Local Zipcar experience

Yeah, the costs have gone up a bit, but they're also trying to up revenue by offering deals during slow times. Their 'overnight' deals are pretty good, and I think that they have other incentives, too...

we did not have a car in NYC ever, but joined zipcar immediately after moving from chicago, where we did have cars. not parking is real nice.

$7/77 is the cheapest i've seen, certainly. i recommend looking at the website for the cars available at the garages closest to your house for an idea of what prices will be like generally. we haven't had a problem getting a car, but unless you're planning well in advance, cheaper cars are likely to be spoken for at peak times. the real cost does end up rather over $77 because of city fees, etc. (this is all billed through the gf's email or i'd give you a real life example.)

to be clear, i don't think there are secret fees from zip car itself, just more than one kind of tax. not zip car's fault, but still makes the price higher.

you can see the cost for specific cars if you search for cars in a given location.

There were some zipcar people at GAP yesterday. There's supposed to be five more car locations in the neighborhood, although when I asked the guy where he couldn't tell me.

We're Zipcar members, although we don't use the service much at all.

In my experience, Zipcar has been fairly up front about their costs, but you should definitely read the web site thoroughly. Like Sweet Tea, their prices have risen a bit lately, so I don't use them as much as I used to. The biggest plus to the service is that there are two garages in Prospect Heights, and they are both 24 hours. I have had many instances in which I would have had to pick up a rental car the night before I needed it and pay an extra day of rental because the rental place didn't open until 8am. Also, don't forget to calculate the fact that they pay for gas into your costs. This makes a big difference, especially when you get up around their 180 mile/day limit. All of that said, for longer weekend excursions, you may end up still needing to rent a car from another company because of the mielage restriction.

Last year when gas was a lot higher we figured out that the day rate for a Zipcar was actually cheaper than a regular rental car, even at the weekend rental price. This year, however, I'm not so sure.

Zipcar is great when you have to do a big grocery shop, Home Depot run or airport pickup--so basically those times when you need to drive around for a couple of hours. And, because I'm the laziest person I know, I absolutely love the idea of not dealing with parking or car maintenance.

Compared to my options in Queens, the Zipcar locations in PH are pretty convenient (for me, at least).

You could lower your carbon footprint even more by not driving at all.

I too am a Zipcar member but want to emphasize that Zipcar is in the money making business. The more you drive, the more money they make. True, they discourage auto ownership, but it is the driving that kills Mother Nature, not really the owning of a car.

True, not owning a car greatly reduces the convenience of driving so less driving is had by all. I just wanted to emphasize the distinction between driving and owning in relation to carbon footprints.

(When looking at what Zipcars cost, don't forget the cost includes gas! That can really add up.)

They may be in the "money-making business," but as of last year they hadn't actually made any money:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_36/b4098062937966.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

Could explain the bump in rates.

Good luck finding a car for the weekends - they are usually booked way in advance.

I agree with those that have said that Zipcar is great for a few hours rental here and there, but for anything over their daily mileage cap it is super expensive. It was 35 cents a mile I think after the cap. Comes out much pricier than a regular car rental. We did have a few issues in the year we used them. Gas cards not being in the car (you can pay it out of pocket and they will reimburse you), the car being trashed by the previous driver(s), the car not being in the garage for our scheduled pick up time etc... FYI-if the car you confirmed isn't at the garage at your scheduled time there is nothing Zipcar can do for you besides try and find you another car, but the cars that are available last minute are usually expensive and chances are its not going to be in your immediate vicinity. This happened to us quite a few times.

It really depends on what you are using it for.

LadyLibertine wrote: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_36/b4098062937966.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

Interesting to read that the big rental car companies are getting into this act. Without the multiple locations, though, and without a streamlined system like Zipcar, I don't see how they'll be successful.

I live up by GAP, and the Zipcar locations can't be beat. However, their rates really make their service useless for anything longer than a few hours at a time, and they don't really allow for traffic and you get screwed big time if you bring the cars in late. Also, I've had problems getting cars at peak times (such as weekends), especially any of the cheaper cars. In my experience, you can expect to pay closer to $17/hr. for the convenience. It really adds up if you leave the car sitting on the curb while you're visiting or something.

Amighty wrote: I live up by GAP, and the Zipcar locations can't be beat. However, their rates really make their service useless for anything longer than a few hours at a time, and they don't really allow for traffic and you get screwed big time if you bring the cars in late. Also, I've had problems getting cars at peak times (such as weekends), especially any of the cheaper cars. In my experience, you can expect to pay closer to $17/hr. for the convenience. It really adds up if you leave the car sitting on the curb while you're visiting or something.

That's why I don't use Zipcar if I know that the car will spend a long time parked somewhere.

I have also learned that getting a Zipcar on a weekend is pretty much impossible

As far as allowing for traffic, though, that's the renter's job.

We JUST joined Zipcar (found ourselves in a tight spot when we thought we had a car but didn't). It worked out great! We had to borrow the car for an entire weekend but didn't have any trouble - even with the last-minuteness of the request.

We had to go to Williamsburg to get the car but sersiously, that was easy now that the G is extended.

I just put in a reservation for this Saturday and again had no trouble. Since the time was way less, we were able to get a car that is right up the street from where we live. So far we are fans. Having a car in the city was HORRIBLE. We had one for months at a time (long story) and when we had it we definately paid the fees from zipcar ten-fold if we missed alternate side parking or if some metermaid decided that despite being 2 car-lengthes away from a hydrant we were somehow too close anyway.

Plus, we were always slightly nervous about it getting stolen, had to pay for repairs, things like that. Zipcar = no upkeep and no worries about bitter meter maids just doing their jobs about as well as I do mine (snicker).