How much is a joyride in a fancy car worth?
February 10, 2010 12:45 PM Subscribe
Is this worth it? A question for the fancy imported car enthusiast.
Groupon is currently has this offer running:
$450 for One Full Day to Drive a Maserati Spyder, Audi R8, or Aston Martin Volante DB9, or Nissan GTR Through Club Sportiva (Up to $1,548 Value)
My fiancee is an absolute car nut. He reads the autoblogs daily, Top Gear is his favorite show, trolls the craigslist car section like other men look at porn, waves "hi" to all the other Audi A3's we see around town. So this seems like the perfect gift for him, right?
The only thing is we're saving for a June wedding. Is the money better spent put towards that or would the value of this experience be worth it? I think he'd get a real kick out of it but it's a fleeting experience so I'm not sure if he'd get $450 worth of kick from it.
I'm looking for the opinion of other car freaks and what they would think of this?
Groupon is currently has this offer running:
$450 for One Full Day to Drive a Maserati Spyder, Audi R8, or Aston Martin Volante DB9, or Nissan GTR Through Club Sportiva (Up to $1,548 Value)
My fiancee is an absolute car nut. He reads the autoblogs daily, Top Gear is his favorite show, trolls the craigslist car section like other men look at porn, waves "hi" to all the other Audi A3's we see around town. So this seems like the perfect gift for him, right?
The only thing is we're saving for a June wedding. Is the money better spent put towards that or would the value of this experience be worth it? I think he'd get a real kick out of it but it's a fleeting experience so I'm not sure if he'd get $450 worth of kick from it.
I'm looking for the opinion of other car freaks and what they would think of this?
$450's about the going rate in LA to rent an exotic/prestige car. If you're talking about renting a car like this to drive on public streets, why not try to incorporate your idea into the wedding. Get a white R8, the best man can surprise him with it before the wedding, then later you two go for a spin. That would be an awesome surprise.
posted by phaedon at 1:14 PM on February 10, 2010
posted by phaedon at 1:14 PM on February 10, 2010
Best answer: I am married to a guy just like your husband - even down to the CL ads as porn thing (I'm the waver in the family) and this would be a nice gift. That said - for 450.00 you can do a lot of other great car related things. That is a half day on the track at Russell Racing at Infineon in one of their formula cars. A full day at their outdoor go-kart track which is insanely fun. If he is an Audi guy - they have a dedicated Audi driving school there. I'd save up for one of those classes and make it a super duper awesome gift.
Those cars are all cool - but none of them are particularly exotic. They are the kinds of cars you'd likely see on the streets of SF on any given day. For those cars - I'd be surprised if the regular day rate was actually all that much more.
posted by Wolfie at 1:17 PM on February 10, 2010 [3 favorites]
Those cars are all cool - but none of them are particularly exotic. They are the kinds of cars you'd likely see on the streets of SF on any given day. For those cars - I'd be surprised if the regular day rate was actually all that much more.
posted by Wolfie at 1:17 PM on February 10, 2010 [3 favorites]
A pal is a car freak. A friend of a friend of his won a weekend with a [some terribly important sport car. What? Like I know?] a couple years ago. My pal only got to drive it briefly (though he can tell you the exact number of miles), and mostly spent the weekend fondling it from the passenger seat (he can tell you the exact number of miles for that too!). The photo of him and the car is permanently saved to his cellphone, and proudly shown off to anyone who shares an interest in cars. His buddy drove it on the open roads quite a bit. It never did see the inside of a track while they had it. Both are approaching retirement age. They still are reduced to giggling fanboys anytime they think about. It's a guy-bond they share, and a source of considerable pride when regaling other car freaks with the story. If I had the wherewithal to do so, I'd rent that car for them in a heartbeat just to give them another thrill so meaningful.
I have no idea whether $450 is considered a fair day rate for the Spyder, nor whether that's a car that'd make your car freak's heart flutter. But I do know the raffle ticket in their case was a couple grand. If you want to give him this, seems like it'd be a pretty romantic gesture from his POV. How about making it his wedding gift from you? Instead of a wedding budget hole and fleeting experience, it's part of the memory and buildup to the big day. An investment of romantic capital for your relationship and your sweetheart... :-)
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 1:18 PM on February 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
I have no idea whether $450 is considered a fair day rate for the Spyder, nor whether that's a car that'd make your car freak's heart flutter. But I do know the raffle ticket in their case was a couple grand. If you want to give him this, seems like it'd be a pretty romantic gesture from his POV. How about making it his wedding gift from you? Instead of a wedding budget hole and fleeting experience, it's part of the memory and buildup to the big day. An investment of romantic capital for your relationship and your sweetheart... :-)
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 1:18 PM on February 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
I don't know about this particular deal, but other exotic car rentals I've seen have a strict daily mileage limit. Something like 80-100 miles/day, then a hefty charge per mile above that.
That really makes it tough to get out of SF, find some fun roads and then make it back.
Mileage limitation + public roads = kind of a bummer.
If I were him, I'd rather spend the day go kart racing. Or even better, at a shifter kart racing class (like this)--way faster than any normal road car. But more money than you're talking about.
posted by mullacc at 1:35 PM on February 10, 2010
That really makes it tough to get out of SF, find some fun roads and then make it back.
Mileage limitation + public roads = kind of a bummer.
If I were him, I'd rather spend the day go kart racing. Or even better, at a shifter kart racing class (like this)--way faster than any normal road car. But more money than you're talking about.
posted by mullacc at 1:35 PM on February 10, 2010
Response by poster: It is limited to 100 miles for the day so we'd probably have to stick pretty close to the city.
Wolfie, thanks for the tip on the Audi school, I didn't realize they had that up at Infineon, I thought it was only Nascar. I think the two day track school would be a way more fun experience for my particular nut.
Thanks everyone, you've definitely helped me make my decision!
posted by lannanh at 1:52 PM on February 10, 2010
Wolfie, thanks for the tip on the Audi school, I didn't realize they had that up at Infineon, I thought it was only Nascar. I think the two day track school would be a way more fun experience for my particular nut.
Thanks everyone, you've definitely helped me make my decision!
posted by lannanh at 1:52 PM on February 10, 2010
if the "half day on the track at Russell Racing" is about the same as what I did at Skip Barbers school go with that. Until you have driven one of their formula cars on a track you have not driven. You are going (relatively) insanely fast around the track and will be amazed at how fast you really can go around a turn without losing traction. I did this before taking my own car to a trackday and it got me up to speed so much faster. You will also learn about HOW to take a turn and will never look at an on-ramp the same way again afterward. The other thing he can do is hooking up with the local Audi Club and start going to their track days. You go out with an experience driver who will teach you how to drive.
posted by Ferrari328 at 2:28 PM on February 10, 2010
posted by Ferrari328 at 2:28 PM on February 10, 2010
Note about renting one for the wedding: this. Mind you, your husband-to-be may not be reckless, but your wedding day is exciting enough as-is (and why open the door to potential tragedy on such a day?)
Just a post-decision reinforcement that a driving school half-day or full day is the way to go.
posted by davejay at 3:17 PM on February 10, 2010
Just a post-decision reinforcement that a driving school half-day or full day is the way to go.
posted by davejay at 3:17 PM on February 10, 2010
Response by poster: Ha, yes, davejay, I would never get him a special car rental on our wedding day. Not because I fear he would crash it but because it wouldn't be much fun for him if he was "stuck" at our reception with a toy tempting him. Or if he did take off, I'd hate to see the upper limit of my inner Bridezilla.
Audi has a 2.5 hour intro course for $250 which seems like a good start for him and the perfect Valentine's Day gift.
Ferrari328, do you have any other info on the Audi Club track days? I know he's talked to a couple people on some boards but I don't know if he knows about the track days.
Thanks again everyone!
posted by lannanh at 3:31 PM on February 10, 2010
Audi has a 2.5 hour intro course for $250 which seems like a good start for him and the perfect Valentine's Day gift.
Ferrari328, do you have any other info on the Audi Club track days? I know he's talked to a couple people on some boards but I don't know if he knows about the track days.
Thanks again everyone!
posted by lannanh at 3:31 PM on February 10, 2010
Please post which city's Groupon this is on. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to see the deal. Thanks!
posted by Nameless at 3:49 PM on February 10, 2010
posted by Nameless at 3:49 PM on February 10, 2010
Personally, as a car nut, I would rather go to a driving school at a track than rent an exotic car. Not that the rental wouldn't be cool, but a 100 mile limit is pretty short.
posted by kenliu at 5:05 PM on February 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by kenliu at 5:05 PM on February 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm with the folks that a track day or driving school would be way more fun than just renting an exotic car for tooling around town.
The whole point of those cars is to go fast. If you're limited to 100 miles range, and also to city streets, there's very little opportunity to really go fast. In stop-and-go traffic, a Corolla is as good as an Aston Martin.
posted by Netzapper at 6:04 PM on February 10, 2010
The whole point of those cars is to go fast. If you're limited to 100 miles range, and also to city streets, there's very little opportunity to really go fast. In stop-and-go traffic, a Corolla is as good as an Aston Martin.
posted by Netzapper at 6:04 PM on February 10, 2010
I've been looking at this Groupon as well. $450 is a good deal based on other rental companies' advertised rates for the Audi R8 (ranging from $1100 to $1800 per day). It's not quite as good a deal for the other three cars and it's actually offensive for the 2003 Spyder (a car worth about $30,000). It's also not clear if you have to pick the car up at Club Sportiva's San Jose location (near SJC airport); this would burn all your miles just getting it to SF and back.
If your guy would really love to drive an R8 and you're unlikely to put together the $2000 for the one day R8 Experience in Sonoma, this might be worth it. On the other hand, I'd probably rent you my 2008 911 C2S for less than $450 without a mileage cap.
posted by dbolll at 6:08 PM on February 10, 2010
If your guy would really love to drive an R8 and you're unlikely to put together the $2000 for the one day R8 Experience in Sonoma, this might be worth it. On the other hand, I'd probably rent you my 2008 911 C2S for less than $450 without a mileage cap.
posted by dbolll at 6:08 PM on February 10, 2010
Yes, a track day is the way to go. That way he car drive the car properly without having to worry about all the haggles of street driving.
posted by luckypozzo at 6:22 PM on February 10, 2010
posted by luckypozzo at 6:22 PM on February 10, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
If that is the question, the answer is CAR!!!
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:13 PM on February 10, 2010