50% OFF GoCar Signup fee!

robvam

Hi All,

Get 50% of the GoCar Signup fee! (Promo Code: HALFPRICE)

Here is a link to the Registration page with the Promo code:

https://my.gocar.ie/signup.php?promo_code=HALFPRICE&utm_source=Social&utm_campaign=HALF+PRICE&utm_medium=Facebook

Safe Driving

Rob

TallGlass

Was going to sign up for the van side of things but read it seems a bit restrictive and expensive. Per hour charge and then a per km charge? Plus 1000€ excess in the event of an accident.

yannakis

Every time I see one of these, I actually wonder who and why someone finds them cost effective

TallGlass

NougatPlease wrote: »

Every time I see one of these, I actually wonder who and why someone finds them cost effective

Well would the van side of things work out cheap if you needed it for an hour or three be around 40€ ?

yannakis

If I ever need a van, it will be for transporting a big load - probably many smaller items. That would take time to load, and similar amount of time to unload. There will also be some commuting involved. So why not rent it for a whole day and take it easy?

pa990

NougatPlease wrote: »

If I ever need a van, it will be for transporting a big load - probably many smaller items. That would take time to load, and similar amount of time to unload. There will also be some commuting involved. So why not rent it for a whole day and take it easy?

+insurance +fuel +cdw

Rentals ... like airline tickets rarely are as cheap as initially advertised.

cormie

You wouldn't really fit a lot into the GoCar van on the website. Do they have bigger ones at all?

Same goes with the ones pictures from Enterprise. You can drive much bigger vans than these on a B license

ted1

NougatPlease wrote: »

Every time I see one of these, I actually wonder who and why someone finds them cost effective

I pay 550 Road tax and about the same in insurance fir a 2005 car that I rarely use. If I lived near these they would be more cost effective as there would also be no maintenance costs and the electric ones don't have a per km charge

Del2005

NougatPlease wrote: »

Every time I see one of these, I actually wonder who and why someone finds them cost effective

Friends used to live in London and were complaining about the cost of groceries as all they had access to was local stores charging a fortune. I put them onto a similar company over there and they found it excellent, car was closer to their flat than I can park mine. They did get stung when they hired it for a weekend to travel a good distance because they didn't read up properly.

For someone living inner city with good public transport and the occasional short use of a car they are ideal.

schemingbohemia

ted1 wrote: »

I pay 550 Road tax and about the same in insurance fir a 2005 car that I rarely use. If I lived near these they would be more cost effective as there would also be no maintenance costs and the electric ones don't have a per km charge

Pedant alert. You're not paying Road Tax, no-one does.

yoshimitsu

The cost of owning a car is not only insurance and taxes (call them road, motor or whatever u want) but also/mainly depreciation, maintenance, fuel, parking. add those up and divide them by the number of hours (estimate) you use your car. that's what you want to compare against GoCar's €5/hr+ charge.
Car sharing services are not meant for people who drive on a daily basis but rather for the occasion (3-5hrs per week). it's effective if you live in the city center and need to pay parking and have other alternatives like public transport, taxi, uber, dublinbikes in case the GoCars are fully booked.
If you need it for 8hrs+ better to rent a car for 24hrs as it works out to similar prices.

ted1

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Pedant alert. You're not paying Road Tax, no-one does.

Well I call it road tax because it's generally parked on the road and dies very little motoring as i use my bike.

redcup342

Have similar in Germany

Drive Now and Car2Go

Nice thing about them is you can leave them on the street on any public parking space, also leave them at the airport and drive between cities.

If parking is crap where you are going to you can advertise your journey and someone will usually be waiting there to swap over the car and drive off them to their location.

Bloody fantastic if you live in the City Center, this Irish incarnation looks a bit crappy in comparison.

You can't really compare a normal rental car like for like with it, if you walked up to the Desk at the rental place you'd pay crazy money so it's not really useful for spontaneous trips.

yoshimitsu

redcup342 wrote: »

Have similar in Germany

Drive Now and Car2Go

Nice thing about them is you can leave them on the street on any public parking space, also leave them at the airport and drive between cities.

If parking is crap where you are going to you can advertise your journey and someone will usually be waiting there to swap over the car and drive off them to their location.

Bloody fantastic if you live in the City Center, this Irish incarnation looks a bit crappy in comparison.

You can't really compare a normal rental car like for like with it, if you walked up to the Desk at the rental place you'd pay crazy money so it's not really useful for spontaneous trips.

Fully agree. The Irish car sharing model is version 1.0 of what other European cities have. In Milan, Italy you can leave it and pick it wherever you want within city limits. The app shows you were they are located, you walk up to the car and unlock it via the app. you can drive it in the city center where other vehicles face congestion charges.
I spoke to GoCar about this and they said they have to yet reach critical mass then they will change to that model.
There is another car sharing company in Dublin called Yuko (owned by Toyota). Slightly more expensive by the hour but it includes full insurance (no excess... this is an extra on GoCar). The cars are nicer, they're all Toyota Hybrids like the Auris and Yaris.

manuhalo

I signed up a few months back, only used the van once to help a friend move out of her flat. The main problem is that you have to bring the car back to the base where you took it, which means paying it for the whole duration of your visit (and having to make a pretty good estimate of how long that's going to take you as well, or pay additional fees). I've made the maths and 9 times out of 10 getting a cab back and forth was actually cheaper, and without the hassle of having to park. If they turned it into a sort of DublinBike thing where you can leave the car near any of their bases it'll be great, but I guess they do not want to deal with the re-balancing of the fleet.

ted1

yoshimitsu wrote: »

The cars are nicer, they're all Toyota Hybrids like the Auris and Yaris.

The BMW i3 is nicer than both of those.

yoshimitsu

ted1 wrote: »

The BMW i3 is nicer than both of those.

Sure if you live close to 1 of the 10 they have across the entire city of Dublin

ted1

yoshimitsu wrote: »

Sure if you live close to 1 of the 10 they have across the entire city of Dublin

The Tucson and i30 are also nicer than the Toyotas.

redcup342

yoshimitsu wrote: »

Fully agree. The Irish car sharing model is version 1.0 of what other European cities have. In Milan, Italy you can leave it and pick it wherever you want within city limits. The app shows you were they are located, you walk up to the car and unlock it via the app. you can drive it in the city center where other vehicles face congestion charges.
I spoke to GoCar about this and they said they have to yet reach critical mass then they will change to that model.
There is another car sharing company in Dublin called Yuko (owned by Toyota). Slightly more expensive by the hour but it includes full insurance (no excess... this is an extra on GoCar). The cars are nicer, they're all Toyota Hybrids like the Auris and Yaris.

Milan is also Car2Go and Drivenow

So I can take any car2go or Drivenow car on the street in Milan using my same account I use in Germany

yoshimitsu

redcup342 wrote: »

Milan is also Car2Go and Drivenow

So I can take any car2go or Drivenow car on the street in Milan using my same account I use in Germany

Havent heard of DriveNow but Car2Go and Enjoy (the 2 largest services in Milan) are owned by Daimler and ENI (Italy's largest oil producer/refiner) respectively. They have an incentive to put as many cars out on the street and have them driven as much as possible. so pricing, convenience and availability is set to maximize those goals
GoCar is owned by Europecar (car hire company) which has a different set of incentives IMO... one of them being not cannibalizing their traditional car hire business. the other is to recycle some of the cars they use in that business once they get to a certain mileage. Like the i30s Ted1 is so fond of...

redcup342

yoshimitsu wrote: »

Havent heard of DriveNow but Car2Go and Enjoy (the 2 largest services in Milan) are owned by Daimler and ENI (Italy's largest oil producer/refiner) respectively. They have an incentive to put as many cars out on the street and have them driven as much as possible. so pricing, convenience and availability is set to maximize those goals
GoCar is owned by Europecar (car hire company) which has a different set of incentives IMO... one of them being not cannibalizing their traditional car hire business. the other is to recycle some of the cars they use in that business once they get to a certain mileage. Like the i30s Ted1 is so fond of...

DriveNow is partnership between Sixt and BMW

BMW i3 REx
BMW 1 Series
BMW Active Tourer
BMW 2 Series Convertible
MINI 5-Door
MINI Convertible
MINI Clubman

Milan has a fleet of around 500 Vehicles which are a mix of the above.
Berlin is around the biggest with over 1000 vehicles.

The cars are pretty nice in fairness although Car2Go has the new A-Class in Dusseldorf which I'm quite fond of The Smart FourTwo is pretty handy for parking though

ted1

yoshimitsu wrote: »

Havent heard of DriveNow but Car2Go and Enjoy (the 2 largest services in Milan) are owned by Daimler and ENI (Italy's largest oil producer/refiner) respectively. They have an incentive to put as many cars out on the street and have them driven as much as possible. so pricing, convenience and availability is set to maximize those goals
GoCar is owned by Europecar (car hire company) which has a different set of incentives IMO... one of them being not cannibalizing their traditional car hire business. the other is to recycle some of the cars they use in that business once they get to a certain mileage. Like the i30s Ted1 is so fond of...

It's part owned (80%)by irish car rentals who own the franchise for Europe car in Ireland. Not the Europe car company.
Are you sure that they are ex rentals ? White rentals are rare in Ireland. Do they respray them? Are rentals not VRT free, and if they don't move them in VRT us then payable?
Are the I3s not brand new?

Isn't there laws concerning the transfer of assets from one company to another ? Irish car rentals is obliged to dispose of Assests for the best price and GoCar is to buy car at the best price. Butt contradict each other

yoshimitsu

ted1 wrote: »

It's part owned (80%)by irish car rentals who own the franchise for Europe car in Ireland. Not the Europe car company.
Are you sure that they are ex rentals ? White rentals are rare in Ireland. Do they respray them? Are rentals not VRT free, and if they don't move them in VRT us then payable?
Are the I3s not brand new?

Isn't there laws concerning the transfer of assets from one company to another ? Irish car rentals is obliged to dispose of Assests for the best price and GoCar is to buy car at the best price. Butt contradict each other

I was trying to make a point on the different business models between car sharing companies here in Ireland and elsewhere on the continent. Just expressing my opinion ("IMO") and specifically highlighting that "some cars" may be recycled down (that was my experience when I signed up for the service in 2012… obviously i3s would've been bought new).
But I bow to your knowledge on the prominence of the colour white in the Irish car rental market and the dynamics of intercompany asset transfer pricing.

Wheety

€10 for sign up at the moment. No yearly fee either. I just signed up. Not really sure why, but now have the option of using one of these if required.

Yamanoto

I've toyed with the idea of signing up before, but the fact you have to return it to the same base station you hired it from is one of the most unappealing aspects imo.

Would be fine with paying a fair premium to have the option of a one-way rental too.

Wheety

Yamanoto wrote: »

I've toyed with the idea of signing up before, but the fact you have to return it to the same base station you hired it from is one of the most unappealing aspects imo.

Would be fine with paying a fair premium to have the option of a one-way rental too.

True that is a bit annoying. I just signed up though as it's a tenner and they seem to have done away with the monthly fee since I last looked into it. I work in Dublin City Centre and there are a couple of locations close to me, so could grab a car at lunch time if I needed to go somewhere.

bk

ted1 wrote: »

The BMW i3 is nicer than both of those.

Just to point out that GoCar have managed to completely piss off the Irish EV community with these!

While it is great that people can try out a great EV like the i3 and see how great EV's actually are, GoCar has just been leaving them at the public charging spaces all day recharging, which blocks the space that other EV owners need to use!

GoCar should really be installing their own private charging points and not using the public ones.

Wheety

bk wrote: »

Just to point out that GoCar have managed to completely piss off the Irish EV community with these!

While it is great that people can try out a great EV like the i3 and see how great EV's actually are, GoCar has just been leaving them at the public charging spaces all day recharging, which blocks the space that other EV owners need to use!

GoCar should really be installing their own private charging points and not using the public ones.

Yeah, this can be a problem, unless they had someone on a bike or something going around moving them once they're charged but I can't see them doing that.

I went for a walk today to see the i3 near where I work and it was in a normal on street parking space. There was a charging space close to it so it must have been someone considerate.

I'll rent it out soon for an hour to see what it's like, as I'm thinking of getting an electric car, just hope it's fully charged up when I grab it.

bk

Wheety wrote: »

I'll rent it out soon for an hour to see what it's like, as I'm thinking of getting an electric car, just hope it's fully charged up when I grab it.

If you are thinking of getting an EV you should check out the EV forum here on boards, lots of great advise and experience there.

Wheety

bk wrote: »

If you are thinking of getting an EV you should check out the EV forum here on boards, lots of great advise and experience there.

I've been stalking that thread. Looks like a Leaf is the only real option for a few years. Would love an Ioniq but it's out of my price range. I'll keep reading the EV thread anyway

yoshimitsu

Wheety wrote: »

Yeah, this can be a problem, unless they had someone on a bike or something going around moving them once they're charged but I can't see them doing that.

I went for a walk today to see the i3 near where I work and it was in a normal on street parking space. There was a charging space close to it so it must have been someone considerate.

I'll rent it out soon for an hour to see what it's like, as I'm thinking of getting an electric car, just hope it's fully charged up when I grab it.

Super fun to drive, quite an acceleration for a Matchbox-sized car like that.

schemingbohemia

bk wrote: »

Just to point out that GoCar have managed to completely piss off the Irish EV community with these!

While it is great that people can try out a great EV like the i3 and see how great EV's actually are, GoCar has just been leaving them at the public charging spaces all day recharging, which blocks the space that other EV owners need to use!

GoCar should really be installing their own private charging points and not using the public ones.

Is it not the customers leaving them there?

bk

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Is it not the customers leaving them there?

The company placed the parking spots for the Electric cars right next to the chargers. Also they encourage customers to use them by giving free mileage to customers who fully charge the cars on return.

So it is true that customers do it, but it is very clear that the company wants customers to do it and have it set up to abuse this public resource.

If the company was serious about EV's then they should have their own dedicated parking spaces, with their own dedicated charging points that can only be used by GoCars and are paid for them. That would eliminate this issue.

Del2005

bk wrote: »

The company placed the parking spots for the Electric cars right next to the chargers. Also they encourage customers to use them by giving free mileage to customers who fully charge the cars on return.

So it is true that customers do it, but it is very clear that the company wants customers to do it and have it set up to abuse this public resource.

If the company was serious about EV's then they should have their own dedicated parking spaces, with their own dedicated charging points that can only be used by GoCars and are paid for them. That would eliminate this issue.

Or if they were charged for using the charge points they'd stop, but then everyone would loose the subsidiy and have to pay for the chargers.

bk

Del2005 wrote: »

Or if they were charged for using the charge points they'd stop, but then everyone would loose the subsidiy and have to pay for the chargers.

Most EV users would actually welcome a "fair" charging rate for public charging. As people abusing chargers and taking up the space is a major issue.

But this wouldn't actually solve this particular issue, as GoCar would continue to simply use the public chargers and space. They really need to install their own, dedicated chargers in their own space to leave the space free in the public chargers for EV users.

Of course the real solution to all of this is for the government to install way more chargers, both slow and fast chargers. eCars consider the rollout of chargers finished and has no interest in installing more, which is a major issue.

foodaholic

Wheety wrote: »

I've been stalking that thread. Looks like a Leaf is the only real option for a few years. Would love an Ioniq but it's out of my price range. I'll keep reading the EV thread anyway

Have a look at the Renault Zoe 40
Great range
No battery rental

bk

foodaholic wrote: »

Have a look at the Renault Zoe 40
Great range
No battery rental

If he can't afford an Ioniq, then he can't afford a Renault Zoe 40, they are about the same price. The Zoe 40 is €27,500, the Inoniq is €29,000, but can be gotten for 26k with scrappage deal.

To be honest, the Ioniq looks like a much better car. The Zoe is a small city type car, so very overpriced at 27k IMO. The Ioniq, is a full big sedan car, 30k would be a normal price for a car like this even in Petrol/Diesel version. So overall better value for money.

Wheety

Used GoCar for the first time yesterday. Great system. I was driving a Hyundai i30. Now I want one of those now Lovely car.

I already have a car but my Dad was in hospital so it was handy to just grab a car near the hospital and go home and collect my Mam instead of having to go home for the car.

You can tweet them with a picture after your first rental for €10 credit.

bk

Wheety wrote: »

Used GoCar for the first time yesterday. Great system. I was driving a Hyundai i30. Now I want one of those now Lovely car.

If you are looking, you should check out the Hyundai Ioniq, slightly bigger then the i30 and fully Electric. Very cheap running costs.

Wheety

bk wrote: »

If you are looking, you should check out the Hyundai Ioniq, slightly bigger then the i30 and fully Electric. Very cheap running costs.

I'm the poster who you said "If he can't afford an Ioniq" about earlier

Think I'll have to wait a couple of years for a 2nd hand one. I do like the look of them but the i30 was great too. It was a dirty diesel though.