We used to use zipcars as our 2nd car. But now we use car2go. Their Mercedes are great.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't have a car. We live 2 blocks from a giant, 7 minutes from a metro section, and on a major artery (so there's a bus stop on our door step, at rush hour buses every 4 min, 10 min otherwise and 12-15 on the weekend). It's fine. We get a zipcar as needed and we rent for the weekend or more from DCA. OP add up your car expenses: monthly payment, maintenance, insurance, parking, gas etc. If you only drove 2,000 miles last year, I doubt it's worth it.

OP here. Thanks. I live RIGHT in the city. 1 block from Giant. Maybe the same one as you! (Cathedral Heights). Like you, I can walk 1 block to the buses that go downtown every 4-5 minutes. I haven't driven to work in 3 years. How does zipcar work? Do you have to reserve a day in advance? Not that it really matters. Honestly, if I need to get somewhere with no notice of course I can uber.

So let's see how it goes.

OP, I live about half a mile from you, haven't had a car in close on 20 years. Have one child, young elementary school age.

We use zipcar 1-2 times per month (weekly during kid's sports season). You download the app and reserve the car for the block of time you need. For weekends, it's worth reserving in advance, but often you can get the car on 15 minutes notice.

Rent cars from Hertz/Enterprise etc for vacations (worthwhile getting an account on points) -- you can rent cars from many major hotels (we use the Woodley Park Marriott Enterprise, who will pay for your cab fare to get to the car rental office). Use cab/car service for airport trips. All of this works out cheaper for us than owning a car, plus we get the car we need for when we need it -- giant truck with cargo space for the family camping trip, zippy runaround for a target run.

We also use Amazon and Peapod and get many supplies delivered rather than running errands.

You should definitely try car free! One friend I have has the plan where they have X number of hours a month and it's a regular charge. That helps alleviate feeling the pinch/guilty when you rent a car (may feel expensive). The only trouble I've had with Zipcar is when I've wanted to extend my reservation but couldn't because someone else had a reservation behind mine.

Anonymous wrote:Who else has used zipcar? Do you have trouble getting a car when you need one? I haven't gotten my zipcar card yet, but it seems like there are 6 zipcars within one block of my house.

Before kids, we only did Zipcar too and loved it. I highly recommend.

- Make sure you thoroughly research all the cars that are near your home and office. Note the models.
- Uberx is probably perfect/cheaper than Zipcar for the occasional errand to the grocery store, etc.
- If you are going to do a weekend trip with Zipcar, plan very early. It will likely be difficult for a last minute drive anywhere on the weekends.
- The people at Zipcar are so helpful, and the cost of gas and insurance is built in to the hourly rates. IF you have trouble finding a car, they will gladly help find you one.

The thing that was the most difficult was estimating my driving time around DC. People vastly underestimate the time it takes to get anywhere. I remember one time driving from Palisades to my place in Logan Circle (on a random Tuesday afternoon) that took me almost 1.5 hours.

Friends would tell me it only takes them 15 minutes to drive downtown and then it would really be 30+ minutes. This was the biggest problem initially but then I became a real expert at drive times. In fact, I kept a log on my phone that I could consult before making Zipcar reservations. It's a great option.

ONly thing to watch with Zipcar is if it's available when you typically want it -- mayb eother people want it at those times (weekends for example) as well, but then there's Uber. Sounds like a good option given your lifestyle.

car2go is another option.

Anonymous wrote:We don't have a car. We live 2 blocks from a giant, 7 minutes from a metro section, and on a major artery (so there's a bus stop on our door step, at rush hour buses every 4 min, 10 min otherwise and 12-15 on the weekend). It's fine. We get a zipcar as needed and we rent for the weekend or more from DCA. OP add up your car expenses: monthly payment, maintenance, insurance, parking, gas etc. If you only drove 2,000 miles last year, I doubt it's worth it.

OP here. Thanks. I live RIGHT in the city. 1 block from Giant. Maybe the same one as you! (Cathedral Heights). Like you, I can walk 1 block to the buses that go downtown every 4-5 minutes. I haven't driven to work in 3 years. How does zipcar work? Do you have to reserve a day in advance? Not that it really matters. Honestly, if I need to get somewhere with no notice of course I can uber.

So let's see how it goes.

We don't have a car. We live 2 blocks from a giant, 7 minutes from a metro section, and on a major artery (so there's a bus stop on our door step, at rush hour buses every 4 min, 10 min otherwise and 12-15 on the weekend). It's fine. We get a zipcar as needed and we rent for the weekend or more from DCA. OP add up your car expenses: monthly payment, maintenance, insurance, parking, gas etc. If you only drove 2,000 miles last year, I doubt it's worth it.

I did the math for us:
Car payment: $300/mo
Gas: 30
Insurance: $100
Parking$200 (because in our neighborhood you dont want to leave a car on the street).

Rental for the weekend (Fri-Sun): $80 (maybe once a month)
zipcar: $10/hour plus $50/year

Do you live right in DC? I'm not talking about people who live in Reston and say they live "in DC." If you're right in the city, ditch the car.

Sure it's probably a lot cheaper

Who else has used zipcar? Do you have trouble getting a car when you need one? I haven't gotten my zipcar card yet, but it seems like there are 6 zipcars within one block of my house.

Some people say an Uber ride twice a week is much cheaper than car ownership.

and can uberx

Try it for a month or two and decide. You dont have to replace your car tomorrow.

I only drove 2,000 miles last year. The grocery store is one block from my house. I take the bus to and from work. I feel like I could swing it with zipcar -- once a week rent a car for 2 hours to do Costco and any other errand.

Slap me into reality. Or slap me on the back.