Guaging Interest: Car Rentals

[A790]

Hey Guys,

My business partner and I were discussing the possiblity of offering interesting and exotic cars available for rent.

Please tell us if:

1) You would be interested.
2) What you feel would be a fair price to pay.
3) What types of vehicles you'd want to see available for rent.

If everything goes well, and the feedback is good, we may be prepared to open shop just in time for the summer.

Thanks guys,

Cameron Martel

[Godfuader]

I think it would do well in oil-rich Calgary. You need to consider something like time share exotics too.

[A790]

We were thinking of that, but quite honestly, we can't afford the $5 million it would take to buy the cars, maintain them, and store them.

Instead, we were thinking of offering cars like Vipers, Skyline GTR's, 3000GT TT, Supra TT, etc. etc. etc.

But, nothing is finalized. We were also looking at offering Hummer/Escalades for rent.

:)

[2002civic]

you can rent hummers and escalades at normal rental agencies so youll have some competition there...

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by A790
We were thinking of that, but quite honestly, we can't afford the $5 million it would take to buy the cars, maintain them, and store them.

Instead, we were thinking of offering cars like Vipers, Skyline GTR's, 3000GT TT, Supra TT, etc. etc. etc.

But, nothing is finalized. We were also looking at offering Hummer/Escalades for rent.

:)

Then no.

BTW, insurance cost will kill your idea pretty quick.

[ringmaster]

sounds like a good idea but if you are offering the "mid-class" sports cars, i would only expect to pay about 100 per day at most. There is a place in calgary that will rent you a variety of exotics and a few lower end exotics starting about 100/ day for your basic porsche and caping off at 3000/day for a lambo. Another thing to concider is in order to make renting a 3000gt or supra TT "desireable", you would need to do some modifications to them. This could lead to decreased reliability and more down time from people bagging on them.

[VWbloke]

I don't mean to generalize or to discriminate based on age, but I think it's going to be quite a struggle for you to bring your plans to fruition.

The costs & liabilities associated with this kind of business is quite prohibitive. Let alone for someone yet to celebrate their 20th birthday.

That said, if you and your partner have some solid financial backing, it would be cool to see a business like this offering cars to drive for reasonable prices.

As a comparison, there are a few companies like this already in existence and they charge anywhere from $1500 / weekend - $5000 / weekend for cars of varying expense and performance (Porsches, Ferraris, Lambos). Although you did mention you had more modest cars in mind.

I realize that I might come across as harsh, but I'm just offering a realistic opinion. I really do wish you luck with this, though. I'd love to see you prove me wrong so I could become one of your customers.

:)

[jaysas_63]

i would deff. shell out around 50-100 for a day with a supra TT, but i really don't think that the money the market is willing to pay for a day with that kind of car would make this a financially viable venture

[vietdood]

i'd put out $100 to take out a supra/skyline for a day... only to bag the shit out of it

[khtm]

Is this the same "business partner" that does porn photo shoots? :D

[sputnik]

Originally posted by A790
Instead, we were thinking of offering cars like Vipers, Skyline GTR's, 3000GT TT, Supra TT, etc. etc. etc.

Do you really think there is a market of people over 25 that would want to rent a RHD car in Calgary or a 10 year old Supra or Mitsubishi just for kicks? Doesnt seem like a sustainable business model. Most rental agencies lease the vehicles they rent. Owning 10 year old vehicles that are constantly bagged would be a maintenance nightmare.

What would you call the business? "Ricer Rentals" or "Dont Be Gentle, Drive Our Rental"?

[handsomebassman]

Originally posted by vietdood
i'd put out $100 to take out a supra/skyline for a day... only to bag the shit out of it

Yea, id really bag it for $100. Otherwise i probably wouldnt pay 100 to rent a 15+ year old nissan or toyota.

[A790]

Originally posted by khtm
Is this the same "business partner" that does porn photo shoots? :D

Without trying to be offensive, end yourself.

[A790]

Originally posted by sputnik


Do you really think there is a market of people over 25 that would want to rent a RHD car in Calgary or a 10 year old Supra or Mitsubishi just for kicks? Doesnt seem like a sustainable business model. Most rental agencies lease the vehicles they rent. Owning 10 year old vehicles that are constantly bagged would be a maintenance nightmare.

What would you call the business? "Ricer Rentals" or "Dont Be Gentle, Drive Our Rental"?

Our discussion with our insurance comapany has yielded an agreement: the renters must be over the age of 18 and have their own insurance and they will place temporary insurance on the vehicles while they are renting it.

And we're not just talking 15 year old RHD vehicles. I used the skyline GTR as an example because it is a relatively desireable car. We're also looking at some higher end cars to rent (Porche/Mercedes etc.) and the feasibility of it here in Calgary, given that we only have 7 months in a year for the cars to actually be on the street.

As well, most rental companies do NOT lease their vehicles. They OWN them. This is from speaking to Enterprise, as well as common sense. How much would a lease be for unlimited KM?

[A790]

Originally posted by handsomebassman


Yea, id really bag it for $100. Otherwise i probably wouldnt pay 100 to rent a 15+ year old nissan or toyota.

Would you pay $100 a day for a 95 Supra TT, or $200 a day for a brand new 911?

Thanks everyone for your input, it is appreciated. WIth the exception for the porno comment, the rest have been constructive.

[l8braker]

ZR tried to do the exotic rental thing for a bit when they first started out, only to stop it completely. If they couldn't get it going, chances are small timers don't stand a chance.. I think it would be cool to rent out imports like Skyline, Supra, etc. Brand yourself as a Fast 'N Furious rental place. The age limit might deter some from driving around in a car like that, and most people will likely give the car shit.

Only if you have deep pockets, I would doubt it would ever be able to get running and turn some profit.

[l8braker]

Originally posted by A790


Would you pay $100 a day for a 95 Supra TT, or $200 a day for a brand new 911?

Thanks everyone for your input, it is appreciated. WIth the exception for the porno comment, the rest have been constructive.

Double those prices and it could be interesting... I'd totally drive a 911 around for 400-500.

[MIWYFSHOTTER]

Keep in mind you will have to maintain these cars. They WILL get bagged on.

[PraviYugosloven]

1) YES
2) Depends on the car
3) Acura Integra Type R
Nissan Skyline GTR
Chevy Corvette Z06 (2006)
Porsche 911 GT3
BMW M5
Aston Martin DB7
Opel Omega

I would just like to be able to rent these for like a day and have some fun, but i think it depends a lot on how much money you have cuz some of these arent exactly cheap

[2002civic]

Originally posted by A790


Without trying to be offensive, end yourself.
wow your going place in life, trying to start up a business on beyond where im sure half your customers wil be and telling people to end themselves...professional....:rolleyes:

[handsomebassman]

Originally posted by A790


Would you pay $100 a day for a 95 Supra TT, or $200 a day for a brand new 911?



Yea actually that is fairly reasonable! well, i think it is at least...i dont really know what other companies charge for higher grade car rentals.

[handsomebassman]

Originally posted by A790
As well, most rental companies do NOT lease their vehicles. They OWN them. This is from speaking to Enterprise, as well as common sense. How much would a lease be for unlimited KM?

:werd: it would be outrageous if they leased.

[Kirbs17]

People would rent these, and bag the shit out of these cars. All your assets would be garbage is a very short amount of time?

I know if I rented one, id like to see what it could do

[me&you]

You WILL NOT make money renting out a $100k Porsche for $200 or even $400 per day. Maintainance and depreciation would kill you.

Bottom line is that Calgary is too small of a market for any sort of specialized rental agency to make money. It has been tried many times before by people with more money and knowledge than you.

[hash]

Originally posted by me&you
Maintainance and depreciation would kill you.

:werd:

I think that would probably be the kicker. It would be lesser for econoboxes, but then you're competing with the major rental agencies who have a much larger network of offices, advertising, support services, etc. etc.

Neat idea nonetheless. Good luck. :thumbsup:

[TEAMFaint]

Hate to break it to ya, but there is already a company up in Calgary that does this. They rent out exotics for 1 day to a week. The lowest they offer is $200 a day and its a 2005 S2000.

Low end car: Honda S2000
High end car: Lambo

The prices are unreal, my dad grabbed a card from a desk and it had their website on it. I'll do some checkin around and try to find it again, but im 100% sure there is already one located up in Calgary.

[me&you]

Originally posted by TEAMFaint
Hate to break it to ya, but there is already a company up in Calgary that does this. They rent out exotics for 1 day to a week. The lowest they offer is $200 a day and its a 2005 S2000.

Low end car: Honda S2000
High end car: Lambo

The prices are unreal, my dad grabbed a card from a desk and it had their website on it. I'll do some checkin around and try to find it again, but im 100% sure there is already one located up in Calgary.

Has anyone actually seen the Lambos or 360s that they rent here in Calgary? I know they are connected to a company in MTL and I have a hard time believing that the higher end cars are even here... maybe a two week lead time to get the car shipped here?

[QuasarCav]

Maybe you should GUAGE interest from people that could actually get the rentals. I'm guessing everyone in this thread is under 25.

[talonboi]

from what i learned wroking at budget. insurance is going to kill you, unless you are only willing to rent to people 25 years or older, 90% of the cars returning will have damage. let alone people driving the cars hard. how long will the cars last?

especially if you have a turbo car out for rent, will the customer pump high octane gas or will they wont care and just put reg. gas upon return.

and thses type of cars your going to rent out, will they just be stock? or "souped" up?

the majority car rental business' out there dont own the cars, they lease them.

overall, its a good idea, but running a car rental business is a huge operation which involves a lot of money, and pricey insurance packages

[talonboi]

oh btw, if your renting out manual cars, consider the tranny's life be decreased.;)

[A790]

Originally posted by 2002civic

wow your going place in life, trying to start up a business on beyond where im sure half your customers wil be and telling people to end themselves...professional....:rolleyes:

I'm not too concerned.

[A790]

We're entering negotiations with our suppliers to see how feasible it is. Hopefully we could get it going before July.

[Weapon_R]

Once you do, let us know. If you can actually get these cars for the prices you've listed, you will have a ton of interest. Most places charge way more than you quoted, however, so its going to be tough. Good luck!

[handsomebassman]

im sorry, but i just cant see this getting off the ground at all.

[max_boost]

Well it's not going to be easy. A lot of work needs to be done here. I just think if this is a business venture for the sole purpose of making lots of $$$, I think there are other avenues for that. But I'm hoping it'll go through, wouldn't hurt to rent a Ferrari at an affordable price :D

[Xtrema]

Really, I can only see this work on a private track. Insurance will kill you if these cars goes on public roads.

[CrvenaZvezda]

i would definetly rent from u, depends on the car for what a fair price would be, and what i would like to see most of all and would definetly rent from u is an Acura Integra Type-R and a Honda S2000...

Good Luck Dude!!!

[Mr_John]

I think you might have tough time doing this business
The idea has already been done, you can rent exotic cars and upper class cars from many places
the market in Calgary to rent higher exotic end cars is there but its costly
Calgary is a fairly rich city, you'd want to target the upper class people who are willing to spend money

but in the Calgary market, since everyone is so rich already, they buy and not rent

and if you target young adults with supra's and what not
you gotta take in mind, how many of these young adults can afford your rates and how many will actually rent on a regular basis

here is something to think about
how many cars will you need to rent out per day to break even on everything?
and will you be able to reach that goal realistically?

(and i dont mean, do you THINK you can reach it, but after research and everything done, will it be a dream or a reachable goal)

[handsomebassman]

Originally posted by Mr_John
and if you target young adults with supra's and what not
you gotta take in mind, how many of these young adults can afford your rates and how many will actually rent on a regular basis

:werd:

There may be people who want to rent the cars, but how many will be repeat customers? Most of the people will have to spend, what, 200$ to rent a supra, they arent going to do it everyweek, or every month. Hell, youd be lucky if they even did it more than once whatsover.

[l8braker]

Originally posted by Mr_John
you can rent exotic cars and upper class cars from many places


That's one of the things we're trying to determine.. Who and where are these places? Info!!

[l8braker]

Originally posted by handsomebassman


:werd:

There may be people who want to rent the cars, but how many will be repeat customers? Most of the people will have to spend, what, 200$ to rent a supra, they arent going to do it everyweek, or every month. Hell, youd be lucky if they even did it more than once whatsover.

Young people know other young people, so chances are you would have a few friends wanting to rent too.

[Hash_man]

You might be able to get this off the ground... but I'd say within a month 90% of your cars would be trashed, and would end up costing you a fortune.

[A790]

Originally posted by Hash_man
You might be able to get this off the ground... but I'd say within a month 90% of your cars would be trashed, and would end up costing you a fortune.

We've thought about that.

Right now we're just trying to see if it's feasible. We have an in-house mechanic lined up. The biggest part for the moment is the insurance.

[khtm]

Originally posted by A790


Without trying to be offensive, end yourself.
It was a joke...damn you little kids are touchy. :drama:

[blitz]

Have you even sat down and crunched the numbers? Figure out what you'd pay for the cars, what your regular maintenance and repairs would be, and how much you'd have to charge. Keep in mind the cars will probably need complete overhauls at regular intervals.

You'd also have to have a storefront and lot to rent the cars from, employees to run the store, so figure out what you're overhead would be. How many vehicles would you have? If you don't have that many, the overhead will kill you.

What happens when the 19 year old blows the engine on that 911? Insurance doesn't cover that, and he probably had to save for a month to get the $400 to rent it. You going to do a credit check on clients who want higher end vehicles?

Realistically you'll probably only rent out the vehicles a maximum of 2-3 days per week. 95 Supra TT ~ $35,000, $200/day (400/week) rental - $200/week overhead = 3.4 year payout.

I guarantee no bank will give you a loan based on a business plan like that.

[2002civic]

so your 19 years old? Im guessing you have no post secondary and are trying to start your own "business".... carfanman and you should talk..but seriously why dont you go get a business degree, learn something about business and not go after the first get rich quick scheme you and some friends came up with...

[gp36912]

the concept might work with the right lineup of cars, but realisticly unless you have money coming out the ass then there is noway this is going to fly. the cars you are looking at are around the 30k price range easily. and like the others said already, the age group you are looking at really don't have the money to spend for renting cars all the time. though you might get some one time customers. not that many people will have the money to rent on a return basis. the only way i can think of high end rentals working out is for perspective bmw, mercedes, etc. purchasers that want to test drive their model of choice for a week to see how well it will fit into their daily life, because a 30 minute test drive tops, does show the performance, the ride, handling. but what about ergonomics for daily life, or practicality. or even fuel consumption.

[A790]

Originally posted by 2002civic
so your 19 years old? Im guessing you have no post secondary and are trying to start your own "business".... carfanman and you should talk..but seriously why dont you go get a business degree, learn something about business and not go after the first get rich quick scheme you and some friends came up with...

I am 19 yes and currently attending the Bissett School of Business at MRC. My partners have much more experience than I, including a private law practice and a restaurant.

Perhaps you should keep your mouth shut if you have nothing constructive to say. :whipped:

[Mr_John]

Originally posted by A790


I am 19 yes and currently attending the Bissett School of Business at MRC. My partners have much more experience than I, including a private law practice and a restaurant.



good luck with your venture
you know where i stand on your situation but id like to be proven wrong
honestly, just do the proper research
asking questions on a forum wont be worth anything
50% of the people could be talking crap out of their ass, "yes i'd rent from you guys".... but how many will actually do so and often...... or 50% of people might be saying, "yes we WOULD rent from you, but we dont really have any reason to rent from you guys anytime soon" - not sure if that all made sense... haha sorry if not
but this is all a start though

your business partners should have the experience to be able to help you with the proper proposal's and etc. if they already have business' up and running

[2002civic]

if you really want to guage interest set up a proper survey, im sure youve taken a research methods type class in your business school, make sure you get the right population and that should answer any questions you have, althought like mentioned above take it with a grain of salt as people will say yes when they might not really be interested...

[kaput]

.

[snowboard]

http://www.expresscarexotics.com/index.htm


there you are you handicapped felllowssssss
thats your competition.


Porsche gt3 for 1000 a day, damn id half that with a freind in a heartbeat.

[trdcelica]

www.expresscarexotics.com

[me&you]

Originally posted by snowboard
http://www.expresscarexotics.com/index.htm


there you are you handicapped felllowssssss
thats your competition.


Porsche gt3 for 1000 a day, damn id half that with a freind in a heartbeat.

Again, has anyone actually been to their location and seen the Gallardo or GT3 or 360 or even the Range Rover in person... doubt it.

[ninspeed]

First, most car rental companys BUY the cars... this is where they actually make their money... they buy a car for up to 20% less than MSRP. a) they buy in bulk (200 red, 400 white... ect).. when they turn around and sell them after 20k, the rental fees have paid for the loss incured after the first year, how ever, since they payed 20% less, when they dump the car they still make a little (if not break even).,... they buy brand new cars, brand new cars have warranty... no real maintiance cost other than oil changes.

Insurance is killer... Its classed as a commerical transport unit, and thus has to conform to all the comerical laws (hope your mechanic is licenced)..

You need HUGE cash to start... i am talking over 1 mill in cars that may just end up sitting there for weeks... tell me thats not a kick in the balls... setting up shop in one area is not a good idea..if you have no one renting, you are not making money else where to pay your bills...

for me to lease, insure, register, and maintiance cost on my ONE loaner (2005 mailibu sedan, 4cyl)... is 640$/month... and i have had it sit around and not get lent out for over a month (its for 1-2 day jobs/comebacks... everything seems to be 4 days plus as of late)