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I rented out my car on GetAround (not a Tesla) for eight months, and the results weren't pretty: One accident (side swipe), two tows (parking in construction z
by Hydraulix989 10y ago
I rented out my car on GetAround (not a Tesla) for eight months, and the results weren't pretty:
One accident (side swipe), two tows (parking in construction zone and blocking a neighbor's driveway respectively), and countless tickets.
Many renters didn't fill it up with gas after their trip ended. They also left my car dirty and left trash in it.
Many of my renters improperly parked my car on the street, resulting in countless tickets (GetAround requires renters to park it in a restriction-free zone for 24 hours, no street cleaning, etc.).
My brakes squeal now, and the maintenance light is on in my car. One of the tires also has a gash in it.
One renter stole my SD card, USB car charger, and windshield mount for my phone (I hadn't kept tabs on them so I couldn't narrow it down who the culprit was).
Going into it, I was pretty optimistic about it, but after getting towed twice, I'm feeling pretty sour about it. Their customer support was pretty terrible, too -- they took days to respond at times.
I did FlightCar for a year, and their customer service was a bit better, and their renters took nicer care of my car.
- edward 10y agoFlightCar has ceased trading.
- Hydraulix989 10y agoYep, that's why I had to go off the platform and switch to GetAround months back.
- twblalock 10y agoDid you really expect anything different? Why would people treat a rental from you any better than one from Hertz?
- Hydraulix989 10y agoI don't know, to me, I treat Airbnbs and Ubers considerably nicer than respective hotels and taxis because they are real peoples' personal property (I even do the dishes for Airbnb owners even though I'm not supposed to). I guess I'm in the minority. Lesson learned.
- tamana 10y agoAt what point of sharing does something become unworthy of respect? Is a married couple's property unworthy? A family's? A group of roommates?
- lmm 10y agoI'd suggest: at the point where you start paying for the "sharing" in money.
- hx87 10y agoWhen's it's owned by a publicly traded company.
- Hydraulix989 10y agoI guess I should clarify: I put in extra effort to treat them nicer than baseline.
- tdb7893 10y agoI have much more respect for something that an actual person owns. If it's some mom and pop bed and breakfast I respect it a lot more than if it is some hotel. EDIT: After thinking some more it is all boils down to how much the owner cares about it. For example I really care a lot about my car but the rental comapany doesn't really care much about any specific car that they own.
- eeeeeeeeeeeee 10y agoI'm the same way. Granted, I am not a jerk about taking care of my hotel room either, but I definitely think about it differently. I just know a mistake I make in an Airbnb might mean breaking someones things that have sentimental/personal value whereas a corporate-owned hotel obviously doesn't have that at all.
- toyg 10y agoI think most "normal" people don't mistreat rented cars, so they expect others won't either. It's the same as the original AirBnB pitch. Unfortunately there are added complexities with cars - tourists might not understand local parking rules or road conventions, resulting in towing, tickets and accidents that are not borne out of ill will, they just happen.
- twblalock 10y agoMost people may not have mistreated Hydraulix989's car either, but a small minority of them would be sufficient to ruin his car, get it towed a lot of times, etc. Even if 1 in 10 people mistreat a car, if it's rented out a lot, that adds up to a lot of damage.
- Hydraulix989 10y agoYou won't believe how detailed and idiot-proof I made my vehicle description (which is a feature GetAround has that's designed for owners to outline parking instructions, etc.). People just don't read.
- lawnchair_larry 10y agoWhy wouldn't people respect the property of someone else? That's what I don't understand.
- dmead 10y agoyou must not understand a great many things then
- michaelt 10y agoWhy would people treat a rental from you any better than one from Hertz? I don't get tickets in rentals because I assume, as well as my card being charged for the ticket, it'll also be charged a billion-dollar admin fee. I'm surprised the car got towed or ticketed, whether it was rented from Hertz or GetAround.
- Hydraulix989 10y agoFees only deter people that are conscientious like yourself. That's why credit cards are a good business even though they give so much free points and the like to their customers. They bank on the average person's lack of responsibility.
- umeshunni 10y agoAren't tickets and towing the responsibility of the renter? GetAround's terms of service (section 12: https://www.getaround.com/renter-policies https://www.getaround.com/renter-policies) implies that they are.
- Hydraulix989 10y agoThey are, but it's still pretty frustrating when your car ends up in that one impound lot in SoMa that has one star ratings (I'm near Bernal), and you have to work with GetAround support to get it out of there. The first tow cost $500, the second one $700 for the renter (2x more expensive than towing in even NY), but that's a separate issue.
- nspady 10y agoI had a very similar experience renting my car on Getaround and have heard the same from many others. It seemed to get worse over time as the pool of renters grew and there was less interaction between myself and renters.