The Chainlink

Zip Car vs. I-Go

Sorry, yet another car thread.

From time to time I need use of a small pickup truck (like today would be really nice) for rehabbing and landscaping needs.

Looks like Zip-car has a pickup at Milwaukee/Western/Armitage, and I-Go at Chicago and Damen, which are roughly equidistant.

My main question-- there are very few of this type of vehicle available from either agency, and it's really the only reason I would sign up-- are the vehicles you want generally available when you need them? Or are there frequent times when everything is checked out?

Also-- Yelp has a few reviews suggesting the I-Go experience has really tanked over the last year-- have people found this?

Thanks.

(And please no obligatory mention of the trucks at Home Depot or Menard's-- you can't use them unless you currently have car insurance.)

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Permalink Reply by Leah Jone on April 15, 2012 at 3:58pm

I've had I-Go for a few months and love it. For trucks, you need advance planning, but I'm always able to find a vehicle SOMEWHERE in the city when I need it. Then I ride my bike to the parking spot, get the car, do my shopping and my bike is waiting for me when I return.

For weekend truck or SUV usage, just book by thursday and you're probably fine.

Permalink Reply by jennifer james on April 15, 2012 at 4:13pm

A nice thing about I-go is that it was created locally. Zip car is from New England and moved out here to compete with I-Go.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on April 15, 2012 at 4:15pm

I've used I-Go for several years now.  My experience has not changed significantly in the last year.  I wonder if the complaints are more specific to issues with specific locations or neighborhoods.  

We only have one location here in Beverly, and we're about to get a second.  Because demand has been up in recent months, I've sometimes found that the car is unavailable when I need it.  Once we get the new location, I'm guessing that will be a less frequent problem.  I occasionally use I-Go in other neighborhoods, and I've rarely had trouble getting a car when I've needed one.  Sometimes I'm reserving a few days in advance.  At other times, it's a spur of the moment trip (reserving within 1 hour of needed time) or I'm reserving on the night before.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on April 15, 2012 at 5:10pm

I-go only has two trucks in the city-- for a long long time they refused to acknowledge that a pickup truck might be useful to some people.  One of them is merely inconvenient, and the other is so far away as to be out of the question. Zip Car has about 8, with two in the "merely inconvenient" category.

Sounds like I-Go is a no-go then, thanks.


Leah Jone said:

I've had I-Go for a few months and love it. For trucks, you need advance planning, but I'm always able to find a vehicle SOMEWHERE in the city when I need it. Then I ride my bike to the parking spot, get the car, do my shopping and my bike is waiting for me when I return.

For weekend truck or SUV usage, just book by thursday and you're probably fine.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on April 15, 2012 at 5:13pm

Yes, I-Go was a project of the Center for Neighborhood Technology.

Philosophically, all other things being equal, that might tip the scales-- although both are guilty of using marketing tactics that put down transit and bicycling instead of playing up non-car ownership.

And from what I've read, at the risk of sounding like a right-winger, it sounds like the NFP model falls down in terms of being able to manage the program in comparison to the commercial enterprise.

jennifer james said:

A nice thing about I-go is that it was created locally. Zip car is from New England and moved out here to compete with I-Go.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on April 15, 2012 at 5:18pm

I-Go:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/i-go-car-sharing-chicago-2?sort_by=date_desc

Zip Car:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/zipcar-chicago?sort_by=date_desc

For whatever reason it seems particularly important to read the reviews in the case of car sharing rather than look at overall ratings, as a lot of the negatives seem to be freaking out over fairly minor problems.

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on April 15, 2012 at 5:42pm

Here is a related discussion from last year.

I use both.  It's awesome we have two companies to chose from which means a lot more options and availability.

I've used Zipcar for real estate appointments if I'm driving with a buyer since they have audis, mini coopers and other higher end cars.

The IGO car seems to be available more often than the Zipcar in my neighborhood.

Zipcar is a bit more automated when I call in (it recognizes my cell phone).  

Both have easy to navigate websites.

All in all, I think it's a matter of what you will use it for and which is closer to your house or work, etc. 

When I sold my car I immediately joined both.  It's pretty inexpensive to join either and I like having options, especially when its a last minute reservation.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on April 15, 2012 at 5:56pm

Any chance someone who currently uses Zip Car could take a look at this one and let me know how booked up it is say, for the next few evenings between 7 and 10?  Or next Saturday starting around 8 A.M?

http://www.zipcar.com/chicago/car-profile?vehicle_id=330482220&...

Also, if I reserve a specific vehicle, and it's not there, can I just switch to the one that is there?

Permalink Reply by Jared on April 15, 2012 at 6:10pm

I use Igo and always book the night before and am almost always able to reserve the car I want.  I might have reserved a car once and not been able to find it.  Had to call in and let them book a diferent car for me.

h' said:

Any chance someone who currently uses Zip Car could take a look at this one and let me know how booked up it is say, for the next few evenings between 7 and 10?  Or next Saturday starting around 8 A.M?

http://www.zipcar.com/chicago/car-profile?vehicle_id=330482220&...

Also, if I reserve a specific vehicle, and it's not there, can I just switch to the one that is there?

Permalink Reply by Gort 12-mile Pinklegneep on April 15, 2012 at 6:22pm

I'd take yelp with a grain of salt seeing as they had a class action lawsuit regarding bumping up negative reviews of businesses that don't buy their advertising. 

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on April 15, 2012 at 6:31pm

H':

That truck, the "Taylaphonic" is available the next 3 evenings for $13/hour or $95/day.  Ditto for Saturday morning, but the price jumps to $13.75/hr or $103/day.  (Now this is on my account plan, so your pricing may differ slightly depending on your arrangement with Zipcar.)  Also, the booking for any car share is extremely fluid, so the availability I see now may disappear in minutes if others suddenly decide to book it.  But I'm guessing that the trucks are the least popular vehicles in their fleet, so you shouldn't have too much problem finding something.  There are other Toyota Tacomas at slightly cheaper prices at Milwaukee/Medill (Fullerton), Belmont/Greenview & Sheridan south of Irving Park.

Permalink Reply by Ace Mann on April 15, 2012 at 8:58pm
You might want to check out Relayrides.com They are kinda like IGO & Zip, but they use regular peoples cars. Don't know if they have trucks.

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