Renting out a Ferrari, need some opinions

IlliniRyRy · #1 05-05-2005, 11:04 AM

It's always been a dream of mine to drive a Ferrari 355, I guess I could buy one but I don't particularly have any interest in dumping my entire savings for a car. There are a few used ones ('98-99) on EBay right now going for around 80k. I've thought off and on about ways of just buying the car for a few months or so and renting it out to people with the intention of having some free time with it and breaking even on the deal. Does anyone have any knowledge of the car rental business? I'm trying to develop a business plan here, and figure out if it's cost feasible. Insurance would obviously be one of the main issues, I haven't contacted any carriers yet, so I have no clue how much it would cost if I were to rent it out to your typical over age 25 driver and how much I would have to charge each renter. The going daily rate to rent a Ferrari at other companies that do this is around $750, which seems high. I've also thought about privately contacting individuals who might be interested in insuring this program, so if there's anyone on here that has interest, let me know. I'd probably only want the car for maybe 6 months or so, renting it out to the least possible number of drivers that I can over that period in order to break even on the costs once I re-sell it. It would also be fantastic if someone had interest in backing this deal along with me, so if you're in the Chicago area, let me know. Any suggestions or constructive criticism you guys have (as to why this may or may not work) would be helpful. In fact, maybe it's just better if I buy it outright, drive it around for awhile and then sell it since they seem to maintain their value. That might be less risky. Anyway, your thoughts....

purnell · #2 05-05-2005, 11:14 AM

Very bad place to put your money. If you need to think about the cost, owning an exotic sports car is not good.

slickpoppa · #3 05-05-2005, 11:14 AM

As you said, the biggest problem is insurance. If you are going to be renting it out, you will need an insurance company that will cover other drivers. So I think that should be the first thing you look into.

IlliniRyRy · #4 05-05-2005, 11:43 AM

All I'm really looking for is to break even on this, so without having done any research at this point, I think it would be safe to assume that insurance will be a killer. Buying it outright myself would carry a heavy price, but then again renting it out might entail more risk. I think a big part of this problem is liquidity too, I looked at the recent history for ferrari sales and the majority of the auctions ended without the reserve being met. One guy on there bought a 99 with 20k miles for 70k, which I believe was a steal. If I could get one for that price, I might as well just finance it myself with the intention of re-selling it soon after no?

IlliniRyRy · #5 05-05-2005, 11:46 AM

Oops, I mean '97.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...90640&rd=1

PokerFink · #6 05-05-2005, 11:49 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I looked at the recent history for ferrari sales and the majority of the auctions ended without the reserve being met.

[/ QUOTE ]

Being a college sophomore, I am by no means an expert on the economy or Ferraris, but woulden't this be directly linked to the poor economy lately? Perhaps investing in one now and renting/selling later could be profitiable?

Mike Haven · #7 05-05-2005, 12:44 PM

I borrowed a Ferrari Dino for a day, once. Boy, was it fun to drive!

I surfed a bit after reading your post and came up with this interesting kit-car site for 355's. I see that they appear to be looking for a US Agent ...

IlliniRyRy · #8 05-05-2005, 01:19 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I borrowed a Ferrari Dino for a day, once. Boy, was it fun to drive!

I surfed a bit after reading your post and came up with this interesting kit-car site for 355's. I see that they appear to be looking for a US Agent ...

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, that's a cool link. There's a replica on there for 17k GBP, that's about the value of the car I'm driving now. I'd trade for that in a second.

Fred G Sanford · #9 05-05-2005, 01:27 PM

There are a few companies that do this. There used to be one in Brooklyn, NY and one in LA. I don't know if they still exist. THey catered to movie stars and atheletes mostly.

I was in the daily rental business but in custom vans and insurance is very expensive and many companies won't even entertain insuring expensive cars that will be used for daily rental. Tough business for exotic cars. You think people beat up regular rentals, thats nothing compared to putting people in performance cars.

FGS

ethan · #10 05-05-2005, 01:29 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I surfed a bit after reading your post and came up with this interesting kit-car site for 355's. I see that they appear to be looking for a US Agent ...

[/ QUOTE ]

The best part about that page is the naked women in the background. Not easy to make your advertising that unsubtle [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]