Zip Car Gets Fort Greene Religion
The brief campaign waged by the website Zip Fort Greene to bring the hourly car rental club to the area can be declared a success. We started getting emails from readers in the middle of last week reporting Zip Car sitings. Then Clinton Hill Blog spotted a pair of company reps handing out flyers outside…
The brief campaign waged by the website Zip Fort Greene to bring the hourly car rental club to the area can be declared a success. We started getting emails from readers in the middle of last week reporting Zip Car sitings. Then Clinton Hill Blog spotted a pair of company reps handing out flyers outside the Clinton-Washington G train towards the end of the week. We swung by the DMK parking garage on Waverly between Park and Myrtle yesterday and, sure enough, there were a couple of new Mazdas parked out front; the Armory garage on Vanderbilt was rumored to also have Zip cars in stock but when we stopped by yesterday the guy on duty knew nothing about it. Has anyone in the neighborhood availed him/herself of this service yet?
Yeah, I have to agree with that last (Anon10:31) comment. I was a little miffed when Zipcar recently raised their weekend rates, without even an email notification (unlike them–they’re usually very transparent and good about communications). But it seemed fair given that they include gas in the price. And in the end, even if Zipcar does sometimes come out a *little* more expensive (and I’m still not sure if it does), it is MORE than worth it for the conveniences: self-service access (no waiting on incompetent rental car clerks), EZPass (HUGE perk), daily and hourly rates, anytime access (the rental car agencies in my hood have weird, very limited weekend hours). Overall, I’m a tremendous fan.
g, re: weekend rentals, if you’re going to drive a lot the price ends up being pretty close since zipcar pays for all your gas (& having that EZpass sure is nice, too). w/ regular rentals, when all is said & done, i always end up paying way more than i think i will (taxes, insurance, gas: those extra charges add up fast).
Actually, I take back my last comment, I think there could be an issue to the extent your credit card requires that you waive the insurance offered by the rental agency (i.e. Zipcar) to have the credit card insurance apply. If they offer it automatically, can you “waive” it at the time of an accident and have your more comprehensive credit card insurance apply?
They are upfront about the insurance. I’ve used them for a couple of years. They tell you specifically what they have and recommend that you use a credit card to pay for reservations that has additional coverage. It is a good thing to be aware of, but I don’t agree that they are not up front about it.
and to sum up what i posted on clintonblog… don’t join if you only want weekend usage. it’s about twice the price of any other rental on the weekends! i hate that cuz i love the idea of them. oh well.
9:56, in my experience it’s very easy to get a car during the week but the weekend might take a little more advanced planning. they have a very user-friendly website for booking that shows exactly which cars are available. in general, i’m a HUGE fan of zipcar & have used my membership more than i thought i would (for everything from a 1 hour rental to pick up a craigslist purchase, to a 3 day rental to go to an out-of-state funeral).
i will now take a closer look at their insurance coverage, though.
fyi for those using zipcars, their ins coverage is at the state minimum which could put the renter at risk esp. since zipcar is not very upfront about its lack of comprehensive coverage. i think most people assume they are sufficiently covered since zipcars claims that insurance is provided.
read about it here:
http://www.felixsalmon.com/000562.html
I am thinking of joining zip car. Supposedly there are 8 cars in a parking lot only one block away from my house but I never see any of them being parked there. Are those cars available most of the time you want to rent them or do you have to sign up far in advance?
They’re also available in Prospect Heights at Underhill & St Marks