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Self-Serve Car Rental
abb_road writes "Claiming 'Web2.0 values meet Brick and Mortar,' BusinessWeek is reporting on an entirely self service car rental company. Zipcar customers make all reservations online or using a cell phone, then use a card-key to pick up their car from the parking garage--no attendants needed. According to the article, one of the other important attractions of the system is transparency; the reservations system allows you to see exactly what cars in the area will be available at what times, and then reserve or adjust your plans accordingly. From the article: 'If the nearest Mini convertible is booked until 3 p.m., the customer might postpone plans by an hour to get it -- or decide the Mazda with a sunroof on another lot will do.'"
The one in the Netherlands is called Greenwheels and has complete neighbourhood coverage in the major 40 cities. It works by the same principles, since 1995. I used to have nine in walking distance from my home when I still lived in Amsterdam. One of the most convenient features of the system is that you can decide to use it from everywhere. Suddenly need a car at work? Want to take the train to some city, and then a car to get to some village? I'm still subscribed to it.
This service is great for NYC residents - its far to expensive to own a car in the city and rental cars start at $60 a day without gas or insurance. And yes, you need insurance since I have no car insurance (because I don't own a car). The really nice part about Zipcar is it allows you to pick a car for a few hours - if I want to run out to Jersey or need a SUV to pickup a large package, why pay for an entire day when I can get a zipcar for a few hours? All the cars are stored in 24hr parking garages, so there's no security issues and when you call ahead, the attendant will even tell you if the car isn't there (in the event someone's late) which gives me time to schedule a replacement.
Actually, I like the supplemental insurance. Like all "insurance", it's really great if something bad happens. Since something bad generally doesn't happen, it's a rip-off.
But I'll get it when I'm driving in Vermont at Christmastime just because I've forgotten everything I ever knew about driving in snow because I spend the other 11.5 months of the year in Southern California. I'll also occasionally get it if I'm renting something I'm not used to driving--like an SUV or a truck.
Actually, my favorite story is from a place that does "exotic car rentals." They don't offer insurance on their cars--your insurance has to be able to deal with it or they won't let you rent the car. Some guy rented a lamborghini for his buddy on his buddy's 30th birthday. His buddy was driving the car (the renter was the passenger) and the buddy totaled the car. Complete write off. Of course, the buddy's insurance won't go that high. And the guy who rented the car wasn't the driver, so his insurance won't cover it. So the guy who rented the car is buying the rental company a new lamborghini--and, yes, he'll be paying for it for the next 20 years.
$60? I've never gotten a car in Manhattan for less than $90. Zip Car is great, except that the cars are almost always booked on the weekends. If you can do your IKEA run (the only thing I've ever used a ZipCar for) on a weeknight, then you're all set.
As for broken cars and whatnot, I've yet to have a problem. The cars are all very new and well cared for. They even have XM radio these days.
Yes, they describe the cars as "living" (their marketers can be a little too cute at times) in specific locations... Parking is very hard to come by here, so this makes sense for a lot of reasons, including that you're never very far from a car. I usually rent one that's near "where I'm going to be" when I want it, which isn't usually my apartment. The cars are sprinkled all around town. By car faeries.
I can speak to this as a Flexcar member (and as someone who's interviewed the ZipCar folks as well, though I'm not in a city for which that service is available). Cleaning is done fairly regularly -- cars leave their designated parking spots for a few hours, then they come back. (You can also get a little usage credit if you take the car through the wash and remember to turn in your receipt.) As for dents and such, each user is expected to check over the vehicle before the trip starts and make note of any damage, just as one does a rental car. If you screw things up mid-reservation, there's a number to call and a procedure to follow.
Nice bonus BTW: I had a reservation a few months back on a car that got into an accident about 30 minutes before my reservation was to start. (The previous user was parking and things didn't quite work out with his technique.) Flexcar phoned me to let me know that there was a problem, reserved the closest available vehicle for me, and gave me a nice credit "for my inconvenience." A really great customer service experience.
That's funny, only because it's true.
I finally gave in to the pressure from the Ryder truck rental guy to pay an extra $100 for the insurance. Two days later I drove that 12 foot truck under an 11 foot overhang, doing about four thousand dollars worth of damage in the process. I was amazed at how fragile that big truck was, actually - but I was real happy I bought that insurance.
As I understand it with Zipcar, there is a deposit you pay ($25 or $50 maybe?) and when the next guy rents the car and doesn't complain about it being dirty inside those funds are released. Like a bond, sort of. I could be wrong, haven't had any coffee yet.
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer