Recommendations

"Car sharing" - an ingenious, convenient alternative to renting a car. No waiting in line at Hertz, getting 'tude from the staff while you wait for your gold Oldsmobuick. Drive off in a cute mini, in minutes.

Strengths

• "Car sharing" - an ingenious, convenient alternative to renting a car.
• Here’s how it works… Sign up for a plan that works for you. Go online and reserve a car to meet your needs (you can choose by type of car,length of time available,location of car, etc). Book the car by hour or by day. The cars are located in parking garages all over the city. After you reserve your car, you go to the garage, pick it up, and then return it when you are done. As long as there’s at least ¼ tank of gas you don’t need to fill it up. That means no waiting in line at the Hertz or Avis counter. No gold Saturns or white Oldsmobuicks (they have fun cars, like Minis). No ‘tude from indifferent service counter attendants. No sticker shock when you forget to refuel.
• The cars have XM satellite radio, which is a nice added bonus.

Shortcomings

• It’s very easy to do online, but nearly impossible to get a service representative on the phone if you need one.
• Cars get booked up way in advance on holidays and summer weekends.
• All the cars say "WWW.ZIPCAR.COM" on them so if you’re trying to impress, or don’t want to drive around with an advertisement on your car that screams "This is not my car!", go elsewhere.
• If you bring the car back late, you get a big service charge.

Insider tips

• There’s kind of a zipcar karma. Since there’s nobody there to frown at you, you could bring the car back late, leave empty slurpy cups in the back, or dodge the ¼ tank rule – but you don’t. You’re better than that, and you don’t want someone to trash your next car before you pick it up.
• Speaking of good karma, the whole zipcar approach is good for the environment. Their cars have good mileage, and people often use zipcars as an alternative to buying cars – so they use public transportation when not using the car, which results in fewer cars on the road...(read the spiel on their website for more info).
• Try to book in advance so you get the car you want, when you want it, where you want it.
• The cars have names – its kinda cute.
• Check your car carefully before you drive it off the lot since there are no attendants to check for you. Look for low air pressure in the tires, oil change lights, etc.

Anecdotes

• I was hooked after my first experience. I’ll never use Hertz or Avis again.
• It’s kind of like having your own car, but without the parking and insurance hassles or gas costs.
• I use it about once per week – I try to get mini convertibles since they are adorable and fun to drive. Automating the whole pick up and return process takes so much of the annoyance out of car rentals – it’s really a pleasure.

Perfect for

• Anyone who needs a car once in a while for business or personal use.
• Great for weekend trips, day trips, an excursion to explore art-exhibits in Brooklyn, Greek restaurants in Astoria, or to see how many paper towels from Costco you can stuff into a Mini.

Credentials

• They’ve won a bunch of awards, including Business Week’s "Web Smart 50" for customer service excellence, City of Cambridge Go Green Award for transportation, and the Boston Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award for Business Excellence.