4 ms·

You're hitting the nail on the head here though: it's currently still inconvenient to have access to the kind of vehicle you want on a moment's notice. Getting

You're hitting the nail on the head here though: it's currently still inconvenient to have access to the kind of vehicle you want on a moment's notice. Getting a car through a traditional rental company is excruciating, and services like Zipcar and Maven are still not snappy enough. Their inventories tend to be limited in many places too, compounding the issue. I'm hoping someone manages to make this as effortless as calling an Uber. Otherwise the alternative is that $10k/y expense on a rapidly depreciating asset you're not really using.

ghaff 6y ago
Part of the problem is that demand is spiky. A lot of people are going to want these rentals on weekends. So, for a reliable on-demand weekend rental, you're probably going to spend a decent chunk of a weekly rental fee if this became common. What more tends to happen in practice is that urban folk who decide not to own a car just minimize activities that require one unless they can can draft off friends.
nomel 6y ago
> $10k/y expense $10k/y seems very high. Are parking fees $5k/year or something, or frequently buying a new car for some reason?
- Marsymars 6y ago
  Average cost of car ownership in the US is in the $10k/yr range: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/cost-car-ownership.asp https://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/cost-car-ownersh...
  - nomel 6y ago
    And the average sugar intake is 65 lbs/year. You don't have to eat that many cookies, just as you don't have to spend that much on a car if you don't want to. They're including new cars (20-30% value gone in the first year) and large vehicles like SUVs and trucks (Ford F series is the best selling vehicle in America) in those statistics, along with average mileage (13k/y) numbers for average fuel and maintenance costs, which would be much less for a minimal use vehicle.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > $10k/y seems very high. Are parking fees $5k/year or something At $10/work-day parking ($2,600/year), the remainder is under 13k miles at the IRS standard mileage rate, which is presumably a reasonable actual total expense rate.
maxsilver 6y ago
> Otherwise the alternative is that $10k/y expense on a rapidly depreciating asset You don't have to run out and buy a brand-new Tesla just to own a car. Most people own nice reliable vehicles for half that price. I drive a 2013 Chevy Volt, on pure electricity most of the time, and my TCO is only ~$6k/yr (including gas, insurance, maintenance, registration, car payment + interest, electricity to charge it, fancy winter tires every two years, etc). Frankly, even that expense was a bit of a luxury. If I hadn't been so obsessed with EV's, I probably could have easily shaved $1,000/yr off that price with zero effort.

ghaff 6y ago

Part of the problem is that demand is spiky. A lot of people are going to want these rentals on weekends. So, for a reliable on-demand weekend rental, you're probably going to spend a decent chunk of a weekly rental fee if this became common. What more tends to happen in practice is that urban folk who decide not to own a car just minimize activities that require one unless they can can draft off friends.

nomel 6y ago

> $10k/y expense $10k/y seems very high. Are parking fees $5k/year or something, or frequently buying a new car for some reason?

Marsymars 6y ago
Average cost of car ownership in the US is in the $10k/yr range: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/cost-car-ownership.asp https://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/cost-car-ownersh...
- nomel 6y ago
  And the average sugar intake is 65 lbs/year. You don't have to eat that many cookies, just as you don't have to spend that much on a car if you don't want to. They're including new cars (20-30% value gone in the first year) and large vehicles like SUVs and trucks (Ford F series is the best selling vehicle in America) in those statistics, along with average mileage (13k/y) numbers for average fuel and maintenance costs, which would be much less for a minimal use vehicle.
dragonwriter 6y ago
> $10k/y seems very high. Are parking fees $5k/year or something At $10/work-day parking ($2,600/year), the remainder is under 13k miles at the IRS standard mileage rate, which is presumably a reasonable actual total expense rate.

maxsilver 6y ago

> Otherwise the alternative is that $10k/y expense on a rapidly depreciating asset You don't have to run out and buy a brand-new Tesla just to own a car. Most people own nice reliable vehicles for half that price. I drive a 2013 Chevy Volt, on pure electricity most of the time, and my TCO is only ~$6k/yr (including gas, insurance, maintenance, registration, car payment + interest, electricity to charge it, fancy winter tires every two years, etc). Frankly, even that expense was a bit of a luxury. If I hadn't been so obsessed with EV's, I probably could have easily shaved $1,000/yr off that price with zero effort.