Zipcar?

[prog]

So, to save money for certain economically foolhardy adventures that loom in my future, I'm seriously thinking of selling my car (or just giving it to someone, probably Ricky) in the next six months, before it's time to to buy another year of expensive Massachusetts car insurance.

I still want spontaneous mobility, and the ability to haul stuff around. I would not even consider this if Zipcar weren't in this town. I know some of you use Zipcar, and I wonder if you'd recommend it to me. Basically, I want to retain the ability to putter around town every few days (on average), very occasionally zipping up to Maine or wherever. Ultimately it should cost less than ~$1,500 per year to make the transition worthwhile.

Whaddaya think?

Comments

[cnoocy]

I heartily recommend Zipcar, and I think your costs will work out. You should certainly look at the rates on the Zipcar page. Two questions:

1. How spontaneous do you want your mobility? The cars do get reserved, so there is the occasional situation where, if you decide at the last minute to get a car, the nearest ones are not available.


2. How long do you tend to use the car every few days? Zipcars are charged by the hour or the day, so if you want to drive to Burlington and see a movie every Wednesday, you'll pay a fair amount for the time you spend watching the movie.

One thing to consider is that some mobility tasks are good to do in Zipcar, and others work better in taxis. Knowing the difference can save a lot of money.

[prog.livejournal.com]

1. Spontaneous as in "I should go check out this sale on interesting klunky objects at the klunk store," which doesn't usually mean "OMG I have to go RIGHT NOW."

2. Right now I use the car more often than not to get to social things (anything happening in Arlington, for example).

I'm curious what you're thinking of as far as taxis go. They strike me as very convenient but always very expensive no matter how you cut it.

[cnoocy]

The main thing about taxis is that they are often better for short-distance single-destination trips. A taxi from your area to East Arlington should be around 10-15 dollars. That's less than two hours of Zipcar, so the taxi is better if you spend 4 hours and take the taxi both ways, or 2 hours and get a ride from someone in one direction. And that's not even counting public transportation.