james exotic company

Covering Your Assets
Exotic car rental operators must go above and beyond the usual safeguards to ensure they’re renting to reputable clients.

Gotham Dream Cars does a criminal background check, a driving record check and a credit check. The company also takes a $10,000 security deposit on top.

Specialty Rental Cars does not do a criminal background check. The company makes sure the actual credit card is swiped, and takes a deposit of $1,500 to $5,000.

Location Philippines, Sultan Kudarat Tacurong City

Malvar Street

Buying and Selling – The Challenge of Depreciation
Part of being a successful exotic rental car operator is knowing how and when to purchase and remarket vehicles.

Lehmann-Haupt adds to the fleet with sufficient customer demand. He recently got a call from a guy who wanted to go to Atlantic City but needed room for his buddies and their girlfriends. He couldn’t fulfill the request. Realizing highline four-seaters were lacking in his fleet, Lehmann-Haupt bought the comparatively roomy Bentley.

“Every car fits a profile,” he says. “I don’t get two cars that compete with each other. The guy renting the Aston Martin is not the guy renting the Ferrari F430; they’re different customers.”

“We have good relationships with dealerships that offer us new cars for wholesale prices,” says Lehmann-Haupt. “They know we’re repeat customers, and that the cars we purchase from them are rolling advertisements.”

Lehmann-Haupt says he generally purchases new vehicles, though buying a new exotic comes with a warning tag: it can depreciate by $100,000 in one year. He replaces vehicles on a car-by-car basis through private channels and selling to customers “who fell in love with the vehicle they rented.”

Petherbridge typically buys year-old cars and keeps them while they are still under warranty. He remarkets many vehicles through the company’s dealership.

At Rent-A-Vette, Kiland buys both new and low-mileage used vehicles, and sells them at around 30,000 miles while they are still under warranty. To get them to market, he works with brokers, goes to auctions and also sells them