The Dark Side of Zipcar

I used Zipcar for a couple of years but in the end found it too inconvenient for my use case (lots of high-mileage multi-day trips). Since I hate traditional car rental places as much as the author I ended up just getting a car, which has been considerably more expensive (but also more convenient) than the old Zipcar.

Near the end of my time with them, I really felt Zipcar was trying to reduce costs... the cars started getting older, they were poorly maintained, and as the service increased in popularity there didn't seem to be a commensurate increase in number of cars available. I wonder if this was just my local neighborhood experience or if those sorts of problems are widespread.

In San Francisco, there is a competing service called City Car Share. There was also FlexCar, which Zipcar absorbed.

I was initially a member of City Car Share because they had better prices. Also, they kept giving me bonus deals for cheap day long car rentals. I ultimately switched because Zipcar had far more locations and better cars.

As a counterpoint to this article, when I lived in San Francisco I had an amazing experience with Zipcar. Cars were always available and there were locations everywhere. There were cool cars like BMWs and useful vehicles like trucks. Once I ran out of gas on the 101 and Zipcar sent someone out to help, no questioned asked. The guy on the phone acted like it was Zipcar's fault that I forgot to fill the tank!

I've been less pleased with Zipcar in NYC because there aren't enough cars near where I live. However, there is so much public transportation, I've not had as much of a need.

I cancelled my zipcar account - its very inconvenient in Jersey City as the cars are booked atleast a month in advance on the dates you need it.

Without knowing how common these problems are, it's really hard to say how much this sort of stuff affects the average user. Reading through the list of problems, I had a momentary freaked out feeling that made me think I'd never use the service, but the author still loves zipcar, which makes me think these problems aren't all that common. Or, not common enough to outweigh the benefits of using the service.

Still, it's nice to hear a fan of a service talking about problems with it. It's very considerate to mention the problems with something whenever you recommend it.

Yes, but since Zipcar is meant for renting very often but for short lengths of them, I can definitely see how checking it every single time would get tedious. Imagine if you had to inspect your car every time you drove it.