Looking for pointers on buying a race car and finding storage

[astroboy]

Hi all,

I am Anthony and am new to the PNW.
Trying to get into road racing here and am interested in a spec class. Currently thinking about Spec E46.

I am shopping for a ready-to-go race car. Looking for tips and pointers on things I should consider in the buying process.

Besides getting the race car, I also need to consider a place to store it and perhaps doing some maintenance work. I was able to find a couple places from reading some older threads and the internet. If you know of some places, please share with me! It would be the best if it is on the track since I don't have a truck and trailer. and my Honda Odyssey is not good for towing. If it is not on track, I am thinking about renting a u-haul with a car trailer for the race weekends.

Some background. I have done several seasons of road racing before. I took a long break due to young kids and then I moved here. Used to doing most basic maintenance work like brakes, suspensions myself when I had a garage. But I live in an apartment now so working on cars are not possible. I lived in the Seattle/Bellevue area. Pacific Raceways is closest to me (~45 mins) and The Ridge is about 2 hours.

If I am not able to buy a car, I still hope to rent one for a weekend and go racing this year. Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[Steve Adams]

The short answer to your situation is, well, MONEY.

A decent, existing SE46 is going to run you $35-50K and this one would be a good option for you (no affiliation). I've bought and sold quite a few cars on RacingJunk.com over the years, but Facebook Marketplace (for SE46s especially) is another option. You can also find the occasional good (i.e., not super-expensive) racecar on BringATrailer.com. (I'm sure there are other places, but these are where I have the most experience.)

There are shops and businesses at Pacific Raceway where you could probably store a car, but it's certainly gonna cost ya. No idea whether you'd be able to work on your car at those places or not.

If you're planning on racing anywhere OTHER than Pacific, you're going to need to rent a tow vehicle and trailer. I've rented both over the years when I was lacking either a truck or a trailer, and they're generally pretty crap and not cheap for the experience. You also have the hassle of making sure they're both available for rental when you need them. Another possible option is to hire space on an existing car hauler (Racer on Rails, Lowe Group Racing, others?), but that's another set of challenges for availability and, of course, expense.

If you're looking to rent, I believe both Racer on Rails (with a shop at Pacific) and AAF in Spokane have rental SE46s (again, no affiliation), but I'm sure there are others. And, of course, they ain't gonna be cheap.

There are also various car-storage options around the area, but most of the run-of-the-mill ones won't (officially?) allow you to work on your car. There are car-specific storage that also "come with" on-site lifts and maintenance areas, but again, they are also going to be more expensive.

I'm sure there are other opinions/feedback you can get, but I think this generally covers the high points of the issues you've raised.