I saw this neat vehicle on my early morning walk. Just the right thing for the San Diego climate! About $35K I think.

There are several iterations of this type machine floating around in Memphis, and while we were recently vacationing along the gulf coast there were rental companies that made them available.

The Memphis versions appear to have bright neon light kits and a plethora of speakers from which they spew unintelligible garbage matched to a drum beat.

Did a quick search on CycleTrader and it costs more than a Mazda Miata. I don’t know anything else about them.

Polaris’ slingshot (Vanderhall’s more established competitor) costs same as Miata but doesn’t do anything as well as a Miata.

There is nothing new under the sun:



1934 Morgan 3 Wheeler

Mrs DF and I were this close to buying the Carmel Vanderhall. They are fun and very fast. They are pricey enough that we considered what else we could buy with that kind of dinero. We ultimately decided against it. We determined it would be a money loser because of depreciation and that we would likely lose our enthusiasm for it too soon. Fun toy though.

I honestly don't get the appeal of these over a conventional convertible which has the advantage of taking longer trips without the concern about weather.

Biggest difference (apart from styling) between the Vanderhall & Polaris:
Vanderhall: FWD, AT only. Drivetrain is Chevrolet Cruze based.
Polaris: RWD, AT or MT. Engine from a Chevrolet Cobalt, Saturn Sky, Pontiac Solstice up to 2019. 2020 & newer uses an in house engine, with ~25 more HP.

IIRC, the Slingshot is wider than a C6 Z06 Corvette

quote:

Originally posted by Krazeehorse:
I honestly don't get the appeal of these over a conventional convertible which has the advantage of taking longer trips without the concern about weather.

That’s what we thought too. For the money they wanted I could buy a convertible Mustang GT.

I remember a comparison between the Slingshot & ND Miata.

Ending consensus was that the Slingshot did nothing that the Miata could do better, except for having a waterproof interior.

That said, most of the Vanderhall reviews I've seen have been pretty positive.

No knowledge on the Morgan 3-wheeler.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
Mrs DF and I were this close to buying the Carmel Vanderhall. They are fun and very fast. They are pricey enough that we considered what else we could buy with that kind of dinero. We ultimately decided against it. We determined it would be a money loser because of depreciation and that we would likely lose our enthusiasm for it too soon. Fun toy though.

one of those toys I’d rather rent for a weekend on Turo.

2 Vanderhalls in my area - $120/day for 2017 and $275/day for 2021.

37 slingshots in my area - $121/day for 2016 to $328/day for 2021

A month or two ago I drove from San Diego up to Santa Clarita which meant going through LA traffic.

At one point the far right lanes were moving VERY slow with speeds gradually increasing the further left lanes.

Problem was, two women in something like what is seen, wearing bikinis while riding in the far right lane. I am sure they were just attention whores and had zero intention of wanting to cause a three mile backup nor any ensuing accidents.

If I'm going to ride in something with more than two wheels it's going to have AC and Heat

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
Mrs DF and I were this close to buying the Carmel Vanderhall. They are fun and very fast. They are pricey enough that we considered what else we could buy with that kind of dinero. We ultimately decided against it. We determined it would be a money loser because of depreciation and that we would likely lose our enthusiasm for it too soon. Fun toy though.

Couldn't have put it better. These things are terrific as occasional rentals, but unless you're a multi-millionaire type who doesn't have to worry about losing money on a purchase like this, the better move is to do as you did.