RideCache

RideCache (pronounced “ride-cash”) is a brand new web application and service designed to help car enthusiasts and collectors digitally organize, manage and preserve everything they do to and with their vehicles. And we are also Porsche owners – you will see our 981CS in the demo video below. Previously only available to private collectors and a few select car clubs and organizations, RideCache is now broadly available and we are excited to be new sponsors here at Rennlist.

Here are answers to a few common questions about RideCache:

“Why an app when paper/spreadsheet works just fine?” Well, the old school method really is just fine for some folks and that is OK – we don’t expect RideCache to be for everyone – but here are a few ways we believe an online app (and RideCache in particular) is superior to the old methods.

• Your information is safe, secure and not prone to loss through fire, flood, decay, loss, etc.
• Everything in one place – maintenance records, important papers, part records, event records, notes and pictures – all in an organization system purpose-built for car enthusiasts
• Easy to share with others if you choose - with fine grain privacy controls over who sees what
• Easily searchable across multiple vehicles (ex: show me all of my batteries across all vehicles – boom, instant answer with info, receipts, pictures, etc).
• Advanced features like notifications, designated managers, services, etc
• Easy to transfer complete record to new owner
• Accessible from any internet connected device, anywhere at any time
• And finally – we won’t own these cars forever – there will be a next owner. And the likelihood is that the next owner will be from the Millennial generation (or even younger). These next generation car enthusiasts have grown up with, expect, and value digital solutions and they will value your car more if you can provide them with a well built RideCache record.

“OK, I get it, but there are tons of car sites/apps out there – how is RideCache different?” Great question – here are several reasons why we built RideCache and why we think it is different. (read more on our blog here: http://blog.ridecache.com/2016/01/13...ther-car-site/ )

• Professional Tool, Not a Social Media Toy
  Being the best possible software tool for car enthusiasts and collectors is our primary goal, social is secondary.

• Robust Privacy and Security
  With RideCache, you can confidently build a COMPLETE digital record of everything associated with your vehicles (yes, even titles, loan docs, appraisals, etc) - all in one place and safe from theft, fire, flood or loss.

• Deep, Purpose-Built Feature Set for Enthusiasts
  Features to organize and manage tasks, wish lists, notifications, parts, paperwork, events and more. Notifications to monitor usage by time and/or mileage. Assigned managers to allow other trusted individuals access to help manage your account. And more.

• Services and Support
  For those who want a great RideCache for their vehicles but don't have the time, ability or inclination to build their own we provide the RideCache Build and RideCache Valet services where our professionals will take your information and deliver a great RideCache for you.

• Subscription-based, Pay Service
  And that is a good thing! It is about focus and development. Our focus is on you and your success and enjoyment as an enthusiast and collector. We spend all of our development dollars investing in ways to make your experience better - if we succeed and provide great value to you, we get paid.
  • No ads
  • Not trying to sell you anything
  • Not trying to sell your car

“Why does it cost money?” Yes it does cost money, but we do offer a free version and a discount for Rennlist members. RideCache is a subscription based service with plans that start at $20/yr for the Basic Plan that lets you manage 2 vehicles. The most popular plan is our Enthusiast Plan that lets you manage up to 8 vehicles for $50/yr (let’s face it, for many of us, this addiction goes way beyond 2 vehicles! And this allows you to also manage daily drivers).

• The free version lets you manage 1 car with a few feature limitations (does not track events or resources). That version will be good enough for many people – and makes it easy for enthusiasts and collectors to try before subscribing. (we reserve the right to run ads on the free version – but there are none there now)
• Professionally developed, highly secure, data intensive web applications cost money to develop, host and maintain. To pay for them and run a profitable business you either have to sell advertisements, sell the user’s data or charge a fee. There are lots of car sites that do a combination of the first 2; however, we believe that car enthusiasts that want and need this service are willing to pay a modest fee for a service that is not covered in ads, not trying to sell them anything, and not mining their data for profit.
• It is cheap! Considering the money we invest in our cars – the $50/yr cost for the enthusiast level subscription is probably less than the cost of an oil change on a single car (and with enthusiast level you can track/manage 8 cars). Plus we strongly believe that a well documented RideCache will easily pay back in tangible value when you go to sell your vehicle.

“Sounds like a lot of work…” RideCache is a tool. And like all great tools – you have to use them to realize their value. Many of you are already doing the work to scan receipts, build spreadsheets, upload pictures to the cloud, etc – so for you RideCache will be an easy transition and a welcome integrated solution. For those that are pure paper today – yes, it will take some work – but we believe the payoff is significant.

• There are many that love organizing and documenting everything that is associated with their vehicles – it is part of their joy of owning special vehicles. These people will love building their own RideCache for their vehicles.
• There are others who may love the idea of having a beautiful RideCache for their cars, but do not have the time or ability to build it out on their own. For these people we offer the RideCache Build service. Starting at $250/vehicle (depending on the amount of documentation and assets that will need to be converted and uploaded), the professionals at RideCache will do the work for you and leave you with a professionally built RideCache. (See the video of the Danny Reed Collection below for an example)
• We also offer a RideCache Valet service that will help maintain your account on an ongoing basis for a monthly fee per vehicle.
• If you are interested in either the RideCache Build or RideCache Valet services, send us a PM and we will get you the details.

Finally, a demo is worth a thousand clicks! As I mentioned, we are happy Porsche owners ourselves.

• Here is a demo walkthrough of our own RideCache for the 981:
  
  RideCache Demo - 2014 Porsche Cayman S - YouTube
• You can access this vehicle on RideCache directly and have a look around here: Princess Carriage 3
• Here is another nice video to give you an idea of how RideCache is used by a collector of some high-value classic cars. This customer took advantage of our RideCache Build service and had our team build out his RideCache from documentation he provided (as well as some phone interview time with our team).
  
  Danny Reed Collection - RideCache Walkthrough - YouTube

Offer: As a new sponsor, and for an introductory time period, we are offering forum members 50% off of your first year’s subscription with the code: RENNLIST50. Sign up at ridecache.com.

jscott82

Cool idea... Ill check it out.

Quadcammer

not for me, but not the worst idea ever either.

good luck with your business

RideCache

Thanks for the well wishes!

gavonder

Looks very well done & all inclusive.

Not for me, though, as I would prefer an application that is not web based. I would like it all on my computer or wherever I want, not for other people to see, or hack into.

RideCache

Thanks for the compliment! And you are right - as with most things there are trade-offs to the web-based implementation.

At RideCache, we have put a ton of effort into the highest level of security (the green lock icon with our corporate name in the address bar when you go to ridecache.com is validation of our security (you can click that for more info) - and not easy to get for companies - the same security validation you see with banks and financial institutions).

In our experience, you are much more likely to lose your information when it is stored on your own PC - to disc failure, viruses, PC failure, theft, fire, flood, etc. If you are not going to use a web based service like RideCache, the best tip I would provide to prevent this loss would be to always backup and keep a recent copy of your information in a second location - that reduces the risk of loss significantly.

Thanks again for the comments - and sorry for the long-winded response!

x50type

I like the look of it and, like many other enthusiasts, have a stack of car related stuff for a number of vehicles.
Entering all I would want to enter, to make comprehensive records, would be a major task for me. Additionally, with photographs, it could make for very large files.
I did this data entry some time ago for 6 family vehicles then lost all the data when the program i was using suddenly went 'unresponsive' without rescue.
Consequently I am hesitant to do all this work if there is any possibility [even the slightest] of it vanishing into cyber space, hack damage, possibility of data loss and possibility of my access being denied for what ever reason [for example a disagreement/dispute with RideCache].
What limit do you have on file storage size and what assurances can you give me to alleviate my paranoia?

RideCache

Thanks for the comments. Here are a few answers and thoughts in response.

First, yes, it is a bit of work to enter all of this information. We are working to make it as easy as possible, but there is still work involved. I always remember my father impressing on me that truly valuable things take work - I believe that definitely holds true here. And for those that value the end result, but feel the work is too much, we offer the RideCache Build service where we will build your RideCache using your material and input via phone.

We certainly appreciate your concerns about the effort being wasted and losing your work if things go wrong or RideCache disappears. I have been burned several times in the way you described. There are two things we are doing to mitigate this risk for our users. First, we have invested in commercial grade security. The green padlock icon + our corporate name in the address bar are a testament to this. Click that padlock and you can get more information. No website is bulletproof, but we take this very seriously and commit to protect your data using much the same technology that banks do. Second, we are working to provide a feature that will allow users to back up all their data in a standard format (maybe xml). This would allow you to always have a copy of your own data. It won't be as pretty as it is in RideCache when you open it in a spreadsheet, but you will have all the records, text, etc.

Finally, you are correct that pictures take a lot of space. But we feel that pictures are also critical to capturing and preserving our vehicle's stories. That is why we built RideCache to hold unlimited pictures for every item - and encourage users to take and upload pictures for everything - tasks, parts, events - not just the basic vehicle beauty shots. We upload and store these in large, high resolution and then serve them back to you in an appropriate size depending on what size screen you are using to view. We reserve the right to limit how much you can store with the free version (but right now we do not limit), but there is no limit to how many pictures you can store with the paid accounts. We have also invested in a very nice picture upload interface that allows you to easily and quickly upload large numbers of pictures all at once with a nice drag and drop functionality.

I appreciate the question and understand the paranoia. We would love to be trusted with your vehicle's stories and are committed to being good stewards of your information forever - that is our goal. Please let us know if we can do anything else to earn your trust!

- Gary

x50type

Thanks for the information; my only question at the moment is about Backup. I understand......It won't be as pretty as it is in RideCache when you open it in a spreadsheet, but you will have all the records, text, etc.

Is it not possible to have some kind of back up procedure into your original RideCache layout/format, as opposed to a spreadsheet?

Or could it be possible [with reasonable ease] to later have the spreadsheet back up data transferred over to RideCache format?

RideCache

Yes, your 2nd point is what we are planning to implement. When we build the feature to export all data to a standard file format, we will implement a similar import feature from that format. Frankly we don't see that being used by you to move your data back into RideCache because it should never be necessary (we back up your data daily in multiple ways), but rather for people who have their own data in spreadsheets and other formats that may want to use the import feature to save data entry for themselves.

dan911

I like your solution! I can see value if I were selling my vehicle, it would be a lot easier to share the site to prospective buyers. Is there a way to transfer the car and all info to a different user in the event of a sale?

Sorry I just re-read your initial post and I see it can be transferred
Thanks

x50type

All sounds good, so i went to site to sign up for the basic service.

All went well during sign up until i got an error message - Base No Such Coupon RENNLIST50.
Also not sure of Amex is accepted.
Actually I prefer Paypal.

RideCache

Sorry about that! That code should be active now. And yes, Amex is welcome!

Thanks!

RideCache

dan911 - yes, the transfer feature is very nice. One click and the new owner receives the full RideCache. And we are sure they will be very grateful!

IainM

Who owns the data on your website?