<p>Has anyone actually used this service before? What's your experience been like with reserving and getting the cars?</p>
<p>I'm planning to use it to get to an intern/job position next quarter. I'll need it at least 8-15hrs/week.</p>
<p>The rates are kinda pricey ($7-$8/hr depending on plan) but I don't have much of a choice...bus would take me up to 40mins.</p>
<p>Just curious on people's experience with it here at UCSD - thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Well, in my experience with zipcar, it’s pretty convenient, as the cars are all over. Personally I hardly ever use it, unless I’m in dire straits, because it’s so expensive ($7-8), and would prefer to either bike or walk to most places, but if you were in need I believe you’d be able to make it work, considering there are several cars on campus.</p>
<p>That doesn’t really seem worth it… I mean, you’ll have to rent out the car for those 8-15 hours, and that’s basically your base pay rate (assuming you make minimum wage). So you’re not even profiting anything @_@ </p>
<p>Might as well just take the bus, 40 minutes isn’t that long at all. You can always bring something to read, or take a nap or something.</p>
<p>If you drop your zipcar off late, even by a minute past your reservation, they charge you anywhere from $50-$80/hour.</p>
<p>it’s great if you don’t have a car (i’ve had my membership for two years, ever since i moved to NYC) but there are too many variables out of your control to make it a reliable form of transportation for something like a job. in addition to traffic tying you up, the car may not be there on time, somebody else may have reserved it, etc.</p>
<p>i’d say to just buy a clunker if all you need is to get from point A to point B.</p>
<p>as an alternative: i have no idea what kind of industry you’re looking into, but if you’re headed for any of the dozens of biotechs scattered around campus, why not just bike? i used to work at pfizer (halfway down the genesee hill behind RIMAC) and it was terrific.</p>
<p>It is truly unfortunate that UCSD sells itself as being a campus where you don’t need a car, at least for the first couple years. In reality, public transportation sucks IMO. Good luck to the OP.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the input! Yeah, in theory a Zipcar seemed like a perfect choice, but I’m sure in reality there’d be a lot of inconveniences as a long term thing. And I’m not even sure how insurance works. They say it’s free, but not sure what that really covers. </p>
<p>Luckily for me, parents just told me they would consider letting me take one of the family cars down if this internship was really worth it. Very unexpected. But awesome! :)</p>
<p>What about getting yourself a little scooter? If you buy used, you should be able to sell it for about what you paid. That means you’re out the sales tax, registration, insurance, fuel and parking fees. I think you should get gear to keep yourself safe, but chances are you wouldn’t care enough about your safety just like 90% of other riders.</p>
<p>i would recommend that you buy a car, just because you need it for that many hours out of the week. </p>
<p>for me, i will subscribe to zipcar in the coming quarter because i would only need a car to go down to do quick errands. for parties and the like, having a car will fate you to the role of the designated driver. my friends and i pitch in for a taxi. errands and parties are the only reason i need to travel by auto. i bike to work (on campus job). i made this decision because the numbers add up favor my savings this way. you could do some number-crunching for your own situation also!</p>