[vinaydas]

Great initiative.

But I have a query.
Basically you are renting out the car for personal use, so shouldn't the plates be in yellow?

what about insurance in case of an accident? (I'm sure there will be incidents of people cracking bumpers of the F430 on our Indian roads)

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by vinaydas

Great initiative.

But I have a query.
Basically you are renting out the car for personal use, so shouldn't the plates be in yellow?

what about insurance in case of an accident? (I'm sure there will be incidents of people cracking bumpers of the F430 on our Indian roads)

Both Points are already covered in the first post, I am quoting them again for your reference -

Originally Posted by GTO

• All cars are registered in the name of "Torque Lifestyle LLP". They have a master right-to-lease agreement, which allows members to lease the car for a short-term duration. Thus, each time that a car is taken out, a short-term lease is drawn. This ensures that the procedures are in compliance with all legal, RTO & insurance requirements.

Originally Posted by GTO

• Cars are screened with a fine-toothed comb at the time of each pickup / drop-off. If a Member damages any car, he has to pay the insurance deductible (cost of repair less whatever the insurance company pays). If a member is found to be frequently damaging / abusing cars, his membership can be terminated.

[magikrider]

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Imagine arriving for a date/meeting in a 430! Talk about first impressions .

and that would come up to Rs. 45,000/- for a weekday and Rs. 90,000/- for the weekend and that too for the elite membership!

the Sports membership cost for the same would come up to Rs. 48,000/- and Rs. 96,000/- and in the Enthusiasts membership the same would cost Rs. 50,000/- and Rs. 1,00,000/- for the weekday and weekend respectively!

now with that kind of money to make an impression on a date/meeting... it better be one helluva date/meeting!

heck! its still not worth it... leave it!

[tsk1979]

Lets say I was able to afford 5 lakhs a year for this thing.

What would I get?
A porsche 911 for 20 days in a year. I would probably drive it on expressways, and some good highways. Many scenic places would be out of bounds due to fuel availability, so I can drive it around Mumbai, or Delhi, avoiding any back roads.

So while I would "own" a supercar, it would not really make much sense.

However, lets say I can also afford to give myself a week long vacation every year.
I would spend 80,000 on a return ticket to USA.
Rent a supercar for a week for 2500$, or an exotic for 4000$.

do a nice vacation, drive on the best driving roads.
And come back, after spending 4Lakhs.

In those 4L I get a nice vacation, I drive a supercar on "real supercar" roads, admist lovely scenery.

Now lets say I do not want to torture myself with Jetlag and all.

So what do I do?

I rent from Auto Europe. 3000$ gets me a supercar, including insurance with around 1000 EU deductible(in case I crash or lose the car).

35K will buy me a return air ticket.

I can drive on the Autobahns, or simply go up and down the lovely swiss passes. All for less than 2L

So as somebody with 5L to spare, why would I rent a supercar to drive around in front of my house in the city, when for half the price, I can actually take my spouse with me to Germany, Switzerland, and actually do supercar cruising!

Food for thought!

Now If I were to budget such a trip
1. Air tickets for me and spouse 70000
2. Visa etc., : 5000
3. Hotels for 8 nights = 1500EU(luxury hotel)
4. Fuel cost = 2000 EU (assuming I am going to drive a looooot!)
5. Misc expenses - 1000 EU
6. Car = 2500 EU (MAX!)
So for 75000 INR + 7000EU I have a family vacation staying in luxury resorts.

I have even put 1000 EU misc expenses, and hotel expenses I have chosen the most expensive hotels. you actually get quite good chalets and hotels for 200$/night.

So if you wnat a supercar not for the saturday night at the club, but because you actually love supercars, I would actually make a vacation. With some sacrifice on hotel front, and shopping front, it actually works out much cheaper.
Thoughts please?

PS: When I first read this thread, I thought, great idea. I told about it to my wife. She said "Are you nuts...". 5L will get you a supercar and a nice vacation in the alps. Why not drive the supercar there. One day of alps driving will be more satisfying than going around India gate for 20 days.
So I did the math... and she is indeed right!

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

So if you wnat a supercar not for the saturday night at the club, but because you actually love supercars, I would actually make a vacation. With some sacrifice on hotel front, and shopping front, it actually works out much cheaper.
Thoughts please?

- No way other expenses would be 1000 EU for a week. Food + Shopping for a week will cost a lot more than that. Unless your wife is a supercar fanatic like you, she'd want to do more than just drive around in an exotic car in an exotic location without shopping!

- If your family is larger (2 Kids, for example), your expenses shoot up further when you take a vacation.

- It's a bit inconvenient if you have to fly half way across the globe to enjoy a car. No need to take days off from work when you are a member of the Supercar Club.

- You can enjoy a car multiple times in a year when you are member. It's *almost* like owning one.

See, I would like to drive a Porsche 911 or a Ferrari or an Audi too. But I don't like to do that so much that I have to take a European or an American holiday everytime I want to drive those cars.

And at the end of day, Club Torque is a for-profit business, and they are here to make money over the long term. If you take out an XL sheet for everything, lots of businesses won't make sense to the consumers.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by smartcat

- No way other expenses would be 1000 EU for a week. Food + Shopping for a week will cost a lot more than that. Unless your wife is a supercar fanatic like you, she'd want to do more than just drive around in an exotic car in an exotic location without shopping!

- If your family is larger (2 Kids, for example), your expenses shoot up further when you take a vacation.

- It's a bit inconvenient if you have to fly half way across the globe to enjoy a car. No need to take days off from work when you are a member of the Supercar Club.

- You can enjoy a car multiple times in a year when you are member. It's *almost* like owning one.

See, I would like to drive a Porsche 911 or a Ferrari or an Audi too. But I don't like to do that so much that I have to take a European or an American holiday everytime I want to drive those cars.

And at the end of day, Club Torque is a for-profit business, and they are here to make money over the long term. If you take out an XL sheet for everything, lots of businesses won't make sense to the consumers.

Actually, I was comparing options for a guy with 5L to spare every year for supercar pursuits. People with resources for these, often make Europe trips, and travel to other exotic destinations.
Now, this particular business is not just competing with other supercar rental services in India, but also with other rental services all over the world.
That said, most places in India are not made to enjoy supercars. Traffic is bad, roads are pothole ridden. Infact, there hardly exist any mountain roads where you can enjoy a supercar without exceeding speed limit.
In contrast to that, in the western mountain roads, speed limit is usually 60-80kmph, which is infact hard to achieve on hairpins even with a supercar.
So actually going abroad once a year still makes more sense, if you combine your supercar love with a normal foreign vacation.

[SmartCat]

Porsche Cayenne Turbo or Merc G55 AMG ought to be there in the list then! I'm with you on driving on the mountain roads / beautiful scenery bit. But I guess a typical supercar customer in India or a Club Torque member has other priorities & requirements.

[911987]

Not plugging the Torque club here,but I think the exclusivity and snob value factor also come into play,for some at least.
Driving a supercar in India,where the numbers are still limited,in sight of friends and associates would be a greater incentive to shell out money in lakhs for the privilege,as opposed to driving similar cars in relative anonymity abroad,where such cars abound in greater numbers.

[S2!!!]

I do agree with tsk1979 here.

Just the previous night a couple of friends and I were having a discussion on this very idea. There are three very strong reasons IMO due to which I would not hire a supercar here.

Firstly, driving around in Mumbai will leave me with no other emotion but that of fear. Fear of scraping the underbelly or damaging the bumpers of these low slung exotics, fear of two-wheelers flicking the very expensive ORVMs, fear of auto and other drivers scratching the car while squeezing in the gaps.

Secondly, there is no place in town where you can enjoy even a fraction of the potential of these cars except those short sprints (where you can feel the surge of power) which get over in a few metres. Getting these for a track day is another story, but Mumbai does not have a track around does it??

Thirdly, for those who want the car to make a statement, all I would say is, "REALLY???" Do you actually think driving around in a rental makes your moustache go upwards?? Flaunt what you got, why a rental??

So we came to a conclusion that one could rather travel overseas, rent a car
abroad and feel the real pleasure of driving an exotic on smooth tarmac while enjoying the beautiful sights of the foreign country rather than spending their money and time on our potholed roads.

These are solely my opinions. To each his own right??

[kbk_75]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Rent a supercar for a week for 2500$, or an exotic for 4000$.

Anything exotic (Ferrari 458, Aventador, LP640, etc) costs more like $2000 a day in New York

[ajain14]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

So as somebody with 5L to spare, why would I rent a supercar to drive around in front of my house in the city, when for half the price, I can actually take my spouse with me to Germany, Switzerland, and actually do supercar cruising!

Food for thought!

So if you wnat a supercar not for the saturday night at the club, but because you actually love supercars, I would actually make a vacation. With some sacrifice on hotel front, and shopping front, it actually works out much cheaper.
Thoughts please?

Hey, nice elaborate post! While going abroad and doing these road trips certainly present an attractive option, and i am sure all of us want to do it. Without going into the long financial analysis you have done, the idea behind Club Torque is slightly different. You ll agree that it takes a lot of planning to get a trip like that organised. Also, you will have to consume all your driving days together. "Law of diminishing marginal returns?"

While at Club Torque, you can choose to eat the Proverbial "Laddus" again and again... you can take the cars for smaller durations, multiple no. of times. You can look forward to the experience probably once every month. The service is practically available at your door step. Also, you can look forward to more choices as we would keep adding cars, so there is more coming your way. You ll get to meet / network with other Car enthusiasts and we know long term friendships get formed on a common passion.

Would love to hear your feedback on this.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by kbk_75

Anything exotic (Ferrari 458, Aventador, LP640, etc) costs more like $2000 a day in New York

I was talking about the base plan 5 lakhs a year. The cars this plan gets you cost less than 3000$ a week.

Originally Posted by ajain14

Hey, nice elaborate post! While going abroad and doing these road trips certainly present an attractive option, and i am sure all of us want to do it. Without going into the long financial analysis you have done, the idea behind Club Torque is slightly different. You ll agree that it takes a lot of planning to get a trip like that organised. Also, you will have to consume all your driving days together. "Law of diminishing marginal returns?"

While at Club Torque, you can choose to eat the Proverbial "Laddus" again and again... you can take the cars for smaller durations, multiple no. of times. You can look forward to the experience probably once every month. The service is practically available at your door step. Also, you can look forward to more choices as we would keep adding cars, so there is more coming your way. You ll get to meet / network with other Car enthusiasts and we know long term friendships get formed on a common passion.

Would love to hear your feedback on this.

You are very very right. Infact, if we had the infrastructure, I would agree with you. The problem is that, I feel, in India, driving a supercar does not give any pleasure unless your aim is show off. Roads here are dangerous, and not fit for such cars. traffic is unorganized, and no rules are followed.
A lot of places where you would want to drive a supercar do not have roads which won't rip the underbody out.

Few kms from my place is a posh colony where a house costs 20 crorers. If somebody bought a supercar there, they would break the front bumper on the speed breaker right outside their house.

So thats why I say, go take a foreign holiday!

[scooby05]

Originally Posted by ajain14

Hey, nice elaborate post! While going abroad and doing these road trips certainly present an attractive option, and i am sure all of us want to do it. Without going into the long financial analysis you have done, the idea behind Club Torque is slightly different. You ll agree that it takes a lot of planning to get a trip like that organised. Also, you will have to consume all your driving days together. "Law of diminishing marginal returns?"

While at Club Torque, you can choose to eat the Proverbial "Laddus" again and again... you can take the cars for smaller durations, multiple no. of times. You can look forward to the experience probably once every month. The service is practically available at your door step. Also, you can look forward to more choices as we would keep adding cars, so there is more coming your way. You ll get to meet / network with other Car enthusiasts and we know long term friendships get formed on a common passion.

Would love to hear your feedback on this.

All Agreed Amit, But, why not change to a minimum of 2 days instead of 3, and Please add some more exotics to the stable. With just 3 exotics, the rush and waiting is not what people paying up 15 lacs would like!
Do you also plan on one off renting out to non members when a car is standing idle?
You have your plans on filtering laid out, but, are you planning to impart a formal training to the members, if they so desire, to handle these cars well enough. See the Risks you carry with the recent Lambo Balboni crash in Delhi!

[ajain14]

Originally Posted by scooby05

All Agreed Amit, But, why not change to a minimum of 2 days instead of 3, and Please add some more exotics to the stable. With just 3 exotics, the rush and waiting is not what people paying up 15 lacs would like!
Do you also plan on one off renting out to non members when a car is standing idle?
You have your plans on filtering laid out, but, are you planning to impart a formal training to the members, if they so desire, to handle these cars well enough. See the Risks you carry with the recent Lambo Balboni crash in Delhi!

All good points..

The 3 day clause is to ensure that in case of back to back bookings, due to indiscipline of some members, the others don't suffer, and this is something which we would like to review once we have more data on consumer behaviour and usage pattern.

We have plans to add lot more cars as the club grows. Currently the plan is to add a car a month, which basically means 60000 points sold or 6 Elite members. You ll be surprised that the most utilised car currently is the E-cabriolet.Every car we have in the club is there for a reason and the whole idea is that this will be a community of our members and member feedback will be the key to add future cars.

Currently we don't plan to give the cars out to non members and our utilisation is structured to cater to downtime and periodic maintenance. We may use the cars for some promotions, PR in the idle time.

Since we are the owners of the cars, we are very concerned about the safety and proper usage of our assets. We do have a formal training program which every member has to undergo before he is inducted into the membership plan. Besides, there is a half hour tutorial on controls, every time the car is handed over. I hope that i have been able to answer some of your questions to satisfaction.

[Scorcher]

From Club Torque's Facebook page,

Which Lamborghini made it to their garage?