Renting out your car.... Official MoneySavingExpert discussion

LadyBeee

I joined Whipcar last year and have only had one booking, which went Ok, except that the renter was a smoker. He assured me he wouldn't smoke in the car and I'm sure he didn't, but the car smelled of smoke , same as his clothes did. Not had any more bookings since, that's just the one booking in a year, not too impressed really.

bucky_ohare

I've started actively advertising my car in my area and I now make about £300 per month.

I have a few people who do regular rentals about twice a month. And some odd people here and there.

I also managed to rent the car for the whole time I was on holiday over Christmas. This paid for my holiday.

I've never had a bad experience and have got on really well with all renters. The only time I was ever a little worried was when someone was a little late. But then I rang Whipcar and they just extended the insurance.

You can choose who you rent to so if the renters want to rent from Whipcar again (v cheap so why wouldn't they) they will treat the car well. I've even had gifts left in the car after renting, from Christmas cards to champagne to a free valet!

I'm paying for my wedding with Whipcar profits, so I do try and mention it a lot. They have a lot of new social network tools on the site now and this has helped a lot with advertising.

Chris

[Deleted User]

bucky_ohare wrote: »

I've started actively advertising my car in my area and I now make about £300 per month.

I have a few people who do regular rentals about twice a month. And some odd people here and there.

I also managed to rent the car for the whole time I was on holiday over Christmas. This paid for my holiday.

I've never had a bad experience and have got on really well with all renters. The only time I was ever a little worried was when someone was a little late. But then I rang Whipcar and they just extended the insurance.

You can choose who you rent to so if the renters want to rent from Whipcar again (v cheap so why wouldn't they) they will treat the car well. I've even had gifts left in the car after renting, from Christmas cards to champagne to a free valet!

I'm paying for my wedding with Whipcar profits, so I do try and mention it a lot. They have a lot of new social network tools on the site now and this has helped a lot with advertising.

Chris

Sounds like a too good to be true advert.

I had my car up for a year and I didn't get any bookings. My car is too old now as the cut off is 8 years old.

Not like I would want to rent my car out now as after further research it is just not worth the risks.

I would however use them if I wanted to hire a car for the day e.g a huge estate or something if I had stuff to shift.

tmcallister74

dgbdgb wrote: »

I've signed up and had the first rental experience with Whipcar - worked well. I'm hoping this will take off - makes me feel happier about having an underused asset - since moving to a new area, we don't use the car very often.

Whipcar team seem pretty supportive.


Dave

Has anyone else noticed that Dave has a random Blogname and only 2 posts on this site....hmmmmm!!!:T

pheonixrising21

Quote:
Originally Posted by hammodt
What's the tax position with renting out your car? Do you have to declare it as "income" on a tax return?
I would think so.


If you have to declare the income for tax purposes, can you offset the interest on any finance against it, as with mortgage interest for landlords? And the same with insurance premiums?

ohit

pheonixrising21 wrote: »

Quote:
Originally Posted by hammodt
What's the tax position with renting out your car? Do you have to declare it as "income" on a tax return?
I would think so.


If you have to declare the income for tax purposes, can you offset the interest on any finance against it, as with mortgage interest for landlords? And the same with insurance premiums?

And car maintenance, cleaning, depreciation, etc. Yes
It would be quite easy to not pay income tax on it due to the actual running costs.

richardruff

thomo79 wrote: »

Hi Everyone
I just attempted to register with whipcar, but couldn't because of my car's history (but that's not my issue).
Please read this extract from there T&C's:

As part of the Vehicle Registration Process WhipCar will automatically search for the Vehicle against one a series of third-party databases (including MIAFTR and PITO) in order to check the Vehicle's age, model, registration, and accident history. The results of this check will be assessed by WhipCar and WhipCar may at its discretion refuse to register the Vehicle. In order to proccess this check a WhipCar owner must supply credit card details against which WhipCar will place a £100 pre authorisation to confirm that this is a valid card linked to the address supplied. For the avoidance of doubt - no money will be debitted from this card at any time.

I gave them my debit card details for this £100 'pre-authorisation' not expecting it to be actually debited from my account (as it clearly says above). But it was! I now have to wait 3 working days for it to be credited back. I was not happy about this and it's lucky I have no bills coming out over this 3 day period otherwise it would've got messy! Check your account if you register.

This is a common, dirty tactic used by companies like this - to help out I've added a post explaining why they do this. The thread is titled "Pre-Authorised Transactions" and is under Pure Money -> Budgeting & Bank Accounts and I hope it helps!

aaageo

go4it wrote: »

Seems a good idea, would be interested to hear from anyone who is signed up for it.

Obvious worry is what happens if someone does a runner with your car, or is involved in an accident. How does their insurance work for a car that is already insured?

I've signed up to it. I've rented out my car about 4 times.

Broadly, the experience has been good, but there are drawbacks too.

Here are a few things I can share:

1. The car is not always returned back on time on in the condition that you rented it out in. This happened to me once.

2. People don't always return the car with same amount of fuel. Very annoying.

3. I've noticed a scratch on my car which wasn't there before. It's my fault for being too trusting and not checking the car properly upon return.

Whipcar have been good in compensating me for some complaints. Can't fault them at all.

If you do rent out your car, be very careful to check it before and after the rental and take pics if need be.

Happy to answer any questions from a user point of view.

dime81

This thread seems to have gone cold, but thought I'd post anyway.

I rented out my car for 2 days recently and was pleased with the system. I had only listed it for a few days beforea booking, though will wait and see if I get many more.

My situation is I commute on the train and usually leave the car at the station all day, so may as well try and get something out of it.

The renter was punctual, had all the required paperwork etc and dropped it back with more petrol than to start, which was a bonus.

The only slight hitch was the charging structure which confused me at first. I called them and they explained it which was helpful. Basically the screen hire rate is not what you get - it includes an insurance charge paid by the driver. The site also takes a commission. Your account settings do have a tool which shows you how much you get for different rates, which is also good (once it had been explained!).

I made £55 for the 2 days, which is better than the £0 it would have made sitting in the car park!

veganline

Whipcar.com write today...

...there are still barriers to widespread adoption of peer-to-peer car rental in the UK. As a small team with limited resources, we have taken a good long look at these scaling challenges. And, after much thought, we have made the extremely difficult decision to close WhipCar.
What this means for our customers:

• Beginning March 12th 2013, we are no longer accepting any new bookings or new membership. Members will no longer be able to log-in and access our site.
• Bookings due to begin on or after March 12th have been cancelled, and all affected drivers have been fully refunded.
• Owners with bookings ending in March will be paid during the week beginning March 18th and will be notified when this payment has been issued.