How Much to Rent an Aventador Is a Choice Between Three V12s

For most people the right Aventador is the red SV at $2,495 a day. That's where I'd start anyone who asks how much to rent an Aventador. Our other two are SVJs, and both cost $3,995 a day. Every one includes 100 miles a day and carries a $5,000 deposit hold.

All three are based in Orange County, and all three run the same 6.5 liter V12 with no turbos. The price gap comes from what Lamborghini bolted around that engine. So the question isn't really what an Aventador costs. It's which of the three you want waiting for you when the doors go up.

Three Aventadors and what each one costs

Here is every Aventador we run, cheapest first, with the deposit and the rate for each mile past the allowance.

• Aventador SV, 2017, red over black, 740 hp, $2,495 a day, $5,000 deposit, $10 a mile
• Aventador SVJ Coupe, 2019, grey over red, 759 hp, $3,995 a day, $5,000 deposit, $10 a mile
• Aventador SVJ Roadster, 2020, white over red and orange, 759 hp, $3,995 a day, $5,000 deposit, $10 a mile

The SV is the lightest of the three, because Lamborghini cut sound deadening and fitted thin carbon bucket seats trimmed in Alcantara. It also wears a fixed carbon rear wing. Red over black is the color most people picture when they hear the word Lamborghini.

The red SV can be waiting outside John Wayne Airport when you land. You walk out of the single terminal and the car is already there. You lift the door straight up, drop into a seat built for weight instead of comfort, and the V12 catches behind your head. Everyone waiting in the arrivals lane hears it before you pull away.

Why the SVJ costs $1,500 more a day

The SVJ adds 19 horsepower over the SV, and you won't feel that on a public road. What you pay for is the hardware. Both SVJs carry rear wheel steering and ALA 2.0, which is Lamborghini's active aero system. It opens and closes ducts in the front splitter and the rear wing as the road changes.

The grey SVJ Coupe is the quickest gas car we run. It reaches 60 in 2.5 seconds, which is three tenths quicker than the SV. Grey is the only quiet paint on any of our Aventadors. It keeps the car calm against storefront glass while the vents and the wing do the talking. Park it at Fashion Island in Newport Beach and the red cabin only shows once the doors swing up.

The white SVJ Roadster is the one for a day with the roof off. Its roof is two carbon panels that lift out by hand and stow in the nose. Once they're stowed, there's no room left for a bag, so book it for the drive itself and not for a weekend away.

Take it up Newport Coast Drive on the climb toward Pelican Hill with both panels out. The V12 sits inches behind your head with nothing between it and you. You feel every upshift land like a shove in the back.

How much to rent an Aventador for three days or a week

The daily rate drops on its own once the booking gets longer, and one or two days are at the full rate. From day 3 the discount starts, and it comes from the length of the rental, not from asking. Here is what that does to the two Aventador prices.

• SV for 2 days, $4,990 with 200 miles pooled
• SV for 3 days at 10% off, $6,736.50
• SV for 7 days at 20% off, $13,972, or $1,996 a day
• SVJ for 7 days at 20% off, $22,372, or $3,196 a day
• SV for 28 days at 50% off, $34,930, or $1,247.50 a day

Look closely at the week on the SV. At $1,996 a day it costs less than one day in either SVJ at the full rate. It also costs less than our SF90 for a single day. A week means seven mornings of that cold start in a parking garage in Irvine. By the fourth one, the noise stops surprising you and starts feeling like yours.

Delivery is quoted by address, so it isn't part of any of those numbers. We deliver across Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, the Inland Empire, and Palm Springs.

The Aventador rental deposit and the $10 mile

The deposit is $5,000 on all three cars, and it's a hold on your card rather than a charge. We release it once the car comes back in the condition it left. The hold covers small things like a curbed wheel, and a larger deposit may apply if you're under 25.

Miles matter more on this car than on almost anything else we run. Every day includes 100 miles, and a longer booking pools them. Past that, each Aventador bills $10 a mile. That's the highest overage rate in our fleet. This is a car that makes you want the canyon road home instead of the freeway. Run 50 miles over and that's $500, which is a fifth of a day in the SV.

A Las Vegas run shows how fast that adds up. It's about 270 miles each way from Orange County, so the round trip runs around 540 miles. A 2 day booking includes 200 miles. The other 340 miles would bill $3,400 at $10 each. Out of state trips also need you to ask first, so we can price the miles in before you leave.

I'll admit the gearbox is the other cost nobody puts on an invoice. It's a single-clutch unit, and it shuffles at low speed in traffic. On an open stretch of Santiago Canyon Road that same gearbox kicks you forward on every shift. Some clients love it from the first mile, and others never warm to it.

The Aventador rental cost starts with an insurance call

Insurance isn't in the daily rate, and we don't sell it. Your own policy has to extend comprehensive and collision coverage to a rental car that isn't on it. That's called non-owner vehicle coverage. The policy also can't carry an exotic exclusion or a value cap that rules the car out.

Before you get behind the wheel, we call your carrier with an agent on a recorded line. Credit card rental coverage almost never applies here. Most card benefits exclude cars worth more than $50k to $75k. Our red SV carried an MSRP of $493,069 when it was new.

So make that call to your own carrier before you pick a color. A policy that clears the Aventador means the red car can be at your hotel in Beverly Hills on the day you want it. A policy that doesn't clear it changes the plan, however much you're willing to pay.

Lamborghini Aventador rental price per day against three Ferraris

The Ferrari SF90 Stradale costs $2,995 a day, which is $500 more than the SV. It makes 986 horsepower from a twin turbo V8 and three electric motors. It reaches 60 in 2.5 seconds and can leave a quiet street in total silence. The deposit is the same $5,000 and the overage is the same $10.

The Ferrari 812 Superfast is $1,795 a day with a $2,000 deposit and $6 a mile. It also has a naturally aspirated V12, but the engine sits up front. It revs all the way to 8,900 rpm, and it opens with a pair of normal doors. Pull up to the arrivals level at LAX in the 812 and the engine is the show, not the entrance.

The Ferrari 296 GTB is the step down at $1,345 a day, with a $1,000 deposit and $6 a mile. Its hybrid V6 makes 819 horsepower, which is more than any Aventador we run. It just doesn't have a V12 or a pair of doors that point at the sky.

Every Aventador we run gives you the same V12 and the same scissor doors. The SV gets you the engine, the doors, and the red paint for $2,495. The SVJs add speed and aero you'll rarely use on a public road. Pay the extra $1,500 only when the grey paint or the open roof is the reason for the day.