Rental owners: This one's for you.

S

Steve Ostrovitz

New member
A lot of you know me as the driver of the 07 ITS RX-7, one of the four Flatout Motorsports cars. (Most of you have passed me at one time or another). I am also an attorney and own my own practice. Racing and the law thankfully almost never mix, but as several of the Flatout Motorsports drivers have expanded into the rental of race cars, I have had reason to do some work in this area.

The short version is this: I have spent a considerable amount of time over the last few months researching the business side of renting race cars, particularly rentals at the Club Racing level. I have reviewed countless rental contracts and found them to be barely worth the paper on which they were printed. Additionally, few racers are using anything that addresses liability, and if they are, the wording is inadequate, leaving the car owner wide open. I’ve heard numerous horror stories from other racers about rental deals gone bad. As a result, I have developed a small set of easy to use and understand documents designed specifically for the rental of race cars for drivers’ schools, track events, and races. (And yes, I have the blessing of the owner of this site to post this here.) I am offering the package to fellow racers at a huge discount for a set fee. If you’re interested, please contact me directly.

Thanks

Steve Ostrovitz
[email protected]
 
Originally posted by Steve Ostrovitz:
A lot of you know me as the driver of the 07 ITS RX-7, one of the four Flatout Motorsports cars. (Most of you have passed me at one time or another). I am also an attorney and own my own practice. Racing and the law thankfully almost never mix, but as several of the Flatout Motorsports drivers have expanded into the rental of race cars, I have had reason to do some work in this area.

The short version is this: I have spent a considerable amount of time over the last few months researching the business side of renting race cars, particularly rentals at the Club Racing level. I have reviewed countless rental contracts and found them to be barely worth the paper on which they were printed. Additionally, few racers are using anything that addresses liability, and if they are, the wording is inadequate, leaving the car owner wide open. I’ve heard numerous horror stories from other racers about rental deals gone bad. As a result, I have developed a small set of easy to use and understand documents designed specifically for the rental of race cars for drivers’ schools, track events, and races. (And yes, I have the blessing of the owner of this site to post this here.) I am offering the package to fellow racers at a huge discount for a set fee. If you’re interested, please contact me directly.

Thanks

Steve Ostrovitz
[email protected]
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Exactly why you need to pick rental drivers with great care. We no longer rent cars to drivers we don't know unless they are highly recommended from other personal friends.

Be Careful.
~E.


P.S. - If you figure out how to make money doing it- please let me know! ;^)

[This message has been edited by Edwin Robinson (edited February 17, 2004).]
 
Originally posted by Edwin Robinson:

Exactly why you need to pick rental drivers with great care. We no longer rent cars to drivers we don't know unless they are highly recommended from other personal friends.
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Ah, but you have to remember that at times a person's obligations to their family and perhaps to themselves takes precedence over what friendship and "doing the right thing" would have them do. For example, I have a friend that was having a birthday party for her son on the deck at her home when the deck collapsed dropping more than ten people onto a concrete patio 15' below. My friend broke both heels, a pregnant friend broke an arm, one man had a heart attack, etc. One retired couple amassed so much in medical bills they were simply unable to pay them. They were pretty much forced into the position of suing my friend in order to pay their bills. Fortunately, they all agreed that it was the only way out and they remain friends today.

The morale is we simply can not guarantee how someone, someone's family, someone's insurance company, someone's estate, or the government or other governing body will view our appearance of negligence in a foreseen or unforeseen situation. It is truly unfortunate....


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-Scott Gallimore
-ITC #88 Pulsar

[This message has been edited by sgallimo (edited February 18, 2004).]
 
Regardless of someone's status as friend or family(or whatever) you have to treat the rental business as an arm's length transaction almost assuming that there will be an incident and that you will be sued. Good forms are important but you have to use them and rely upon them too.
Rental is the only way that you can make $$ in racing IMO. But you have to know the real costs of doing business as rental and charge an appropriate amount.
I did a set of forms for myself and a friend and mainly followed the rental car business( bailment law) and tracked the SCCA participant release language. So far no one has tested the language ie court. It is only at that point that you know that you have done enough.
 
Originally posted by racer_tim:
You break it you fix it, you bend it you buy it.
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That seems to cover collision damage, but what about mechanical failure? Is that typically covered by the owner or the renter? If I owned a car and the renter overreved the engine and blew it up I'd want to be compensated. However, if I rented a car and the engine blew up on the first lap through no fault of my own, I'd want to be compensated, not be expected to pay for fixing the owner's junk. If it's a judgement call I could see a serious difference of opinion.

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Marty Doane
ITS RX7 #13
CenDiv WMR
 
Andy (and others)-

What is your opinion (legal or otherwise) on the following scenario...

At a 3 hr enduro the car owner and 2 rentals decide to split the costs of the event; $900.00 (300.00 each). An agreement is made, you break it you buy it. An amount of $10,000 is put on the cars worth.

The car owner drives the first hour without any problems, then the second driver gets in, experiences a little brake fade after 15 minutes and when he/she goes into the next turn their are no brakes and no run off room. The car hits the wall at over 80mph and the car is destroyed (driver is not injured due to the safety of the Audi automobile
wink.gif
).

Meanwhile the second car (identical car, also with 2 "rental" drivers") has a fire during the cleanup and is out of the race also. This car has almost new brakes and they appear as though they would have lasted another 3 hours.

We decide the reason for the brake failure was that we received a bad set of brakes (Portafield). We think were sent the wrong material or they were boxed wrong or whatever. Anyway the brake company sold the brakes as is no warranty or guarantee...

Who should pay what portion of the total $900.00 initial costs (Remember 1 driver never got to drive). And who pays the $10,000 replacement cost for the car?

If your answer is "depends on the agreement" then what would your agreement say?

Raymond Blethen

PS: We only took $100.00 from the 2 "rental" drivers of that car that had the brake failure (help pay entry fee) as we did not make any agreements before the race started.

The second car actually caught on fire (wiring failure not drivers fault) and we charged one driver a decent rental fee for the school and part of the enduro and the second rental driver still hasn't made any contribution.
 
My agreement places that decision in the discretion of the Owner. If it is decided that damage was fault of driver, driver pays; if Owner decides to cut the driver a break, Owner obviously has some business ethics. If there is dispute, an independent race prep shop acts as mediator and makes the decision. Remember that if the car belonged to driver, he would bear the cost of the damage regardless of fault anyway.
I also placed the decision of whether damage can be repaired during the course of weekend in the hands of the Owner. I had one renter who damaged something in every session so I eventually just parked the car based on that language before something really major occurred.
Two or multiple driver cars would be a special problem although it would just seem to be part of the risks or cost of doing business to the renter that the car might not survive(especially if he chose his co-driver). I can recall Firehawk race yrs ago where I ran for first two hrs and co-driver put it in the wall in less than 15 min. I would have been very upset if the roles had been reversed but dont think that I would have demanded my $$ back from owner.
 
Tough call all around. If you feel you installed the wrong parts on the car and the car fails, I say it's on you and your rental program. It would then be your job to go after the company you sourced the pads from to prove they were neglegent - and their job to prove you were.

I think MOST owners are intentionally providing cars with good parts. If the car failed the driver in a way that wasn't predicable, I think I would try and be flexible. One more reason to equip the rental with a video camera.

AB

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Andy Bettencourt
06 ITS RX-7
FlatOut Motorsports
New England Region #188967
 
That's why I refer to it as good business ethices. Do the right thing, whatever that is, despite what your agreement says.
 
I find it amusing that the driver said the "brakes failed" going into the turn at 80 mph causing the crash. I've had brakes fail many times over the past decade, but prior to any damage there were always some signs of trouble, such as a soft pedal, etc. As a matter of fact, I remember doing a 1-hour enduro with just the hand brake.

That racer owes you 10K. Before going into any agreement, it should be a written contract. I try to spell out everything. I also indicate that there is no refund for ANY mechanical failure. You pay your money and you take your chances.

You can check out my rental webpage for my Targa Newfoundland Rally Rental agreement at
www.geocities.com/mcnuttracing/targa.html
 
I tend to agree. Unless there is proof of massive failure, the driver at the minimum kept driving too hard with "failing brakes". ?- were there skid marks leading to the point of impact
I know that there is a difference in skill and response ie appropriate levels but we've all done complete races on failing brakes. I've also stuffed it into the tire wall and/or kitty litter because I didnt get my foot off the brake pedal in time. Now if you could show me that the brake pad disintegrated or caliper stuck or blew out, I might have a different opinion.
 
The car owner drives the first hour without any problems, then the second driver gets in, experiences a little brake fade after 15 minutes and when he/she goes into the next turn their are no brakes and no run off room. The car hits the wall at over 80mph and the car is destroyed (driver is not injured due to the safety of the Audi automobile ).

Meanwhile the second car (identical car, also with 2 "rental" drivers") has a fire during the cleanup and is out of the race also. This car has almost new brakes and they appear as though they would have lasted another 3 hours.

We decide the reason for the brake failure was that we received a bad set of brakes (Portafield). We think were sent the wrong material or they were boxed wrong or whatever. Anyway the brake company sold the brakes as is no warranty or guarantee...
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Sorry guys - you have to read the situation carefully. A "little" brake fade is something we have all had - to go from that to no brakes is not normal. Then to add in that the WRONG PARTS WERE INSTALLED!!!! Guess who is to blame. The constructor.

Yes you take your chances but I would argue that there is an assumption that the correct parts are in place and they are in goo dworking order and have been inspected. Can someting go wrong, you bet...but the fault here is not with the driver.

If it were me, I would work something out with the driver. Our contracts do say the driver is 100% responsible but you have to have some ethics. When you say you installed the wrong brake pads and the brakes failed I think you are walking a fine line asking the driver to pay.

AB


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Andy Bettencourt
06 ITS RX-7
FlatOut Motorsports
New England Region #188967
 
We unfortunately have had issues with brakes on the Audi's before...

I am not sure if it is the Porterfield pads or what, but the brakes on these cars work perfect until they just no longer work.

The example given above was a true story (although the car was not completely destroyed it was totaled in our terms and most would have built a new car. We did repair it enough too barely go to the ARRC last year). We did not charge the driver anything, as we were just happy he was uninjured. We did not take blame for the accident (there is no way for us to tell it was the wrong compound, they all look the same), nor did we place blame. We considered it an unfortunate situation for all. We do know that the accident was because of no brakes as the tires had zero flat spots and the driver was a good friend who has been racing for as long as I can remember and we know he wouldn’t have done anything that stupid. We also looked at the pads after and they were completely worn out.

However could that particular accident been avoided, yes, but we did not expect for the driver to know that any sort of brake fade was a major sign of something wrong and that they should pull over immediately or drive slowly back to the pits. Many cars do have brake fade and you simply need to pump them up. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case with our cars as we have had other potentially serious incidents (anyone remember when Stephen hit the tires in turn 3 at 90+mph and ended jumping the concrete wall landing in turn 10?). We now know to tell any driver that drives the car this story in hopes that this never happens again.

All of our experiences teach us something new; I hope that my sharing of this story has taught you something. Possibly that a need for a contract is important (even if it is friends or family) and I would think included in that contract you should keep lists of potential issues that any driver who steps behind the wheel of your car should know.

Thanks for the discussions, it is interesting to see different points of view.

Raymond Blethen
RST Performance Racing

PS: I could tell you some stories and disagreements that have occurred when my brother and I have traded cars... luckily we both work on both cars, and we are more interested in the team success rather than individual success!!!
 
Bottom line: YOU MUST HAVE A CONTRACT.

AB

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Andy Bettencourt
06 ITS RX-7
FlatOut Motorsports
New England Region #188967
 
Car was fine for an hour, and had total brake failure in 15 minutes? I don't know your cars, but I just don't buy it. If they had total failure within a lap or two of leaving the pits I could belive it, but sheesh? If these cars really do that I sure would be wary of ever getting in one!

Regardless, you have to assess what you feel is fair. I rented my SM for the school at roebling. After two days of driving, in the middle of the third I saw my car with a dent in it and the hood open.

I CALMLY proceeded over to find out what happened. Turns out the car builder (I bought the car used and had to fix tons of real saftey issues) had just drilled and tapped the quick release nut and then threaded it onto the stearing shaft. The 'locking' mechanisim was either locktite (doubtful) or just bottoming the threads out.

Anyway, I fixed the car, was glad that the driver and the car were in overall good shape and sent out my now skittish driver.

I am so glad that it didn't happen to me in Atlanta!

Second moral to the story. Don't buy used race cars regardless of how good the competitors tell you the car is!

Alan
 
Originally posted by racer-025:
I find it amusing that the driver said the "brakes failed" going into the turn at 80 mph causing the crash. I've had brakes fail many times over the past decade, but prior to any damage there were always some signs of trouble, such as a soft pedal, etc. As a matter of fact, I remember doing a 1-hour enduro with just the hand brake.
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I drove a car in an endurance race (an Audi, no less!) when the pad material decided to leave the backing plate heading into an accute turn of a wall-line street course. I had no warning that the car was not going to stop until I got hard on the binders. Thankfully, the car had a parking brake and I was lucky enough to spin it to a stop. I also drove another car in an enduro when the LF wheel sheared the studs immediately upon touching the brakes. While I would agree that most times a car will provide you with some type of warning, immediate failures can and do happen.

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Scott Webb
WebbRacing.com
 
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