Car sharing insights - part deux

So I'm a regular user of the three car sharing services here in San Francisco. It allows me to have transport without the hassle and responsibility of car ownership. Gas and insurance is free, the cars are clean, new and the reservation systems are sophisticated and easy to use.

City Carshare has been around the longest in SF and has the most cars and "pods" around the bay area. Their business model is good for short trips around the city that do not incur long hours or long mileage distances. ($4/hour and $.40 per mile). I find that once you leave the city and head down the pennisula for the day or to meet with a client, it can get cost prohibitive. They have a lot of Toyota xAs and xBs in their fleet along with a few popular hybrid models, a Toyota pickup as well as a few mini coopers.

www.citycarshare.com

Flexcar's business model is a bit more geared towards those that want to have a car for a few days to get out of town or take a day trip to Tahoe, Monterey or the wine country. Their cars a bit more upmarket and offer Honda Accords, Elements as well as hybrids. They also have certain cars that you can rent for the day under the star program that will not charge you over 5 or 7 hours of usage in a given day. This is great for the trip to Tahoe for the weekend. Their hourly rate at $7-9 per hour is a bit more than citycarshare for those trips to Trader Joes on Saturday afternoon.

www.flexcar.com

Zipcar is the newest player to enter the game. They offer $60/ day rentals and also have an hourly program as well at $8-11 per hour. Although they are filling the market demand for higher end cars in their fleet (Volvo S40) and they allow members to use cars in other markets like Seattle, Minneapolis, San Diego and a few others, they are clearly the highest priced horse in the race. They also have free mileage program up to 125 miles with each rental. Anything over 125 miles per day and there is a fee per mile. The thing about this firm is that they add all sorts of fees and taxes to your bill which make it cost prohibitive to use them over one of the big major car rental firms near airports. Example: I am traveling to Minneapolis for a few days and they have a Honda Element available for $60/day or $8/ hour. To get this car for the 2 days I need it would be over $139 with a 125 mile limit per day. Instead I rented a Dodge Magnum ( or other) for $15 per day with unlimited miles for 3 days and a total including tax $68. I predict Zipcar will be the first to adjust its fee structure in order to compete.

www.zipcar.com