Zip Cars

[VentureForth]

One of their huge target demographics is college students. When I was in college, I didn't have a car until my junior year. I didn't need one too much, but there were a few times that it would have been nice to have one available.

For folks who don't need a car on a daily basis, it's a great idea. For the rest of us, I guess we're stuck with the traditional rentals.

 

[Train Rider]

I think ZipCar and Amtrak could work well together on the commuter routes. If you have regular client that is not convenient to the station or the taxi ride isn't feasible, then potentially a ZipCar can provide that person with great flexibility.

Part of the reason people don't take the train is loss of flexibility at the destination. ZipCar could address some of those issues if properly marketed -- Amtrak could even work out a joint reservation system online or via an app.

If ZipCar only wants to target the college kid crowd, then it wouldn't work, but select Amtrak stations could be profitable for them and a plus for Amtrak.

 

[Bob Dylan]

The City of Austin has a Contract with Cars2GO Featuring Smart Cars and you see them All Over Town, the City has even Reserved Exclusive Parking Spots with Signs and anyone else who Parks there will be Towed! The Users tend to Urban Metro Condo Dwellers, (they're Sprouting like Weeds all over Austin) Students and Tourists! I know several Retired Folks (Wealthy Unlike Me! :giggle: )who use them for Shopping, Appointments etc. Due to the Heavy Influx of Tourists and the Every Week of the Year Fiestas, Music Fest, Races, Marathons etc. Rental Cars are Expensive and Hard to Get here in River City! Chris made a Good Point about up front Expenses for owning a Car but here in Texas they are Alot Lower than in other Large Cities such as NYC,LA,WAS,SF etc. Unfortunately most Texas Cities have Purposely Designed Sprawl and Poor or Non-Existent Mass Transit (DFW is coming on Strong with DART,TRE etc.)so a Car is a Necessity even with the Horrible Traffic and the World's Worst Drivers!

 

[TVRM610]

Part of what you are paying for is convenience. If you want to rent a car the "traditional" way you have to check in, show your cards, your license, fill out paperwork etc. With zipcar, all of that is done when you sign up (and yes you have to pay for that convenience in the membership fees) but then there is 0 hassle in renting the car (as long as it is available of course).

I was with my boss in San Francisco a few years ago and we had some time off in the afternoon and he said "I kinda want to drive across the golden gate bridge," he took out his smart phone, looked at the parking lot across the street from where we were, and said i'm gonna pick that one. We walked up to the car, he held up his wallet to the windshield, and the car unlocked. We got in and drove off. I mean c'mon.. that's pretty cool. Now he lives in Chicago, and doesn't own a vehicle, so the system works perfect for him.

I personally don't rent cars, so maybe the "traditional" companies have online check in options now too.. but whenever I've been with people renting cars, it seems to take a while.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I still firmly believe that their target market is mainly comprised of young urbanites who save money by using the service and not having their own car.

Are you sure you're not confusing target market with established market? Why would they intentionally limit themselves to the folks who are already sold on the idea?

Part of what you are paying for is convenience. If you want to rent a car the "traditional" way you have to check in, show your cards, your license, fill out paperwork etc. With zipcar, all of that is done when you sign up (and yes you have to pay for that convenience in the membership fees) but then there is 0 hassle in renting the car (as long as it is available of course)...I personally don't rent cars, so maybe the "traditional" companies have online check in options now too.. but whenever I've been with people renting cars, it seems to take a while.

Traditional rental companies have had this option for at least a decade. You still need to bother with paperwork in the case of international car hires but for domestic rentals it's rarely an issue if you fill it out ahead of time. In the case of Zipcar there are no front line clerks or counter staff salaries to pay so why can't they pass along those savings? Sounds like they need a new competitor, besides Hertz.

 

[amamba]

I still firmly believe that their target market is mainly comprised of young urbanites who save money by using the service and not having their own car.

Are you sure you're not confusing target market with established market? Why would they intentionally limit themselves to the folks who are already sold on the idea?

Yup, I know the difference. I just don't think you are their target market. If it doesn't save you money, don't use it. I don't really care. You have already said that you won't use it. But don't make it sound like this is a useless service.

I believe they are expanding by moving to new cities.

You are quite argumentative today. I really don't have a personal stake in this company. I have used it and found it to be convenient. I am also willing to pay more for convenience. Not everyone is. It is what it is. I consider myself incredibly lucky in life.

 

[Nathanael]

Carsharing is a very useful thing. If you're living in downtown Ithaca and only need a car sometimes, you use Ithaca CarShare. ZipCar was asked to enter the market and declined, so some locals set up a not-for-profit and did a better job. There are quite a lot of other not-for-profit ZipCar-like organizations in other cities: http://www.ithacacarshare.org/csh_roaming.html, http://www.carsharing.org/member-organizations/ , etc. (A couple of the ones listed here are for-profit, but most are not-for-profit.)

The fatal problem with ZipCar and most of these others for a non-local is that they have a "home location" for a car, which means it's not too great unless there's one next to your hotel.

So, every time I have needed to rent a car in a city, traditional car rental has been more suitable than any of this. (I can't even use the carshare locally, because I live too far outside of town.)

Car2go is more suitable for "just arrived at a station, need a short trip across town" situations. Car2go is attempting to redress the "must return it where you picked it up, and long rentals are expensive" problem with ZipCar.

However, most times I've rented a car it's becaue I needed to drive 60 miles away from the train station (or airport, before I stopped flying). Hence, traditional car rental.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

The fatal problem with ZipCar and most of these others for a non-local is that they have a "home location" for a car, which means it's not too great unless there's one next to your hotel.

I don't think such is "fatal", because a non-local isn't not their primary target customer. Their target customer is indeed a local, that uses public transpiration most of the time, and only occasionally needs a private car/truck.