Enterprise Rent-A-Car vs. Zipcar

Zipcar is really a great concept, I've used it many times. That said, the author forgot to compare on one key segment: price. And that's where the companies differ in their model. Zipcar is about $75/day, where most rental cars are significantly less than that. But you cant rent them by the hour. And Zipcar wont come pick you up. And Zipcar charges a membership fee.

There is a place for both of these companies in the market, so a comparison like this is kind of like comparing chartered flights to Southwest. That's not to say the big nationals couldnt learn lessons from zipcar, like the audio jacks, reasonable insurance plans, etc.

Not that I have much love for Enterprise, but I think this is a pretty biased review.

* Claiming Enterprise locations are in bad parts of town may be true where you live. There's one a block from me, in a very nice part of town.

* Leaving out the fact that Zipcar requires an application to join (which takes days to process).

* Zipcar requires a $50 annual membership + $25 per family member

* A spotless driving record and that you've had your license for over 1 year.

* Enterprise is cheaper in many cases (always if you have your own insurance that covers a rental).

Zipcar seems like a cool little company, and I hope they destroy Enterprise. Right now they're a bit lame in a few areas.

On a sunny weekend:

Enterprise - you call, make a reservation, get a car.

Zipcar - you've get a choice of 0 (zero) available cars within walking distance from your apartment.

That's how two first weekends of being a Zipcar member went for me. I cancelled my membership without ever seeing a Zipcar.

Enterprise is actually moving into the hourly space, with a separate brand called WeCar. Works exactly like Zipcar (reserve online, pay for gas with a fleet card, hourly rentals, every car is a hybrid). A coworker of mine uses it and loves it.

I don't think Zipcar will kill Enterprise, though, because they really seem to compete for different groups of customers. Enterprise's bread and butter is replacement vehicles for people who are having their current cars repaired (probably for a couple days or a week), and they pretty much seem to have a lock on that market. Nearly every time I've needed a loaner from a garage or body shop, they've sent me to Enterprise.

I've had nothing but great experiences with Enterprise. Then again it sounds like the author is very picky about his vehicles.

this post is pretty lop-sided and in some aspects makes no sense to me.

>> Enterprise: Despite the nice Japanese cars advertised on the website, most real-world cars stocked are cheap, lifeless Chevy Random Numbers

Does it really matter what make the rental is ? As long as it meets your space and other requirements, i dont give a shit if its japanese or korean or american.

>> Enterprise: You can only pick up and return cars during limited business hours, and they’re closed on Sundays.It’s therefore impossible to rent a car for only Saturday and Sunday, and if you’re arriving home from a trip later in the evening than the branch’s closing time (usually around 6 PM), you need to book the rental to include the entire following day.

That is so not true. Yes, their office is closed on sundays, so you cant pickup a rental. but you can drop off the rental (they have drop off box for keys).

>> Enterprise: Cars are kept in front of a sketchy office in a bad part of town. Probably true for his city - but cant be generalized.

besides all these, the author never bothers to make any mention of the fact that Enterprise folks will come pick you up for your rental. at times, that is so much convenient.

I suppose it depends on your use patterns, but I've usually taken advantage of Enterprise's 50%-off Friday-thru-Monday special, which works well when I need a nicer/larger car for a weekend. They've also fudged it for me a few times, so I've picked up a car Saturday and kept it at the weekend rate until Tuesday.

Also, between most major credit cards and most car insurance covering rental damage, many people don't need to pay for the damage waiver.

I could see how Zipcar would be great if you live in an area where a car is optional, but Enterprise has been fine for my limited rental needs.

I think highly of both companies, although my use of each has varied dramatically depending on my circumstances.

When I owned a car, and lived in the suburbs, Enterprise was great because I already had insurance coverage. When I needed to rent from them because my car was being repaired, they would come and pick me, which was great. In every location I've been too, the staff has been very friendly and helpful--it was no surprise to read that management practices at Enterprise had informed work on Net Promotor Scores.

Now that I live in a city, and do not own a car, ZipCar is fantastic. The annual insurance fee is less than a day's insurance cost at a traditional car rental company. I can get chores done in just a couple of hours, so renting by the hour is incredibly attractive, especially given the abundance available in my neighborhood. I would likely pass by over 20 different Zipcars on the 10 minute walk to the nearest Enterprise outlet. Zipcar employees are also incredibly friendly and proactively helpful on the phone.

Sometimes when companies have different policies and products, it's because they are targeting different segments of the market, not because one is better than the other.

I love ZipCar, but the author doesn't mention the difference in price between the two services. Zipcar costs $8-10 per hour and $66-101 per day depending on the car and your plan. You can often rent cars from normal car rental agencies for $20 a day (though with fees it ends up being 40).

One thing he didn't mention is that ZipCar is great for allowing multiple drivers. Any ZipCar member can drive any car, no matter who rented it.

While we're talking about car sharing, I'm a huge fan of the car2go model. Basically, it's Zipcar except you can park in any public parking space instead of having to return it to the spot where you picked it up. It looks like they're trying to make most of their money from corporate contracts, such as the City of Austin, which is the only customer during the pilot phase. They're probably also writing some of it off as advertising. It's run by Daimler and all the cars are Smart Fortwos, which I see pretty much every day now. It's not open to the public yet in Austin, but between that, the bus and a folding bike to make half car2go, half bike trips more feasible, I wouldn't need my rarely used car at all.

http://www.car2go.com/portal/austin/page/mybookings/mapEnlar...

I used to be a happy Zipcar member. I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $600 that year on reservations and whatnot. Then I unfortunately backed up into a tree. I paid the $500 fine. Then they closed my account. Back to my bike.