Carsharing: Why I Sold My Personal Car

In 2012, I thought about my car standing in front of the office all day. At the same time, I found myself in a situation where I had to take the metro because of traffic jams, but I wanted to go back by car. Each of us has discovered car sharing in our heads, and today it is already happening to us. I will tell you how I completely switched from personal to "shared" personal transport.

Although I haven't worked in an office for over 5 years, the integration of car sharing (by the way, is this word already in the dictionary?) into my daily life is extremely pleasing. There are obvious advantages for me, due to which selling my car and switching to car sharing turned out to be extremely simple:

1. Within one day I can combine personal and public transport;
2. Dynamic pricing allows you to reach your destination sometimes for less than the cost of the gasoline you spend;
3. Every day I can choose and try new brands of cars;
4. The general use of one car within a metropolis is a real benefit and my contribution to the environment;
5. Save time on washing, cleaning and maintenance.

Answering the question of the title, for the lazy reader I will say that the advantages themselves are enough for me to decide and sell the family car, but the attentive reader will exclaim, but there are also disadvantages! Yes, you are right, especially for St. Petersburg summer residents there are disadvantages - this is a long-term lease, and blocking for speeding I will tell about this in the chapter, but for now

Which carsharing should you choose as a permanent one?

Despite the fact that I am registered in Yandex.Drive and You.Drive, Delimobil is the one I use most often, and this probably means that it is the most democratic way of transportation for me.

You.Drive

The very first car sharing service I registered for was in 2016. At that time, I used it in parallel with my personal car. I already like how the Russian company creates conditions in which city residents and the city itself receive certain profits. I understood that car sharing is the future of megacities, which I wanted to be involved in. The number of cars was not yet sufficient, but in the city center you could already feel the influence of the service on our lives in a positive way. I am such a scrupulous client, but the deal with Mail.ru Group was rather negative for me, and the only positive thing was my joy for Golikov. I almost never use You.drive, although it is worth noting that they seem to be the first to launch car refueling with their internal Pump service, it's a miracle!

Yandex.Drive

The second car sharing service was Yandex.Drive since the launch of the service by Yandex, I tried premium cars, I felt how the service successfully “sells” loyalty to new brands that I did not plan to consider for purchase, but I began to consider mine for sale.

The quality of Yandex.Drive service has risen to a new level: the car's main system is connected to Yandex services, favorite radio stations are integrated, a map with the points "Home" and "Work", warming up the car before boarding, renting to the address, thereby fixing and saving on the cost of the trip - Yandex.Drive was the first to integrate all this and became an innovator in a sense. Including renting small trucks, for example, for moving, this is very convenient, which only Yandex.Drive offers. The cost is relatively higher than other companies, although the service provided, in my opinion, is just as much higher. By the way, I am subscribed to Yandex.Plus.

Delimobil

The statistics do not include the first years of use, but after selling my car on Delimobil I drove more than 10,000 minutes and made more than 300 trips, which may not seem like much to you, but remember that I live in another country, so I use the service less than just city residents. Delimobil has a wider coverage area for parking, there are monthly subscriptions that allow you to save on the cost of the trip. For example, when they first launched this feature, the cost of a minute without a subscription was on average 8 rubles, and with a subscription 5 rubles per minute, including premium cars such as new BMWs and Mercedes-Benz.

Belkacar is represented only in Moscow, so I will not include my short experience of using it in this article.

Disadvantages of using car sharing

Since I live in St. Petersburg, the dacha story cannot pass me by. If in the city to move around the center I can use the comfort of a car for only 200 rubles and get to the right place, transport food, and avoid the discomfort associated with precipitation, long-distance trains are not economical.

Long trips

For example, a trip to the dacha for a day is at least 3,000 rubles, plus I get a bunch of precautions, firstly, you need to properly monitor the cleanliness of the car, I don’t want someone to use a dirty car after me, or for me to get a fine for a scratch in the luggage compartment, for example. Secondly, “a day” in the company’s tariff and for me within the framework of a trip to the dacha do not correspond to each other. You need to leave in the morning and return in the morning, leave in the evening and have already paid until the evening, so I would suggest revising the tariff grid for companies in this sense. Although I evaluate what risks the service is already taking for the sake of clients, but I do not demand, I just hint. For now, the dacha is not profitable.

Thus, you can completely forget about long trips to Finland, for example. A trip to a ski resort is also not very convenient, you can leave by car and at the end of the evening be left without a means of transportation.

Fines

My friends know that I drive faster than the rules allow. I don't know if you can take my side on this issue, but I will explain why I don't think the company has the right to decide for me how fast I can drive.

I understand the companies' concern, they don't want to repair cars, so drivers need to move in such a way as to avoid accidents, then we can talk about a mutually beneficial service. It seems that timely payment of fines should already cover the caution of car sharing companies in this matter. But in fact, we are faced with a more complex problem: the correspondence of driving skills and objective driving indicators - speed of movement.

Who can argue that speeding entails increased risks, but let's remember ourselves on the escalator in the subway, tell me is it a violation to walk up the stairs? Yes, it is. Do you stand or walk up the escalator? I walk, and not because I want to break the rules, but because I move at my own pace. I have never fallen on an escalator, just as I have never been in an accident. You are right if you say that there are other risks in a car, but my message is that the concern about fines from companies is unnecessary and should be the responsibility of drivers.

Car sharing clients must take responsibility and drive "as if in their own" car and pay for all their violations, including expenses caused by accidents, in full and on time. Car sharing should not be engaged in begging for money for punctures of inattentive drivers. Such behavior of the driver "I paid" entails tightening the rules of all users of the service, against a possible softening of them in the direction of convenience. Drivers simply forget to monitor the cleanliness of the car, and the comfort of the next driver. Also, young drivers should not drive carsharing, because they do not have their own car, carsharing is not a toy. A car is a means of transportation of increased danger. The driver must understand that he is responsible not only for himself, but also for the lives of others. These aspects should be in the area of responsibility of drivers and car sharing clients, and not companies. A simple rule: the puncture of one client spreads to all drivers, nothing goes without a trace.

I encountered a situation when a company called me and informed me that they welcomed careful driving, I was blocked for a day for speeding, but I paid all fines on time and did not get into an accident.

Conclusion

Car sharing should not solve all my problems, but for the client, the listed aspects are decisive in making a decision to sell a personal car, which, as we understand, is in the hands of car sharing.

The main reason for selling is that I live in another country.

If you are reading the article in my blog you know for sure that for the last five years I have been living in China (read in another country) it is obvious that in such a situation the car will be idle for 90% time, because I am in Russia only a few months a year. From the point of view of optimizing family expenses, idle time is not profitable:

• the car needs to be serviced more often,
• the value of equipment falls (see depreciation),
• One seasonal tire change can be a hassle.

  And now I can go with traffic jams on the metro or the train, and return home by car at night. I can choose the class of car depending on the life situation.

Thus, for those who really love mobility and the combination of public and personal transport, who live most of their lives in different cities or countries, who think about the environmental situation and want to be involved in improving it, I advise you to consider the possibility of selling your personal car and switching to car sharing.

Why did I decide to write about this?

I had an incident when, for some unknown reason, I got a flat tire. And so spectacularly, for the first time in my life. (See photo) Obviously, I ran into something without noticing it. We all understand that this can happen to anyone, but what should a company do in such a case? Who should bear the losses?

I duly reported to the company, admitted that I did everything myself. The polite support service listened to me and wished me a good day. The end of the story is that they didn’t ask me for anything for the wheel. I didn’t spend any time or money on the replacement. Then I realized that I need to be more careful than even with my personal car and do more, not less, for example, wash the mats or clean the dirt in the interior. Just silently do it for my karma.

I want to draw the attention of users and drivers to what a good thing carsharing companies bring to our lives. Next time we get behind the wheel, let's realize that everything that is done and not done will not go unnoticed.

About me

Officially behind the wheel since 18 years. Worked in restaurant delivery in St. Petersburg while a student. Traveled a lot in Europe: St. Petersburg-Scandinavia-St. Petersburg, Germany, Spain, Italy, St. Petersburg-Czech Republic-St. Petersburg and a little in the USA: California from South to North, Nevada, New York. Truck: St. Petersburg-Moscow-St. Petersburg and a limousine in conditions of increased danger off-road and other equipment. In total, I drove more than 300,000, as well as 15,000 on a motorcycle alone traveling around RussiaI don't have a personal car now.