about little things that would seem inconsequential in a one day rental but would quickly add up over time such as launches and general hard driving. I can't think of a crappier business model because as the renter, even if you run a tight ship, you're still going to get miles, wear and tear, AND good luck recovering any value when it's time to sell those cars. It's a fact that the highest percentage of fatal accidents involving exotics happen with new owners and borrowed cars. With rentals, that risk profile is there every day. I don't know of anyone who's been successful in sustaining that business model for very long.
     
  11. prohydro

    prohydro Formula Junior

    Nov 1, 2001
    797
    Redmond, WA
    Full Name:
    Christian
    The only guys I know who seem to be making money at it are Gotham Dream Cars in New York and Florida. The owner of that is good friends with the guy (Rob Ferretti) who produces the "Super Speeders" series of DVDs.

    On the Super Speeders dvds, there is almost always a segment or two showing some damage to one of the Gotham cars that a customer did. Twice they have gone out to a location where somebody totaled a car, and also gone when a guy ripped a wheel off a 360 after creaming a pot hole.

    http://www.gothamdreamcars.com/
     
  12. Kristian

    Kristian Formula Junior

    Nov 28, 2008
    381
    Seattle area

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