Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

SADLY WHIPCAR HAS NOW CLOSED

 

If you own a car that spends days at a time outside your home without moving, is it time to consider offering it for rent to those living nearby and slash your motoring bills? Or alternatively, you could sell your car and use your neighbour's instead, for a fee.

Faced with ever rising bills, Londoners have been using online service Whipcar, that is promoting car sharing in a whole new way.

So how does it work? To hire a neighbour's car users simply log on and input their postcode, and up pops a map showing cars available nearby, and the hourly and daily price. You state the dates and times you want the car and it is then up to the owner to decide whether it's convenient.

 

 

Entering my mid-Ladder postcode, I came up with fourteen possibilties nearby, from a Mercedes C class at £120 per day to a Peugot 207 at £22 per day.

Those hiring agree to pay the advertised charge, plus a £3 booking fee to WhipCar. The comprehensive insurance covering the rental period is due on top. This will vary according to car, driver's age, and the duration, but is typically £5-£6 a day. You pay for the petrol you use. You have to be aged 21-70 and have held a full licence for at least a year, with no more than two accidents in the past three years. This is all checked before you are accepted. You agree with the owner how and when, and off you go.

While the car is being hired out it is comprehensively covered by WhipCar's own insurance policy – so if the car is written of by a hirer it will not affect the owner's insurance policy, and raise premiums as a result.

At the end of each rental both parties get to rate each other with eBay-style feedback, which soon roots out any bad renters.

I spoke on the phone with Gardens-based car owner Matt who's been renting his car through Whipcar since the start of June. 

Matt rents his Ford Zetec at £23 per day and after a slow start he's now approaching one rental a week. 

He's had one incident where the feels the renter may not have completely filled up the gas and thinks he also made a stain on the car seat. Matt told me that he hadn't had a chance to check the car back in so only picked up on these issues after it was too late. "To be honest, even if I'd noticed, it's still difficult to deal with. I wasn't sure enough if the stain was him or not. It might have been one of my friends and I didn't notice it."

Matt's explanation as to why he didn't pursue the issue also raised the web-wide issue of inflated feedback scores, "I don't want to damage a relationship for small things. Even with scoring, I would normally err on the side of overscoring so as to maintain a positive relationship."

For all that, Matt's a committed Whipcar user for the time being, "It's a great way of making money from an asset that normally lies idle. Some of my friends have said they love their cars too much to ever rent them out. I'm more practical about my car. If you can accept the possibility of a little wear and tear, I'd strongly recommend it".

BTW, if doing business with nice people is important to you, I can certainly recommend Matt from that point of view and I'm grateful to him for sparing the time to chat on the phone.

 

whipcar.com

Tags for Forum Posts: car clubs, car hire, car sharing, zipcar

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Replies to This Discussion

What's the daily rate for a 25-year-old low mileage Astra?

Never in a million years would I even consider renting my car out like this. Too much room for hassle, damage and unpleasantries.

I wish more people would share their cars with each other. 

I've been using Whipcar since they started (an average of two rentals per month since Nov 2010, usually driving 275 miles over one or two-day periods, often starting on Saturday mornings). 

Mine is a nice-looking 1.6litre late 2009 petrol 4-door hatchback, current value around £6000. Current mileage is 16,000 - I hardly use it.

I gradually raised the daily rate until the demand cooled - it's now at £60/day. I'm making around £1000 per year. The income is taxable. Whipcar take 20% and insure the car whilst it's being hired

I've never had an incident that needed Whipcar's insurance. In the early days with young drivers I had a few congestion charges drop through my door days later. WhipCar pays them all. I now auto-pay the congestion charge but it hasn't happened since. Whipcar changed their system so now under 21's can't rent most cars. 

Occasionally it's been a pain (sudden, unexpected need for a car) but there's always a way round it via alternative transport, friends etc.

It's changed the way I see my car - In future I'll buy an even more rental-friendly one in the hope that it will pay for itself through rentals.

I have no way of knowing if people are abusing the car but my servicing costs haven't changed. I have a growing band of 'regulars' and generally renters live nearer and nearer. I don't do any marketing.

The people I meet seem really nice, friendly and a little bit nervous that they'll do something 'wrong'. They're circumspect about returning it on time and several return it hours before it's due back, often with more petrol than they started with.

Whipcar works for me!

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