Car2Go - 2o6 Review

[2o6]

Although I rented a "Nissan Versa or similar" class car, I got upgraded to an Altima. Altimas are such rental cars - nothing was WRONG with the Altima, but it wasn't the most interesting car, although it was thrfty for its size (30-31MPG with me not really paying attention to speed or economical driving).

ANYWAYS, in my five day trip, I only had a car for two - when I was in Portland, OR. Everyone said that driving a car in Seattle would have been a chore, to save money I returned the car and used public transit and Car2Go.

(Laconian will attest to the usefulness of Car2Go)



Car2Go is a point-to-point car rental service that's run by Daimler. Thus, the cars are MB group cars. In Columbus, we have the new-generation Smart Fortwos, but looks like the rest of the country are stuck with the Old Fortwos. Canadian users also get the B-class for use if you need more space (usually at a more expensive rate of $0.10 more a minute). US users get the CLA and GLA as options for use if you need a bigger car. (Columbus OH market only has the Fortwo, no big car options)

The Rate is $0.35 a minute for the fortwo, and $0.45 a minute for the CLA and GLA. This includes parking, gas, and insurance. You simply get in a car, unlocking it via a smartphone app, and park it wherever that's legal and still in the service area.

It's different than ZipCar, which only offers hour flat rates, and you have to reserve select spaces, whereas Car2Go you can park the cars wherever you want.


BMW offers a similar service (offering the i3, 3er and several MINI models) for a similar rate as the CLA and GLA, but there's an annual registration fee of around $45. Car2Go only had a one-time fee, and when I signed up, they waived that fee for me to get new customers in the Columbus area.






The Cars themselves


Fortwo



- The most notable thing is that these models have power steering. My roommate's 2009 Passion Cabrio doesn't have power steering.

- The infotainment system has GPS and a Car2go specific HUD and GUI - it's got driving tips and It'll warn you if you're driving too fast or aggressively, threatening to terminate your membership.

- Because it's a typical Smart car, it's got shitty brakes, a horribly firm ride, bad steering, and scary handling and freeway manners.

- Because it's so god-awfully slow, you'll be ALWAYS driving aggressively if you try and take it on the freeway.

- There have been improvements to the single-clutch AMT - it's less terrible here than my roommates's 2009 Cabrio.



CLA

- I kinda liked this car. With a manual trans, I'd consider buying one.

- Base price is very expensive for what you get (like 35K, as tested).

- Ride and handling is OK.

- Rear seat room is tight.

- Infotainment sucks ass. It's not very responsive, looks old, and more importantly, isn't as integrated into the car2go experience as the Fortwo is. The controls are typical MB, and it feels like they just jammed a few things into the car to make it a "car2go" and it doesn't feel tailor-made to the point-to-point rental experience.



GLA

- This car has the exact same interior as the CLA, so same shit infotainment and too high price.

- Ride is stiff and jittery.



All and all, it's not a bad value. IF you rent for an hour, it drops to about $19 an hour, and if you do an entire day it drops to $59 a day - and this happens automatically.

[shp4man]

They have these ridiculous little vehicles here.


Didn't realize you can just leave them in any legal parking spot?

[2o6]

They have these ridiculous little vehicles here.


Didn't realize you can just leave them in any legal parking spot?

Yep! The fact they pay for parking is the appeal.

[Laconian]

It's a pretty slick service. I can definitely see the appeal - if you're OK without a car 95% of the time, this scratches the 5% itch with very little cost or inconvenience.

[93JC]

Car2Go is a point-to-point car rental service that's run by Daimler. Thus, the cars are MB group cars. In Columbus, we have the new-generation Smart Fortwos, but looks like the rest of the country are stuck with the Old Fortwos. Canadian users also get the B-class for use if you need more space (usually at a more expensive rate of $0.10 more a minute). US users get the CLA and GLA as options for use if you need a bigger car. (Columbus OH market only has the Fortwo, no big car options)

FYI the B-classes were retired from Car2Go's Canadian fleets earlier this year. They're being replaced with CLAs and GLAs, but so far they've only rolled them out in Vancouver and Toronto; Calgary and Montreal will reportedly get them later this summer.

- Because it's so god-awfully slow, you'll be ALWAYS driving aggressively if you try and take it on the freeway.

- There have been improvements to the single-clutch AMT - it's less terrible here than my roommates's 2009 Cabrio.

The new ones have the 0.9 L turbo with 90 hp and a six-speed dual-clutch, compared to the old ones' naturally-aspirated 1.0 L with a five-speed single-clutch. The new ones are noticeably more powerful and quicker; I've had no problem with them on a freeway. The old ones require flooring it sometimes to get up to speed, but once they're up to speed they're okay. They do get pushed around in the wind worse than the new ones, and sometimes passing manoeuvres require a downshift whereas the new ones won't.

I got used to driving the old ones in manual mode; they're considerably better if you treat it like a manual that just happens to not have a clutch. They're not quick-shifting but they're tolerable that way. The new ones are much better in 'automatic' mode, but first is far too short and the first-to-second shift is rough (same problems with the B-class's seven-speed).

My thoughts on the new Smarts: https://www.carspin.club/index.php?topic=11274.msg2240031#msg2240031

Another thing I'd give kudos to Daimler for improving: build quality. I don't like the design of the interiors of the new ones, but they're finished better than the old ones. The old ones were especially rattly.


EDIT:

- The infotainment system has GPS and a Car2go specific HUD and GUI - it's got driving tips and It'll warn you if you're driving too fast or aggressively, threatening to terminate your membership.

Hwat? never seen an HUD in a Smart, and how crazy do you have to be to get the car to "theaten to terminate your membership"?!

[2o6]

...what's the point

https://jalopnik.com/the-smart-car-is-getting-phased-out-of-car2go-in-americ-1820414890

[93JC]

I figured Car2Go was taking up the bulk of Smart deliveries in North America anyway; at least, sales in Canada are atrocious. They've gone from a couple hundred a month to only 277 YTD this year. At this point I don't see why you'd even bother selling them in states/provinces that don't have generous government incentives. An electric-drive Smart is about $30,000 in Alberta with no incentives: why in the hell would anyone buy one at that price? People will just go buy a Leaf, or a Bolt, or a Volt, or a Prius... Honestly, they might as well just kill the brand.

[giant_mtb]

I feel like Smart could have been so much more. But they're too expensive for what they are.  Their goal should have been more Tata Nano-ish.

[12,000 RPM]

It's a pretty slick service. I can definitely see the appeal - if you're OK without a car 95% of the time, this scratches the 5% itch with very little cost or inconvenience.

I wonder if they have this in NYC. We would have been alllllll over this. My god, a rental car for $60/day. I'm shaking. The prices have to vary by region.

[giant_mtb]

I wonder if they have this in NYC. We would have been alllllll over this. My god, a rental car for $60/day. I'm shaking. The prices have to vary by region.

https://www.car2go.com/US/en/new-york-city/

$59 for 6 hours & 120 miles, $89 for a full day & 150 miles.

[12,000 RPM]

Oh well. 4 years too late

[Laconian]

For a full day rental, going with a regular company like Budget or Avis is much less expensive

[giant_mtb]

For a full day rental, going with a regular company like Budget or Avis is much less expensive

But the convenience isn't quite there, it seems.

[12,000 RPM]

For a full day rental, going with a regular company like Budget or Avis is much less expensive

Not in NYC.... daily compact from Budget is $133/day before all the fees. About what I remembered. A little too much for a Costco run

[Laconian]

Watttt

[12,000 RPM]

Surprisingly, that's not much more than it was when I left, though that doesn't include taxes and all that. But yea, I'd bet $90 of that is for parking.

[2o6]

In other news, Car2Go is pulling out of Columbus, effective next week.

[93JC]

Any reason given? I saw on the news (more specifically the little TV in the elevator at the office...) that they're pulling out of Toronto effective the end of the month because the municipal government passed some new car-sharing parking bylaw that made it financially infeasible to continue.

[2o6]

Any reason given? I saw on the news (more specifically the little TV in the elevator at the office...) that they're pulling out of Toronto effective the end of the month because the municipal government passed some new car-sharing parking bylaw that made it financially infeasible to continue.

They say usage is too low, but I feel like the Gen 2 Smarts are ending their life cycle not think they dont  think ridership and cost of maintenance for the CLA and GLA are too high.


I have noticed that the cars themselves have been looking extra ratty recently. A lot of people are irritated.

[12,000 RPM]

I feel like you need a car to survive in Columbus. Who is the market for this there?

[93JC]

I'm also pretty curious what's going to happen when they finally weed the Smart Fortwos out of the fleet here. Calgary went as far as creating special Car2Go Smart-specific parking spots downtown, but there will come a time—soon—when they don't have any Smarts left in their fleet.

As I said earlier in this thread: making the Smart Fortwo electric-only in North America is dumb, and they might as well just shut the brand down on this continent now. Final sales for 2017 calendar year were only 368 units in Canada, down from over 1800 the year before, about half of the previous all-time low of 716 sales in 2015, and well off the peak sales of over 4,000 units in 2005. I would wager a very large percentage of 2016 sales were from Smart to Car2Go, one Daimler subsidiary to another; it didn't take long for the old Fortwos here to be replaced entirely with the new ones by early 2017...

[veeman]

Columbus doesn't seem to be the right kind of city for this.  It costs $160 a month to park your own car in downtown. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/03/27/how-downtown-parking-prices-compare-with-the-40.amp.html

[2o6]

A lot of people used it, and we're one of the fastest growing cities in the US. Loads of midrises etc popping up.


I used it a little when I was too lazy to walk home from class.



You def neeed a car in Columbus. But people try it anyway.

[Raza]

They still make Smart cars?