Zipcar merges with Flexcar, effs it all up

Has the east coast car-sharing company screwed up the west coast car-sharing company?

Posted by David Roberts at 1:27 PM on 29 Feb 2008

Read more about: cars | placemaking | public transportation | business

Late last year, the country's two major car-sharing companies, west-coast Flexcar and its larger east-coast cousin Zipcar, merged and became, um, Zipcar. Flexcar fans were concerned about the effects of the merger.

Sadly, Flexcar fangirl Erica Barnett reports that they were decidedly negative: more expensive, fewer cars, less friendly service, etc.

Zipcar, what hath thou wrought?

Any Gristians have car-sharing experiences to share?

For story: Zipcar merges with Flexcar, effs it all up
7 Comments | Post a Comment

Having translated the "handbook"...

I preferred the original: Portland CarShare.

Turns out I've been a member of all three (Flex-, Zip-, and Philly-) at one point or another and they all have their ups and downs. In terms of pricing and convenience, I'd have to give Flexcar the edge over Zipcar in most markets: what Zipcar has done with San Diego after the merge sounds pretty bad. On the other hand, they're really good in most neighborhoods in Boston. If I remember correctly, though, Boston was originally a Flexcar city before Zipcar took over (many years before the current merge) so most of that infrastructure might have just been taken over from Flexcar.

Philly CarShare is amazing in Center City. The sheer number of cars; visibility and enthusiasm amongst the local government and population is great. Their heart also seems to be in the right place when it comes to their environmental philosophy. Something I feel the heirs of Portland Carshare (Flex- and Zip-) have lost over the years.

by Sir Oolius at 2:07 PM on 29 Feb 2008

Boston was never a FlexCar City

I was an early Zipster. They started from scratch. FlexCar was out in Seattle and Portland.

by malechem at 2:28 PM on 29 Feb 2008

Does It Make Sense?

I keep thinking FlexCar is a good idea...until I check the rates. $8 an hour? Can't you rent a car from Enterprise for a whole day for three hours of that?

by jabailo at 2:34 PM on 29 Feb 2008

Re: Boston

Hmmh...I think it was an e-mail that Flexcar sent out in like 2001 updating everyone as to where they had already expanded to and where they wanted to expand to from there. I suppose that Boston was in the 'wanted to expand to' column until Zipcar came around!

Let me just clarify my earlier statement a bit: I am a big believer in car sharing, and I have no major problems with any of the current providers. Hence I'm a member of them all. I think overall prices are cheap compared to car ownership if you don't drive a car every day. And it's hassle free. Perfect for city-dwellers.

by Sir Oolius at 3:33 PM on 29 Feb 2008

Zipcar's great here in NYC...

...and I boggle that anyone can argue with $8 an hour for a car -- a late model, fuel-efficient, clean and ever-ready car -- when it includes gasoline, insurance, maintenance and repairs.

Emily Gertz Journalist & Editor egertz AT oneatlantic DOT net http://www.apartmentecology.com/

by Emily Gertz at 9:44 AM on 01 Mar 2008

$8/hr ripoff

and I boggle that anyone can argue with $8 an hour for a car

$8 x hour.

Used 2 hours per day (back and forth to work; shopping)

For a 30 day month.

= $480.

Payment on a brand new Chevy Aveo -- less than $200 a month...and you can use it all you want. Through in gas, insurance and whatever and it's still a lot less than $480...

by jabailo at 11:45 AM on 01 Mar 2008
[ Parent ]

Zipcar rocks

My husband and I have been using Zipcar in DC for several years, and it's fantastic. DC's one of the few cities that had both of the car-sharing companies, and among the admittedly small sample of my acquaintances who used both, the main reason for preferring Flexcar was that they had more hybrids, not because of cost or customer-service issues. We went with Zipcar because their cars happened to be closest to where we live.

We've found Zipcar to be perfect for once-a-month major grocery shopping trips and occasional weekends out of town. The online reservation system is easy to use, and our fellow members are generally good about filling up the tank and having the car back as required. The one time (3 or 4 years ago) when a car we'd reserved wasn't at its appointed spot, we called and they got us a new one nearby, plus some free driving credit, quickly. Although costs for standard car rental are comparable if you're using it for a weekend and not planning to buy too much gas, Zipcar is far more pleasant and convenient. Car availability has also improved over the past few years; it's now possible to find a car on the same day you need it if you're a little flexible about time and/or location.

As far as the costs, we're happy to spend the $30-$200 a month on Zipcar instead of car payments, insurance, parking fees ($150 a month in our building), and gas. Throw in what we also spend on buses and taxis each month, and we're still getting a transportation bargain.

I can understand the complaints that Erica makes about in-person reservations and customer service and Flexcar's flexibility, but I have to wonder whether it's possible to run a profitable business that way. Zipcar does most things online or through an automated phone system because it's cost-effective. I would far rather deal with these slight inconveniences (which I personally haven't found inconvenenient at all) and pay a higher per-hour rate if it means that the company will survive. At this point, my quality of life would definitely suffer if Zipcar went out of business. And, of course, its demise would probably increase car ownership in DC, which would increase emissions.

by Liz Borkowski at 9:00 AM on 03 Mar 2008

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