Quote:
Originally Posted by ReefHound
Quote:
Originally Posted by CompuDude
Similar, but there is a difference. I know a few car-deprived university students that really love them, because it's cheaper than a rental car, and there is no need to arrange transportation to the car rental store. Far less paperwork, as well.
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I'm sure different programs vary but the one cited does not deliver the car to you so there is still the need to arrange transportation to the storage lot just as with rental cars. Actually, I've had local rental cars delivered to me.
As for paperwork, there's less needed at actual rental time but more needed in advance. You can't just out of the blue decide to grab this "virtucar". The program cited requires a "membership", a cash deposit to cover insurance, a clean driving record, etc. All in all, far more paperwork and advance planning than a rental car, which I could show up in any city in the U.S. and have a car within an hour by simply showing them a driver license and a credit card, and signing my name by a couple of x's. How much paperwork is that anyway?
I'm sure this niche service appeals to a select few but it's not a scalable solution for the masses. |
I agree. Again, for the college students I recommended, it's nearly perfect. Yes, you take some time to set up an account, but once that's done, it takes just a couple minutes to book a car. I have yet to experience a car rental process from a traditional company that didn't take a minimum of 30-45 minutes to complete the transaction (not including getting there). Since the zip cars are a popular service, they tend to be scattered all over the immediate area of the university (UCLA is the specific example I'm referring to), and you just walk to the nearest car and go.
I agree it's tough to scale something like that up to cover an entire large city, however.