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A new service hooks renters up with local car owners willing to loan their wheels out for as little as $6 an hour—gas and insurance included.
The service, called RelayRides, launched in Cambridge, Mass., this fall, and just opened a new car rental operation in San Francisco. More locations are expected in the future.
Here's how the service works for would-be renters: After a free sign-up—which includes a review of your driving record -- you receive a membership card in the mail. Then, when you need a car, you scope the website for locations, styles, times, and prices of cars up for rent, and select one that works for you. Finally, at the scheduled time, you find the car at specified location—perhaps in a parking lot or on the street, always noticeable with a RelayRides logo—and hold your membership card up to a sensor on the driver's side of the windshield. The door will then automatically unlock, and the keys will be inside ready for you to drive away.
This new service is obviously competing with car-sharing businesses such as zipcar. While zipcar has advantages in that it has far more cars and locations and actually owns the vehicles in its fleet, the RelayRides' "Neighbor-to-Neighbor Carsharing" concept is interesting because there is a wide variety of vehicles to choose from, renters generally pay a couple bucks less per hour, and unlike zipcar, there's no membership fee (at least for now anyway).
Members of both RelayRides and zipcar also enjoy an advantage over renters getting vehicles from traditional agencies: Gas, insurance, and parking are always included in the quotes from RelayRides and zipcar, so drivers don't have to deal with upsells on pre-paid gas, renters' insurance, and the like.
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Are these cars only available for local trips? I will be in California this summer and I am looking for a car to use for a trip down the coast.
Would your services be available for a trip like that?
Rachel
Posted By Rachel Erickson on December 29, 2010, 12:21 AM
Rachel, I'm not sure of the answer to your question but at $6 per hour it may not be cost effective for a trip down the coast of California, as you may find you want to take your time and spend a whole day.
Posted By Dave S. on December 29, 2010, 12:52 PM
Do you have a location in Honolulu? I need a car for 5 days while I tour. How about a phone # for more information?
Maureen
Posted By Maureen on December 31, 2010, 12:56 PM
Apparently no one who commented bothered to either actually READ the article or do the math. At $6 per hour, that is a rental rate of $144 PER DAY. @ Maureen - do you really want to pay $720 for a 5 day rental when you can do the same rental for $150-$200 from any of the regular car rental companies? @ Rachel - these are owned vehicles - they don't do remote drops - if you rent it in San Francisco, you'll have to bring it back to San Francisco. These are not really meant for multi-day/vacation car rentals. The car share programs are meant for a person who doesn't own a car but needs to have access to a vehicle for a few hours for a specific activity.
Posted By mysticyat on December 31, 2010, 1:50 PM
Do you know of any website link for very cheap one-way car rental in eastern Canada? Any restrictions involved?
Posted By Geckoroz on January 3, 2011, 9:19 PM