Sharing a car?
Discussion
I live in London so I don't really have much time to use a sports car, and cost of ownership is high due to parking and insurance. But, the job's here, so I'm probably going to stay for a while.
Would anyone be interested in sharing a car? I joined a boat share last year and that's worked out well, and it's pretty common with planes too - why not cars? I have a Boxster at the moment, but I'd much rather have 1/2 of a Ferrari.
I know there are the points-based clubs, but they just don't seem to be great value. Anyone else thought about this?
Would anyone be interested in sharing a car? I joined a boat share last year and that's worked out well, and it's pretty common with planes too - why not cars? I have a Boxster at the moment, but I'd much rather have 1/2 of a Ferrari.
I know there are the points-based clubs, but they just don't seem to be great value. Anyone else thought about this?
nigelflack said:
I live in London so I don't really have much time to use a sports car, and cost of ownership is high due to parking and insurance. But, the job's here, so I'm probably going to stay for a while.
Would anyone be interested in sharing a car? I joined a boat share last year and that's worked out well, and it's pretty common with planes too - why not cars? I have a Boxster at the moment, but I'd much rather have 1/2 of a Ferrari.
I know there are the points-based clubs, but they just don't seem to be great value. Anyone else thought about this?
HiWould anyone be interested in sharing a car? I joined a boat share last year and that's worked out well, and it's pretty common with planes too - why not cars? I have a Boxster at the moment, but I'd much rather have 1/2 of a Ferrari.
I know there are the points-based clubs, but they just don't seem to be great value. Anyone else thought about this?
Yep, thought about it as I am in the same the boat (and I guess this subject has come up a few times on here).
In theory, makes total sense from an ownership / use point of view. I use my current car maybe once every two/three weeks - it gets no use during the week as I walk to work. So instead of having an average car 100% of the time, would be nice to have something special on the occasions I need use of a car.
In practice how would it work though? Where would it be kept? Do I know you well enough to plough 30/40K into a car that I dont have under lock and key ? Do I trust you well enough that you won't rag it when it's your turn to use it when I am trying to use it (reasonably !) sympathetically ? Whose to blame if the engine lunches itself whilst you or I are driving - fault of driver using at the time or mis-use by other owner who didnt let it warm up / down during use ? Whose name would it be in ? I might be twice your age...would we split insurance cost to reflect this ?
IMHO - great in theory, very difficult to execute in practice...if you crack it, let me know... I may be interested
HTH
Cheers
Edited by Yanto on Saturday 21st February 21:14
Thanks for your replies. I would have thought it would come up before, but didn't find anything from search. If you can point to a previous thread that would be great...
I think the model from boat sharing could work. Basically, a pretty solid legal agreement is drafted that covers everything. Typically maintenance and insurance costs are split evenly unless it's obvious someone screwed up and caused something to break. Scheduling could either be via internet or defined time periods - rotating weeks for example. Insurance would probably be the hardest - one option would be to each insure individually but obviously that would be more expensive. Either shared individual ownership or setting up a company for ownership would work.
Here's a sample boat share agreement for reference: http://www.high-spirits.us/BOATSYNDICATEAGREEMENT....
As to how how nicely to treat the car, it obviously wouldn't be 1 person's pride and joy, rather the group members would have to look at it as a cost-effective way of buying the use of the car. Yes, I think good behavious in terms of warm up and cool-down practice, and not totally thrashing it should be expected but ultimately there's no way to guarantee it. Realistic maintenance estimates and a slush-fund for the unexpected would probably be part of the deal, as would some kind of minimum age or driving history.
I'm up for looking into it a bit more if either of you (or anyone else) wants to consider it further. We could even just try it out with something cheap for 6 months and see how it goes and then decide on taking it further. Alternatively, meeting up and shopping for a Ferrari 360 (what I'd like ) would probably be a decent way to get to know a few basics about each other! Let me know...
I think the model from boat sharing could work. Basically, a pretty solid legal agreement is drafted that covers everything. Typically maintenance and insurance costs are split evenly unless it's obvious someone screwed up and caused something to break. Scheduling could either be via internet or defined time periods - rotating weeks for example. Insurance would probably be the hardest - one option would be to each insure individually but obviously that would be more expensive. Either shared individual ownership or setting up a company for ownership would work.
Here's a sample boat share agreement for reference: http://www.high-spirits.us/BOATSYNDICATEAGREEMENT....
As to how how nicely to treat the car, it obviously wouldn't be 1 person's pride and joy, rather the group members would have to look at it as a cost-effective way of buying the use of the car. Yes, I think good behavious in terms of warm up and cool-down practice, and not totally thrashing it should be expected but ultimately there's no way to guarantee it. Realistic maintenance estimates and a slush-fund for the unexpected would probably be part of the deal, as would some kind of minimum age or driving history.
I'm up for looking into it a bit more if either of you (or anyone else) wants to consider it further. We could even just try it out with something cheap for 6 months and see how it goes and then decide on taking it further. Alternatively, meeting up and shopping for a Ferrari 360 (what I'd like
) would probably be a decent way to get to know a few basics about each other! Let me know...anonymous said:
[redacted]
Sure - there are legal and other risks, but while there are "new" risks in terms of shared ownership, some of the risks of sole ownership are reduced - i.e. costs associated with maintenance, repairs, depreciation etc. As I said, this sort of thing gets done with boats and planes all the time - I don't see why it would be so different.As for events - either a scheduling system is devised that takes those into account, or it's a simple rotation or on-demand booking system.
There's no doubt at all that it's not the same as owning a car yourself - it simply cannot provide the same ownership experience and freedom of use that would. Still, to me the benefits seem to be worth the risks.
nigelflack said:
As I said, this sort of thing gets done with boats and planes all the time - I don't see why it would be so different.
Because boat and plane maintenance is almost solely based around running hours. You can't trash either of them much.You drive the car like grandad and I drive it like it's stolen all the time (but I don't tell you that). You pay half the brakes, clutches, tyres and various other things I wear out. I'm happy. Are you still?
It never works.
Daisy Duke said:
ThatPhilBrettGuy said:
Because boat and plane maintenance is almost solely based around running hours. You can't trash either of them much.
Whilst that's generally true, it's not always the case as my Dad demonstrates - he's written off two of them! 
I'd like to see a car club run in the same way as a supercar club but with more affordable machinery. Like many of you, I only drive my car once every 3 weeks or so, 3k miles a year, yet have to pay to service it, insure it and tax it for the whole year. And then there's the depreciation...
If there was a club in London which offered sports saloons and sports cars, I could be very tempted. I'd love to be in a position to have access to things like a Golf GTi, BMW 330i/335i or similar when I need something practical, an Elise, Exige or Boxster S when I don't need the practicality, and a Noble, TVR or Ferrari 355 when I want something really special. It's so rare that I need a car on the spur of the moment that I would happily pass up the convenience of having a car outside my flat to save money and have access to a wide variety of drivers cars.
If there was a club in London which offered sports saloons and sports cars, I could be very tempted. I'd love to be in a position to have access to things like a Golf GTi, BMW 330i/335i or similar when I need something practical, an Elise, Exige or Boxster S when I don't need the practicality, and a Noble, TVR or Ferrari 355 when I want something really special. It's so rare that I need a car on the spur of the moment that I would happily pass up the convenience of having a car outside my flat to save money and have access to a wide variety of drivers cars.
Edited by JimCross on Monday 2nd March 08:28
Have you looked at Classic Car Club? They might have a plan that works for you, although they're a bit short of performance machinery.
Marque II does a half-membership plan and the cars are a bit less exotic than most clubs. I think Ecurie25 does a half-membership too - especially if you go to one of their events and get on their email list - they seem to be willing to work special deals.
Marque II does a half-membership plan and the cars are a bit less exotic than most clubs. I think Ecurie25 does a half-membership too - especially if you go to one of their events and get on their email list - they seem to be willing to work special deals.
Yeah, classic car club is a bit closer, but the classics don't hold much interest for me, so I'd rather see better modern cars instead.
In terms of setting up a club like this, it's something I've thought about before, and a time like this would probably be ideal if you've got the cash given the drop in performance car prices. However, the initial outlay is so great that I can't see how you could make a return in the first 4-5 years.
Say you started with a Mk V Golf GTi, E46 M3, E46 330i, S2 Elise and S2 Exige and Boxster S (all second hand), you'd be looking at an initial outlay of something like £100k just on the cars.
If members were willing to pay something like £3k a year (about what it costs me to run my car), and you shared those cars between say 20 people, you'd only bring in enough money to pay one person's salary at best, without even considering all of the other overheads.
In terms of setting up a club like this, it's something I've thought about before, and a time like this would probably be ideal if you've got the cash given the drop in performance car prices. However, the initial outlay is so great that I can't see how you could make a return in the first 4-5 years.
Say you started with a Mk V Golf GTi, E46 M3, E46 330i, S2 Elise and S2 Exige and Boxster S (all second hand), you'd be looking at an initial outlay of something like £100k just on the cars.
If members were willing to pay something like £3k a year (about what it costs me to run my car), and you shared those cars between say 20 people, you'd only bring in enough money to pay one person's salary at best, without even considering all of the other overheads.
Edited by JimCross on Monday 2nd March 10:30
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