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 HAVE BEEN A MEMBER OF THE CITY CAR CLUB
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have been using this for the past 2 years in central london. £4.50 per hour, free parking in the borough that you take it from, free petrol, congestion charge free. No hassell, book when you want it, return when booked to return, dont be late as that is where they collect their fees. We use Zipcar, or city cars...very good idea
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Good comment balactheblack , i saw this idea few years back on tv, makes sense i must say, but i had to rush out last week to pick up a printer usb cable as they dont come with 1 anymore? The Shop shut in half an hour, and the store was 3 miles away, and i needed that cable that day... so quality idea if it suits you but i'd never be able to do it.
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I have been a member of the city car club in edinburgh for around 8 years and it is fab admittedly I have to walk 5 mins to a car but quite often thats how close i'd be able to walk my own car from the house. it is a great idea it focuses the use of the car when i go out i think about all the journeys with a car i need to make ikea, supermarket etc etc, it is so much cheaper han owning a car No extra cost for insurance , petrol , valets, mot , damage, tyres. if i owned a car it'd not be used 5 days a week as i do walk to work. I know the car club is not ideal for everyone , however woudl the person who said how would i drive my kids to school just thinnk about it, perhaps you could teach your kids to walk or jump on a bus. did you get driven to school???
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This is like Taxi but: 1) Without driver 2) Less available (there are plenty of taxis) 3) Cheaper than taxi?? or is it? 4) return the car u need to return to depot. good idea, more fine turned business model needed
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Not practical when you live in a rural location like I do! I have to drive everywhere because I live out in the sticks, it just wouldn't be viable.
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the only way people are going to be environmentally friendly is when they are rewarded for it ..unlike government trends which is punish people financially when they don t do as there told ..eg. no road tax if you car share .. all they have done is constrict roads with cycle lanes that are never used bus lanes that even taxi s use and are still empty ..then complain it takes people longer to get to work ..idiots undo what youve done for the last 10 yrs and it will speed up .. and buses ..no conductor and a driver who dosn t care means idiots blasting music , people who stink the bus out not to mention fights and abuse ..and before you complain i walk use my bike drive and use the bus .. also pathetic when bus fares are that high its cheaper for me to drive park and come home in my car than it is to get the bus ..where s the incentive ?????
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no no no no dont go for this it is just another way of tracking people they would want to know everything about you when you sign up, then they would track your every move. just like challage 25, you cannot purchase ciggs or alchol if you don't look 25 you need id, so they are getting around the compolsery ID card, the goverment are very crafty if they cannot get you oneway they will get you to think these things are for our benefit, SO IF YOU HAVE ANY SENCE DONT DO IT.
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As usual, it's the folk in the cities who get these schemes and nothing is done to help those in rural areas who have little public transport. I could get by with using the scheme to get into our small town (10 miles) twice a week and to a London airport (120 miles) once a month but I guess that no similar schemes will be brought into small rural villages. I guess that I'll just have to keep my own car, be taxed to hell and called an enemy of the planet.
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