What is car sharing and how does it work?

Since the appearance of the car, this transport has smoothly moved from the category of "luxury" to the category of "need". The modern pace is forcing business people to accelerate to get something done before their competitors.

To make a business trip as fast and comfortable as possible, businessmen buy modern cars. But what about someone who does not have their own transport, but for a business trip or vacation in another country, it is simply necessary?

 For this there is car sharing. Consider what kind of service it is, as well as some of its subtleties.

What is car sharing?

Some people confuse this service with a standard car rental. Regular rental will operate on a daily basis. As for car sharing, this is a deal for a short period of time.

Let's say a person urgently needs to travel within the city. In this case, he contacts a company that provides such services, and takes a car for temporary use, for example, for several hours. The short-term rental service allows you to determine how much to pay for the service - the less the car is in use, the cheaper it will cost.

How does the car sharing system work?

First you need to find out if the rental company provides an hourly service, because it is not available in all situations. Most often, such a service is available in large cities - large regional megalopolises.

One of the conditions of most car-sharing companies is the age limit - the driver must not be less than 21 years old.

Among the firms that provide this service, there are three types:

1. Classic car sharing - a car is issued for trips within the city, and companies are located in large metropolitan areas;
2. Vehicle rental is provided not by a specialized company, but by a company or an individual who owns a diverse fleet of vehicles;
3. The car park is in the common use of the collective, which determines the terms of the transaction.

Depending on which company is chosen, the operating conditions of the vehicles may differ. For example, there are companies that require the driver to bring the vehicle back to the site on his own. Others give more freedom, for example, they are allowed to leave the vehicle in parking lots of railway and bus stations, as well as at airports.

Some companies equip vehicles with navigators. This is useful for guests of the city who are new to its geography. Also, this service can be useful for those who travel or flew on vacation.

There are companies that own several parking lots, which makes it easier to find a suitable car and saves time and money on the way to the desired destination. Another condition of some companies is the mandatory requirement to control the speed allowed in the city.

How much?

A number of factors affect the cost of a service:

• The internal policy of the company, for example, is hourly, per minute payment or for the mileage traveled;
• Car class;
• The time given to search for transport;
• Possibility to leave a car in a third-party parking lot.

The peculiarity of car sharing is that the driver gets a refueled car, and there is no need to pay for a parking space.

How can I rent a car?

The client may have access to a mobile application or an official website through which a transaction can be made. Transport can be selected from the list provided.

Most often, the client will need to do the following operations;

• Register on the official website or mobile application of the company;
• Confirm your identity - send a photo of your passport and driver's license;
• If the registration takes place in paper form, then a signature is enough, and in the case of an electronic contract, the driver must agree to the terms of use. It is worth considering that the application can be processed more than one day, so it is better to plan the rental in advance. For registered users, the service is much faster, since there is no need to go through the registration procedure every time;
• After confirming the deal, the company provides free minutes (mostly about 20) so that the client has time to find his car and warm up the engine. If the client exceeds this limit, then he will have to pay extra for an idle car in the parking lot (depending on the company, this fee may be about six cents in US currency per minute);
• As soon as the car has been found, the user must conduct a visual inspection so that later, in disputable situations, he can prove his innocence to damage to the vehicle;
• Depending on the terms of the company, the lease can be confirmed via the mobile app. As soon as the service is activated, the car opens. Inside is the key and vehicle documents;
• The completion of the transaction is also carried out through the application (this should be checked with the operator).

Where can I park my car?

This factor is primarily influenced by the rules of the company. So, some demand that the driver return the vehicle to the place from where he took it. This needs to be clarified before renting. Otherwise, you will have to pay for a meaningless trip - when there is no longer a need for a car, but it is still in use.

In most cases, the company allows you to leave vehicles in any parking lot, even a paid one (the company itself pays for the parking). However, a prerequisite is compliance with traffic rules. The car must not be confiscated for not following the parking rules. In any case, this question must be clarified with the company's operators.

How do you pay?

During the registration of a new user, a bank card is linked to his account. As soon as the driver presses the button to complete the operation in the application, the funds are debited from his account.

As for traffic violations, the personal responsibility of the driver, not the company, works here. All fines are paid by the motorist. Even taking into account the insurance from the company, no one exempts drivers from material liability, but often due to the driver's negligence, the operators providing the service can also suffer.

Although the motorist receives and returns someone else's car, he needs to take care of someone else's property. If the car was handed over damaged or dirty inside, completely without gasoline or without documents, the operator will issue a fine. This is also mentioned in the contract, so you should carefully read it before signing the papers.

What to do if the car sharing car was evacuated?

In this situation, the driver cannot avoid additional waste. But depending on the company's policy, the culprit may be offered one of two options:

• The representative of the company independently picks up the car from the penalty area. The invoice is issued to the violator of the traffic rules. At the same time, he fully covers the costs of storage and evacuation of vehicles. He is also liable to a fine from the operator for violating the terms of use of the machine;
• The offender himself takes the car. Such a development of the situation will cost him less, since the driver only pays for the parking and evacuation of the vehicle. In this case, a penalty from the operator is not charged.

If the driver did not notice how the car was towed, the representatives of the car-sharing company will call him and explain what to do next. When the evacuation takes place in the presence of the tenant, he needs to independently contact the operator of the company. In this case, the lease ends. This will avoid additional waste due to the contract, but when the machine is not used.

Pros and cons of car sharing

The obvious advantages of car sharing are that the care of the car is completely borne by the owners of the company. Thanks to this, the driver does not pay for maintenance (replacement of consumables and repairs) of the car.

In addition to these waste, the driver does not pay for parking spaces, washing and refueling. Also, he does not need to follow the renewal of the insurance policy. At any time you can take a ride in a luxury car. If you wish, during your vacation, you can save energy and money by avoiding cooperation with taxi drivers, who often profit from tourists.

In addition to the obvious advantages, car sharing has a drawback, and more than one, which is why the service is not always convenient in certain situations:

• The driver uses the car exclusively for rent. The rest of the time, all personal belongings should not be in the car.
• After the car has been parked in the parking lot, it will be towed to the main site upon completion of the deal. For this reason, after returning from the trip, you will have to register the lease again.
• The account can be hacked and use the user's material resources without his knowledge.
• The car can be used only in limited conditions - within the boundaries of a specific area, taking into account the speed of the car, etc.
• The user can rent a vehicle with a higher class, but it may not have the desired configuration.

If we compare carsharing and personal transport, then the advantage of one over the other lies in the driver's preferences. If he does not have the necessary funds to purchase the desired car model, but does not tolerate wasting time waiting for public transport, then a short-term rental has a clear advantage.

But if there is no desire to share the car with someone else, then it is worth raising money for the purchase of personal transport. In addition, read some of the guidelines for choosing a new car that are listed in a separate review.

Questions and answers:

Who can use Car Sharing? To register in the Carsharing system, a person must be at least 18 years old, he must also have a driver's license and sufficient driving experience.

How does car sharing work? A short car rental is available at any time of the day (the main thing is to be a client of the carrier and install a mobile application). The driver chooses the car he needs by location, uses it and pays only for the actual use of the vehicle.

How is car sharing different from lease? The key difference is the length of the lease. Rent - long-term rent, starting from one day and ending with several days. Car sharing allows you to rent a car within a few hours with a per-minute payment.