Do you usually want your cars returned after a race?
So I have been debating this with myself and have seen a few threads on the topic... Do you normally want your cars back after a race? I enjoy making them and endeavor to do a decent job on the looks while I figure out the speed. But overall, I am torn between getting them back if allowed or letting them go as part of the prize for the contest winner. The car is generally cheap enough and there aren't a ton of $$ in the build. The shipping via mail just keeps going up and up easily costing more than the car by a wide margin. I may have to rethink my approach and just get the cars back I really like or want to get a do-over on instead of all of them.
What do you all generally do?
Thanks!
FredD
Discussion
Before I had a timer I wanted them back as they were good measuring sticks against the other competition. Now that I have a timer and 10 or so returned cars I have not be asking for them back unless I really liked the build.
I do send the return shipping. If it's packing tungsten or NPAs I want it back for parts. I've also learned a few lessons about mounting weights and bodies from inspecting open track post race damage. It can be reassuring to discover loose weight or a bent axle as the cause of poor performance. The cars that aren't of significance to the parts bin or Research Department go to a coworker's four year old. He gets a kick out of owning cars he can watch on YouTube. Don't we all?
I don't mind donating entries in "in package" races because I don't invest the time to lube, tune, and test them. But I do prefer getting most loose entries back, even if they're 'stock'. However, I don't mind entering cars that I know that I'll get back if they're gone for long periods of time. I've sent out vintage redlines and other HTF versions that returned home 8 months later. As mentioned above, the thrill of seeing those cars competing on someone elses track via YouTube is well worth the time spent staring at the blank spaces in my storage cases.
I usually like to get them back due to the time and effort put into them. I also want the ones back that did well, I use them to test other cars going to the same track.
Generally, If people send money to have them returned, I'll always send them back. I really respect that people take the time to and make these cars fast. Unless they say I can keep it, then I'll keep it. So its really a preference. Some people just want it back for the weights they have inside and tungsten cubes etc. That stuff is not cheap. Just my opinion. Hope this helps!
D_Built_Garage
Well, if I sent return money eventually I hope the car return. But that is not always the case. it's a Dollar toy and to see it get tore apart on the track is the Bomb. But All I know is my first Race, I will be recivening Drivers ( Custom Babies ) Those are to be handled with Kit gloves and the Day the last is filmed they will be sent back post haste. I am doing this because I love it and wanted to return the Fun I have gotten by many Hosting Tracks. I am hoping I can Do just that and Have Drivers wanting to return for the next tournament.
Like many of the others said my cars are usually packing tungsten, so I like to get them back to cannibalize for parts. At times I don't ask them to be returned as its relatively cheap to build a duplicate if I really liked the build.
Hi everyone!
Yes, i want my cars back, most of them.. I'm not really using them again, but more because of the sentimentally. I have put a lot of work into them and i want to learn from my mistakes. Iffff I get them back, i can have a look on them. Inside and outside. Each track has his own difficultys.
Sometimes the costs to send them back are over the limits, so i give them to the track.
I'm really thankfull that most of the hosts are really cool and they send them back without a problem. But a few are not like this. Each car that i send for a race cost me around 50$ if i want them back. A few of the hosts are not to reliable. This is also a question of learning. I have a list where i don't send cars anymore if i want them back.
I forgot, that sometimes the time is to short for me to make a casting ready and send it. If i have a week to make it (what is realy few tome for me) i have to calculed 3-4 weeks shipping. To chaos canyon it took 3 month (no clue why)
For me, it would depend on how I felt about the entry. If it was one I was particularly proud of for some reason or one I could reuse, then I'd pay to get it back.
If it was a car I modded to send in, I usually didn't care if I got it back (my cars didn't often perform that great). The cars I wanted back the most were often stock cars that I knew where good runners and I could re-enter in a later race, like funny cars or FTEs.
But you're right that shipping costs are pretty ridiculous while the price of our toy cars stays pretty much the same. Looks like it costs about $5 for a one-way trip these days if you're staying domestic. So $10 round trip plus any extra fees or whatever. Shipping is definitely the biggest expense.