Cheapest way to get a car to the track

[Davidpalmera]

I'm planning on tracking my car next season and was wondering the cheapest way to transport it. I looked into insurance and it is actually more expensive than I thought ($130/month - NJ). What is everyone doing and how much does it cost?

I've thought about the following but haven't looked too much into them cost-wise: 1) historic insurance (it is a 95') 2) Buy used trailer and rent a U-haul F150 for the day 3) buy a tow vehicle (prob most expensive option)

Advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Dave

[wake74]

My track rat is insured and street legal just in case we need a third vehicle, or the M3 Vert daily is under the knife. So that gets driven to the track towing a small tire trailer. There are several guys who run with the Tarheel BMWCCA who appear to rent Uhaul trailers and Uhaul pickups when they come out.

[mslevin]

I rented a UHaul truck and trailer for my last track day at Thunderhill. About 350 miles round trip. Picked it up Thursday morning, returned it Saturday. Cost was about $450.

[DocWyte]

If you're just starting out, just drive the car to the track. Once you get fast enough to want race brake pads and tires, tow a small tire trailer behind the car. Then the next step is a truck/trailer.

[MINIz guy]

A U-haul trailer was $65/day the last time I needed one. I'm sure you can bundle one of their trucks with it and make out decently. Enterprise also rents out trucks that you can use to tow with, $90/day for a Ram 2500.

[ddavidv]

Collector insurance will be the cheapest option...provided you understand there is no coverage while on the track. Not sure a '95 qualifies, though I do have it on my '93 Lightning I use to tow with.

Used open trailer can be had for around $1500. I paid less than that for mine which needed a paint job but that was a 'friend' price as I bought it from a buddy. Then of course you need a place to store it. Mine does fit in the garage - barely.

A truck is an additional expense. Insurance, inspection, maintenance, etc. Truck tags cost significantly more than a car in my state. You can 'cheat' and get around it with a window van or SUV that is titled as a car (in PA anyway). The upside is pickups hold their value pretty well provided they don't get rusty, which in the NE they do. I buy trucks from the southern states. A weekend trip nets me a rust-free truck that often will cost less than the same truck locally. Buy one old enough and you can run the collector plate like I do, though there may be limitations for towing with such a tag.

[BlackHawkRacing]

I have collector car insurance through Grundy and drive the car to and from the track. I believe the insurance is $350/year. If you are just hitting the local tracks, I would just drive it. I get 200 miles of free towing with my insurance and that's more than enough to get the car home or to a shop in the event something goes wrong. As others have stated, remember that street insurance will not cover track incidents. For track insurance, Lockton is incredibly popular but I also recommend RLI. Cost is somewhere in the $140-$160 range per event depending on the track.

[mindspin311]

I have collector car insurance through Grundy and drive the car to and from the track. I believe the insurance is $350/year. If you are just hitting the local tracks, I would just drive it. I get 200 miles of free towing with my insurance and that's more than enough to get the car home or to a shop in the event something goes wrong. As others have stated, remember that street insurance will not cover track incidents. For track insurance, Lockton is incredibly popular but I also recommend RLI. Cost is somewhere in the $140-$160 range per event depending on the track.

Details on your Grundy insurance? What did you have to do to get that rate? Do they know it's a track car?

[MPWRCPE]

Collector insurance will be the cheapest option...provided you understand there is no coverage while on the track. Not sure a '95 qualifies, though I do have it on my '93 Lightning I use to tow with.

Used open trailer can be had for around $1500. I paid less than that for mine which needed a paint job but that was a 'friend' price as I bought it from a buddy. Then of course you need a place to store it. Mine does fit in the garage - barely.

A truck is an additional expense. Insurance, inspection, maintenance, etc. Truck tags cost significantly more than a car in my state. You can 'cheat' and get around it with a window van or SUV that is titled as a car (in PA anyway). The upside is pickups hold their value pretty well provided they don't get rusty, which in the NE they do. I buy trucks from the southern states. A weekend trip nets me a rust-free truck that often will cost less than the same truck locally. Buy one old enough and you can run the collector plate like I do, though there may be limitations for towing with such a tag.

'95 M3 does qualify with Hagerty. I have/had an agreed value policy with them for $26K, at ~$500/yr. It is absolutely NOT covered while on track.

My closest track is ~120 miles away so I tow everywhere.

[Davidpalmera]

Collector insurance will be the cheapest option...provided you understand there is no coverage while on the track. Not sure a '95 qualifies, though I do have it on my '93 Lightning I use to tow with.

Used open trailer can be had for around $1500. I paid less than that for mine which needed a paint job but that was a 'friend' price as I bought it from a buddy. Then of course you need a place to store it. Mine does fit in the garage - barely.

A truck is an additional expense. Insurance, inspection, maintenance, etc. Truck tags cost significantly more than a car in my state. You can 'cheat' and get around it with a window van or SUV that is titled as a car (in PA anyway). The upside is pickups hold their value pretty well provided they don't get rusty, which in the NE they do. I buy trucks from the southern states. A weekend trip nets me a rust-free truck that often will cost less than the same truck locally. Buy one old enough and you can run the collector plate like I do, though there may be limitations for towing with such a tag.

Yea, of course. My only need for insurance is for travel to and from the track so the cops don't bother me, I'm not even planning on getting coverage for the vehicle.

And I'm hoping it qualifies, I need to give an insurance agent a call and figure out the details to make sure I qualify. I'm fearing it may need to be 25 years old (I've seen this for certain states, while others do 15 years).

Also, a Lightning is a pretty badass tow vehicle if you ask me.

- - - Updated - - -

I have collector car insurance through Grundy and drive the car to and from the track. I believe the insurance is $350/year. If you are just hitting the local tracks, I would just drive it. I get 200 miles of free towing with my insurance and that's more than enough to get the car home or to a shop in the event something goes wrong. As others have stated, remember that street insurance will not cover track incidents. For track insurance, Lockton is incredibly popular but I also recommend RLI. Cost is somewhere in the $140-$160 range per event depending on the track.

Now THIS is the kind of information I was hoping to get out of this post. Thank you! I'll check out Grundy to see how much they can cover my car for.
EDIT: Got quoted for $110 / yr, what a steal. Thanks man!

[BlackHawkRacing]

Details on your Grundy insurance? What did you have to do to get that rate? Do they know it's a track car?

Anything you are specifically looking for? The policy is an aggred upon value policy worth $20K; total premium for the last year was $355 which includes a $10 NYS specfic charge. My interaction with Grundy since I got the policy has been limited but from what I remember, the car can't your daily driver and they require you to prove you own another car. I had to submit proof of ownership/insurance on said daily. I thought there were mileage/driving limits on the policy but after quickly scaning it, it I couldn't find that section.

Before getting the policy, they required that I send them several pictures of the car and where it is stored. While I never flat out told them that it is a track car, the pictures clearly showed the cage, seats, and harnesses. While I wouldn't expect your average State Farm agent to interperate that as track car paraphernalia, I have to assume a company that deals with more unique cars can read between the lines. That said, the car sees ~5,000 miles/year with 90% of them spent driving to/at/from the track.

I've don't have a single negative thing to say about my experience with Grundy but at the same time, I've never had to file a claim. I'll also point out that I haven't been able to find a specific section that excludes track events from coverage under that policy. That said, I still get track insurance for most events because the $150 to KNOW I have coverage is worth it vs assuming I have coverage.

I just got my renewal notice this week and will review the policy in full at one point. If there is anything particularly weird/concerning, Ill report back. Feel free to ask questions, happy to help in anyway I can.

[poweredbyg60]

not familiar with any of these talked about ins companies.
i found geico was 130 for 6 months for basic insurance not full. on my 95 325i. did it online like a "normal" person no track mentions. mine only sees some rare road tests but to be legal i got the basic and plates in TN is not bad.

[ddavidv]

Ah, yes...the lizard.
The company that actually sends people to motorsport events to photograph license plates and then cross them to their database. The same company that wants their appraisers to send in 'risk reports' on any so-called 'performance' enhancement to the car that may indicate it is being street raced. Like a cold air intake.
I kid you not.
Wish I could get back those five very long years I worked for them.

[poweredbyg60]

haha they were cheap, for just the required legal ins for TN. i tried to add my bmw to storage mode for winter and ins asked why that makes 2 storage cars for you. i slipped with its a track car. duh...they said hold on, came back to the phone "your policy will not be renewed for this car", haha. so to geico ins the bmw went.
i don't run a license plate no problems there. its a good idea to remove them anyway or tape them. Ins companies exploring track days was heard of in CA.

someone mentioned enterprise truck rental, i checked into that nashville is closest with 3/4 ton trucks, said 65 or 75 a day can't remember which, just 100 "free" miles $0.25 per mile after.

[Novablue454]

I have a Hagerty policy on both my drift cars. Agreed value on both, I think $40k for my E46 and $30k for my RX7. Neither of my cars see any street miles, but I was more concerned with coverage against something like theft or fire damage.

If getting in to racing is something you are serious about, I think it is well worth the cost to get a decent tow rig you can daily (I used to use a 2008 Grand Cherokee) and a small open trailer. The cost of renting a truck and trailer for many events a year is going to add up pretty quick.

[poweredbyg60]

looked at that hagerty, the minimum is 30k coverage for my 95 325i. they want double $ than my full current ins coverage $ on my 2012 GTI while not covering any track incident, just all other times.
was a 95 325i even 30k new?

[DocWyte]

Hagerty doesn't have a minimum coverage. I use them and have $15k of coverage on my M3...

[poweredbyg60]

i did the motorsport quote, only choice was 30 and 45.

[DocWyte]

I use them for regular street insurance. I self insure for the track....

[Novablue454]

weird. I can't remember how mine is set up, but I was paying like $110/mo for the E46 alone on geico insured at KBB, and after the switch I'm paying like $700 a year for both of the cars at their much higher agreed values.

[GG Emerican]

Buy an older Ford E350 van (98-05ish) and cheap car trailer. You can get both for about $3-5000. They are 1 ton F350 truck frames and can easily tow your car.

Some come diesel too. Convert the back to a camper or track side workshop. Or keep it open to haul other stuff.



Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[welchct]

Buy an older Ford E350 van (98-05ish) and cheap car trailer. You can get both for about $3-5000. They are 1 ton F350 truck frames and can easily tow your car.

Some come diesel too. Convert the back to a camper or track side workshop. Or keep it open to haul other stuff.



Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

This. I bought a van when my girlfriend blew up the diesel in her truck. She needed my dually for her gooseneck and I needed to get to the track. I found a one ton dodge van for $1000 that was really dented up from being a work truck. But it was mechanically sound. Talked the seller down to $600. It's been a great second tow rig. I've used it 3 times for events now and it's never given me any issues. Tons of room for parts, tires and tools too.

You can buy used car trailers for $800-$1200 pretty easily.

My buddy liked my van so much, he went out and bought a diesel E350 ford. His has 480k miles in it, and I had to rebuild the rear end for him, but he only gave $1600 for it.

You really can't go wrong with a cheap cargo van and an open trailer.

[Pat533i]

Collector insurance will be the cheapest option...provided you understand there is no coverage while on the track. Not sure a '95 qualifies, though I do have it on my '93 Lightning I use to tow with.

I thought towing on collector insurance was a big no-no?

[mindspin311]

'95 M3 does qualify with Hagerty. I have/had an agreed value policy with them for $26K, at ~$500/yr. It is absolutely NOT covered while on track.

My closest track is ~120 miles away so I tow everywhere.

Doing the online quote with Hagerty spit out nearly $1K/yr, did you select reduced coverage limits?

[MPWRCPE]

Doing the online quote with Hagerty spit out nearly $1K/yr, did you select reduced coverage limits?

No but I did increase deductibles to $1K. I started the policy over 3 years ago so who knows. Hagerty is converting my policy to Motorsports coverage next month.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk