- A Japanese service lets five people co-own one used supercar.
- Co-owners pay only the car’s depreciation, not its full price.
- Each member can drive their shared exotic up to 50 days a year.
Buying a supercar, even a used one, is an extremely expensive hobby. A Japanese company reckons it has a workaround for younger enthusiasts who still want in. The idea is straightforward: skip outright ownership, round up some friends, and split the car between you.
The car-sharing service, called Rendez-Vous, works a little differently than you might expect. A group of five doesn’t simply divide the full cost of a supercar five ways. Instead, the group pays to co-own the car for a year, and the members split only its expected depreciation over those twelve months, evenly between them.
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Kanji Hiraiwa, who spoke to Nikkei Asia, is among those using the service. The 24-year-old can call himself the co-owner of a used Ferrari 360 Modena for the next year. Through the service, each co-owner has the right to use the vehicle for 50 days a year. Included in the costs are parking, maintenance, insurance fees, and all applicable taxes.
Rendez-Vous deals exclusively in used cars, purchasing the vehicles before adding them to the fleet. Models range from classic cars of the 1950s through to modern sports cars and supercars. According to the report, the service is proving especially popular among young enthusiasts in Japan and has generated a waitlist of roughly 3,500 people.
A Supercar For Less
“The cost of car ownership is too high for people in their 20s,” Rendez-Vous representative Ryota Asaoka told the outlet. “Our hope is to reduce the financial burden as much as possible so they can enjoy driving cars.”
It’s an interesting idea and could certainly be a good way for young drivers to drive their dream supercar, without torching the down payment on a house in the process. Services like this might also help push back against the steady decline in Japanese interest in car ownership.
A recent survey revealed that 33 percent of 20-year-olds in Japan aren’t interested in owning a car. A separate study by Toyota notes that car and maintenance costs are among the key reasons locals are shying away from traditional ownership.
