Weekend Car share rental -companies?

claudib

Hi there, my car is looking like it's at the end of the road and a lot of changes have been  parking onlymade since I first got it..I could never get a resident permit because it's a new build that has a 'no car policy' and the area 10 minutes away where I used to partk free has now got resident only. Soo getting a car is a bit complex.. so I'm wondering what occasional car use I
Options are out there. I liked Drive Now ( sadly didn't survive covid) I worked weekends as a children's entertainer so need a car for 4 hours at a time. And occasional trips away. Can anyone suggest an affordable option?

Grumpy_chap

There may be the big companies like ZipCar in your area.

There are online car sharing apps where you use a local person's car rather than a car belonging to a company.  Be aware that the total cost sometimes is more than the headline - I recently took a car that was "hire this car $30 per day" by the time insurance and booking fee was added it came to $50. Still cheaper than the ZipCar alternative - would have been $80.

Can you use public transport?
Taxi / UBER?

Laconic

I sold my car in 2011 when I went back to university. Since I was living in Manchester, public transport worked well for me, and then I found that renting via Enterprise for weekend trips, etc. was brilliant. As was their hourly car rental service. If you find a reasonable rental service, cultivate the local office: you can usually get much more car than you paid for once they know and trust you. I also used to use car rental brokerages to see what I could get cheaply from anyone. Best I ever managed was £9/day over Christmas and New Year for a VW Golf.

If you're going to rent regularly, buy your own specialist rental insurance.

Since Covid, car rental prices have gone up through the roof, and it's not as cost-effective for me any longer. I've still got car club membership but don't use it much as I'm living in a more rural area, and it's a long trip to the nearest one.  I'm considering buying a car in the next 1-2 years, but for well over a decade, I managed without owning a car quite effectively.

trishia2178

Our Family have been with out a car for 10 years. For Ecological and money reasons. Going with out a car will be so much easier depending on where you live. We live in a small market town. 

Life with out a car was definitely a 100% easier before COVID. Our bus links where good and we would occasionally hire a car for a holiday and we are near a main line railway. We also had a friendly local taxi firm. There is also a volunteer hospital transport organisation.
Since  COVID. The buses have been halved, Hire car firms are charging stupid money and the train fares are horrendous. Taxi fares have also doubled. 

Now we could not get around if it wasn't for the kindness of friends. 
When we first started out with out a car, we gave ourselves 6 months to see how it went. Id definitely recommend that.If you have a car you could SORN it so its not such a big decision. Ours had fallen to pieces so we didn't have to do that. 

It’ll be the surprising the things that you will find difficult like taking stuff to the dump or getting to the local beauty spot. 

I hope it works for you.