Has Anyone Tried Zipcar?

Parents Forum
1

<p>The post on car expenses made me reminded me of something, but I didn't want to divert that discussion.</p>

<p>My S is going to an urban school so it never made sense to send a car with him. It's simply too much trouble and too expensive. Instead, he relies on public transportation which is fine for most things.</p>

<p>This year his school became a partner with Zipcar. Students, even those under 25, pay a nominal membership fee and can rent cars by the hour or day. Good for that occasional heavy purchase or even, heaven forbid, a date. The fees look pretty reasonable.</p>

<p>Has anyone tried this? Was it a good experience?</p>

2

<p>A friend of mine's D is using FlexCar at her college which sounds very much like this. She paid $40 for an annual membership and then makes a reservation in some way and pays the hourly rate. The D has found it to be really convenient and since she has started using FlexCar, she has quit bugging her parents about having a car on campus.</p>

3

<p>Sounds a lot like Philly Car Share, which is so successful it is expanding to the suburbs. There's no membership fee.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.phillycarshare.org/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.phillycarshare.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

4

<p>Zipcar started in the Boston/Cambridge area and has expanded to a few other cities. My former assistant had her car totalled a few years ago and used zipcar. At the time, the membership fee was $20 and the hourly fee was $8.00 </p>

<p>A few months ago, I read an article on Slate.com about zipcars. You can rent different types of cars for different occasions. Want to impress a date or a potential client? Rent a BMW or a Lexus. The more expensive the car, the more discreet the logo. Sounds like a good deal.</p>

5

<p>Wonder what happens if the car is damaged, stolen, or wrecked while in your custody. I bet these things happen quite a bit (we are talking college students now, aren't we?).</p>

6

<p>A family that is good friends of ours ... family of 4 that lives near Boston ... and owns one car .... are very frequent and very happy users of Zipcars (basically using the Zipcar as their second car). They have been using Zipcars for years ... saving a bundle over owning a second car ... and had only good thing to say about their experience (which includes zipcars have mechanical problems and flat tires and getting replacement cars). I do not think they have dealt with a accident though so I have no info on that situation.</p>