4 ms·

You have to be incredibly out of touch to think people are going to want to rent out their personal car to filthy strangers to help offset the cost of ownership

You have to be incredibly out of touch to think people are going to want to rent out their personal car to filthy strangers to help offset the cost of ownership.

maxxxxx 9y ago
Especially once more people start doing this the profit margins will go down quickly.
cryptoz 9y ago
> You have to be incredibly out of touch to think people are going to want to rent out their personal car to filthy strangers to help offset the cost of ownership. You have to be incredibly out of touch to group all car consumers into the same category. That's insulting and rude and wrong. I, for one, and literally everyone I know in person, would absolutely jump up and down with excitement, throw-our-money-at-Tesla-forever if I could buy a Tesla and rent it out to offset the cost. You are incredibly out of touch if you think that there aren't hundreds of millions of people just like me on this one. Edit: And, what, HN agrees that "filthy strangers" is a good way to talk about your fellow peers and neighbours? Ugh. The people renting cars are not "filthy strangers". They're just people. Why is all this hateful language, specifically pointed towards the less-wealthy in society, considered reasonable language on HN? It's rude as shit and infuriating that it's tolerated here. Your fellow humans are not "filthy strangers".
- stevenh 9y ago
  This is the most soy comment I've ever seen on this site.
- zdragnar 9y ago
  People over whom you have social interaction- neighbors, work peers and so forth- are on better behavior than arbitrary strangers. This isn't a solid rule by any means, but I think most people with experience in retail know what I'm talking about... if someone thinks they're never going to see you again, they will behave very differently, and never for the better. There is a HUGE difference between your peers, neighbors, and "fellow humans". OTOH, Airbnb and VRBO make pretty compelling arguments the other direction; I suspect this is at least partly due to security deposits and the reputation systems where owners can leave feedback about renters.
  - matte_black 9y ago
    I did my stint in retail and know exactly what you’re talking about. Thank god I escaped and lived happily ever after.
username223 9y ago
Agreed -- this seems like a terrible plan. Taxis are designed to be durable more than comfortable, have drivers to constrain rider misbehavior, and generally have fares ride in back, and they still get nasty. If I wanted my car to serve as an unsupervised taxi, it would have to be durable inside, I could never leave any personal belongings in it (e.g. gym bag, sunglasses, recent purchases), and I would have to get it seriously cleaned on a regular basis. That would dramatically increase the cost and/or decrease the value of ownership. Just look at bikes: either you hire/"share" a 40-pound tank that sucks to ride, rent something decent with a substantial deposit, or buy a nice bike that you would never loan out to random strangers. Public transportation is a great thing, but it is fundamentally different from private vehicles.
- Klathmon 9y ago
  And yet Uber and Lyft are monumentally successful, which is the exact same thing, but with a driver.
  - username223 9y ago
    Uber and Lyft are "monumentally successful" (while still hemorrhaging money and, in one case, flirting with being sued out of existence) because people are bad at math. People are much better at noticing that their stuff gets trashed. Don't underestimate the importance of "with a driver."
    - Klathmon 9y ago
      Okay but if your argument is that "people won't sign up for it", you are clearly wrong. Regardless of the financial success of those companies, they are everywhere in just about every major city and even most suburban areas in the US. Throw a streaming camera in the car, and require a credit card on file, and they can trash the inside of my car all they want, they are just paying for the cleaning or new interior.
      - matte_black 9y ago
jameslevy 9y ago
I am also a bit skeptical, but then again I would have said a similar thing about the entire concept of UberX/Lyft in 2010.
aianus 9y ago
People are already successfully renting out Porsches and Teslas on Turo in my city at over a hundred dollars a day (and with 5 day minimums!). If you give me $500 you can puke in my car all you want. And I'm relatively well-off and don't need the money, imagine someone struggling to make the payments like most Americans.
- matte_black 9y ago
  People also rent out their homes on AirBnB. Yet we don’t live in a world where most people buy a primary home they can’t afford with the intention that they will just rent it out to offset the mortgage a bit. The closest we get is people getting roommates for an apartment.
jstandard 9y ago
Turo (fka RelayRides) has been successful at doing exactly this. Airbnb has also shown people's willingness to share personal spaces to offset their mortgage or rent.
- matte_black 9y ago
  Yea? And how do you know these platforms haven’t already peaked? If so many people are willing to rent out space why isn’t damn near every house on AirBnB? There is nothing to support the idea that a few people being willing to rent out space means a much larger class of consumers is willing to do so.
  - jstandard 9y ago
    If that is your position, it's quite different from your initial statement that GP had to be "incredibly out of touch". There are multiple, billion dollar companies where users rent out large, personal assets to others. I don't see that as "nothing to support the idea". It's direct evidence that people are willing to do it at a reasonable level of scale. I'm not sure what level of scale you're thinking or what you're responding to at this point. If you can scale back a bit on the hyperbole and adversarial mindset, I'm interested to discuss.
    - matte_black 9y ago
      The notion that people are so desperate for an expensive Tesla that they will buy it and then happily rent it out to help pay for the cost is out of touch. People have other options, people value keeping their private property private, and people will certainly just wait for when they can buy a cheaper used Tesla, just like any other car.
      - jstandard 9y ago
        It is interesting to consider how much fully autonomy will impact attitudes toward private property. I agree it's a stretch to assume most potential buyers are willing to rent their car out as an autonomous vehicle to offset the cost. However I do think that % of people will be higher than it is today because full autonomy creates more situations where you've bought an expensive asset which sits idle throughout most of the day when you're working or sleeping. Elon's assuming that Tesla will be the first to market with Level 5 autonomy. If that's the case, people will be willing to pay a huge premium to get one, especially if they think they can offset the costs by having it "pay for itself while you sleep".

You have to be incredibly out of touch to think people are going to want to rent out their personal car to filthy strangers to help offset the cost of ownership.

maxxxxx 9y ago

Especially once more people start doing this the profit margins will go down quickly.

cryptoz 9y ago

> You have to be incredibly out of touch to think people are going to want to rent out their personal car to filthy strangers to help offset the cost of ownership. You have to be incredibly out of touch to group all car consumers into the same category. That's insulting and rude and wrong. I, for one, and literally everyone I know in person, would absolutely jump up and down with excitement, throw-our-money-at-Tesla-forever if I could buy a Tesla and rent it out to offset the cost. You are incredibly out of touch if you think that there aren't hundreds of millions of people just like me on this one. Edit: And, what, HN agrees that "filthy strangers" is a good way to talk about your fellow peers and neighbours? Ugh. The people renting cars are not "filthy strangers". They're just people. Why is all this hateful language, specifically pointed towards the less-wealthy in society, considered reasonable language on HN? It's rude as shit and infuriating that it's tolerated here. Your fellow humans are not "filthy strangers".

stevenh 9y ago
This is the most soy comment I've ever seen on this site.
zdragnar 9y ago
People over whom you have social interaction- neighbors, work peers and so forth- are on better behavior than arbitrary strangers. This isn't a solid rule by any means, but I think most people with experience in retail know what I'm talking about... if someone thinks they're never going to see you again, they will behave very differently, and never for the better. There is a HUGE difference between your peers, neighbors, and "fellow humans". OTOH, Airbnb and VRBO make pretty compelling arguments the other direction; I suspect this is at least partly due to security deposits and the reputation systems where owners can leave feedback about renters.
- matte_black 9y ago
  I did my stint in retail and know exactly what you’re talking about. Thank god I escaped and lived happily ever after.

username223 9y ago

Agreed -- this seems like a terrible plan. Taxis are designed to be durable more than comfortable, have drivers to constrain rider misbehavior, and generally have fares ride in back, and they still get nasty. If I wanted my car to serve as an unsupervised taxi, it would have to be durable inside, I could never leave any personal belongings in it (e.g. gym bag, sunglasses, recent purchases), and I would have to get it seriously cleaned on a regular basis. That would dramatically increase the cost and/or decrease the value of ownership. Just look at bikes: either you hire/"share" a 40-pound tank that sucks to ride, rent something decent with a substantial deposit, or buy a nice bike that you would never loan out to random strangers. Public transportation is a great thing, but it is fundamentally different from private vehicles.

Klathmon 9y ago
And yet Uber and Lyft are monumentally successful, which is the exact same thing, but with a driver.
- username223 9y ago
  Uber and Lyft are "monumentally successful" (while still hemorrhaging money and, in one case, flirting with being sued out of existence) because people are bad at math. People are much better at noticing that their stuff gets trashed. Don't underestimate the importance of "with a driver."
  - Klathmon 9y ago
    Okay but if your argument is that "people won't sign up for it", you are clearly wrong. Regardless of the financial success of those companies, they are everywhere in just about every major city and even most suburban areas in the US. Throw a streaming camera in the car, and require a credit card on file, and they can trash the inside of my car all they want, they are just paying for the cleaning or new interior.
    - matte_black 9y ago

jameslevy 9y ago

I am also a bit skeptical, but then again I would have said a similar thing about the entire concept of UberX/Lyft in 2010.

aianus 9y ago

People are already successfully renting out Porsches and Teslas on Turo in my city at over a hundred dollars a day (and with 5 day minimums!). If you give me $500 you can puke in my car all you want. And I'm relatively well-off and don't need the money, imagine someone struggling to make the payments like most Americans.

matte_black 9y ago
People also rent out their homes on AirBnB. Yet we don’t live in a world where most people buy a primary home they can’t afford with the intention that they will just rent it out to offset the mortgage a bit. The closest we get is people getting roommates for an apartment.

jstandard 9y ago

Turo (fka RelayRides) has been successful at doing exactly this. Airbnb has also shown people's willingness to share personal spaces to offset their mortgage or rent.

matte_black 9y ago
Yea? And how do you know these platforms haven’t already peaked? If so many people are willing to rent out space why isn’t damn near every house on AirBnB? There is nothing to support the idea that a few people being willing to rent out space means a much larger class of consumers is willing to do so.
- jstandard 9y ago
  If that is your position, it's quite different from your initial statement that GP had to be "incredibly out of touch". There are multiple, billion dollar companies where users rent out large, personal assets to others. I don't see that as "nothing to support the idea". It's direct evidence that people are willing to do it at a reasonable level of scale. I'm not sure what level of scale you're thinking or what you're responding to at this point. If you can scale back a bit on the hyperbole and adversarial mindset, I'm interested to discuss.
  - matte_black 9y ago
    The notion that people are so desperate for an expensive Tesla that they will buy it and then happily rent it out to help pay for the cost is out of touch. People have other options, people value keeping their private property private, and people will certainly just wait for when they can buy a cheaper used Tesla, just like any other car.
    - jstandard 9y ago
      It is interesting to consider how much fully autonomy will impact attitudes toward private property. I agree it's a stretch to assume most potential buyers are willing to rent their car out as an autonomous vehicle to offset the cost. However I do think that % of people will be higher than it is today because full autonomy creates more situations where you've bought an expensive asset which sits idle throughout most of the day when you're working or sleeping. Elon's assuming that Tesla will be the first to market with Level 5 autonomy. If that's the case, people will be willing to pay a huge premium to get one, especially if they think they can offset the costs by having it "pay for itself while you sleep".