Flexcar started as a Seattle-based alternative to traditional rent-a-car agencies. Members could rent cars by the half-hour and feel like part of a forward-thinking community that took care of the cars and generally looked out for each other. Flexcar never turned a profit though. Last year, Flexcar merged with their main competitor Zipcar, also in the red. Meanwhile, Hertz and Enterprise decided to start renting cars by the hour, threatening Flex/Zip's customer base. As reported in The Stranger, after a spotty transition, the merged Zipcar seems far less "Flex-ible" towards its members. Both annual fees and hourly rates are higher and rentals are hourly– rounded up, of course. Zipcar also levies more fines and offers no grace periods. Zipcar spokeswoman Kristina Kennedy insists that fines will force members to "take responsibility for the cars while they are using them." Or really piss them off.
Find Reviews by Make:
Read all comments
The basic idea is really good, and I thought the companies turned a profit in Europe, where their business model makes more sense. Only SF and NY seem really adapted.
I like the idea of not having to go to a rental car location, and I also like the idea of getting a MINI/S40/VW Golf as opposed to an Impala or Sebring….
Flexcar, despite never making money, has (or had) some serious muscle here in Washington state. Prime downtown parking spots here in Vancouver (right in front of the courthouse, near city hall, right in front of the Hilton, etc) are conspicuously reserved “For Flexcar Only”.
They are also, conspicuously, almost always occupied by unused Flexcars.
I saw my first Flexcar last week, a Prius with DC plates. There are a few parked over at Johns Hopkins. I could bike over there I suppose, but if I really need a rental, Enterprise is within walking distance.
For my birthday in December, my wife surprised me with a trip to visit friends in Philly, and then surprised me again by signing me up for Philly Car Share, and renting an MX-5 for the day. Being told the next 7 hours were for driving wherever we wanted in that car was music to my ears. She had even gotten our friend to give recommendations for good roads to throw the little Miata (MX-5, whatever) around on. It was $80 well spent – and that included gas!
Tip: If you’re in Philly area looking for a fun road to drive a small car on, find S. Ithan Ave by Villanova University: [maps.google.com],-75.342264&sspn=0.00713,0.014591&ie=UTF8&ll=40.038622,-75.342243&spn=0.00713,0.014591&z=16&om=0
It’s not the Tail of the Dragon or anything, but it was a blast in that little car.
I’m a big fan of Zipcar. Here in SF they have pickup trucks too and getting one of them for a few hours’ moving certainly beats standing in line and being abused for at UHaul. (Not to mention that driving a Tacoma is less scary than a beat up GMC). I commute to work by public transport and occasionally use a Zipcar in the East Bay for lunchtime errants. You really can’t beat $8/hour for a Mini or Fit. Here I have noticed that their parking spaces are more often empty than they used to be. It is clearly catching on and I think the merge helped by giving everyone access to more cars to choose from.
This idea is a complete non-starter in the US. There simply aren’t enough non-car owning people who need a car for a few hours here and there. Sort of like Santa Clara County’s Light Rail system … everyone thinks it is a great idea but only a minuscule fraction of the population uses the thing.
As far as hourly rentals of trucks – Home Depot and Lowes have the market pretty well covered already.
If they had a few cars that were manual i’d be interest. But they don’t.
It’s an interesting idea, but it was inevitable that the big corporations would follow the idea quickly. Enterprise has a massive amount of small neighborhood offices, and Hertz is opening an average of five per week (called HLEs – for “Hertz Local Edition”) to compete with Enterprise in the off-airport/downtown/insurance replacement segments of the industry. This, of course, means FlexCar won’t be able to really have a price advantage, as the big ones can undercut them thanks to profits from traditional rentals, they won’t have the name recognition or advertising budget, they won’t have the sheer number of cars available, and they’ll never be able to compete on number of office locations.
I don’t expect them to last long, with our (Hertz’) hourly rates in large cities around $10/hr.
Not having to listen to some unmotivated sales person being forced to do a hard sell of unnecessary insurance and other options….priceless.
Maybe I’m too jaded, but the appeal (for me) of Avis and Enterprise is knowing I’m getting a piece of crap, and not giving one flying F^(% about the car. Yeah they push the hard sell on miscellaneous services; ignore them. There’s something magically about making a rental Intrepid do 70 in second gear, or returning a Galant sans bumper and demanding a new car.
The idea that i would have to take care of rental car is…creepy.
Hmmm, just looking through Hertz and Enterprise’s websites, I wouldn’t have a clue that they rent cars for shorter periods than a full day. Even the HLE tab doesn’t mention it.
Does anyone know this for a fact?