Zipcar vs. Car2Go

Vancouverite here. Car2go and Modo member (the co-op equiv of Zipcar).

Car2go is great. The best part being the free parking, in designated spots. I can get downtown in 10 min and park for free for about $4. Bus downtown is $2.75 and takes 45 min.

It's also a cheaper way to avoid drinking and driving. Car2go to bar, taxi home.

Afaik, they are owned by Mercedes, which explains why they use Mercedes-owned Smart cars.

My card also works in Toronto, which is convenient. Not sure about the US though.

If there's no car nearby, the app can notify you when a car is available nearby.

Lost my card and they mailed me a new one, free :) Wish I could login to the car with my phone though.

Modo is great for longer terms errands, like a trip to Ikea, where you return where you started.

Curious as to what will happen when driverless taxis arrive.

Car2Go user in Toronto.

Love the service. Cars are available all across the city with lots of places allocated to park.

They frequently have promos to waive the starting membership fee ($60 I think) and give some free minutes.

I drove my girlfriend from the downtown core, out to the airport, and then back to my place for $17 (a taxi regularly costs around $50+ for the trip just out to the airport).

I was a heavy user of car2go from Sep-Dec last year (~$500/month) due to commitments that largely required me in two places at once. I have used the service for about two years now, though, and excluding that period of four months have an average monthly spend in the neighbourhood of $150.

In general, I have been overwhelmingly happy with the service. I live in Vancouver and there is always a car within a few blocks. Parking is really well coordinated too. You can park basically anywhere except the downtown core. Within downtown there is a great abundance of dedicated spots which mean you aren't left walking very much.

car2go meets a good inflection point between cost and convenience. Using a taxi would increase the cost substantially and only marginally increase convenience. Owning a car would keep the cost about the same and substantially reduce the convenience.

There is only one true issue I have with car2go and it is with the computers in the car: they are slow, crash easily (and take forever to restart), and the network signal is sometimes touchy. This has sometimes added an extra 10-15 minutes to my rentals.

That said, their customer service is consistently great and very forgiving. Every time the takes-forever-to-end-a-rental scenario has happened, car2go offered to refund the entire trip and throw in free minutes as a bonus. If I was in a rush, they said I could go do what I needed to do and come end the rental later in the day.

All in all, it has been a positive experience with car2go and I will continue to be an active member. My only wish is that I could get some savings out of my usage, maybe with a frequent-driver program :)

I've used both services and used Car2go mainly for short one-way trips. I'm curious at how Uber and other ridesharing apps have affected Car2go since the costs might be comparable with added benefits of (1) not having to park, (2) getting picked up and dropped off closer to your destination, and (3) being more relaxing.

Former car2go user (Minneapolis) here.

car2go makes you responsible for parking violations even days after you have ended your trip.

I was charged over a $150 for a supposed parking violation. In my case, I parked in a spot on Friday which has restrictions on Sundays. So you have to find a parking spot with no future restrictions on parking!

They have updated their literature since then... https://www.car2go.com/common/data/locations/usa/minneapolis...

but you can see what a nightmare following these rules could be especially since there are streets in Downtown Minneapolis where the parking restrictions change overnight based on sports or other entertainment events.

Car2Go has some major downsides that Zipcar doesn't:

1. All the cars are Smart cars. If a Smart car can get me by, I can just take an Uber and not have to worry about parking. Zipcar has actual, streetworthy cars at cheaper rates and a wider variety.

2. With Zipcar, I know where the cars are. The cars live somewhere. They have a home. They don't all disappear when I might need one.

3. Although this is a minor point, the RFID frequency on the Car2Go card is the same as the ORCA card so they can't live harmoniously in the same wallet. The Zipcard is a different frequency so there's no issue.

4. Car2Go does not come with Van2Go. Every so often, Zipvan makes my life so much better.

5. Round trips are a non issue. I live in one place so I use the Zipcars nearby for my driving errands. For one way trips, like my commute, I can walk. For one way trips to a drinking excursion, there's Uber. But I mainly drink within stumbling distance of home.

I wonder if there is a significant difference in the drivers who choose Car2Go. The first time I saw a Car2Go vehicle was in Portland, when I had to react because the driver did something foolish. I remember doing a double take to see if someone was training a new driver, and being surprised to see the carshare logo and a middle-aged driver behind the wheel. I figured it was a one-off... until a week later when I had a similar experience with a different Car2Go vehicle... and then a couple weeks later with a third.

I can't recall ever having an issue with other car share drivers, but I pay extra attention whenever I spot a Car2Go and make sure to give them a wide berth.

I walk or bike to work. Otherwise I use Zipcar, Car2Go, Lyft, traditional rentals and public transit. I also own a car. Insurance alone is more than my usage, plus I get some of it reimbursed through work. I'll be selling my car soon, since it doesn't make sense anymore to own. I suspect a lot of people will be in the same boat as these services grow.

I've used Car2Go on and off for a couple of years.

I've never used Zipcar, in large part because I know the round-trip requirement would limit my use of it to specific errands rather than place-to-place transportation, and there's no way I'm going to pay a monthly or yearly fee on top of hourly costs for something I'd use maybe once every few months.

There is one parked outside my apartment all the time, and every time I see one on the road it's the same driver. I've been tempted to try but feel like I might end up cramping their commute. Or maybe I should go out and bring another one back here...

Definitely Zipcar.