Airbnb Is Popular, but Renting Out Your Car Is Another Story • Hacker News Board

Re: Airbnb Is Popular, but Renting Out Your Car Is Another Story

#31

Post by oh_sigh » Sat, Jun 03, 2017, 7:44 PM UTC

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #28

jakelarkin wrote: post #13

Had two car-owning friends that did RelayRides (now Turo) during the peak sharing economy a few years ago. Both cars were involved minor collisions within months. Turns out renting in the city to people that don't drive much, might be prone to accidents. Making sure cars weren't parked on street-cleaning side and dealing with tickets also seemed like a huge hassle. Cars have a really high administrative burden compar…

Making sure cars weren't parked on street-cleaning side and dealing with tickets also seemed like a huge hassle. Cars have a really high administrative burden compared to homes, especially when things go wrong, which they do at a higher rate. Oh gosh, don't get me started on this. It's theft, plain and simple. Or rather tax. Owning a car in a city is a massive pain in the butt, and it's cost me like $2k per year. Whe…

Cars are an expensive and selfish way to move individuals around a city. Why should cities encourage car use?

Re: Airbnb Is Popular, but Renting Out Your Car Is Another Story

#32

Post by rsingel » Sat, Jun 03, 2017, 7:46 PM UTC

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #28

jakelarkin wrote: post #13

Had two car-owning friends that did RelayRides (now Turo) during the peak sharing economy a few years ago. Both cars were involved minor collisions within months. Turns out renting in the city to people that don't drive much, might be prone to accidents. Making sure cars weren't parked on street-cleaning side and dealing with tickets also seemed like a huge hassle. Cars have a really high administrative burden compar…

Making sure cars weren't parked on street-cleaning side and dealing with tickets also seemed like a huge hassle. Cars have a really high administrative burden compared to homes, especially when things go wrong, which they do at a higher rate. Oh gosh, don't get me started on this. It's theft, plain and simple. Or rather tax. Owning a car in a city is a massive pain in the butt, and it's cost me like $2k per year. Whe…

Perhaps the city is telling you something. When I got a job that didn't require daily commuting, I quickly racked up parking tickets and decided it was cheaper and less stress to bike/take cabs/zipcar, etc. Now that Lyft/Uber are around, for many living in a city, car ownership is a bad financial decision.

Re: Airbnb Is Popular, but Renting Out Your Car Is Another Story

#33

Post by Hydraulix989 » Sat, Jun 03, 2017, 7:48 PM UTC

pimlottc wrote: post #25

Hydraulix989 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a minor collision as well within months, as well as two tows. A lot of the renters did not correctly follow GetAround's 24 hour restriction-free street parking policy as well and so I got a lot of street cleaning tickets. Even when they did, if street cleaning often was in 25-48 hours, so I had to repark my car multiple times per week. The thing that made me leave was that GetAround Connect started drained my c…

What was GetAround's support like for these issues? Did they cover the cost of the parking tickets, or the repairs? Were you using GetAround's insurance?

Their support is OKAY, but not great. They are helpful, but not always responsive, so you feel like an engineering manager chasing after your junior direct reports, constantly pinging and babysitting them.

I've had to argue with them over points of minor contention in the past before, like one time a renter claimed my car was "dirty" and so I had to record them a video showing its immaculate interior. They also didn't want to help me chase down a renter who didn't refill my gas tank for me, as required by GetAround, but I eventually was able to resolve that as well.

GetAround completely covered the cost of parking tickets, repairs, and towing. They also made the process really hassle free. The towing was also handled decently well, but as a renter, I DID have to _notice_ my car got towed (not something I checked every day) before contacting GetAround to have them take care of it.

AFAIK, you automatically opt-in to using GA's insurance (but still are required to carry your own personal insurance on the car).

Overall, I found that renters just didn't treat my car well enough for me; they treated it like an ordinary rental car rather than borrowing a friend's car. After nearly every trip, there was garbage left behind in the car (straw wrappers, tissues, spills, stains), most did not following the parking rules, and the vast majority just didn't bother getting gas for me like they are required to by GetAround. One renter (I couldn't pinpoint the exact person) stole my mobile phone dashboard mount, my cigarette lighter USB charger (which was there mostly to help the renters!), and my SD card.

The brakes also squeal now, so I suspect somebody was driving with a square wave shaped braking pattern.

Re: Airbnb Is Popular, but Renting Out Your Car Is Another Story

#34

Post by spraak » Sat, Jun 03, 2017, 7:54 PM UTC

I don't see the point (if any?) that the article makes.

Re: Airbnb Is Popular, but Renting Out Your Car Is Another Story

#35

Post by gthtjtkt » Sat, Jun 03, 2017, 7:57 PM UTC

Another nice hit-piece by the NY Times. This is why I stopped reading their "articles" a while ago.

Sad to see nothing has changed, even after they apologized for their pathetic coverage of the election.

Re: Airbnb Is Popular, but Renting Out Your Car Is Another Story

#36

Post by zghst » Sat, Jun 03, 2017, 8:00 PM UTC

gthtjtkt wrote: post #35

Another nice hit-piece by the NY Times. This is why I stopped reading their "articles" a while ago. Sad to see nothing has changed, even after they apologized for their pathetic coverage of the election.

Earlier this decade, I loved the NYT, used to be a great source of insight, now I feel they have lost their objective leaning edge. It is due to my generation, we do not know how to separate our personal feelings from our professions.

Re: Airbnb Is Popular, but Renting Out Your Car Is Another Story

#37

Post by zghst » Sat, Jun 03, 2017, 8:01 PM UTC

spraak wrote: post #34

I don't see the point (if any?) that the article makes.

All articles push a narrative some way or another, true or not.

Re: Airbnb Is Popular, but Renting Out Your Car Is Another Story

#38

Post by siliconc0w » Sat, Jun 03, 2017, 8:15 PM UTC

I do really like the idea of a 'shared fleet' to get cars off the road and encourage alternative transport (walking, biking, public transport, ride sharing) and reduce our 'car culture'. Because these alternatives don't cover all use-cases, I need a car sometimes so I'm mostly forced to bear the rather large expensive of having a car all the time. I'd totally consider ditching my car entirely if I could press a button and reliably get a nice-ish car valet'd to my door in a reasonable amount of time for a reasonable cost. It's unclear if this is where we're at with these companies (and I already have a car sitting in my driveway so i'm already pot committed for awhile)

Re: Airbnb Is Popular, but Renting Out Your Car Is Another Story

#39

Post by sillysaurus3 » Sat, Jun 03, 2017, 8:22 PM UTC

snug wrote: post #30

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making sure cars weren't parked on street-cleaning side and dealing with tickets also seemed like a huge hassle. Cars have a really high administrative burden compared to homes, especially when things go wrong, which they do at a higher rate. Oh gosh, don't get me started on this. It's theft, plain and simple. Or rather tax. Owning a car in a city is a massive pain in the butt, and it's cost me like $2k per year. Whe…

If you're playing $2k/year in tickets, you should be paying closer attention, at that point you have nobody to blame but yourself.

It's not just tickets. It's tickets + permits + insurance + plates. I wasn't blaming anyone else, either. I assume you're perfectly vigilant in every aspect of your life? Meh, never mind.

By the way, a friend just tried to park in the spot that I got towed out of. That's how unassuming it looks. That's just a thing you get to learn if you happen to live here, and the only way you learn it is after you get towed. Not a damn thing you can do about it other than pay up.

And how about the $120 ticket the other day for making a left at a light that was green but happened to be labeled no left turn without an arrow? No reason not to be able to turn left, as long as it was green. There wasn't any oncoming traffic. Yeah we missed the sign, and for that we get to pay $120 to follow the silly rule. The tickets add up faster than you think.

Re: Airbnb Is Popular, but Renting Out Your Car Is Another Story

#40

Post by jonknee » Sat, Jun 03, 2017, 8:24 PM UTC

siliconc0w wrote: post #38

I do really like the idea of a 'shared fleet' to get cars off the road and encourage alternative transport (walking, biking, public transport, ride sharing) and reduce our 'car culture'. Because these alternatives don't cover all use-cases, I need a car sometimes so I'm mostly forced to bear the rather large expensive of having a car all the time. I'd totally consider ditching my car entirely if I could press a butto…

I live in Seattle and there are a couple shared fleet services that are pretty close to this. Interestingly they're both owned by car makers (Car2Go [1] by Mercedes and Reach Now [2] by BMW). Sort of like a Zip Car in that you can get into the car with your phone, but unlike a Zip Car you can just park it anywhere within the bounds of the service (they pay the city a monthly fee per car to cover parking).

[1] https://www.car2go.com/US/en/ [2] https://reachnow.com/en/seattle-wa/