The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Bench Racing → Banned idea
Fabbed cage... rental car... Lemons... Could be fun. Especially at drop off to the rental office.
It's actually allowed. Search the forum. I think the judges said they would even waive the curse.
I see... it has... hrmm... but since they are exempt from certain punishments are they then exempt from winning overall?
If I were only _slightly_ less risk averse, I'd try to pull this off using a Hertz Corvette ZHZ and an AutoPower bolt-in cage at Infineon. I guess I'd have to make sure to not waive the damage waiver and take all the insurance they'd give me...
And then when it breaks, that would be one fun phone call to make back to the rental car agency. Lulz. Make the phone call first, then try to get the cage out before they get the flatbed to the track. Fun!
If I were only _slightly_ less risk averse, I'd try to pull this off using a Hertz Corvette ZHZ and an AutoPower bolt-in cage at Infineon. I guess I'd have to make sure to not waive the damage waiver and take all the insurance they'd give me...
And then when it breaks, that would be one fun phone call to make back to the rental car agency. Lulz. Make the phone call first, then try to get the cage out before they get the flatbed to the track. Fun!
Or you load it on a trailer... tow it back to shop.... change interior back. And say the engine gave out... or a hit and run driver.
I see... it has... hrmm... but since they are exempt from certain punishments are they then exempt from winning overall?
Yes, as far as I know, a rental would not be allowed to win.
Oooo! Avoid black flages like the plague!
Try to explain the Bart Simpson penalty:
"I will not rear-end slower racers on turn 4"
or even if you rip off the bumper in the accident, and are forced to rivit it to the roof... "I don't know! I was picking up my half-calf double-frapp at Starbucks. I came out and it was like that!"
Someone actually did this with a Hertz Mustang GT-H for the 1 Lap of America. Hertz got wind of it, called them, and explained that the car would be back at the nearest Hertz office ASAP, whether in possession of the renters or in possession of the police.
Rumor is, they saw the car running at extended high speeds through the GPS, in the near vicinity of various racetracks. Don't know how true that rumor is though.
I think *all* the rental companies have GPS tracking by now - I also think I heard that rental on racetrack = ban for life (from the car rentals).
risky....even with the "optional coverage".....since insurance fraud is a felony in most states and Lemons is highly publicized....if you wreck the rental you can guarantee someone video'd it and it will end up on the web....
Of course the story with the original GT-H's in the 60's is that people would rent them, and then swap engines with their 6-cylinder and return the car. You might actually be able to get away with a similar stunt for Lemons.
risky....even with the "optional coverage".....since insurance fraud is a felony in most states and Lemons is highly publicized....if you wreck the rental you can guarantee someone video'd it and it will end up on the web....
Yep. Totally not worth it.
Of course the story with the original GT-H's in the 60's is that people would rent them, and then swap engines with their 6-cylinder and return the car. You might actually be able to get away with a similar stunt for Lemons.
or rent it and go drag racing. ask me how i know this.......
I've had many rental cars on racetracks and I have first hand knowledge of an incident that happened about 15 years ago. The guys at work blew the engine in a prototype test car, so they pulled the engine out of their rental car to get the prototype back in action. There was a plan in place to put the blown engine back in the rental car and return it "with some sort of a problem", but it was decided to ship a fresh engine to the track and install that into the rental. The car was returned to the rental company with a different engine. At least it was new. 
and a two-day rental would be under the $500 limit ..... hmmmm
many years ago I was going as a passenger on a 4WD trip, until my seat was taken. Rented a RAV4 and went anyway. That RAV got into some very odd and muddy places. Ran it through a car wash before dropping it back to the airport. 
Make a note to ya'll's - car washes don't do that well cleaning under the car .... however the rental detailers do 
Yes they called, and were wondering just how well it did 
Someone actually did this with a Hertz Mustang GT-H for the 1 Lap of America. Hertz got wind of it, called them, and explained that the car would be back at the nearest Hertz office ASAP, whether in possession of the renters or in possession of the police.
Rumor is, they saw the car running at extended high speeds through the GPS, in the near vicinity of various racetracks. Don't know how true that rumor is though.
I think *all* the rental companies have GPS tracking by now - I also think I heard that rental on racetrack = ban for life (from the car rentals).
You are talking a highend "select" car from Hertz. It wouldn't suprise me that they had GPS tracking on it. For the every day car like a Suzuki or a Sebring I would assume they only have LoJAck on it and not GPS with telemetry. But I may be wrong... I'll have to search around.
DaveH wrote:Of course the story with the original GT-H's in the 60's is that people would rent them, and then swap engines with their 6-cylinder and return the car. You might actually be able to get away with a similar stunt for Lemons.
or rent it and go drag racing. ask me how i know this.......
Oh... So we weren't the only ones...
and a two-day rental would be under the $500 limit ..... hmmmm
many years ago I was going as a passenger on a 4WD trip, until my seat was taken. Rented a RAV4 and went anyway. That RAV got into some very odd and muddy places. Ran it through a car wash before dropping it back to the airport.
Make a note to ya'll's - car washes don't do that well cleaning under the car .... however the rental detailers do
Yes they called, and were wondering just how well it did
Nicely Done... *golf clap*
risky....even with the "optional coverage".....since insurance fraud is a felony in most states and Lemons is highly publicized....if you wreck the rental you can guarantee someone video'd it and it will end up on the web....
Fraud is such a dirty word. But if you read an insurance policy closely (which is precisely what the insurance companies are doing if/when they deny a claim), there are lots of things that aren't expressly prohibited. Sometimes. Or so I hear.
A district/state's attorney is often loathe to take on a complicated insurance "fraud" case that is of less than seven-figures in value. Most prosecutors just don't want to fight through the insurance policy details and then trying to prove it to a jury = messy. Or so I hear.
icemang17 wrote:risky....even with the "optional coverage".....since insurance fraud is a felony in most states and Lemons is highly publicized....if you wreck the rental you can guarantee someone video'd it and it will end up on the web....
Fraud is such a dirty word. But if you read an insurance policy closely (which is precisely what the insurance companies are doing if/when they deny a claim), there are lots of things that aren't expressly prohibited. Sometimes. Or so I hear.
A district/state's attorney is often loathe to take on a complicated insurance "fraud" case that is of less than seven-figures in value. Most prosecutors just don't want to fight through the insurance policy details and then trying to prove it to a jury = messy. Or so I hear.
So if I "lose" a civic and claim it... nothing will probably happen... but burning down my multi-million dollar mansion might raise some eyebrows?
DaveH wrote:Someone actually did this with a Hertz Mustang GT-H for the 1 Lap of America. Hertz got wind of it, called them, and explained that the car would be back at the nearest Hertz office ASAP, whether in possession of the renters or in possession of the police.
Rumor is, they saw the car running at extended high speeds through the GPS, in the near vicinity of various racetracks. Don't know how true that rumor is though.
I was there when that happened. Completely true. They blew up their car (I think it was the guys with the Noble) and rented the Mustang. Sustained and repeated high speeds pinpointed at a race track by the GPS... yeah, they got a phone call! The guys came back with a rented full-size SUV from another rental company and finished the rest of the week doing track events in it. Honestly, it was more fun to watch the SUV on track than it was the Mustang!
Here ya go:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/07 … ca-feature
Hmmm... memory is fuzzy. Looks like there were two teams with broken race cars running rentals that week.
NMC Racing is alive and well!
Hrmm... that brings up another interesting Event... who's doing the One Lap of America?!
do they look like transponders? 
do they look like transponders?
OOH... you just made me think of something. Some of the jammers are broadband and could possibly block the transponder frequencies...
ohhh dang ..... there goes nefarious idea #5a down the drain 
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