Thanks for the thought Finn! Like TB says, if the hire rates are reasonable then probably easier to hire than to collect from wherever in the case of the engine hoist. However, I think you are onto something as a general concept. For example, a few people have had to spring for V6 camlock kits that we all benefit from. It would be good to make that more equitable.
I will add one more wrinkle to this. What if we could group together to rent a small industrial unit for working on cars? Just as an example, there is one near me (a railway arch) that is sufficient to work on at least one car and store tools for £300/mo. I would go for it on my own and share it if I was in a better financial situation. Like the engine hoist, there is the issue of being local enough to benefit from it.