Comments on Zipcar

Owning a car is cheaper still.

QUICK - make sure this NYC company gets a subsidy from Olympia.

Sorry Erica, I liked flex Car too. Just cut the new Zippy card in two. As long as Enterprise has half price weekend specials - will do just fine.

I bet their business drops by half - zippy is no Flex Car for sure.

Does Zippy charge an annual fee - or is it just usage only fees?

I hate the fee systems which charges you for the possibility you might buy. A consumer racket, should be illegal as they have sold you nothing.

What is your benefit in that kind of bargain?

Clearly, this company's service to the public deserves needs a special tax exemption.

Are you getting it yet?

(Replace "deserves needs" with "warrants". I wish we could edit comments.)

and my membership rate of $10/month for three hours (additional hours regular price) is no longer available.

and my membership rate of $10/month for three hours (additional hours regular price) is no longer available.

Zipcard does charge an annual fee of $50 a year I think. And UNlike Flex Car the fee is not waved if you rent a car at least twice a year. But they are waving $35 of the fee the first year for flex car members. Big deal.

I've used flexcar once. Every other time it has worked out cheaper not to use it. $9 an hour seems like a deal at first, but really what can you do in a hour? So you need at least two. But you can take a cab and not pay for or look for parking (or pay for the flexcar for the time you've parked it). The daily rates are rates are not competitive with renting a vehicle -- although you probably have to travel farther to pick up a rental than a zip car.

Sorry Zip, I am out.

We have yet to transfer our flexcar membership over to zipcar, and that anual fee-no-matter-what is complete bullshit.

If you really only use a car casually, it's cheaper to get a car at Thrifty on the water front for $15 a day.

Time to get your Vespa fixed, Erica.

That’s $10.50 an hour, plus $7.61 in unspecified taxes and fees.

It's the premium for driving something named "Tatoosh"

I'm with @6. All I need it for is a couple hours a few times a month.

As for Enterprise and Thrifty the rates are cheap until you add liability and collision insurance which will add around 30-35 more a day and then you have to pay for the gas. So that $15 dollars a day just hit $45-50 plus taxes and gas. (unless you you have a credit card that will allow you to waive the liability, then you're at around $25 or so a day for collision.)

Story idea for Stranger staffers:

Research the history of the various taxes and fees which are ruining the economics of Zipcar's admirable and progressive little enterprise.

Then ask, in re. those taxes, whose idea they were in the first place. I'm too lazy to do the research, but I'll bet a round of drinks at Moe that these onerous regs have progressive fingerprints all over them.

I just transfered my membership to a no annual fee plan.

Having just activated my Zipcar card and perused the car listings here on the hill, I was surprised to see that virtually all hybrids are now premium vehicles. I'm not sure what the logic is behind this, outside of trying to recoup the higher purchase price of the hybrids over conventional vehicles. For a company that wants to portray its service as being environmentally friendly, charging higher prices for the more fuel efficient vehicles doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. Also, the option that Flexcar had to subscribe to TerraPass for carbon offsets no longer seems to be available.

Zipcar will probably still get some of my business, but I'll be watching my usage and my bills closely.

Then ask, in re. those taxes, whose idea they were in the first place. I'm too lazy to do the research, but I'll bet a round of drinks at Moe that these onerous regs have progressive fingerprints all over them.

Those taxes were intended for the evil, greedy, rich companies. Something must have gone wrong.

The downside to owning my truck: Carless friends ask me to help them move every summer. The upside: My young female carless friends repay me generously. To quote one: "It's not the first time I've traded sexual favors for help moving".

You don't pay for your gas in a Flex or Zipcar? Who fills it, then?

All insurance should be paid at the pump through an additional gas tax. People with bad driving records should have o pay a yearly fee to ever drive.

Zipcar is not a charity. They must pay for the insurance you get by charging for the vehicle's rent. The fac that they charge more for a hybrid probably means that the gas savings don't make up for the higher purchase price or because users want to look good (like in a Mini) they will pay a premium for them.

You all should stop bitching and offer to pay more or give them ways to make more money. Flexcar didn't get taken over by Zipcar because they were making too much money. They were losing money.

BTW many people drive w/o collison, a zero deductible collison policy is quite posh.

@13, I think those taxes have more the fingerprints of legislators wanting to tax out of towners as they complain less. Most originate long before a flexcar was even conceived.

You could just buy a car like the rest of us good people.

Well...you could just own a car and use it when you need to. I probably drive my car an average of 2 days a week (only for long or bus-inaccessible trips), and I can tell you that for my situation it's been a good value over the past few years. Also, since I drive a Geo Metro, the amount of money I spend on gas is almost negligible.

My existing insurance covers liability and my credit card (Amex) covers collision. So just the base rate on rentals for me! Paying for insurance with rental cars is a huge ripoff.

I've done the economic analysis of Flex-car for years, and it never penciled out; so, if Zip car is more expensive yet, no thanks.

I also own an old car which is paid off, and I only drive it when I have to drive. Last year, I had a goal of only using 12 tanks of gas, and got away with 13. That would be an easy goal if I wanted to shell out for a hybrid. :-)

So, I'm keeping my car, mostly parked, and using it sparingly. Otherwise, I'm using the bus and my feet.

I recently emailed the Zipcar people, expressing disappointment with the transition and how the passionate Flexcar members in Seattle are being screwed over (higher prices, etc.). I also told them that I would be canceling my account?

Their response was simply this:

"We are sorry to hear you feel this way. FYI: the transition to Zipcar in Seattle should be completed by the end of the week. If you have any other questions or concerns, please contact us at the links below."

Yes, I know that Zipcar can run their company however they like. But the fact that they have shown little interest in the strong Flexcar "community" in Seattle is annoying. Maybe they'll get a clue when the account cancellations start piling up.

your mopther sucks cocks in hell, zipcar!

I'm down in Portland, and rented a car to get around (took the train down last night) for 24 hours, it's only $39.00

I hate hate hate driving, and there's no point of driving in Portland, but I wanted to see the falls and the John Day Dam.

Zipcar took the UW student discount away, too, which was the main reason I signed up in January. It's official, zipcar is too rich for my blood. And $50 / year membership dues? WTF?

Unless you are really paranoid or have money burning a hole in your pocket, NEVER get the "liability insurance supplement" or other insurance charges. State required liability insurance comes with all rented cars no matter what due to state law -- you don't need to pay extra. Many/most credit cards cover collision insurance for free.

Owning a car is not cheaper than renting & zipcarring unless you are evil (commute by car every day). Comprehensive/collision insurance alone costs more than what I've ever spent on Flexcarring & renting in a month.

This new Zipcar and rates is making me already thinking about getting my own car.

I am so disappointed with them.

@18 - regarding gas, Flexcar/Zipcars have a fleet card in them that you use to pay for gas with; you're not supposed to leave the car with less than a 1/4 tank. Flexcar would give you a time credit for filling the tank (1/2 hour I think, or an hour?). So it's really true that all of your costs are included in the rate.

One so far unmentioned advantage of the car sharing setup is that the cars are far more conveniently located; dozens of locations around the city instead of just a couple of rental offices. This matters if you only want the car for an hour or three.

But yeah, it's kind of steep - a shame.

NEW YORK money grubbers suck.

By he way, I think he city gives them some big subsidy already. Former Mr. Corporation, Paul Schell's friends?

Wish I could get dome tax payer subsidy - small check, 100.00 a week.

Some one will compete - watch for it.

Or sue to get rid of all the insider subsidies. IT IS who you suck and fuck, and dine.

Yikes, but does being a Zipcar/Flexcar user make you an angry person or what? Foul language, insults, and frustration are all you hear from this crowd.

Do you know who else is always pissed off? Bicyclists. Bike riders carry around a TON of anger and we all know it.

Anger like that will kill you. Medical fact. Do you know who is chilled? Who is free from the burning stress of daily commuting? Motorcyclists, my friend. Motorcyclists don't have all that anger. Plus, good gas mileage, low emissions, and insurance is optional.

Yeah, you rented a truck, and specialty vehicles such as trucks used to cost a couple bucks extra an hour with Flexcar too. I don't understand why this is a big deal.

elenchos, *sigh*. Go back six months and observe Flexcar users. You'd fine that most were not full of "foul language, insults, and frustration." If they are angry now then it's because of the changes that have basically gutted the decent Flexcar service in this area.

Motorcyclists don't have all that anger? Um, have you ever talked to motorcyclists about required helmet laws? Some of them get extremely angry when they're talking about that issue.

flexzip,where can i find out information regarding what you said @29

"State required liability insurance comes with all rented cars no matter what due to state law -- you don't need to pay extra."

I have never heard of that the car rental company is required to have liability on the car already. I thought what I was purchasing was the primary liability insurance.

What you are seeing with zip car is the actual cost of driving. If u can provide car collectives more cheaply do so and make your bzillions. You are free to go compete. Put money where mouth etc.

@35

Nah, nobody ever talks to those anti-helmet law twats. Annoying!

In Texas if you don't want to wear a helmet, you just have to find an insurance company dumb enough to fully cover all the medical expenses guy who rides with no helmet. I like that system. Or a law that says you either have to wear a helmet or a dunce cap.

"Re" is not an abbreviation. It is a noun. It means "[in the] matter [of]." It's Latin. It is not followed by a period except at the end of a sentence. Also, the "in" is redundant with it, except in legal briefs.

Dear Simac:

Latin for "in the matter [of]" is "in res", which is often abreviated "re".

Yours sincerely, a guy who took 3 years of Latin.

Great. As if it wasn't bad enough having to deal with ecce homo and elenchos, now we've got a fucking Latin scholar.

chris#36 - it is extra insurance beyond liability. They wouldn't/couldn't let you drive off without liability.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/insurance/2007-12-10-car-rental-insurance_N.htm

UnPc - just because they are raising the rates doesn't mean they are high enough to make the business profitable. We should demand to know what their P&L looks like since we publically subsidize them. This is in addition to all the subsidies all other cars receive. Someone should do a PDR.

Why do you need to pay a (lot) to big ol' national company to help you share a car? I'll let you use mine all day for beer and pizza.

I just used zipcar for the first time today as well. And it was okay. I think though in all fairness, using a monthly plan get you down to 8.55 or so a hour and you can roll over unused hours, something you could never do with flexcar - you pay 75 for 10 hours with flexcar, you pay 75 as a base regardless of how many hours you use. As far as I know, the company is based in beantown and their customer service is nowhere near what flexcar's was. The guy on the phone kept anticipating what I was going to say (always wrong) and was like we don't have a seattle office yet. I'm like "You took more than 200 cars offline this week, you mean to tell me no one is managing that? How much sense does that make? Give me the corporate number. Thanks." Corporate, who were rather weirded out by the phone, were quite responsive via email.
Flexcar has totally penciled out for me since I signed up for it, when I compared it to what my friends car situations were on a monthly basis, but zipcar is at the tipping point, where I'm going to have to do some serious math and maybe just go in on a car with some friends instead. Oh and after some digging, it seems some of the old cars were sold to Honda of Bellevue and some to GE fleet. Some maybe going to auction and others may not.

ouch #42- thanks for the link, but it seems the people in the article have liability via their car own car insurance, I do not own a car and subsequently do not have car insurance.

What I gathered from #29 was that rental car companies already have liability on the cars due to state law and what is purchased is extra. That's what I want to clarify.

You can still get the UW student/staff/faculty discount from the UW car pool cars - and they're all biodiesel and/or high-mpg hybrids ... you just have to return them to campus and there's no signup fee with your U-Card.

FYI - just look it up at MyUW.

You're renting a car from Zipcar; you're paying money to use it, just like you'd be paying money to use a car from Hertz or Budget. This whole notion of "car-sharing" is proof that brainwashing does indeed exist.

@46

Are you talking about the U-CAR program? Because the FAQ for that says:

Can I rent a U-CAR for personal use?

* A U-CAR may only be used for official University business and charged to a University budget number.

Is there some other car rental program at the UW you're talking about?

Orin, I guess one difference is that with the rental companies you get different cars. Yes, I guess you get the same model from them, but it may not be the exact same vehicle.

But with flex/zip you knew that that car down the block was "your" vehicle, being shared by others. I know people that grew to like certain specific Flexcars. You can't easily do that with car rental places. This may seem minor, but for some people it's something they like.

@48 (Josh):

The UW site states:
"Several Zipcar vehicles are parked nearby providing a selection of rental vehicles for your personal transportation needs.
U-Pass holders can join Zipcar for no annual fee."

But then it links to the older Flexcar page. Maybe someone just did a word replacement on the UW page. And perhaps Zipcar doesn't actually offer the same discounts.

WARNING: They are really good at fees and I am dropping most of my use of Zipcar, not canceling it just will use it if I need a car for an hour and that is it. Beyond anything else: HELLO ENTERPRISE!!!

@42 - How bad are those drivers in that article?! In the 6+ years I've owned my car, it (and all the rentals I've had in that time) has only been damaged 3 times (which for a car in Boston with street parking is amazing). One was a small dent from a kid playing in the street with a baseball. One was a minor collision when my ex was stopped at a light and someone backed out of a driveway into him. One was a hit and run fender scrape when it was parked in a parking lot. Had to make insurance claims for the last two, and neither increased my rates, but did have to pay the deductible on the hit-and-run (and yes, I am bitter about that one).

Dunno Amy, but was just verifing for Chris that the rental companies carry basic liability and that many veteran car renters do not take the extra insurance which I have always thought was their profit center.

Many have said that the changes will make them give up hourly rentals. Would/could any of them actually show that their new way will save them money.

It seems to me that if your live style works without a car, the car sharing programs are a great addition but if you have a car in the household, the car share really doesn't add much.

Assuming the share cars are losing money how should they achieve profitability?

Just activated my Zipcar card today, only to find out Zip rates were $2.50 more an hour for me and about $20 or more (depending on the car) a day than the same cars on Flexcar's site.

Flexcar provided a decent value, but Zipcar does not, and frankly, it's more than frustrating to sign up with a company only to have it merge and have your rates change.

I just don't see the value in sticking around with Zipcar. I feel bad for all the Flexcar staff in Seattle--good folks--but I don't think their Seattle clients will stick around with the new monopoly they're a part of.

I used to be a Flexcar member, and yeah, if you're getting a car for more than two hours, it's cheaper to rent. Though, not as convenient, unless you've got a rental agency on your block.

I think it's really for rich uber-urbanites who mostly use transit and don't want the hassle of car ownership. Guaranteed parking spot when you get back, don't have to think about it beyond making your reservation. It's nice, if you've got ten bucks per hour to burn.

I waited until after reading the terms of Zipcar's contract and thinking a bit about it before switching over to it from Flexcar. I've only used this system once and already I'm considering canceling my account. My two big gripes are that you can't book only a half-hour, and that when booking over the phone, once you select the time and vehicle you want, you're automatically booked/confirmed on it. With the Flexcar system, you could book a half-hour, and you were asked after making a selection of time and vehicle if you wanted to book the reservation before being confirmed.

Renting a truck still might be more expensive. The frequency of use might negate adding in annual fees from Zipcar, though.

On a rental, add in insurance, tax, and gas, you should expect to pay $50-60+ per day on those $29.99 per day trucks. Depending on your schedule and location, you might have to rent one for two days, making it $120ish to run a single errand.

Unhappy with the increase in rates for the same cars.
Unhappy that the only cars in my neighborhood are now 'premium' cars, with even higher rates.
Unhappy with repositioning of Minis out of my neighborhood.
Unhappy with the increase in annual fee.
Unhappy with Zipcar's outright lies in email communications.
Once I use the free driving credit Zipcar can kiss my ass.
Why-oh-why did Flexcar sell out and how long will it be until Zipcar gets some competition?