Hertz Car Pool, Rent or Neighbour's car?

Car sharing

Car sharing can replace your own car, - or car number two or three, if you want. Many are reluctant to take the step - sell their own car and use a rental car. A threshold is required to feel comfortable in a rental car. It is a matter of habit. The more often you rent, the more familiar you become with the scheme. But one thing is very important: If car sharing is to work in practice, it must be as easy to order a car as it is to buy a ticket on the Ruter app. Then the only difference between car sharing and your own car is that you collect the car from another garage - not your own.

Two fives and a three

There are several players in car sharing. New technology makes it possible to allocate vehicles dynamically - while on the move. Terje's cars has tested the three largest car sharing schemes in the Oslo area, Hertz BilPool, Hyre and Nabobil. Two of the companies got a dice roll of five. The third got a three. It is the technology that separates them.

Plus for spontaneity - minus for car washing

The test emphasizes several factors. What the car park is like, how easy it is to order, how easy it is to pick up and return a car, and finally prices and excess. In practice, it is not only price and availability that determine the choice of a car sharing company. Something we ourselves place a lot of emphasis on is opportunities to book and pick up a free car spontaneously. Another important point is washing. Nobody washes their car after every trip, - and the paint doesn't benefit from it, either.

	Hertz Car Pool	Rent	Neighbor car
Car park
-new cars	6	5	2
-diversity	6	5	6
-state	4	5	4
-prevalence	4	3	6
Order
- search	5	6	2
-simplicity	5	6	1
-spontaneity	6	6	0
Pick up car
-simplicity	5	6	3
-reliable	4	5	3
-damage control	4	3	5
Return car
-simplicity	6	5	3
- refueling	4	6	1
-washing	6	3	0
Price
- hourly rent	6	6	2
- daily rent	1	6	6
-weekend rental	5	3	3
- weekly rent	0	2	5
Insurance
-price	4	3	3
Total	(81)	(84)	(55)

 

The car park

Hertz Car Pool
Hertz BilPool has placed cars in the entire StorOslo area and operates van rental at all IKEA stores in Norway. There is a good variety of brands and types of cars. They are rarely older than 1,5 years and are regularly looked after by the landlord.
Rent
Hyre originates from the Møller Group. Therefore, the car fleet mostly consists of cars from the Volkswagen group, either placed out of Møller or by their private customers. Most of the cars are new, while others, privately owned cars, can be up to 5 years old. Rental cars are only located within Oslo's borders.
Neighbor car
The cars offered through Nabobil are mainly private cars, and thus form an average of the Norwegian car fleet. There are a striking number of older cars. If you want to rent a – say, ten-year-old car – you can read previous renters' recommendations to find out what condition the car is actually in. Nabobil is established all over the country.

 

Order

Hertz Car Pool
You can search for available cars both on the website and via the app. We prefer the website because the app did not cover all the rental locations for a while. The homepage works well. It is easy to find available cars. The car can be collected immediately after ordering. Pictures show make/model only - not the actual car.
Rent
You can only order via Hyre's app. It works fine. It is easy to find a free car on the map. The car is displayed on the map in real time. When it appears, it is in place. There is a separate "Drive now" function where you can find cars that are available at the moment and how long they can be rented. The app shows a picture of the car you can actually rent and how much electricity or fuel it has.
Neighbor car
Bookings are made via the website or app, and consist of chat messages between the renter and car owner. The entire ordering system is static, time-consuming and old-fashioned. In practice, it also works very poorly. Some car owners are slow to respond. Often the car is not available for booking, even if it is shown as available - or even "guaranteed available". Furthermore, the stated address often does not coincide with the car's home address. The concept is not suitable for ordering a car for immediate use.

 

Pick up car

Hertz Car Pool
You receive an SMS from Hertz BilPool five minutes before the car can be collected. It is intended that the car should be at the address given, but you are assured that the previous owner has returned in time and placed the car in the correct place. The car is unlocked with the membership card or by sending a reply to the received SMS. Inside the car, there is a damage form where you can see which damages have already been registered. If you discover damages beyond those noted on the form, you must call before starting the car, or you may be held responsible. The problem with the form is that it is sloppily filled in and difficult to see the notes. An online solution could have been created for this.
Rent
The map in the app shows where the car actually is at the moment, and how much electricity/fuel it has. You run the App function "Unlock" when the car is collected. All communication between you and the car takes place via Bluetooth. Sometimes you have to try several times. There is no claim form. You must secure photos of the car's condition before and after by taking and uploading photos via the app.
Neighbor car
Nabobil also offers an app solution for "taking over without a key" where you can pick up and return a car without a personal meeting between seller and buyer. This app works well. The problem is that only very few car owners have chosen to install the system in the car. Without "keyless access", you are left to arrange a meeting with the landlord. Some landlords use key storage in a key box that is opened with a code, or key storage with the nearest Seven student.

 

Return car

Hertz Car Pool
Returning the car happens very quickly. You put the key back in the glove compartment and lock the car with the membership card - or wait until it locks itself. Refueling is only needed when there is less than half a tank. If you then fail to refuel, a fee of NOK 500 is incurred. Refueling takes place using the petrol card which is always in the car. You don't need to wash - just take your things with you and shake or brush the mats.
Rent
A separate function in the app takes you through locking the car and taking pictures to document the condition when you delivered it. You don't need to think before you return. The price for fuel is automatically calculated in the app - normally NOK 2 more than the pump price. If you fill up more than you have used, you will be refunded a liter price that is equivalent to NOK 1 more than at the pump. The app encourages the renter to rinse the car, but it appears somewhere that this is not necessary for hourly rentals.
Neighbor car
Returning with "take over without key" is as easy as renting. But since very few car owners have chosen this, you have to agree a place and time with the landlord. If you wish to end before the agreed time, a new meeting must be arranged. The app for Nabobil helps you take pictures of the car. Nabobil's policy is to deliver the car in the condition in which it was received. For many, this will mean a full wash or rinse before returning with the car. You must also fill up to the corresponding level, otherwise a fee will be charged. The levels are "empty", "quarter", "half", "three-quarter" and "full". The problem is that you often end up thinking too much. Few of us know how much we need to think for the tank to be three-quarters full.

 

Price

Hertz Car Pool
It is complicated to calculate the price. First, there is a membership fee that determines the other rates calculated by rental time and kilometers driven. The unclear price structure determines what kind of use Hertz BilPool really wants. In the case of "wrong" use, the rent falls far above what an equivalent rental car would have cost at Hertz's ordinary rental counters. Hourly and weekend rentals work well in terms of price. The price structure means that renting beyond one day of the week ends up with unreasonably high prices.
Rent
Hyre's rental prices are simple and understandable, and quite low. All car groups have the same prices. 150 km are included. A km fee must be paid for excess kilometres. Fixed daily prices make it advantageous to rent over several days, regardless of whether it is a weekend or weekday.
Neighbor car
Nabobil leaves it up to each car owner to decide the price and mileage limit. Renters often need to browse through several cars to find the best prices. Disregarding cars that are obviously wrongly priced, the price level at Nabobil is favorable per day. Only a few car owners offer hourly rentals.

 

Insurance

Hertz Car Pool
Covered via Gjensidige. The standard excess is NOK 6 but can be reduced to NOK 000 for NOK 2. 000 is in line with what most people have on their own car.
Rent
Covered via IF. The standard deductible is NOK 12 and can be reduced to NOK 000 for NOK 2 per day. Recommended, as 000 is a bit much.
Neighbor car
The standard deductible is NOK 12. Can be reduced to 000 for NOK 6 per day or NOK 000 per day for a van. Recommended. For NOK 50 per day or NOK 60 for a van, you can reduce your deductible to NOK 100

 

Price examples

Two types of tenancies are priced. One is weekend hire of a van, the other hourly hire of the cheapest available car. The order was made from Sjølyst, Oslo.

1. Hertz BilPool, 2018 Toyota ProAce van, Karenslyst avenue
2. Rent, 2018 VW Transporter, CC West
3. Neighbour's car, 2014 Ford Transit Custom, Thunes vei

	1	2	3
Distance to car:	250 m	3 000 m	900 m
3 days / weekend:	1 299	2 025	1 470
Km (494):	1 482	110	0
Fuel (35 l * NOK 16):	0	560	560
Deductible reduction:	0	(300)	180
Sink (3 tokens):	0	120	120
Total:	2 *) **)	2 **) ***)	2 **)

1. Hertz BilPool, 2018 Hyundai i10, Karenslyst allé
2. Rent, 2018 Seat Ibiza, Drammensveien
3. Neighbour's car, 2012 Toyota Verso, Lysaker

	1	2	3
Distance to car:	250 m	250 m	2 200 m
Hours (3):	117	210	400
Km (54):	162	0	0
Fuel (5 l * NOK 16):	0	80	80
Deductible reduction:	0	(100)	50
Sink (2 tokens):	0	0	80
Total:	279 *) **)	290 **) ***)	610 **)

*) In addition, a membership fee of NOK 199 per month is paid here. There are different subscriptions. The prices in the example are calculated with the "Small" subscription, which is intended for those who use the service a couple of times a month.
**) In addition, tolls are paid with a 25% VAT surcharge.
***) Deductible reduction not included. With a reduction of NOK 100 per day, the deductible is reduced from 12 to 000. The deductible for the other two is 2.

 

Conclusion

The main reason why Hertz BilPool and Hyre are perceived as better than Nabobil is that the former have adopted computer technology that Nabobil either does not have, or can impose on its private car owners. It is perceived as a system error when Nabobil presents cars for rent - without them actually being available. This is Nabobil's biggest challenge. It is also recommended that they draw up common guidelines for prices.

What makes car sharing possible is primarily new technology. As users, we want, for example, the following click pattern: I need a car "Now". I am "Terje", I am "At work" and the car will be "BMW i3", In the future it may come driving by itself. Until then, we can walk away and pick it up ourselves.

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