Ok, let's say I'm thinking of trying this the 'smart way' and get into racing by renting. It does sound like people of had successful renting experiences.

Let's say the plan is to rent a car for a PDX, then school and then about 2 races. I don't have any hope of actually being fast so my goal would be to find a dependable but not necessarily competitive car.

Tons of questions.

I don't generally see cars for rent in GL. Are they really out there? How in the heck do I find them? I assume that rentals are generally cars that outclassed or underprepared for the class. Do people maintain rental-only cars or do they rent out their own race cars to cover their own cost? Which is the better option to rent?

What kind of $ would I expect to pay for a reliable but uncompetitive car?

I understand that when you rent a car you have to be prepared to write the car off. But what's the process? I sure wouldn't want to total someone's rusty MR2 and have them trying to get $8k from me. Or me total someones ITS RX-7 and expect to only pay $3k. Is there a pre-determined 'bond' for the car? What if the car is just damaged, how do you come to a resolution of fix-it pricing? Again, I don't want to wrinkle a fender and pay for a full paint job.

How do you decide what is wear and tear and what is damage? Somebody is going to rent me a car and then afterward say "oh, low compression in the rear rotor." The whole point is that I don't have to bring a crew, so how do I know what is what without bringing someone along to watch for my interests? I don't mean to sound like I expect to be ripped off. But when there are thousands of dollars involved how to I not look like an ATM machine? And surely the renter is not going to want to argue with me about whether I missed a shift or his car just broke. I'm not trying too get out of paying for something I do, but I'm leary that this can be done without either me or the renter feeling unhappy.

How do you negotiate a level of preparation? Clearly the renter can't supply a new set of tires for every event otherwise he's losing money. How am I not at his mercy for whatever leftover tires (and other prep) he feels like bringing along? I mean, it's not like it's going to be in the rental agreement "one set of of tires used between 2 and 4 events".

Lots more questions, but maybe that's a start. thanks for any helpful thoughts.

jim