I finally got to use my Zipcard yesterday...
The task: Move a couple of boxes of junk to my parents house about a mile away.
The solution: I figured this would be my chance to actually try out my zipcar membership for the first time. It's almost 7pm as I log on to zipcar.com, somewhat worried that all the cars in my area might be reserved already. Luckily I find a Scion xB about five blocks away from me, and it's free for the night. This is perfect because the xB is something of a box on wheels with plenty of space for the stuff I need to transport.
I nervously confirm my reservation - it's from 7:30 to 9:00, giving myself an hour and a half to pick up the car, pack it with stuff, go drop everything off and then go return the zipcar to it's spot.
I swipe the Zipcard over the reader located under the windshield, and the car unlocks with a click. "Coool," I think to myself as I get in the car and start the ignition...
How Zipcar Works
- You open an account with them. A modestly clean driving record is a must, and there is about $75 in fees to start.
- Your Zipcard should arrives in the mail! A zipcard is magnetic key card about the size of a credit card (a bit thicker and heavier) which you need to use to active the zipcar you reserved.
- You can now log on to zipcar and see which cars are available in your area. You can make a reservation in half-hourly increments, and most cars cost $9 per hour. That's it! No gas, no insurance, no parking spot to worry about!
- Once you open your zipcar with your zipcard, you can start the ignitiion with the provided keys, and off you go! Just be sure to bring the zipcar back on time and swipe the zipcard to lock the car.
Why I joined Zipcar in the first place
When I first heard about Zipcar, probably on the evening news, I thought it was a interesting idea, and the name 'Zipcar', like so many cool new 'zip' things stuck me in my mind. It was hard to imagine that somebody could run an affordable, short-term rental service that could actually compete with the practicality of owning a car. That was years ago, and since then I've seen numerous references to ZipCar, whether it'd be in articles, advertisements on the T, or actually seeing the actual zipcars with the zipcar logo on the side.About a year or two ago I decided to look into their website, and see what Zipcar is all about. It was actually a pretty simple and elegant idea, you rent a zipcar for a couple of hours, do your thing, bring it back, and that's it. They make it work by having lots of zipcars spread out in various locations, and managing the realtime electronic registrations on an hourly basis. Anyways, I didn't sign-up for Zipcar, but said to myself that I probably will at some point.
Meanwhile the ads on the T kept tormenting me, could it really be that easy to have an on-demand car that's so affordable? I even noticed a few ZipCar marked VOlkswagen Golfs, and even a Mini parked literally on the same block as my house! I knew they were everywhere, but this was right me in face.
When I finally decided to join Zipcar, in January 05, I realized that it became even easier to "own" a Zipcar then ever before. No longer did I need to make a monthly commitment of $50 worth of rental hours, and the refundable accident deposit of $300 was slashed to $100! So that means the total cost of membership is the $100 deposit, plus the $25 application processing fee, plus the $50 anual fee = $175! And that's all you need to log on to their website, book a reservation, and then go get in the car, as if it was your car.
Since parking in Boston is an expensive commodity, having several zipcar less than 100 yards away from my house is a huge bonus. I would probably have to spend at least $100 per month for a parking space, and it wouldn't be anywhere near that close to my house. I also see how that could be great for someone who already has a car.
