Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Car co-ownership
This week, driving home from Swindon, my car was badly smashed from the rear by a careless driver.
Although well taken care of since her birth and very low mileage, my car's no spring chicken and I suspect that the damage is structural and that it will be written off. So we've started thinking about possible alternatives to full car ownership.
I know about the various car-sharing clubs and about a scattering of peer-to-peer car rentals schemes (where you rent a car from a neighbour). They do provide an option but there are sacrifices on convenience and I haven't yet even done a personal calculation of whether these options would even be cost effective for me. (An article in the Guardian from 2016 calculated that hiring a car from a car club for five full days in a month would easily exceeding the cost of ownership).
I can't help thinking that a halfway-house option might provide the right solution. I was wondering about how co-ownershp between a number of nearby neighbours would work. I found something on TechCrunch about a 'fractional ownership' scheme Ford launched in 2016 and I found something yesterday about a co-ownership scheme in the Bay Area (but I can't find it again - and I didn't bookmark it and can't see it in my history). I haven't searched exhaustively but I can't find anything on options in the UK. In fact most of the links for the UK seem to lead to information on how to own fractions of supercars or luxury vehicles.
Any knowledge / thoughts / ideas?
(And in an attempt to forestall any smart-alecs, yes I do walk, I do regularly use public transport and I do know that bicycles are an option).
Tags for Forum Posts: car sharing
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Hugh on
-
Well I hope you don’t feel I do that. If not, maybe direct your crusade somewhere else!
-
Permalink Reply by Martin (Woodside) on
-
Are you going to sue the driver at fault?.
-
-
Sue them? Is that normal practice? I thought one got one’s insured losses back and worked through solicitors to recover any uninsured losses. Is that the way of things?
-
-
Tends to be nowadays, especially when injury can be 'claimed'. I've no doubt you'll be hearing from claims companies when the information leaks out.
Sorry to hear of the crash Hugh, not a nice experience, I always drive with clearly marked journey cameras front and back, it does help stop tailgating.
-
Permalink Reply by V&M on
-
I've bounced around the various options a bit, and have found that it depends on your needs.
Zipcar tends to work out very expensive if you need more than an hour, and they have to be returned to the place you started in. However it's an easy way to get hold of a van if you just need to take something big to the tip, for example.
Drivenow is great value and allows you drop the car at your destination, which means you can often undercut Uber on a trip. But has the fatal flaw that it works in zones, which means that you can go from here to Shoreditch but if you want to go into town you have to keep it until you get back in the zone and can drop it off.
If you need a car or van for a substantial amount of time it still pays to bite the bullet and do a traditional hire, provided you book in advance and shop around for the best deal.
As we have dogs and like to travel for long walks out of London, plus my job requiring lots of hefting about of kit and people, I've bitten the bullet and gone back to owning a big car. Which is costing me a small fortune, hooray!
-
-
I gave up owning a car in 2005 and haven't looked back. I use Zipcar for short trips and Hertz for longer ones. And we use online home delivery for groceries every fortnight and make more frequent use of taxis.
Zipcar is best if you want a car for less than 24 hours. Rates are typically £7 per hour weekdays, £8.50 per hour weekends (including petrol) and capped at 10 hours per day. There is a mileage charge if you go over 60 miles. You also have to join Zipcar, which is about £50 per annum. It's easy to book online and there are now quite a few in the area, and I've rarely had a problem finding an available car.
I've not tried Drive Now, but I had a quick look and I think it is more expensive than Zipcar, with uncertainty about the location of cars when you want one.
The rental costs sound high, but compared with the annual cost of owning your own car you will really save money unless you need to use a car every day.
-
Permalink Reply by JoeW on
-
Useful to know thanks Rob. I think DriveNow might be more cost-effective than Zipcar on very short journeys, also journeys where you might otherwise have to pay for parking?
-
-
Hi Michelle, you mentioned a few months ago that you have a car sharing arrangement with your neighbour. I'm just exploring the potential of doing this with our neighbour. Would you let me know some more detail about how it works for you.....how much do you pay a month, do you have a written agreement, who cleans & maintains the car? I understand thats private information you might not want to share publicly, maybe you wouldn't mind sending me a DM? Much appreciated :) Thanks, Abi
-
Permalink Reply by Brian Ahearne on
-
An old thread I know, but now there's micro insurance / temporary insurance options that might make local car sharing viable. I relunctantly bought a second hand car a couple of days ago (first one in 20-odd years), and to do the test drive I needed insurance. Cuvva were the cheapest for me https://cuvva.app.link/XJEPeUFpOM?_p=c91429c09c027af2e61490fcec
Pretty easy mobile app experience, although make sure you've got your driving license with you.
I won't be using the car I've got every day, so was thinking there might be a way of fair car sharing locally (hence my search out for these sites). Could it be that if people simply get their own insurance for the hours / days they want it, return the car full of fuel, and give an appropriate gift to the neighbour for the use of the car, that might work out?
-
Permalink Reply by Michelle on
-
I think this is a great idea. I would start a new post and provide details of your car and approx location of where you live plus the cuvva app (which I hadnt heard of) and see what interest you get.
Michelle
-
-
Cool, glad you think it could work. Once I've worked out a certain rhythm of using the car and its likely availability, I'll post a new thread.
I bought it mainly for moving things - like furniture, stuff from Wickes and the like - as it's a big booted car with a roof rack (a Citroen Xsara Picasso). Hence whilst it can take passengers, it's not the most plush car.
-
-
By the way, the link above should get you £10 off your first use of Cuvva, too. https://cuvva.app.link/XJEPeUFpOM?_p=c91429c09c027af2e61490fcec If it doesn't work, post here and I'll see if I did the link wrong or something.
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- Next ›
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
