ZipCar is a membership-based car-sharing company that lets you rent cars by the hour (gas + insurance included) in many metro areas and college campuses. It can be good deal for those thinking about having one less car in your household (or who don’t have a car but occasionally want one). Right now, you can get $25 in free driving credit when you join. You’ll need a driver’s license and credit card. Plan prices vary by location.
If you don’t drive your car very much, adding up the total cost of depreciation + car insurance + maintenance + parking + gas can actually make ZipCar a much cheaper alternative (ZipCar savings calculator). Also, we were selling an old bookshelf on Craiglist once and the buyer rented a Honda Odyssey via Zipcar to pick it up.
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Have you heard of GetAround.com – you can rent your car out. Seems like another great alternative.
In nearly all of the cities listed consumers have a nonprofit alternative to Zipcar. I have quite a bit of experience with carsharing, and I’d suggest that your readers will be happier taking the nonprofit route. Of course there’s no law against joining more than one carsharing organization!
I’ve heard of car sharing, but I don’t think it’s in my city. I drive every day to work, so it wouldn’t be a fit for me. I do like the idea of renting a truck for a furniture pickup.
Didn’t someone who rented their personal car out have to deal with an insurance lawsuit nightmare? Wait, I found it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/14/your-money/relayrides-accident-raises-questions-on-liabilities-of-car-sharing.html?pagewanted=all
also:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/17/your-money/auto-insurance/enthusiastic-about-car-sharing-your-insurer-isnt.html?pagewanted=all
Both RelayRides and GetAround offer $1 million in liability coverage, and lower limits for other coverages like uninsured motorist. You have to decide for yourself if that is adequate in combination with your own coverages.
Zipcar can be a great choice if you plan to visit any of the listed cities. I needed to rent a car for a couple days in San Francisco. Rates for the weekend I needed were around $70/day. A Zipcar was the same price but included gas and insurance. I found one a couple blocks from my hotel and didn’t have to pay for parking since it just lived in its spot at night. And there was no hassle with going to a rental counter, etc. It worked out pretty awesome.
Zipcar has 300K comprehensive insurance that includes liability, with $750 deductible for repairs which I believe American Express (& probably Master Card) would cover (I contacted American Express).
However Visa as far as I researched does not consider Zipcar a renting program for its collision insurance, so beware not to use a Visa when booking a Zipcar if you want to cover with Zipcar insurance deductible.