We take a look at pay-as-you-go rental schemes. Could they save you money? Could you live without your car?
What's the big idea?
In recent years we've seen the rise of commercial car clubs: companies offering cars for hire on an hourly basis, booked as and when you need to use them. These companies have thousands of cars throughout the country ready to drive away from convenient city-centre and suburban locations.
There are several operators (the big four are City Car Club, Streetcar, WhizzGo and Zipcar), but the basic idea is much the same: you pay a yearly membership charge and then go online (or make a phone call) to book a car when you need it. You then walk to the car, swipe your membership card over the windscreen to unlock it, and drive away.
The price varies from provider to provider but is typically in the region of £4-£6 per hour (including fuel). Between them the four majors cover Bath, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Guildford, Huddersfield, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton, St. Albans and York, with other cities to follow.
Internationally Zipcar (which started in Boston, MA, as far back as 1999) has cars in over 50 US cities and more than 100 university campuses. In Europe, GreenWheels is dominant in the Netherlands and Germany, but the country with the most car-sharers per capita is Switzerland, where the first clubs emerged in 1987.
Arguments for
Frugal. Unless you drive for a living, or drive to and from work, the yearly cost of using a pay-as-you-go car is a fraction of what you'd spend on car ownership. You don't have to worry about the cost of monthly repayments, depreciation, insurance, fuel (up to a daily mileage cap), road tax or residents' parking permits. If you live in London, some of the providers also factor in the cost of the Congestion Charge.
Fun. You get to try out a number of different vehicles and aren't tied-down to driving the same car day in, day out. Between them, the car clubs operate family hatchbacks, hybrids (Toyota Prius, Honda Insight), frugal diesels (Vauxhall Corsa Eco, VW Golf Bluemotion) and even Mini Coopers.
Green. For each pay-as-you-go car there are typically 30 car club members. If each of these members replace an existing car with car club membership this takes 29 cars off the road. The fewer cars there are on the road, the less carbon is expended in the production of new cars. In congested city centres this could lead to fewer parked cars which would lead to less driving around hunting for spaces (and the wasted fuel and unnecessary emissions this creates).
Convenience. Because many car clubs have locations in different cities somebody from Manchester, for instance, can use a car when they visit Birmingham or Edinburgh.
Arguments against
Availability. You can't guarantee that there will be a car available in a location convenient to you. Of course you can book far in advance, but you can't always drive away whenever the fancy takes you. Inevitably pay-as-you-go cars are more popular at the weekends, making spontaneous day trips less likely.
Ownership. There's a social status to car ownership that isn't always trumped by the satisfaction of doing one's bit for the environment. Some of the companies insist on plastering their cars with logos, making it impossible to pretend that you're driving your own wheels.
Other users. Although there are contractual penalties for breaking the rules, it's not uncommon to find the car you have booked hasn't arrived back yet, or that the interior is littered, or the fuel tank close to empty (car club members are expected to fill up the cars when necessary, using the pre-payment card in the glove compartment).
Pets. Quite understandably, most car clubs forbid the carrying of pets. But this can be hard on environmentally-minded dog walkers.
Longer journeys. Car clubs only really make sense for short, urban journeys. If you want to book a car for an entire weekend, or need to drive from city to city, then traditional rental cars are more cost-effective.
Related links
Smart idea? Have your say...
Would you ditch your own car if there was a car club vehicle parked on your street? Or could you not bear to share? Let us know your thoughts on pay-as-you-go cars.
More motoring schemes and ideas
i ride a motorbike, which alows me to go to and from work, visit family, go for a day out, go shopping etc etc etc all for an average of a FIVER A DAY including petrol, tax. mot, and insurance. motobikes are still the cheapest form of proper transport. the only problem we have is YOU GROSSLY UNDER-TRAINED, INCOMPITENT, NEGLIGENT, BRAIN DEAD, HALF ASLEEP POWERED ARMCHAIR DRIVERS who have poor visibility {upto 75% less than us] and far too many distractions like - mobile phones, sat nav, dvd players, make up mirrors, passengers, and all your little buttons to play with that stop you from being able to drive properly with 100% concentration AS YOU BLOOMIN' SHOULD. fact - 90% of all accidents now down to - not paying attention. CAR DRIVERS - WAKE UP
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The taxi comment doesn't hold up as you would either need a car for other times where a taxi is more expensive and therefore have the cost of ownership plus the taxi fare. The cost of short term rental is the only cost. No one seems to be counting the cost of depreciation and wear and tear. The average car depreciates to 50% of its value in three years that is around £1500 to £2000 per year for a small car. Insurance is around £500. £2500 a year and no driving yet!! Add the cost of wear and tear when you use the car and the cost of fuel and on average a car will cost you around £4000 per year. If you dont need it for daily use to and from work then it is a cost that is unnecessary. Far too expensive for the pleasure of being able to boast that you own your own car!!
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This is a good article but an important potential pitfall which is not mentioned is insurance and liability of damage to the vehicle. I'm a member of Streetcar and if you don't pay an extra £10 for comprehensive insurance you're liable for an excess of at least £500 for any damage done to the vehicle. If you think about it, this could be any damage from the moment you rent to the moment the next person rents. Even if you have returned the car safely and it is stood parked in its place for 2 days until the next person rents it, any damage done will fall to the last person who rented. So it is £4 to £6 per hour but you would be crazy not to also take the comp insurance. I got stung for £340 repair damage for a s@#$%e to the front bumper which I DID NOT DO! Having said that- I still highly recommend the service.
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This idea seems vastly inconvenient and very limited in its uses. First of all you have to walk around to actually find where this car is located which coould be some distance and trouble. Then you have to consider that whatever you may wish to do with the car that you have to do it all in a round trip as the car needs to be returned and that you will also have a time limit of probably a couple of hours. There is also the issue of the membership fees meaning that you have to commit to the scheme befoer using the cars. Then there is the cost, £6 per hour is a lot if you consider that a full days car rental is usually only around £30. Unless this idea was greatly expanded and everybody did it then the environmental benefits are pretty much zero. I just can't see a situation where use of a car in this manner would be suitable, unless you worked right next to one of the places you can pick up a car and only had to do a small drive to a meeting then back again and would need to make this drive weekly. In pretty much any other situation a better solution for price/convenience would be your own car, a taxi, a bus or a rental car.
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"Green. For each pay-as-you-go car there are typically 30 car club members. If each of these members replace an existing car with car club membership this takes 29 cars off the road. The fewer cars there are on the road, the less carbon is expended in the production of new cars. In congested city centres this could lead to fewer parked cars which would lead to less driving around hunting for spaces (and the wasted fuel and unnecessary emissions this creates)." this i find a bit unrealistic, 30 people sharing the one car lol gone will be the days of just jumping in your motor and going for spin or even the shopping whenever u want too cos someone else has the bloody car! ROFL
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