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Old 08-09-2020, 03:27 AM
 
93 posts, read 109,222 times
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My transmission seems to have bit the dust and I'll find out monday if it's worth saving or donating/junking a 15 y/0 car which I haven't heavily used except for family visits and beach trips since I retired 5 years ago and don't need a car for daily use

So started researching ZipCar but it seems to be a crap show on social media of cancellation complaints and pisspoor C/S alot of it blamed on Corona by the company ... does anyone use ZipCar in E/V or other areas of Manhattan? Are they usually all booked on the weekends [I'm sure it's even worse holidays] ??
Would appreciate any thoughts/opinions or recommendations on ZC, other carshares [if there are any others] or better to rent from more usual rental places which I'm sure control their inventories better and probably have better taken care of cars but more price


I'm on 9th 1st Ave to AveA and stored the car @ the mall at 117th St & Pleasant for much cheaper than down here but as I get older it gets to be a pain to pick it up, especially during the day traffic

Much thanks and love from E/V
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Old 08-09-2020, 07:23 AM
 
31,588 posts, read 26,439,483 times
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Used to use Hertz car share when it was around (Hertz 24/7) for short and quick rentals during week. It was often a cluster "F"; and never would bother on weekends.

Zipcar and Enterprise car share schemes all suffer from same problems.

First and foremost unlike a real rental car where you show up at location and will get something; there is no gurantee that will happen with any car share; Zipcar included.

If person before you has the ride and doesn't bring it back on time; you're SOL. Zipcar cannot force person to return, and if there isn't an available ride right where you happen to be, you'll be sent on a wild goose chase. Hertz customer service wasn't based in NYC so they just looked at whatever app/computer told them was closest to my UES location. They tried to send me clear up into NJ because that is where they saw a car available. Told them it was not only in another state, but quite a distance away.

Next unlike real rental car places where you will get a clean, serviced ride; Zipcar is a crap shoot. With Hertz most always had to bring wipes and spray cleaner along with a trash bag because cars were filthy. Everything from Mikey D's to used condoms and dog crap.

People who rent car shares would never get away with half the BS they pull on Zipcar. Because on one sees the condition they leave a ride in when returning unless it gets reported (and not always then), they aren't held accountable.

Could go on but just read Yelp reviews about Zipcar and Enterprise car shares. If you need something for more than several hours it is always usually far cheaper to go with a regular car rental place like National, Alamo, Enterprise or even Hertz.

It has always been impossible to get any car share ride on weekends; this goes back to when they all first arrived. People just book things solid and don't return them when they should. Why someone would pay $$$$ to rent a Zipcar for one or two days when a normal car rental is cheaper I don't know. But again many of these people who seem to use Zipcar likely wouldn't last with say National. You bring back a regular rental car busted, late, filthy or with other issues it is noted at once.
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Old 08-09-2020, 04:13 PM
 
93 posts, read 109,222 times
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Thanks... i figured as much. I was reading review/experiences most of the nite since I'm a nite owl, such a shame; I remember riding in one a friend had taken some years ago and it was clean. Guess like Revel it got ruined by cretins

I'm seeing prices on ZC from $105-$160 a day [but "starting rates are estimates only" - lol-] are regular rentals that much cheaper once you get insurance, especially in NYC ?? What prices are you getting for rentals per day?

Chances are I'd do rentals for full day or longer trips since most of family I visit are by Newark, JFK or up in Yonkers area and outside of public transportation, Uber might be an alternative.
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Old 08-09-2020, 07:34 PM
 
31,588 posts, read 26,439,483 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Hand View Post
Thanks... i figured as much. I was reading review/experiences most of the nite since I'm a nite owl, such a shame; I remember riding in one a friend had taken some years ago and it was clean. Guess like Revel it got ruined by cretins

I'm seeing prices on ZC from $105-$160 a day [but "starting rates are estimates only" - lol-] are regular rentals that much cheaper once you get insurance, especially in NYC ?? What prices are you getting for rentals per day?

Chances are I'd do rentals for full day or longer trips since most of family I visit are by Newark, JFK or up in Yonkers area and outside of public transportation, Uber might be an alternative.
Normal car rentals do not come with insurance other than standard liability NYS requires for all car owners. Master agreement you can read online or get when take out ride spells things out.

Many credit cards provide some sort of car rental "insurance". Those who already own a ride and have insurance are usually covered when driving a rental. For those who drive rides they don't own frequently (such as taxi drivers and others), there is "non-owners" car insurance.

Rates for car rentals vary as most use some sort of demand price model. During peak times expect something between $70-90 per day during week, and $90-$110 on weekends, holidays or other high demand periods. Again this can all vary by different internal factors just as with airline tickets.

Rates at airports can be cheaper, but not all places will allow "one way" rentals (taking a car out from say LGA and returning it in Manhattan), so you may have to bring the ride back out to whatever airport it was rented. Obviously if going out of state/area this does not apply.

Again I'd choose car rental over sharing because at least with National or whoever you get to a location and you'll get something for that $105 or whatever per day. Zipcar has you planning to do things, then an hour or whatever before you get a text saying ride is not available, and no, there isn't another free vehicle in your area or at all. So what do you do then?
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Old 08-09-2020, 08:08 PM
 
779 posts, read 998,152 times
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I think it would be that much more cheaper and convenient to lease one of those smart cars that zipcar rents.

I heard some of these cars are in horrible mechanical shape, one friend walked a good distance and once he came to the car it had a flat.

Should be a lot of good lease deals starting in October once dealerships need to move the 2020 models. A lot of companies are offering 0% interest, but you pay msrp. Hertz has a bunch of cars for sale from the bankruptcy liquidation, mostly good deals, but its hard trusting a car thats been driven by hundreds of drivers, unless its fairly new.
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Old 08-09-2020, 08:55 PM
 
Location: In the heights
36,898 posts, read 38,810,969 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BugsyPal View Post
Used to use Hertz car share when it was around (Hertz 24/7) for short and quick rentals during week. It was often a cluster "F"; and never would bother on weekends.

Zipcar and Enterprise car share schemes all suffer from same problems.

First and foremost unlike a real rental car where you show up at location and will get something; there is no gurantee that will happen with any car share; Zipcar included.

If person before you has the ride and doesn't bring it back on time; you're SOL. Zipcar cannot force person to return, and if there isn't an available ride right where you happen to be, you'll be sent on a wild goose chase. Hertz customer service wasn't based in NYC so they just looked at whatever app/computer told them was closest to my UES location. They tried to send me clear up into NJ because that is where they saw a car available. Told them it was not only in another state, but quite a distance away.

Next unlike real rental car places where you will get a clean, serviced ride; Zipcar is a crap shoot. With Hertz most always had to bring wipes and spray cleaner along with a trash bag because cars were filthy. Everything from Mikey D's to used condoms and dog crap.

People who rent car shares would never get away with half the BS they pull on Zipcar. Because on one sees the condition they leave a ride in when returning unless it gets reported (and not always then), they aren't held accountable.

Could go on but just read Yelp reviews about Zipcar and Enterprise car shares. If you need something for more than several hours it is always usually far cheaper to go with a regular car rental place like National, Alamo, Enterprise or even Hertz.

It has always been impossible to get any car share ride on weekends; this goes back to when they all first arrived. People just book things solid and don't return them when they should. Why someone would pay $$$$ to rent a Zipcar for one or two days when a normal car rental is cheaper I don't know. But again many of these people who seem to use Zipcar likely wouldn't last with say National. You bring back a regular rental car busted, late, filthy or with other issues it is noted at once.
I've actually found that Zipcar if you're not including or amortizing the membership fee is competitive or better than the traditional rental shops for a daily rental. Zipcars also come with free gas and a gas card to charge on. You do get dinged if you don't return your Zipcar on time which is technically a penalty of sorts. I haven't run into issues, though I did once return a vehicle about 5 minutes late. In terms of availability, you reserve it in advance, several weeks in advance if you'd like. The really nice thing for at least NYC is that there are many locations so you've got a decent chance of being in walking distance of a location.

Will agree that Zipcar is more of a crapshoot in terms of cleanliness. Never got a disaster, but have had random odds and ends trash in there from time to time.

You can get car share on weekends--you just have to be either lucky or reserve it weeks in advance.
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Old 08-09-2020, 10:06 PM
 
93 posts, read 109,222 times
Reputation: 158
Quote:
Originally Posted by OyCrumbler View Post
I've actually found that Zipcar if you're not including or amortizing the membership fee is competitive or better than the traditional rental shops for a daily rental. Zipcars also come with free gas and a gas card to charge on. You do get dinged if you don't return your Zipcar on time which is technically a penalty of sorts. I haven't run into issues, though I did once return a vehicle about 5 minutes late. In terms of availability, you reserve it in advance, several weeks in advance if you'd like. The really nice thing for at least NYC is that there are many locations so you've got a decent chance of being in walking distance of a location.

Will agree that Zipcar is more of a crapshoot in terms of cleanliness. Never got a disaster, but have had random odds and ends trash in there from time to time.

You can get car share on weekends--you just have to be either lucky or reserve it weeks in advance.
Thanks Oy, some Q's
What I haven't found info is if you are able to pick up your car at anytime or are they stored in closed garages with certain times for open/closed ...
Looking at the prices if you need a car for more than 6 hours it's best to rent it for the whole day even if I return it early: would rather pick it up at say 3am if I need it at 5/6/7am [park it on street] and then return it at lets say 8pm though I could still 'use it' for another 7 hours ... also do they come with an EZ Pass or I can use my own from my old car ? [from what I read here on CD that it doesn't seem to be an issue]

The main complaints seem to be car condition [with cat **** smell being super popular for some reason] and long waits for C/S when there's a problem like your car hasn't been returned yet and you need your reservation changed to a different car which may not be within walking distance which can't be done on the app unless you cancel the reservation for your missing ride and do a new one which may or not be at the same locale and then you have to deal with C/S to get credited for the change and having your ride cancelled just as your walking to the ride happens much in Bkln/Qns
Do you get penalized if you need to cancel a ride with plenty of time, i.e.: reserved a week or more in advance but need to cancel a day or two before?

Also did you get hit for $50 for being 5 minutes late ??
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Old 08-09-2020, 11:33 PM
 
31,588 posts, read 26,439,483 times
Reputation: 24422
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Hand View Post
Thanks Oy, some Q's
What I haven't found info is if you are able to pick up your car at anytime or are they stored in closed garages with certain times for open/closed ...
Looking at the prices if you need a car for more than 6 hours it's best to rent it for the whole day even if I return it early: would rather pick it up at say 3am if I need it at 5/6/7am [park it on street] and then return it at lets say 8pm though I could still 'use it' for another 7 hours ... also do they come with an EZ Pass or I can use my own from my old car ? [from what I read here on CD that it doesn't seem to be an issue]

The main complaints seem to be car condition [with cat **** smell being super popular for some reason] and long waits for C/S when there's a problem like your car hasn't been returned yet and you need your reservation changed to a different car which may not be within walking distance which can't be done on the app unless you cancel the reservation for your missing ride and do a new one which may or not be at the same locale and then you have to deal with C/S to get credited for the change and having your ride cancelled just as your walking to the ride happens much in Bkln/Qns
Do you get penalized if you need to cancel a ride with plenty of time, i.e.: reserved a week or more in advance but need to cancel a day or two before?

Also did you get hit for $50 for being 5 minutes late ??
Terms vary by car rental place, go their website and or call them up and ask...

Generally there is some sort of grace period (usually one half hour) to return a rental and not be dinged with a late fee or whatever. Good thing about real car rental places is you can call location (if they are open at scheduled return time) and explain you may be a few minutes late or something. Then a manager or someone can make necessary notes on account, and or when you do return do something about any late fee.

Yes, some car rental places do charge no show fees. It's only fair; they are promising to get you a ride, so you should have courtesy of showing up and or at least cancelling. Inventory isn't unlimited; and many selfish people have a nasty habit of making reservations at multiple car rental places, then going with whatever is cheapest or otherwise suits.

Generally most legit real car rental places ask you cancel a reservation 24 hours in advance to avoid possible no-show fees. Obviously if something major and unexpected happens and you cannot do this, or show up, then contacting location/customer service and explaining might get any fees removed.

Long story short it comes down to what works best for your situation.

Have rented from National, Alamo, and Enterprise for years and never had problems. With Hertz On Demand (name of that car share changed several times) 99.9% of time rented there was drama.

Personally would never use a car share for something where had to be someplace or else (family event, work related, etc...) just too much at risk. Also don't like driving a ride that has "Zipcar" or "Enterprise" car share tagged all over.

On average you'll get much better, newer, cleaner and better maintained rides from any real car rental place over ZipCar.

Also consider you have to pay an annual membership to ZipCar (and Enterprise) regardless whether you rent from time once a month, once a year or never. In short neither of them are giving you anything when you break down the numbers.
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Old 08-10-2020, 02:21 AM
 
991 posts, read 1,760,583 times
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It worked really well for a while and then it started to go downhill as people started gaming the system and like any shared service it is only as good as its members. What you need to do is adapt to what you need it for and then use it as necessary. Long weekends it is sometimes better to go with a rental agency, especially on their cheap deals. It's convenient for the weeknight run to Ikea or to pick up someone from the airport etc. For a quick ride out to the in-laws it also works out well.

You've got to be astute in picking the cars sometimes, especially in the afternoon as there are often those that get stuck in traffic. Report problems with the car it is easy.

The issue with Corona is that now there is no real (like most things) timetable to how usage works. It used to be that Monday through Thursday cars were plentiful, you had to preplan for weekends (especially during summer maybe one or two weeks out).

Just so you have maximum flexibility with insurance etc. you should also look into non-owners insurance and the amex rental car liability membership.
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Old 08-10-2020, 06:52 AM
 
Location: In the heights
36,898 posts, read 38,810,969 times
Reputation: 20929
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Hand View Post
Thanks Oy, some Q's
What I haven't found info is if you are able to pick up your car at anytime or are they stored in closed garages with certain times for open/closed ...
Looking at the prices if you need a car for more than 6 hours it's best to rent it for the whole day even if I return it early: would rather pick it up at say 3am if I need it at 5/6/7am [park it on street] and then return it at lets say 8pm though I could still 'use it' for another 7 hours ... also do they come with an EZ Pass or I can use my own from my old car ? [from what I read here on CD that it doesn't seem to be an issue]

The main complaints seem to be car condition [with cat **** smell being super popular for some reason] and long waits for C/S when there's a problem like your car hasn't been returned yet and you need your reservation changed to a different car which may not be within walking distance which can't be done on the app unless you cancel the reservation for your missing ride and do a new one which may or not be at the same locale and then you have to deal with C/S to get credited for the change and having your ride cancelled just as your walking to the ride happens much in Bkln/Qns
Do you get penalized if you need to cancel a ride with plenty of time, i.e.: reserved a week or more in advance but need to cancel a day or two before?

Also did you get hit for $50 for being 5 minutes late ??
Pickup / dropoff basically depends on the garage and some garages are just open all the time. Generally on the app they’ll let you know. On-street parked ones are open anytime.

I found the app does the calculations more or less automatically, but doesn’t tell you. For example, I noticed that when you hit a threshold of time, then just increasing the time doesn’t add to the price. I don’t quite remember the threshold, but it’s at least several hours in and for sure there by 10 hours.

EZ Pass has been present on at least some of them, but I’m no sure all of them have it.

I haven’t had the same issue, but I don’t live in the East Village. It is possible that you have a particularly bad actor in the area which could ruin it for other people. Wouldn’t be that wild if the cat **** smell complaints all stem from one person or household causing the smell.

I actually didn’t get hit for being late—not sure why. I wouldn’t hinge on doing so.
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