Why Not Rent?

If you only want a car every now and then, perhaps it makes sense to rent rather than buy or join a fractional car club. But, generally, rental companies are the more expensive route compared to the latter option.

If Mr. or Mrs. Smith is going to turn up at your rental outfit and drive away in £100k+ of sports car, it is reasonable to expect some usual (and some not so usual due to inexperienced drivers) wear and tear and the potential for the vehicle to become damaged. A fractional car club vets its members and the cars are generally better cared for due to the community aspect and the selection process-some even go as far as to attend other driving days so that members can familiarise themselves with performance cars before tackling the road.

Being purely selfish, you and I care not for the profit margins of the business owner; what matters to you and I is the bottom line cost.

One of the most desirable cars of the moment is the Ferrari F430 Spider, a drop-top drop-dead gorgeous slice of exquisite Maranello engineering and design. To hire this car from one of the leading rental companies for one week (7 days) breaks down as follows:

£4,200 for the actual rental
£5,000 insurance excess deposit

This is inclusive of a 450-mile allowance, with extra miles being charged at a heady £2.95 for each and every mile.

Compare this to London-based fractional club écurie25:

écurie25 membership cost:
£750 joining fee in the first year
£7,950 for full membership
Total paid: £8,700

If you then want to book the Ferrari F430 for a week at the height of summer, the equivalent cost is £3,074, inclusive of any mileage (within reason; a non-stop tour of Europe may rise eyebrows, but the mileage allowance for all members is 5,000 across the term of their yearly membership). The insurance deposit is the same.

Not to go into too much detail here as there are related articles on our site (here), but any term that includes weekends in the summer is going to be the most expensive way of getting behind the wheel at a fractional car club. If you change the term to be a 'winter' (xxx to xxx) week, then the cost drops to the equivalent of £2,146.

Further comparisons of other periods reveal the fractional option to be far and away the most economical.

Just one summer weekday in the same Ferrari shows that the rental option will set you back £1,195, whereas an écurie25 member pays a relatively piffling £261, less than 25% of the equivalent rental cost. Bear in mind also that, in line with almost all clubs, there is a membership fee only payable in the first year, so these costs will drop in the following years should you renew at the end of the first 12 months, as well as the fact that, when only renting the car for one day, your mileage allowance drops to 150, whereas it still forms part of your overall allowance at écurie25, so is unlimited to a certain extent.

So as not to limit this piece to one type of car, let us look to the classic end of the spectrum-the Jaguar E-Type, perfect for a cruise down to the coast with the top down on a summer's day.

The rental of this vehicle for three weekdays in August will set you back £550 with 300 miles inclusive. The Classic Car Club have branches at key locations throughout the UK, but in the interests of fairness, we will take the London branch's series III E-Type roadster, which, for the same period, costs the equivalent of £360 with no mileage restrictions, nor the £2,000 insurance deposit required against the rental. Once again, this includes a first-year joining fee (£750) that is not applicable in subsequent years.

See how to maximise your automotive enjoyment further still and maximise your time behind the wheel of your dream cars in the related article, "Getting the most out of your fractional ownership experience."

Although we have selected écurie25 and the Classic Car Club for this example, a full rundown of the UK and international car clubs is available here and prices will vary from rental company to company, but this, nevertheless, gives a flavour of the differences across the two options.

Rental prices are based on quoted prices from Bespokes, correct as at 25/10/06.

Articles

Any:
An Introduction to Fractionals

Art:
Fractional art donations prove charity starts at home

Handbags:
25 questions to ask about fractional handbag clubs

Boats & Yachts:
25 questions to ask a fractional boat operator
Fractional Boats in New Zealand
Pushing the (fractional) boat out
Boats & yachts- what's on offer?
Fractionalize This

Classic Cars:
25 questions to ask a fractional car club
Why opt for a 'fractional' classic car?
Classic Car Club Feature
Getting the most out of your fractional ownership experience
Why Not Rent?
You've Always Loved Cars?
Fractional Life hits Le Mans

Destination Clubs:
Lifestyle Asset Group: the best of both worlds
Relationship Selling to Todays Affluent Fractional Clientele
Mixed Use: Avoiding a mix up
Focus on the Registry Collection
DCs- Variety is the spice of (fractional) life
Fractional Property Glossary
Aspirational vs. Inspirational Media
Member Strategies For Lean Times
Brand Maintenance During An Implosion
What Goes Up Must Come Down...
Savings through Foreign Exchange
Fractional Finance Solutions
Destination Clubs- an alternative?
Fractional Ownership Heads to Europe
Private Residence Club Perspective Part 1
Quintess
Ultimate Resort
Calistoga Ranch
The Weybridge Collection
The Villas at The Grand del Mar
The Solstice Collection
Vacation Visions: Exceptional Exterior and Interior Designs of Residence and Destination Clubs 
Why the Boomers will change second home ownership in the US
Middle East Leisure Real Estate Market Booming
Bear Mountain Resort - A View from Paradise
New Association For Fractional Ownership
The New Vacation: A Time to Retune Re-Connect

Consultancy:
Profit Opportunities in Luxury Fractionals - A Summary

Exchange:
The Golden Rules of Fractionals

Racehorses:
A Horse by The Name of Fractional Life
Running Down a Dream

Corporate Hospitality:
So Long to the Suite Life

Aircraft & Jets:
25 questions to ask a fractional jet operator
Top tips for fractional jet travel
Jet Republic pilot applications reach new heights
Focus on Fractional Jet Europe
A closer look at fractional aviation
CoGoJets introduces jetpooling
Joining the jet set
Fly for a fraction of the cost
Flying without Wings
Can't afford that jet? Rent it
How Private Aviation Works

Legal Services:
Fractional ownership: is it timeshare in disguise?

Private Clubs:
A tale of two cities - Private residence clubs in San Francisco and London
The Italian Job: interview with Byrne Murphy of Palazzo Tornabuoni
Mixed Use: Avoiding a mix up
PRCs with added benefits
Northstars 'stay and play ' option
Private Residence Club Perspective
Fractional Property Glossary
What are the ingredients for the ideal Private Residence Club?
Savings through Foreign Exchange
Fractional Finance Solutions

Real estate:
Fractional Life in Ireland: For peat's sake!
Fractional Summit USA 2010- Speaker biographies
25 questions to ask about fractional property ownership
Fractional Summit Speaker Biographies
Fractional Property - The New Normal
Gay Community Embraces Fractional Property
Fractional Real Estate Investment Or Lifestyle Purchase?
Fractional Sales: Square Pegs In Round Holes?
Fractional Real Estate Commissions
Urban Fractionals
European Mixed-Use Resort Development in 2009
Mixed Use: Avoiding a mix up
Property- the legal issues
Fractional Holiday Getaways
Fractionals-Recession beaters?
State of fractionals
Fractional Property Glossary
Savings through Foreign Exchange
Fractional Finance Solutions
Fractional Property- the legal issues
Fractional Property Regulation
Fractional Ownership? We'll have a piece
Keep The Door Open
Why Fractional Property?
The Benefits of Fractional Ownership in Private Residence Clubs
Middle East Leisure Real Estate Market Booming
New Association For Fractional Ownership
Saving Homes, Homeowners and Banks Through Fractional Ownership?

Lifestyle:
Savings through Foreign Exchange
Convergence in the Fractional marketplace
The stock market for songwriters

Supercars:
25+ questions to ask a fractional car club
Live The High Life In A Fractional Supercar
Why Individuals Should Join A Supercar Club
Why opt for a 'fractional' supercar?
Focus on Marque II
Eco-road-warriors- How will the supercar club line-up of the future change?
Fresh metal- What's new on the supercar front?
So Why Not Buy?
You've Always Loved Cars?
Supercars- The cars of 2006/7
Let's Take The Lamborghini
Fractional Life hits Le Mans
Ascari Racing Festival Weekend
Fractional Supercars at the MPH Show
GROUP20 The SuperCar Club announce their 2007 Road Show in aid of Children In Need
New supercar club with green credentials

Luxury Motorhomes:
Denver RV show ready to roll

Wine & Spirits:
Wine