4 ms·

Why awful? I used it once in NYC. It was really not cheaper than a regular car rental, but other than that it was not bad. It was convenient not having to deal

by _of 10y ago

Why awful? I used it once in NYC. It was really not cheaper than a regular car rental, but other than that it was not bad. It was convenient not having to deal with lining up at a front desk when getting the car and returning it. Also the app makes extending your time easy.

osi 10y ago
I found traffic to be a huge impediment to Zipcar in NYC. I needed to really pad out reservations to ensure I did not return the car late (which was then wasteful because I was overpaying). Zipcar in SF and Chicago have been way more pleasant.
robbyt 10y ago
There are so many things that can go wrong with ZipCar in NYC. I never had a good experience, and it ended up being considerably more expensive than just renting a car for 24 hours. It's probably fine in other cities- but it just doesn't work in NYC. Here's a horror story ZipCar experience for me: - I need a car for X... - Open ZipCar app- oh all of the cars in the area are booked for the next 4 days, except for one (inconveniently located). - Book the car for 3-4 hours. - Arrive 10mns early- find/talk to an angry parking attendant - Find out that the car isn't there yet, the previous person still has it. - Wait for 20mns for the car to arrive. - Car arrives, it smells like wet dog and has sand all over. - Hold breath, get in car. Find out it's almost out of gas. - Spend 30mns finding a gas station, and buying gas. - Find out the gas pump's credit card reader is broken, wait for another available gas pump. - Finally fill tank with gas. Only 1.5 hours wasted and we're on our way! - Preform task X - Drive car back to ZipCar garage, get stuck in traffic. - Try to extend reservation, but I can't because someone already booked the car for the next slot. - Return car to garage, can't find a parking attendant. - Pass the car along to the next annoyed ZipCar member, sorry for being late- stay away from the Brooklyn Bridge... - Consider for a moment this other person wasn't actually the member who reserved the car, but possibly a car thief? Nah... - Contact ZipCar to ask for a discount because of the bad experience. Get $10 next reservation- great, thanks.

by _of 10y ago

osi 10y ago

I found traffic to be a huge impediment to Zipcar in NYC. I needed to really pad out reservations to ensure I did not return the car late (which was then wasteful because I was overpaying). Zipcar in SF and Chicago have been way more pleasant.

robbyt 10y ago

There are so many things that can go wrong with ZipCar in NYC. I never had a good experience, and it ended up being considerably more expensive than just renting a car for 24 hours. It's probably fine in other cities- but it just doesn't work in NYC. Here's a horror story ZipCar experience for me: - I need a car for X... - Open ZipCar app- oh all of the cars in the area are booked for the next 4 days, except for one (inconveniently located). - Book the car for 3-4 hours. - Arrive 10mns early- find/talk to an angry parking attendant - Find out that the car isn't there yet, the previous person still has it. - Wait for 20mns for the car to arrive. - Car arrives, it smells like wet dog and has sand all over. - Hold breath, get in car. Find out it's almost out of gas. - Spend 30mns finding a gas station, and buying gas. - Find out the gas pump's credit card reader is broken, wait for another available gas pump. - Finally fill tank with gas. Only 1.5 hours wasted and we're on our way! - Preform task X - Drive car back to ZipCar garage, get stuck in traffic. - Try to extend reservation, but I can't because someone already booked the car for the next slot. - Return car to garage, can't find a parking attendant. - Pass the car along to the next annoyed ZipCar member, sorry for being late- stay away from the Brooklyn Bridge... - Consider for a moment this other person wasn't actually the member who reserved the car, but possibly a car thief? Nah... - Contact ZipCar to ask for a discount because of the bad experience. Get $10 next reservation- great, thanks.