Car clubs

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Fri 20 Oct 2006 23:01
Car clubs - funinhounslow
I've been a member of Streetcar for a while now, renting a Golf for a fiver an hour for the few times a month I need a car.

There's an interesting article on Car Clubs in today's (London) Evening Standard where two blokes gave up their cars for a month and used a car club instead. One of the guinea pigs was Richard Bacon who says he has decided to get rid of his Cayenne after calculating he could save five grand a year by using CityCarClub instead. Guinea pig number 2 says he will use a car club as an alternative to a second car.

It's unlikely many people will give up their only car in favour of a car club car, but I was just wondering how many would dump their second car if there was a car club vehicle located within a 'reasonable' distance of their home? And if not, why not?
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Sat 21 Oct 2006 13:32
Car clubs - daveyjp
I started a post about Whizzgo which is available in Leeds and other cities. We have convenient access to a Whizzgo car and we have seriously considered becoming members.

My wife was away with our only car for a week a couple of weeks ago and I considered joining Whizzgo, but we are well served by public transport so I used trains and buses which provided an excellent service at less cost than Whizzgo.
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Sat 21 Oct 2006 14:26
Car clubs - jc2
Someone worked out that it was cheaper to hire at the weekends and for holidays if you did not need a car in the week than owning and running your own car.
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Sat 21 Oct 2006 16:55
Car clubs - Bill Payer
..how many would dump their second car if there was a
car club vehicle located within a 'reasonable' distance of their home?

I definitely would, but I'm doubtful such a club would work in our area. We live in a medium size village and it's amazing how many cars are around (and unused) all day, so it really make sense for people including me) to dump them and use a car club. However one issue is that if people do venture out of the village they're usually away for hours, perhaps all day, so a 'by the hour' scheme would seem expensive. I'm also doubtful that many of the cars here are relaly needed at all - so i think the utilisation of such a scheme could end up being pretty low.
What I would find very useful is if different sorts of cars - particularly 7 seaters etc, were available.
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Sat 21 Oct 2006 19:34
Car clubs - daveyjp
Whizzgo have just started offering Picassos and are looking at offering other vehicle types in the future. They seem to have a deal through Citroen, so a C8 may appear one day.
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