Time Sharing Cars 298
timmy_walker writes "This article from the associated press talks about new car time share services from ZipCar and Seattle-based Flexcar, where "Customers make reservations via computer or telephone, and the company uses remote-access systems to control who can use the car when.""
There are many others out there. (Score:5, Informative)
They have this in the UK (Score:5, Informative)
Re:nice but (Score:5, Informative)
Re:nice but (Score:3, Informative)
my only complaint is that the stupid web site only deals with ie, so i'm stuck using the fairly painful phone menu.
Is this news? (Score:3, Informative)
Since I live in NH, it wasn't available to me at the time, but I thought it was intriguing, especially for people that don't drive that often.
Ottawa's Cool Car Sharing Program (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Keeping them clean? (Score:5, Informative)
Smoking/Pets Fee: Fee for smoking in a vehicle or carrying pets without a pet carrier is $200.
Cleaning Fee: Emergency vehicle cleaning (interior not ready for next member) is $200 plus costs.
etc.
Re:Running late? (Score:4, Informative)
I haven't used it, but I have a good friend who uses Flexcar here in Seattle.
According to her, it's not a "dream solution." There has been a time or two when the car in the spot closest to her apartment hasn't been available on short notice, etc. etc. But Flexcar did ultimately make it possible for her to make the leap to get rid of her personal car altogether. She lives and works downtown and uses the bus system, but was holding on to her car for that one-Saturday-a-month when she would make the big grocery store run, do the miscellaneous errands that took her to other parts of the city, and/or pick up something too big to carry alone on a bus.
Without Flexcar, she would have had to meet the expense of keeping the car around for those odd occasions, as Seattle is not quite ready for most young professional types to live by public transportation alone, a la New York City.
Re:Keeping them clean? (Score:3, Informative)
Other Fees/Credits
General Membership Fee:
All plans require an annual fee and selection of a rate plan. Members may change rate plans before the last day of the month at no charge.
Reservation Cancellation Fee:
Reservations may begin and/or end on the hour or half-hour. No charge for cancellation if reservation is cancelled within one hour of making reservation or more than 8 hours before scheduled use. Otherwise member will be charged rates for all hours reserved less any hours used by another member.
Premium Class Vehicle Fee:
Premium vehicles, denoted on the Website, are $2 more/hour. Fee waived for Advantage 100 Plan members.
Late Return Fee:
If a vehicle is returned late you will be charged a $20 fee plus incurred costs (up to $100). Late fee is waived if Flexcar is notified in advance of late return (other fees may still apply, i.e., cab fare).
Inconvenience Fee:
Member will be charged $75 plus costs for inconveniencing other members (no fuel, no ignition key, car not parked in Flexcar spot, etc.).
Damage Fee:
Member is responsible for the first $500 of $1,000 deductible for any damage to the vehicles. If you do not report damage you may be held responsible for the first $750 of the $1,000 deductible. Insurance policy information is available at each Flexcar office.
Smoking/Pets Fee:
Fee for smoking in a vehicle or carrying pets without a pet carrier is $200.
Cleaning Fee:
Emergency vehicle cleaning (interior not ready for next member) is $200 plus costs.
Ignition Key Replacement Fee:
Vehicle ignition key replacement fee is $75/hour plus materials.
Remote Unlocking Fee:
Remote unlocking of Flexcar vehicle is $15.
Keycard Replacement Fee:
Members will be charged $15 for a new Flexcar KeyCard.
Parking Tickets:
Member is responsible for all parking tickets during trip. Investigation, resolution of parking, towing, tickets, etc. is $20/hour plus costs.
Vehicle Washing Credit:
Members earn a $5 credit plus reimbursement (up to $12 total) for washing vehicle (receipt required).
Gasoline Credit:
Members receive a $2 credit for refueling (required if tank is at ¼ or less upon return of the vehicle).
Referral Credit:
Members who refer new members receive a $20 credit per new member.
Re:Keeping them clean? (Score:2, Informative)
PLAN COST DETAILS
Standard $9.00 per Hour Each hour includes 30 free miles.
Advantage 5 $43.75 per Month Up to 5 hours and 150 miles.
Advantage 10 $85.00 per Month Up to 10 hours and 300 miles.
Advantage 25 $200.00 per Month Up to 25 hours and 750 miles.
Advantage 50 $375.00 per Month Up to 50 hours and 1500 miles.
Advantage 100 $700.00 per Month Up to 100 hours and 3000 miles.
Advantage 200 $1350.00 per Month Up to 200 hours and 6000 miles.
Advantage 300 $1950.00 per Month Up to 300 hours and 9000 miles.
New Service (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Keeping them clean? (Score:3, Informative)
Do NOT be late with the flexcar. (Score:3, Informative)
The second rule of Flexcar is: You can depend on the flexcar.
The third rule of Flexcar is: DO NOT BE LATE WITH THE FLEXCAR.
Their policy is that if you have a reservation, and the car isn't there, you call their toll-free 24-hour support number. They either get you a car nearby (if that works), or they send you a taxi. You take that taxi on your task, for up to some amount ($200 I think it is). The bottom line: if you have a reservation, you can count on getting where you're going.
Why can they afford to do this? If you're the one late with the flexcar, and you didn't call and let them know, YOU PAY FOR THE TAXI.
Do NOT be late with the Flexcar.
On the upside, if you *know* you're going to be late, then you can call in and let them know. Then they can warn the next member, or send a taxi to take them to another car. Much cheaper than sending a taxi to take them on their whole trip.
Of course, if it totally isn't your fault (accident, car breakdown, etc) Flexcar takes pretty good care of you. I was late with a car once because I had taken my wife to the hospital in it (a deep cut -- needed to be examined, but not ambulance worthy). They worked with the next person, and got it taken care of.
I've been a Flexcar member and car-free (in Seattle) for four years. It's great. I've only paid taxi fees a couple of times, they were about $40 or so. Ultimately, not a big deal. And even with the fees, waaay cheaper than owning a car.
Re:Lacking Accountability and Ownership (Score:3, Informative)
And, should you like to make yourself $5, Flexcar will also *pay you* to wash the car. It's a nice touch, when you've got extra time and have to put gas in it anyway.
Which, by the way they pay for. AND they pay you $2 when you put their gas in it when it's under half a tank.
-Zipwow
San Francisco Bay Area (Score:3, Informative)
Notes from a ZipCar User (Score:4, Informative)
This was two years before ZipCar came into existance. Renting a car from a traditional rental agency involves going to the agency during their working hours, standing in line (frequently 1/2 hour), filling out paperwork, and returning the car during working hours. It makes no sense to rent the car for less than a day. Thus when ZipCar started up, and the booking time became 5 minutes at home and you could book for a couple hours, it was huge.
It was only when I moved to the far west side of Cambridge, where it's easier to find a parking space near the house and there aren't 7 ZipCars within walking distance (in fact there isn't even 1) that I decided it was time to get a new car.
From a geek standpoint, the system is extremely cool. The company issues you a card key associated with your account. You reserve the car on-line. A cell based system in the car is alerted to let the car know when you've rented it. During your rental time your card key unlocks the doors and the ignition. You can continue to drive if you go past the quiting time, but they charge you $25 for being late. In Boston, you're always late because of traffic, so it's cheaper just to rent the car for 1/2 hour or hour more than you think you'll need it.
So in answer to some of the questions I've seen:
(1) Why don't you just take public transportation? I did 95% of the time.
(2) Is it reliable? Yes. The $25 late fee seems to insure that the car is back on time. I never had to wait for the car to be returned.
(3) Is it dirty? No. There is a $50 charge for trashing the car.
(4) Is it wrecked? For whatever reason, the cars had very few dings. If the car is in a serious accident, it is taken out of commission. The company contacts the current renters and rebooks them to different cars.
(5) Who does the maintenance / washes the cars? The company does. If you want to wash the car yourself, the company reimburses you.
(6) Does it make sense in every town? No, only in very dense cities that have good public transportation.
(7) Isn't it expensive? Not compared to the price of owning a car in a big city.
(8) Is it convenient? Yes. In Boston / Cambridge there are a ton of cars. Until I moved far enough away from the central part of the city, it was pretty easy to find a car near my home or work free at any given time (except holiday weekends).
(9) Will it impress a woman? No, but she lives in the city, too. Meet her at a coffee shop and then take her to a nice restaurant.
Aahh old Europe :-) (Score:2, Informative)
Technical Questions? (Score:3, Informative)
My story -- and Zipcar subsidies (Score:2, Informative)
There are lots of people complaining about the pricing -- here's my story with Zipcar in Boston.
My 1992 Saturn was falling apart on the streets -- between snow, getting sideswiped, looking for parking spaces (most people in the city don't have dedicated spots), and the fact that my car was 10 years old and had the usual 10-year-old car problems, it was quite a burden. I estimated that I spent about $150 per month on it all told (maintenance, parking tickets, gas, insurance) -- all so I could drive to the grocery store once a week. So enter Zipcar. They have nice cars (most are late-model VW's -- Jettas, Beetles -- if you want to pay a little more, you can even rent Minis and BMW 7-series cars!), and more importantly, their reserved spots are closer to my house than I was able to park my own car. I donated my piece-of-junk car to charity, canceled my insurance, and signed up. As for the pricing, my philosophy was that if I spent less than $150 per month, I was doing great -- and no headaches of car ownership. At $8.50 per hour, that's over 17 hours of driving -- needless to say, I haven't gotten close to that. If I plan ahead, I can get a normal rental car. I've figured that the break-even point between Zipcar and standard car rental (considering gas and insurance) is about 5 hours.
I also haven't seen it mentioned that Zipcar has agreements with several local businesses and universities. For example, MIT [mit.edu] provides spots on campus and waives the application fees for grad students, faculty, and staff.
I think it's great to have a progressive, tech-friendly, environmental company around that actually improves my quality of life and saves me money.