How do you feel about loaning out your car?

[fastfredracing]

I like to think I am a nice helpful guy , but I just do not like loaning out my ride.
I also had a bad year with cars. Not really, I was just incredibly busy doing other things, and had our Cayenne, and our X3 go down 2 months apart, and I had no time to mess with either of them. Fortunately, we have backups, and can just keep on truckin' when something like this happens .
My mother in law had to trade in her lease, and asked if she could borrow a car for a few months till she picked a new one. I sat down with my wife and we talked about it. I'm like, so here is what I have that is reliable . 3500 diesel 4 door dually, 2500 hd work truck , Porsche 930, BMW M3, Boxster , and my wife's daily Yukon,
It seems like I have a lot of cars , but what I really have is a lot of projects .
The reason she needs a car, is because she runs my sister in laws 4 kids all over gods creation 7 days a week. She lives with my in laws . If she lived alone and needed something to go get groceries I think Id be alright with a couple of weeks or so, but I cant help to think that it's not really my problem to get her 4 kids to soccer practice and school functions .
These people, are also not car people . They all have new cars with parking lot scrapes, dings dents, road rash on all 4 corners, and french fries under the seat
So ,I shot my mother in law down. My wife agreed with me. I have a few buddies that I'd loan my car to for a couple of days if they were in a jam, and I'm cool with my Dad , but other than that, nope, not really comfortable with it .
How do you feel about loaning your whip ? .

[RNajarian]

My feelings on this type of activity is assume you get the car back with noticeable damage, a dent, rip in fabric, etc.

If a dent in the quarter panel would bother you then don’t loan it out.

I once let my best friend borrow my 944 when he was getting his SL painted. He was a car guy. I got the car back with one of the knobs for the electric seat completely broken off. The seat had to be removed, partially disassembled and a new switch installed. It took 3 hours and $100 to get the car back to the original state.

Worst part, he never even mentioned the switch was broken.

In fact, I once loaned out an expensive stroller to get it back completely broken. Later I saw photos of my sister in law with two of her kids sitting in the stroller. The two kids weighed Well above the manufacturer weight rating. I received the stroller back broken with no mention of the damage.

Personally, I wouldn’t loan anything out that I cared about.

[Arizona_928]

I loaded out my very mint condition Cherokee xj with uber low miles on it to my sister.
I finally took it back with a stripped synchros, and destroyed interior.
Non car people have absolutely no respect for others cars.

So no. Not a chance in hell if you like or want to keep that vehicle nice.
I bought my mom a tiguan. Crash it, keep it nice, hit shopping carts with it. It should last you until the registration expires. She laughed. But I know the days are numbered on that tsi engine

[greglepore]

I had to pull my sl600 out of a ditch along the gravel driveway of my ex, with my f350. She tried to turn around and didn't realize how slick wet grass is.
Guess I'm ok with it, but I still beyauch and moan.

[scotricker]

ha ha ha , just no, not none of them, not never , just no,. see replies above.

[JackDidley]

My truck, no problem. Cayman, not going to happen.

[shadowjack1]

Very few people that I would lend anything to.
Lent the guy across the street my dolly to remove his refrig from the house after Katrina. He left the dolly strapped the the refig in the mud . Several days I went and got it. Lots of rust on the axle and wheels. Several months later he borrowed my pressure washer. I went to use it several months later, no pressure. He let it run for a while and did not pull the trigger, burnt the pump out. Years later he wanted to borrow my pressure washeragain ( a new one), told him sorry its not working. He saw me using the day before. Glad he moved.

[flatbutt]

NO, NO, HELL NO! Don't even look at my Ducati.

[VincentVega]

I loaned a neighbor my truck to move some stuff. He knocked on my door a few hours later with a weird look, someone turned in front of him and my truck is totaled. Neighbors kid was in the car, ok but scared me a bit. I dont loan cars out now.

[A930Rocket]

Only to a few close friends, but never the 930 when had it. Besides, it had an aluminum seat bolted to the floor pan. Only I could drive it. 😎

[Por_sha911]

If I can't give it away, I don't loan it. This holds true with money, tools, etc.

Loan a car? Never. If it breaks down I will wonder what they did. If they have an accident are they going to fix it? Is someone going to come looking for my insurance? This policy keeps less drama in my life.
Need a ride? Any time. Borrow? Nope.

[wdfifteen]

No. I have 5 cars and 2 trucks, but the two reliable daily drivers I have are in use, well, daily. I'm not loaning my Speedster to anyone for any reason.

When I was in college in our small town I used to lose my car. I didn't need it often because I could walk to lass, the grocery, and the bar. I would drive to a party on Friday and with this and that and whatnot Tuesday would roll around and I wouldn't know where my car was. I would usually find it before the next Friday. One time I loaned it to my cousin to drive to Florida for 2 weeks to see her dying father. I forgot I loaned it to her. I used it so little that I didn't miss it for about 10 days, then I started wondering where my car was. I looked all over town and was getting worried when she pulled into the drive with it, with the exhaust system hanging. That was the last time I loaned a car to anyone.

[PorscheGAL]

I’m curious: she knew the lease was coming to an end, why not pick a new one prior to turn in?

And no. I loan nothing out.

[pwd72s]

Depends on who and what the need is. But my Mustang isn't worth much. Maybe $20K tops.

When the old 911S got past $100K in value, even I became paranoid when driving it. Before that, I loaned it once, for a day. It was returned spotless and unscathed.

Yeah, I'd loan...reluctantly.

(edit) But don't ask to borrow my Keith Josey pool cue. He has a 2 year waiting list these days. Besides, nobody "needs" to borrow a pool cue.

[Baz]

Fred - thanks for putting things in context.

If there is a mother-in-law - wouldn't she have a husband to help her? If not - why not? That should be the standard.

Or her father - unless he has passed away.

I also agree with Porsche Gal's post - why didn't she arrange for a replacement AHEAD of time?

Finally - to answer your question - I would loan out one of my vehicles but only to someone I trusted. And that is a very short list. Maybe even non-existent.

[stevej37]

Only own manual shift vehicles.
Eliminates over half the problem.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by stevej37

Only own manual shift vehicles.
Eliminates over half the problem.

LOL! True. Neighbor's 15 year old daughter is learning to drive a manual. Having trouble with their old Toyota pickemup. But she's working at it. I gave her incentive, said I'd let her try my mustang after she became proficient in the pickup. Yes, I'll be in the passenger seat...

[asphaltgambler]

.......'bout the same as loaning my motorcycle or my wife....

[fastfredracing]

No hubby , passed away 8 years ago . This was all a convenience thing for her. She was going to England for 3 weeks with my sister in law's family , and she did not want to deal with re leasing a new car right before they left. And she did not want to scramble to make a hasty purchase when she got back. Made zero sense to me .
I asked her the same question .

[masraum]

No, I'm not good at trusting people in that shirt of capacity. If something happens to my car when I'm driving it, that's one thing, but if someone else does something to it....