seen this?

[mellow cat]

www.dragonflyvans.com


6 years in the making......

I understand this is not the market, nor is this a advertisement, I am hoping for your thoughts and suggestions.

I don't think anyone is renting vans on this level. If it dosen't fly, I will have some very nice vans for sale.

Sometimes you need an objective perspective.

MC

[wasserbox]

[GBA 88West LA]

NICE JOB! nice site, next time i visit my old stomping grounds ill look you guys up...think i like the nuthouse best, that paint job is sick...good luck & best wishes with this endeavor
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88 Westy GL Vanaru 07 2.5 EJ25/AA Trans/oiling plates, 1.14 3rd-.77-4th..solar powered cabin

[Morris_82]

I would like to vote "Shadowfax" as #1 van name ever.

Pricing does seem a bit steep, but I'm definitely a cheapskate. The vans look great! Equipment list is most impressive.

EDIT: Wow, the popups on the "equipment" page are flying out of nowhere. Better let your web guy know.

[mordeaux]

Great concept, great logo, nice site (needs spellchecking), great fleet.

I looked at an outfit in NorCal that rented and thought their prices were a stretch for me. Dragonfly is definitely out of my league.

Good luck!

[Home Team Van]

you have obviously put a lot of work into those vans and they look great. However like some others have posted I wouldn't be able to afford to use your service. We recently rented a 34 ft rv and it came out to a little under $175 a day which divided by 6 people was $30 day/each. Of course we didn't have the "cool" factor going for us like we would have had we been driving one of your vans.
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82 Diesel Westy

[Destructo]

Just a weird question...why do some of your vans not have power steering? Otherwise, that's a good looking fleet! Makes me think about renting mine out everyonce and a while just to pay off the Zetec in the back
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1985 Wolfsburg Edition Westfalia Camper Bostig conversion

Dude, where's your van?

[Raynor Shine]

Great idea. Nice equipment selection.

Partial to the Nuthouse- killer van.

[koolmoe]

With others, neat idea, nice vans, way out of my pricing...

On the site, I really think you should put a solid background behind the various page text. I do not find reading text overtop images or textures to be pleasing to the eye. Much less painful to read text over solid background.

Just do a background-color style in a div around the text. You can keep the large (fun) background image...

Good luck!
KM
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--
Current: 1990 Westy GL (Savannah. Good to be back!)
from '95 til 2008: 1995 Pathfinder (frame rusted out, charitable parts donation)
from '91-'95: 1982 Westy Diesel (Smokey. Traded in for far too little!)
from '87-'91: 1980 VW Rabbit (my econoPorsche - passed on)

[PDXWesty]

I'm not a cheapskate by any means, and even I thought it was a bit over priced (and I come from So Cal). It seems about 40% higher than I would expect. Regardless of the outfitting, it's just getting you from one place to another. $800-$900 a week would be reasonable to me. Adding a mileage charge is where you'd make up your money.
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[Crankey]

the site looks great Scott, very inviting. I know nothing about renting vehicles or pricing on it but the site looks nice and the vans all look sweet.

[rblake3]

Has this gone public yet? Looks like a great service but I tend to agree with others that it may be a little expensive for people who would normally just rent an SUV from Hertz or an RV place. The $275 target may put some folks off. Less than $200 a day is likely expected from most people. Maybe if you offer pickup/dropoff options from nearby major airports you can justify higher rental fees. Boise and Spokane comes to mind as pickup points for those coming from elsewhere. Yes folks can use the shuttle but I think they would pay (I would) for convienience of front door airport service with your vans without the hassle of the shuttle.

Another thing you can do is extend the radius of travel through establishing a network of people who are willing to help fix a stranded van in their area, for a fee of course. I'm sure there are some Sambians here who would do that. Most of us who see a stranded Vanagon on the road would stop to help anyway.

I hope it works out because this is a fantastic idea to get people in the woods with the ultimate camp vehicle which could contribute to maintaining their value for all of us. Reliability is a risk factor but with proper controls can be mitigated. Eventually if successful you can offer all Syncro vans with Tiicos, Subarus or Zetecs in them to rich Austrailians and Britons with lots of money. Best of luck with this venture.
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90 Vanagon Carat Wander Wagon
88 16v GTi
01 1.8T Beetle
94 Miata
Vanagon H4 E-Code Lighting Upgrade page

[photogdave]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say we shouldn't necessarily compare the rental rates to your typical RV. These vans will be appealing to a different mindset - more adventure tour people I would think. They will be looking at these vans to get them places you can't get in a regular vehicle or RV to do activities regular RVers wouldn't want to do.
I don't think these rates are unreasonable for anyone who would want to do this kind of thing two or three times a year. Cheaper than buying a decked-out Vanagon that you have to insure, only to drive it once a month or so. Equivalent to booking a room at an adventure-oriented resort.
However it is easier to split the rental cost of an RV between more people. Although a Vanagon can accommodate four people, let's be honest, it's not ideal. So it will be more likely that a couple would be splitting this rental cost or maybe two or three buddies. (I find three friends is ideal for camping and sharing expenses.) Maybe have a "honeymoon" rate?
Anyway, good luck with the venture. Maybe if you add a Syncro to the fleet I'll give it a go!
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89 Syncro GL Westfalia 2.1 WBX/WBXaustSS

My Westy Movies:
photogdave On Vimeo
photogdave On YouTube

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[Witless Joe]

Very steep prices by comparison with the Vanagon Westies available to rent Hawaii, a notoriously expensive tourist trap.

$115 per day at G.Berg - http://www.gb-adventures.com/rates_&_fees.htm

$95 per day at Imua - http://www.imua-tour.com/rates.html

$125 in high-season in California - http://www.californiacampers.com/rates/index.html

I wish you be best Mellowcat, but you're way out of step with similar businesses.

[tangstadt]

Let the market decide if GOWESTY can sell a Van to some yuppies for 60k renting one for 275 a day is cheap by comparison. I won't be renting one, but having grown up in rural Alaska where people will spend 10k plus on a 4 day adventure. There's a market for everything somewhere. If this flies my van just became worth more. Good luck Madcat!

[Astro Guy]

Objective question please don't take it personally.

Who exactly is your market?


Scenario:
If we live in Michigan and want to see the PNW, we fly out for $450 (in the best of times) or $750 (in the worst of times). There's $900-1500 for the two of us.
Van =$875 long weekend dealio.
Gas=$3/gal /300miles=$225ish
food/bev=$100-300
activities (kayak rental, boat tour, Tillamook cheese tour, whatever) $175
campsites=4x$25=$100

Could easily be a $2200-$3000plus weekend getaway for 2.

Except of course, that if we live in Michigan, we lost our jobs a long time ago.

Its a cool idea. It certainly needs to be marketed correctly. I would have to think you are marketing toward the European travelers, and Japanese.

Will be interesting to see if it pencils out. Sounds like something a Rec Major from Western Washington University would come up with (I know, I married one!) Would love to see your business plan.

Best of luck.
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'03 Chevy Astro w/ NP233C 4x4 electronic shift transfer case, 4-5" Overlandvans lift kit, 4:10's w/ Detroit Locker, Rancho 9000 adjustable shocks w/ in-dash remote & onboard air compressor, 255 70R16 AT's, GTRV pop top w/ sleeper, Carefree Awning, Guacho couch, Coleman Fridge, and tons of Thule

[WW_Victoria]

I think it also doesn't likely occur to people to rent a Westy - Most people who want to drive a Westy own one, or have owned one... most who would think about flying somewhere to tour around are going to think RV. Many times I have met people in campgrounds around this area from Europe that rent a "small" RV and tour the PNW - once when I was in my Tofino in my 72 Westy and it rained all week, we met a very nice couple from England that shared a bottle of scotch with us... then they went back to their rented RV to have a hot shower before bed...
There is a market for anything, but the smaller it is the louder the message must be.

[kayakwesty]

[PDXWesty]

First of all I think all the vans look great and the business is a very cool idea. I really like all of it and think it would be fun to be part of. I don't want to seem too critical, but it was posted for our comment and feedback. Here's something else I noticed:

"Vans can be rented for use only in the Northern Rockies. If you break down, we need to get another van to you, or get you moving again."

"If you leave our designated area of operations and have van trouble requiring rescue or towing, your entire deposit will be forfeited to cover associated expenses and you will be responsible for any towing costs or additional car rentals or other transportation or repair expenses."

This is what really gets me. I think it should be re-worded in the terms and conditions. It limits travel to just their area and doesn't give me any confidence in the road worthiness of the van. I certainly don't want to pay $1600 a week and think I might not get somewhere or breakdowns are a common occurrence. I also might want to go to the coast which would be out of the Northern Rockies. How far is "we might need to get another van to you " exactly?

I might say "Travel limited to ID, WA, OR, MT UT" or "350 mile radius from pickup point" Something like that. It needs to be definitive.

Anyway, in my opinion, these terms really limit the use to too small of an area and will limit the number of potential customers.
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[mellow cat]

Thanks to eveyone who took the time to reply.

your comments and opinions are extremely valuable to me. Again I understand that the Samba is not my marketplace but I needed to get your thoughts.

I have spent a lot of time and effort making this happen. I am very close to it and do not believe I have left any stone unturned. I knew the pricing would be a "hot topic" and I have no interest in arguing it. I have done may homework in terms of who and what is out there in terms of westy rentals, rv rentals, etc, and thier cost. I have physically seen, been to, or rented all of the compitition, and by no means do have anything negitive to say about any of them with the exception of big clunky RVs. What I can say is my service is a different from most. Better or worse is for you to decide. My goal was to produce Hilton like quality on wheels, minus the little bars of soap and towels. Its all about he demographic. I don't care to have bargain shoppers renting my vans, I don't want a bunch of young kids taking a van to a concert and the Gorge and have it returned trashed and smelling like beer and weed. what I do want is people who can appricate the fact that they can fly in with nothing but their carry on and personal belongings, grab a van, stop and a grocery store and leave town in a very unique comfortable way. Everything is there, you need nothing. What is that worth? I dunno either, but to the few people who have used the service already, it means everything.

The other thing to remember is I plan on raising my kids with this business so it must stay vital for the next 20 yrs or so. I firmly believe that we are drving classics as we speak. It's not like you can't just go out and buy another one in the event of a total. The insurance on my side is rediculas. Lastly my vanagon/westy repair business in Seattle shop rate was 90/hr. I can't see anyone renting a classic vehicle with the status Westy's enjoy for the same price as one hour of shop time. Thats just me talking.


Should any of you be in my neck of the wood, please stop and say Hi, we have some beautiful country up here. Also should you need anything while traveling through look me up. I am sure I can help.

again thanks for the input.
Always happy to answer PM's

Cheers
Scott,