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0 pointsoakesm92y ago0 comments

The solution to this is a car sharing programme. You pay your membership and get access to a fleet of cars and vans that you can pickup whenever you like. Tax, insurance, and petrol is all covered in the price (usually) and you can pick the right vehicle size for the trip you're making (no need to own a truck for the rare occasions you need to move large items).

Obviously not a solution for every situation, but if you only need a car occasionally then it would likely work out well.

The "Not Just Bikes" video on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OObwqreAJ48

Personally I only drive once a week at most, but there isn't a car share scheme locally. If one started up that was cost effective and convinient enough then I'd consider it.

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5 comments · 2 top-level

TheLoafOfBread2y ago· 3 in thread

Carsharing can be recommended only by somebody who never have to share a car.

- Car won't available when you need it.

- You will come to a car, which will have steering wheel and driver's seat in a setup incompatible with your physique, so you need to waste your time to set it back. Every. Damn. Time.

- Car will be dirty. All the time. Dog hair, food crumbs, trash (i.e. coffee cups, cans). You will take it out and next time it will be back

- If you are sharing with a smoker, I hope that you like smoky smell of your car.

- Car will be always empty (gas, battery) because previous user has no incentive to fill it up.

- Minor accidents will go unreported, and then you will be wondering, where this scratch came from, why is this mirror busted or why I need to hold my steering wheel 10 degrees to the left to drive straight.

- Everybody will try to evade maintenance fees - You want money for winter tires? I don't drive in winter man... 2 weeks later your co-owner will want to drive, because it is his car too!

Carsharing is a dead end and whoever will try it, will quickly revert back to his own car. Less headache.

eptcyka2y ago

Carshares don't imply that the end users are liable for the upkeep financially, they just need to flag the issues to the car club, or at least that's how I've seen it be implemented in all the car clubs I've used.

To start off, smoking in the car is not allowed. If they detect dog hair and can deduce who introduced it, the user will be banned. If someone left it with less than either a quarter or a half a tank of fuel, the offender gets reprimanded or ultimately banned. Minor incidents and maintenance items are taken care of on a complaint basis - once a user complains, the company fixes it. Eventually. It's not as bad as you're making it out to be.

rumori2y ago

I had nothing but good experiences with car sharing, great value for the money and I wish it was available in more places.

eptcyka2y ago

It really depends. A road trip in a car share can cost as much as a monthly lease payment, yet due to the way no one user feels responsible for the car, the tire was showing 4 different colors of threads. A trip to ikea can be really burdensome if the front right brake has a soft lock or if the bearing has gone. Or if someone's left the car with barely any fuel in it for that one time when the booking was made to make a tight deadline. For odds and ends, it can be perfectly serviceable, but I've had those three and some other less than savoury anecdotes in my 5 years of using a car share.

eptcyka2y ago

I agree, car sharing is the way to go.

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0 comments

5 comments · 2 top-level

TheLoafOfBread2y ago· 3 in thread

Carsharing can be recommended only by somebody who never have to share a car.

- Car won't available when you need it.

- You will come to a car, which will have steering wheel and driver's seat in a setup incompatible with your physique, so you need to waste your time to set it back. Every. Damn. Time.

- Car will be dirty. All the time. Dog hair, food crumbs, trash (i.e. coffee cups, cans). You will take it out and next time it will be back

- If you are sharing with a smoker, I hope that you like smoky smell of your car.

- Car will be always empty (gas, battery) because previous user has no incentive to fill it up.

- Everybody will try to evade maintenance fees - You want money for winter tires? I don't drive in winter man... 2 weeks later your co-owner will want to drive, because it is his car too!

Carsharing is a dead end and whoever will try it, will quickly revert back to his own car. Less headache.

eptcyka2y ago

rumori2y ago

I had nothing but good experiences with car sharing, great value for the money and I wish it was available in more places.

eptcyka2y ago

I agree, car sharing is the way to go.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse