Would you lend out your car?
 

So am I a bit crazy - I am letting our Au Pair (a 21 German exchange student who lives with us and takes care of our kids about 50 hours per week) borrow my car for the weekend. My car is an '84 911 Targa that is pretty well sorted out AND is a car that is meant to be driven regulary. It is NOT a garage queen - though it does live in a garage.

He:

1) is extremely responsible (takes car of our kids by himself and does it very well)

2) drives well (I have lent him the car during weekend trips AND test drove with him again earlier this week AND he has been driving for 5 years)

3) shifts my quirky 915 transmission in the right way. He has driven manual tranmission older cars since he started driving.

Since he lives with us, we treat him like a son - and we have known him for 10 months or so.

He has an out of town class that is difficult to get to via Public Transportation AND I don't drive the 911 enough. I have been clear that any problems are his responsibility, i.e. if anything happens he is responsible for the costs that insurance does not cover - AND if he does anything stupid that insurance won't cover it is all on him.

So would any of you do the same? I feel protective of the car - but the reality is that my Honda Pilot cost a lot more money AND it is only a car after all...

I think your nuts to hand the keys to your 911 over to a 21 year old! First and foremost, you need to check with your insurance company personally. I bet your insurance will skyrocket by adding a 21 yr old to the 911 coverage. And not telling insurance about him, then hoping he can cover damage is a very flawed thought. It's not the physical damage to property you need to worry about, it's bodily injury. What if, heaven forbid, someone is injured and your insurance denies all coverage. Instant lawsuit, after all it is a Porsche and to a lot of people that means $$$.

Of course, the same holds true with the Honda. But you can easliy replace the Pilot not the 911.

There is an alternative- Lease an inexpensive Civic for a couple of years for him. Or pick up a used VW Golf for $5000 as his transportation.

Agree that you should check with the insurance co. regarding your coverage in this situation.

If you can't trust this person with your '84 Targa, how could you possibly trust him with your children's lives. The kids cannot be replaced, but the '84 Targa can be.

If he's willing to back all non insured claims on your car then he must have some cash or backing so let him get his own car, or if he's such a great kid buy him his own $500 Miata and let him deal with the plates and insurence. IMHO lending a car to anyone is a foolish thing to do.

My brother and his wife lent their Chevy pickup to their au pair for one day - and even while making a slow left turn in a residential neighborhood, the truck still ended up on someone's lawn.

I wont even let my wife drive the 911... certainly not letting a 21 year old drive it. :)

If I didn't trust someone with my car, no way I'd trust them with my kids. I realize they're much more likely to abuse the car than the kids, but still. One after the other. So yes, I'd trust him.

The fact that you asked the question is your answer.

The young lady who looked after my daughter when she was younger was a spectacular daycare provider and one I could trust implicitly. But I still wouldn't let her drive my 911. If I did, State Farm told me in no uncertain terms that she needs her own insurance to drive any of my cars, that since she wasn't related then my insurance coverage did NOT extend to her driving one of my cars.

Of course today she drives a highly modded and supercharged 5.0 Mustang that she runs at the drags and does quite well too.

+1. No way in hell. Don't do it.

:D:eek:Now if it was a hot 21 year old female german blond au pair that would be a different story.......

I let all of my friends, and family members drive my car. I DO however have to school them on the proper shifting of the transmission. Its just too damn easy to jam the car in first gear, while trying to shift to third in a "speed" shifting situation. Ive got insurance on the car(like everyone else) It is replaceable.

When I had I my 944 I lent it to my old college roomate while his classic Mercedes was being painted.

Despite the fact he was a car guy and he helped his dad restore a '68 912, I got the car back with the power seat switch broken. And that's AFTER I explained to him how the buttons worked.

If he knows enough to respect the 915, probably ok.

I called Hagerty and told them that I had a 20-year-old son of a friend, very responsible and intelligent, he and I have raced Karts together (even though I'm 73...), who comes over whenever he wishes and exercises my SC. Was he covered? Absolutely, they said.

A stock 911, depends on the person. A big advantage of fixed racing seats, 5-point harnesses, no sound deadening, and especially the very light flywheel- My wife has never even asked to drive the 911.

No, no, no. I would never.

A friend lent his car once during a track day, to someone he trusted and is demonstrably a skilled driver, and the car got seriously crunched. He was never the same after that and largely gave up on cars as a hobby.

You should remember that many people change when the get behind the wheel of a performance car. Especially a car that isn't theirs and they didn't put the tlc into.

Nuts. Totally nuts. Can he cover the entire value of the car? Doubt it. What if he's in an accident that he causes in which other people die? Expect to be sued for everything you have. What if someone else causes an accident in which he dies? Expect his family to come after you. Good thing to try to be a nice guy, but can you afford to loose everything? If you want to help him get to the event, help him rent a car and even pay for it.

Like a few have said, or almost, there are too many relatively cheap, relatively reliable used cars for sale that you could pick up for him -- maybe even as a bonus or advance payment for his services if you will, and if it needed work the two of you could possibly do the wrenching to save a bit -- to risk loaning out the 911.

Really interesting responses!

As far as insurance, he is definitely covered. We use USAA and a former Au Pair (who was A LOT less responsible and immature) had an accident in my Pilot. Insurance Company had no issue as long as we had loaned her the car. I have also confirmed with them on this over the years.

Well - he's on his way already - so I hope this is not an "I told you so" story. I am really leaning towards the trusting bunch of you - who say if you can trust him with your kids, you can certainly trust him with your car. He does a great job shifting - so no worries on the 915.

It's really interesting how this old 911 elicits such emotion from me! I was imagining if I would have the same issue with a newer sports car - and don't really think I would. Partly due to its age - as I expect it to be less reliable than a 2008 RX8 or such - trying to figure out the rest of the emotion.

Thanks again for the feedback... will post with the outcome!