Are any of you monetizing your car?

[rjd2]

I know this may sound corny-it sounds a little corny to me, frankly-but I periodically wonder about monetizing classic cars-Delorean being a great candidate-and wonder if anyone on here has explored this. Last year a church wanted me to donate my car as a prop for a fundraiser. I wasnt comfortable with the insurance liability, as big crowds were potentially going to be on or near the car, and I didnt think that babysitting it for free for 4 hours with a positive attitude was in my wheelhouse. So I passed. I later heard that they rented one for somewhere around $1500 for the event. I'm going to be finishing the resto on a 2nd Delorean this year, and am looking ahead to what my plan is. Owning two of the same car seems silly, even though I'm thoroughly emotionally invested in the second car. I'm essentially trying to find a financial argument for keeping it, which would be way more sensible if I could have one of them generate income. Would love to hear any thoughts or experiences around this. Thanks.

[Rich]

It's a fair question, not very corny. It can be a lot of fun. But be sure you know what you're doing.

There's an old thread on this topic. There may be others.

There's also this resource.

Two considerations about the business - and it IS a business:

1. Your success rate in event rentals has a lot to do with your location and how many other Ds are on offer there. Not to mention Time Machine conversions for rent.

2. Get in touch with your auto insurance outfit about your plans and/or read your policy. If you'd like to run a rental business using one of your Ds, not just drive it for personal use, then be sure it's covered for that. Otherwise losses/damages associated with a rental event might be on you, to say nothing of personal liability if something goes sideways. If you use an event rental broker/agent they may cover your risk for a given event, taking their fee for that from you or your customer.

And I'm not a lawyer or agent, so take this for what it is, some free, non-expert guesses.

[jackb]

I have rented mine out a few times over the last couple years. Never caught it out; they came to me. But I could use the money so I'm probably going to try to be a little more proactive.

The rate I've charged varies based on time/location/duration, and purpose/how deep the renters pockets are.