Anyone want to share a track day or two?
Discussion
I am looking for petrol heads to share the cost of some track days with my Westfield Megabusa. Check out my blog - http://petrolheadsonly.blogspot.com/
Health warning- this car is seriously addictive!
Health warning- this car is seriously addictive!
jleroux said:
an incredibly bad idea IMO - even to share a track car with a family member or friend/colleague - let alone with someone you hardly know! i know of 3 or 4 examples where a shared track car exercise has gone TU - for various reasons.
Jonny
BaT
I would agree completely.
If one hires a Caterham off you at BaT you know its properly insured - yes you might lose your deposit (good incentive to keep it on the black part) - but its your business and the risks are being managed.
I, too, have heard of instances where a "mate" has badly damaged a car...and the owner has no clue if he will really front up and pay up.
I've seen this happen a number of times, there was a classic case of this at Spa last year, a guy let his father have a 'couple of laps' in his SR4 who promptly tried Eau Rouge significantly faster than his talent permitted which resulted in a very very badly damaged car.
If you are going to do this it either needs to be with someone that you implicitly trust to fully bear the cost of any damage or you need to draw up a water tight contract between you as is the case when you hire a track car.
If you are going to do this it either needs to be with someone that you implicitly trust to fully bear the cost of any damage or you need to draw up a water tight contract between you as is the case when you hire a track car.
This is obviously something I have thought about. It is possible to get insurance for the day for about £100, although there is usually quite a high excess to pay. I would indeed need some sort of contract to sign as well. However, what I had in mind was someone who would want to do say 4 or 5 track days in a year and who would therefore have a vested interest in not wrecking the car. I could then take a view not spend the money on insurance. Also, I was intending to be in the car as a passenger when my guest is driving so I have some control if they are clearly driving like a muppet. But I reckon most people who are interested enough in cars to use this forum are probably quite sensible !?! Famous last words !
Kristin'sDad, crash damage is actually one of the easiest things to sort out in this kind of relationship. if someone crashes a car it's fairly obvious who should pay for it.
Here are just a few of the issues i've seen "partners" have in the past:-
consumables - how exactly do you quantify the cost of the servicing and consumables? (dics, pads, fluids, suspension bushes etc etc)
mechanical failure - say your new buddy blows the engine/gearbox up on his first outing - you think they're gonna dip in their pocket for the rebuild cost?
wear and tear items - again, say a clutch goes after 2-3 track days - are you hoping to get half the cost of the replacement clutch from your new track day buddy?
cosmetic damage but not structural - say your new buddy taps a cone or nudges a tyrewall. the paintwork is cracked but the car is otherwise undamaged. are you going to suggest your new buddy pays for a respray to get the car back to A1 condition?
reliability - not of the car but the owner. say your buddy arrives at the track day but for some reason you/your car doesn't.
cost of track time - who books the trackdays? what happens if the car breaks or gets crashed after 1 session?
depreciation - the car will essentially have had twice as much track (ab)use during it's life and when you sell the car this will invariably take it's toll.
as you can see, things can (and will) get fairly messy quickly. my advice if you're going to let anyone drive your car is either
a) do it commercially, or
b) make sure it's someone who you wouldn't even chase for payment from (wife, father, son etc)
Just my tuppence worth but I do have quite a bit of experience in this field!
Jonny
BaT
Here are just a few of the issues i've seen "partners" have in the past:-
consumables - how exactly do you quantify the cost of the servicing and consumables? (dics, pads, fluids, suspension bushes etc etc)
mechanical failure - say your new buddy blows the engine/gearbox up on his first outing - you think they're gonna dip in their pocket for the rebuild cost?
wear and tear items - again, say a clutch goes after 2-3 track days - are you hoping to get half the cost of the replacement clutch from your new track day buddy?
cosmetic damage but not structural - say your new buddy taps a cone or nudges a tyrewall. the paintwork is cracked but the car is otherwise undamaged. are you going to suggest your new buddy pays for a respray to get the car back to A1 condition?
reliability - not of the car but the owner. say your buddy arrives at the track day but for some reason you/your car doesn't.
cost of track time - who books the trackdays? what happens if the car breaks or gets crashed after 1 session?
depreciation - the car will essentially have had twice as much track (ab)use during it's life and when you sell the car this will invariably take it's toll.
as you can see, things can (and will) get fairly messy quickly. my advice if you're going to let anyone drive your car is either
a) do it commercially, or
b) make sure it's someone who you wouldn't even chase for payment from (wife, father, son etc)
Just my tuppence worth but I do have quite a bit of experience in this field!
Jonny
BaT
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