The Chainlink

zipcar or igo?

Now that I no longer own a car, I was wondering if anyone had any insight on which service they prefer to use. Prices and locations seem similar.

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Permalink Reply by Liz on February 28, 2011 at 9:49am
What about enterprise truck rental or uhaul?  Both of those companies have insurance you can purchase with the rental. 

H3N3 said:

Menards has a truck for rent and the nice thing about it is they rent it by the hour instead of all day.

 

Never fails-- someone who has no experience living car free jumps in right at this point and posts that you can rent a truck from _________ building center.

You can not rent a truck from Menard's or Home Depot unless you already have auto insurance.

Been through this over and over.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on February 28, 2011 at 9:52am

I've rented from Menards.  I do understand the requirement.  It's not actually used as "insurance" to cover you while you are renting the vehicle -it's just a hurdle to keep the riff-raff out who shouldn't be driving one of their trucks.

 

It's a pretty simple CYA ploy to limit their exposure to poor driving.  A current license is meaningless. Anyone can get one of those -even someone with 184 drunk-driving offenses can get a license back eventually.  But someone who can't get insurance is someone I wouldn't want to rent to...

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on February 28, 2011 at 10:41am

Actually Elite would be my first choice for a truck for a big move or something else that would justify dropping $100--they've been very good to deal with in the past-- but for the occasional uses I have the cost coupled with the inconvenience of getting the truck and getting it back doesn't make sense.

Appreciate the advice but I was really just trying to put a bug out there for anyone who has also seen the need to be part of a truck/van share-- familiar with the other options for renting a truck.

Liz said:

What about enterprise truck rental or uhaul?  Both of those companies have insurance you can purchase with the rental. 

H3N3 said:

Menards has a truck for rent and the nice thing about it is they rent it by the hour instead of all day.

 

Never fails-- someone who has no experience living car free jumps in right at this point and posts that you can rent a truck from _________ building center.

You can not rent a truck from Menard's or Home Depot unless you already have auto insurance.

Been through this over and over.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on February 28, 2011 at 11:26am

ASSumptions...

 

I have lived car free.  And yes, I've rented a truck from menards with only a voucher from my insurance agent saying I do have auto coverage.  You can buy it for a single day from a good agent or a year's worth of umbrella insurance that will cover you driving any vehicle from a skateboard to a hot air balloon.  It's  not very expensive and will also cover you or rental cars or driving a friend's vehicle who lends one to you.  

 

IMHO, someone driving around without insurance is foolish -even if you don't own a car.

Permalink Reply by Liz on February 28, 2011 at 12:13pm

I know Uhaul and Enterprise offer pick up trucks and vans, I'm not sure if Elite offers anything other than full trucks.

Permalink Reply by igz on February 28, 2011 at 12:32pm
Generally, you cant rent from an airport proper without boarding passes. dont know why, but thats that happened to me when i tried to take advantage of a super deal. it was a no go.

Duppie said:

Renting at an airport is always a bad idea. Airports in general are more expensive, since politicians have figured out that business and tourist travelers don't vote. So you can levy taxes on them with impunity.

 

I you can avoid the busy times, and you can plan ahead, you can get great deals with neighborhood rental places. When I did the math, it always worked in car rental places favor.



Michele Beaulieux said:

If I took the train to O'Hare a rental might be cheaper

Permalink Reply by Liz on February 28, 2011 at 5:35pm
I've rented from airports before without any boarding pass.  It was the best deal on a week long rental for a road trip.  Also got a good deal on a one-way rental for ragbrai (rented one way to the start town and one way from the end town) by using O'Hare as the pick up/drop off

iggi said:
Generally, you cant rent from an airport proper without boarding passes. dont know why, but thats that happened to me when i tried to take advantage of a super deal. it was a no go.

Duppie said:

Renting at an airport is always a bad idea. Airports in general are more expensive, since politicians have figured out that business and tourist travelers don't vote. So you can levy taxes on them with impunity.

 

I you can avoid the busy times, and you can plan ahead, you can get great deals with neighborhood rental places. When I did the math, it always worked in car rental places favor.



Michele Beaulieux said:

If I took the train to O'Hare a rental might be cheaper

Permalink Reply by yaj 7.4 on February 28, 2011 at 7:36pm

I've been a Zip Car member for years.  I use it once a month or so for major shopping trips (please don't give me advice about how to haul 40lbs of dog food on my bike!).  There are zip cars all over Chicago and the US, so I can zip in DC too.

 

I-Go is the non-profit, but it has many less cars.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on February 28, 2011 at 8:37pm
In the past I rented from airport locations regularly without boarding passes. I've never once encountered the situation you describe.

iggi said:
Generally, you cant rent from an airport proper without boarding passes. dont know why, but thats that happened to me when i tried to take advantage of a super deal. it was a no go.

Duppie said:

Renting at an airport is always a bad idea. Airports in general are more expensive, since politicians have figured out that business and tourist travelers don't vote. So you can levy taxes on them with impunity.

 

I you can avoid the busy times, and you can plan ahead, you can get great deals with neighborhood rental places. When I did the math, it always worked in car rental places favor.



Michele Beaulieux said:

If I took the train to O'Hare a rental might be cheaper

Permalink Reply by Annette on March 14, 2011 at 12:20pm

Just a heads up for those interested in joining a car sharing service: today's Groupon is for an I-GO membership and $30 worth of driving credits (a really good deal that would normally total $105). http://www.groupon.com/deals/i-go-chicago

 

I work for the non-profit that founded I-GO - the Center for Neighborhood Technology - so I am partial but I will say that I-GO is a mission-based organization - it's local, committed to a 100% low-emissions fleet (future plans include going all-electric), committed to being in as many neighborhoods as possible (ZipCar simply cannot do that as a profit-driven org) and it's actually cheaper on most plans.

 

Just a plug ;) Happy riding!

Permalink Reply by Joe Sak on March 14, 2011 at 2:09pm

iGo is in partnership with the CTA and has gaudy, sometimes uneven & poorly affixed bumper stickers all over them.

 

Zipcar is who I have, and their advertising is minimal plus NONE on the nice cars (BMW, etc)

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on April 14, 2011 at 5:15pm

I just got this email from IGO:

 

Spring has sprung, and I-GO cars are sprouting all over town. We're adding ten new vehicles to the fleet this week!

Meet the new kids on your block:
  • 7138 N Sheridan Rd.: 2011 gray Nissan Sentra sedan, vehicle ID# 4465
  • 5516 N. Clark St. (Jewel parking lot): 2011 gray Nissan Versa hatchback, vehicle ID# 4507 (second car at this location)
  • 3531 N. Broadway (Jewel parking lot): 2011 black Nissan Cube utility, vehicle ID# 4457 & 2011 gray Nissan Sentra sedan, vehicle ID# 4611
  • 2940 N. Ashland Ave. (Jewel parking lot): 2011 red Nissan Sentra sedan, vehicle ID# 4581
  • 4540 N. Campbell Ave. (Waters Elementary School parking lot): 2011 gray Nissan Versa hatchback, vehicle ID# 4461
  • 3053 W. Montrose Ave.: 2011 black Nissan Versa hatchback, vehicle ID# 4474 (second car at this location)
  • 2293 N. Milwaukee Ave.: 2011 black Nissan Versa hatchback, vehicle ID# 4491 (third car at this location)
  • 2036 W. North Ave.: 2011 red Nissan Sentra sedan, vehicle ID# 4565 (third car at this location)
  • 3263 S. Halsted St.: 2011 red Nissan Sentra sedan, vehicle ID# 4603

A bicycle built for a view

I-GO will again provide support-and-gear cars for Bike the Drive, the Active Transportation Alliance's awe-inspiring annual fundraiser, on May 29, when thousands of cyclists take over a blissfully car-free Lake Shore Drive for an entire Sunday morning. I-GO members get $5 off registration at www.bikethedrive.org with code IGO5. That'll snag you a T-shirt and access to rest stops and the post-ride fest, where ATA will dish out breakfast and live entertainment.

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