Streetcar - "pay-as-you-go" car hire

gromituk

Interesting scheme, similar to one I experienced in Hamburg a couple of years ago. Cars are dotted around in dedicated spaces, you book them by phone or on the net and use a smart card to get into them, and you are charged by the hour (£4.95), day, week or month. You get 30 miles' use per day included, and (basic) insurance; if you need to fill up you use their card so don't pay.

The cars contain a hands-free mobile kit which automatically reports usage back to base, and which can also be used to talk to their operators in case of problems, to extend the booking, etc. The radio has an MP3 player connector!

Of course this all depends on where the cars are, and their availability, but it might just tip the balance for some into not having to have their own car. https://www.streetcar.co.uk

mmsparkle

Hi! I don't have a car at the moment (saving money for house, mortgage etc) but am getting very fed up of not being able to get anywhere! Many times over the last year I've been tempted to just buy a car damn it, but have resisted so far. (I live 10 mins walk from work, so don't *really* need it)
This streetcar idea may just save my sanity but before I go for it I'd just like to hear if anyone has tried it, what experience they had, etc. It's the #150 deposit that's the biggest obstacle at the moment.
Many thanks for your ideas / support

lush_walrus

I've used them before in London and they are great, you can also set a shorter period of time than a day, by requesting x amount of hours (its £4.95 per hour).

The rules they set are fair too and are really a matter of politeness to the next car user than anything else. If you return the car dirty, then you are fined, if you return the car late and dont warn them (I think you can extend it up to 15 mins before handing it back), then you are fined too and from memory some of the money in both cases goes to the next user, not just to streetcar.

caffeinehit

This sounds like a really interesting scheme - good value as well.

Gambit

I've been using Streetcar for a few weeks now. I like driving and enjoy having a car but having just returned from travelling my funds are kinda low so have been sensible and decided not to buy a car as yet.

Streetcar is great as it gives you the flexibility of having a car when you need it without having to worry about all the financial implications of having a car yourself. They are scattered around London and as yet there has always been one available for me to grab when needs be no more than 10 minutes walk.

Something else to bear in mind is that although you are charged a £50 membership fee for a year, they are so confident that you will enjoy their service that they will refund that fee if you change your mind within the first 3 months for whatever reason. This was what convinced me to give it a go.

Hope this helps someone who is thinking about it. If you have any further questions about it feel free to give me a shout...

crazytim77

I was totally singing the praises of StreetCar, recommending it to friends.... that is until this morning.

I got a text saying that my recent payment to StreetCar had failed - strange since I hadn't used it for around 5 months. I logged in to find that every single month since January they had been taking £20 insurance fees. I was totally shocked and gutted.

Perhaps it was that I was stressed out from moving house or maybe it was that the small print is actually quite easy to miss, but I had unwittingly signed up for monthly insurance which would continued to be taken from my credit card until I canceled.

I called StreetCar customer services and they confirmed they had taken about £100 insurance even though I had only ever used the service for one day back in Jan. As a gesture of good will they said they could refund 2 of those amounts.

How else can I reclaim the other £40ish worth of insurance that wasn't used?

richardw

Has anybody experienced dirty cars?