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Car Sharing - ZipCar, FlexCar, City CarShare - do they work? - READ ONLY

20 messages,  Last post on Jan 13, 2013 at 11:56 PM

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#11 of 20 anyone doing peer to peer? by steve_ HOST

Jan 03, 2012 (6:41 pm)

California legalized personal car sharing a year ago. Oregon passed a peer to peer sharing law back in June, 2011. The deal is that you list your car on a sharing site, enable a smartphone app to handle the unlocking of the doors and make a couple of hundred bucks a month.
 
Sound appealing?
 
Or does the idea of some grubby stranger driving your baby around make you crazy?
 
New Company Rents Your Car By The Hour (Forbes)
 
Personal Car-Sharing Takes Off as States Ease Insurance Laws (ABC)
 
One commentator thinks the idea is fraught with liability:
 
Personal Car Sharing and Manslaughter Charges (rentmycar.org)

#12 of 20 Re: anyone doing peer to peer? [steve_] by fintail

Jan 03, 2012 (6:58 pm)

Replying to: steve_ (Jan 03, 2012 6:41 pm)
$45 a day? I can easily rent a car for that from an established agency. I would never rent out my own car, as I don't consider 99% of drivers to be my "peer" when it comes to vehicle care.
 
I like the $15/hour Z4 idea though. BMW has had an hourly rental scheme in Munich for a couple years now...BMW On Demand...some cool choices there.

#14 of 20 GM's getting in the act by steve_ HOST

Jul 17, 2012 (12:24 pm)

"Nearly 6 million of General Motors Co.'s OnStar subscribers will be able to rent their GM vehicles through the car-sharing business RelayRides and avoid the hassle of meeting renters in person to give them keys.
 
The two companies say the partnership, which will be announced today, allows owners of GM vehicles to rent their cars or trucks to other people for extra cash. OnStar gave RelayRides permission to develop technology that allows renters to unlock OnStar-equipped vehicles through smartphone or by replying to text messages."
 
OnStar to soon offer car-sharing (Detroit News)

#15 of 20 Re: GM's getting in the act [steve_] by lemko

Jul 19, 2012 (7:37 am)

Replying to: steve_ (Jul 17, 2012 12:24 pm)
Maybe I can try out a Volt this way to see if it is "all that!"

#16 of 20 Re: GM's getting in the act [lemko] by steve_ HOST

Jul 19, 2012 (7:49 am)

Replying to: lemko (Jul 19, 2012 7:37 am)
Now that you mention it, a Volt owner probably would enjoy a lot of rental income from people wanting to tool around in an electric rig.

#19 of 20 Avis buys Zipcar by steve_ HOST

Jan 02, 2013 (12:59 pm)

Good read on why a good idea didn't work; not big enough to buy cars cheap enough for the fleet it sounds like. Not enough customers either.
 
"Zipcar was a prodigious money-loser. Funding growth around the world, it never once turned a profit, losing about $55 million since 2007. And the entry of behemoth Hertz made its task all the more costly."
 
Zipcar: Entrepreneurial Genius, Public-Company Failure (WSJ.com)

#20 of 20 Re: Avis buys Zipcar [steve_] by carthell

Jan 13, 2013 (11:56 pm)

Replying to: steve_ (Jan 02, 2013 12:59 pm)
I considered the service, especially when the company parked two vehicles at my work site. Over the breakdowns I had over the the past two years, I've found that the sites where the company put their cars were simply too inconvenient to reach, and few in number. I typically use the major car rental business in my neighborhood, and the car dealerships I go to have a rental office nearby.
 
It did not help when the two cars at my work site was reduced to one due to a catastrophic event, undoubtedly. It has been that way for many months, and I'm not going to fight for the use of one vehicle.

Messages Page 2 of 2

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