How car sharing can save you money
Car sharing is popping up in Australian cities and spreading from the inner city out to the suburbs. I have a car share "pod" or kerb space around the corner and pass several pods on my way to work.
You may be a bit hazy about what car sharing is and how it works.
Well, it's a sort of car rental, designed for people who want a convenient way to rent vehicles for a short time such as a few hours at any time of day (not just business hours) and pay for this amount of time only.
Car sharing suits people in cities who have other ways to get around such as public transport or riding a bike or walking. It works best if there is a convenient car sharing pod nearby.
There are two main environmental benefits of car sharing. There are fewer cars on the road, and lower carbon emissions. A recent report, by US research group Frost and Sullivan, found each shared car replaced around 15 personally owned vehicles and car sharing members drove 31% less than when they owned their own car.
Car sharing can be less expensive than owning a car, but how much you save depends on how much you use a car.
Car sharing company Go Get says you will save money with car sharing if you drive less than 10,000 kilometres each year.
If you own a car and don't use it much, it is worth weighing up the cost of car sharing as opposed to owning a your own.
Owning a car is a big expense for most people. The insurer NRMA estimates that a small Kia Cerato costs around $120 a week to run while a Holden Commodore costs $195 a week. Big vehiclessuch as Nissan patrols can cost around $227 a week. This takes into account depreciation, registration, fuel and maintenance and is based on driving 15,000 kilometres a year.
Use the calculator at mynrma.com.au to calculate the cost of running your car.
Car sharing is ideal if you have a couple of kids and need a second vehicle occasionally for running the kids around to events such as Saturday sport.
It can be cheaper than hiring because you pay only for the hours you use the car share car. It also works well if you don't want to drive your car to work but need a vehicle sometimes while you are at work.
So how do you find a car share pod? To find a pod in your area, try Google car share and your suburb. Look at the conditions for membership. They typically require you to be 21, with a valid driver's licence.
Once you have membership you can book the vehicle online or by phone. You pay a membership fee that can be based on how much you use the vehicle, then an hourly rate.
Car sharing has taken off overseas. Frost and Sullivan estimate that membership is expected to reach 4.4 million in North America and 5.5 million in Europe by 2016.
What it costs to get moving:
There are a number of car share operations in Australia. Here are the prices for Go Get which has operations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.
Application fee:
Security deposit (fully refundable) $500
GoOccasional Plan
Monthly membership: $9
Hourly rate: $8.25
Kilometre rate: 35c
Day rate (includes 150 kms free) $68.
GoFrequent (for more than 7 hours per month)
Monthly membership: $29
Hourly Rate: $5.25
Kilometre rate: 35c
Day rate (includes 150 kms free) $68.
GoStarter has no monthly fees and an hourly rate of $13.45.
Both include petrol and insurance. For an additional cost of $5 per trip for the first five hours you can reduce the excess from $1500 to $300.
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