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I got excited initially when I thought this was something that would work for day-trips. I recently moved to NYC and sold my Tesla, so the idea of being able to

I got excited initially when I thought this was something that would work for day-trips. I recently moved to NYC and sold my Tesla, so the idea of being able to borrow a Tesla for two or three days to get out of the city is definitely something I'd pay $400-500 dollars for if it meant not having to worry about insurance and where to park it when I'm done.

thaumasiotes 4y ago
Short-term car use doesn't appear to work in the market. I remember seeing a lot of advertising for Zipcar and thinking it'd be great to engage a zipcar in order to travel somewhere (say, to visit my family a couple hours away) and not have to pay the full cost of renting a car for the duration of the trip. Except that's not allowed. Zipcar is (was?) exactly the same thing as a car rental. You pay for all the time you're in possession of the car. You're not allowed to return the car anywhere except the exact location you picked it up from. What was the advantage supposed to be?
- patch_collector 4y ago
  Convenience. Renting from a rental shop involved ordering online using a bad UI, showing up at an office, waiting in line, getting told the car you'd requested isn't available, would you like this instead, would you like to buy more insurance, make sure to bring it back with a full tank, and you're paying for a full day, even if you just need groceries from costco. Zipcar involved looking for the nearest location in the app (typically a few blocks away, if near SF), picking your car and timeframe, showing up, and driving away. Fuel is included, just use the included credit card. No human contact or upselling required, and you can return the car at 3am. If you only need a car for a few hours, Zipcar is much more efficient than a traditional rental.
- jdlshore 4y ago
  I tried and rejected ZipCar for exactly that reason. But more recently, Free2Move is offering point-to-point rentals (in Portland) that seem to work well. I tried it once and was happy with the experience. The price wasn’t much less than an Uber, though.

thaumasiotes 4y ago

Short-term car use doesn't appear to work in the market. I remember seeing a lot of advertising for Zipcar and thinking it'd be great to engage a zipcar in order to travel somewhere (say, to visit my family a couple hours away) and not have to pay the full cost of renting a car for the duration of the trip. Except that's not allowed. Zipcar is (was?) exactly the same thing as a car rental. You pay for all the time you're in possession of the car. You're not allowed to return the car anywhere except the exact location you picked it up from. What was the advantage supposed to be?

patch_collector 4y ago
Convenience. Renting from a rental shop involved ordering online using a bad UI, showing up at an office, waiting in line, getting told the car you'd requested isn't available, would you like this instead, would you like to buy more insurance, make sure to bring it back with a full tank, and you're paying for a full day, even if you just need groceries from costco. Zipcar involved looking for the nearest location in the app (typically a few blocks away, if near SF), picking your car and timeframe, showing up, and driving away. Fuel is included, just use the included credit card. No human contact or upselling required, and you can return the car at 3am. If you only need a car for a few hours, Zipcar is much more efficient than a traditional rental.
jdlshore 4y ago
I tried and rejected ZipCar for exactly that reason. But more recently, Free2Move is offering point-to-point rentals (in Portland) that seem to work well. I tried it once and was happy with the experience. The price wasn’t much less than an Uber, though.