Zipperific

Ever since we sold our car to the nice folks at CarMax a couple of weeks ago, we have been rejoicing on a daily basis that we no longer owe a large sum of money to the apartment management for parking garage fees each month. Without putting an exact number on it, let's just say we can now afford to eat at Five Guys about 15 more times each month!

Not owning a car, however, does pose some problems from time to time. For instance, I thoroughly enjoy paying one person in excess of $50 to tell me what is wrong with an object, and then a few months later, paying a second person in excess of $50 to tell me what is really wrong with that same object. Without a car, I'll be forced to find another way to throw my money away.

Sarcasm aside, an actual problem with not owning a car is how to get somewhere that is not next to a Metro subway or bus stop. For example, when one lives in DC and wants to take a ski trip to Virginia, the automobile is a good solution. We looked around for the closest vehicle we could legally get our hands on, and it turned out to be parked right in front of our building. We discovered Zipcar.

Having heard about them a few years back in Seattle, and learned much more since moving to DC, we had actually been planning this transition from ownership to rental for awhile. The details are available on their website, but basically, it works like this:

1. Apply for membership (Zipcar checks your driving history for major problems)
2. If approved, your Zipcard is mailed to you
3. Set up account on the Zipcar website
4. Make a reservation on the website for any available Zipcar in the United States (well, in a few major cities at least)
5. Use Zipcard to get in car when reservation starts, and make sure the car is back in its designated parking place when your reservation ends

The brilliant part? You never have to interact with a human being. Unlike normal rental car companies (Enterprise, Hertz, Thrifty, etc), you don't have to go to a local office, fill out any paperwork, or have a rep try to hustle you into "upgrading" or buying the extra insurance. You just walk up to the car, wave your Zipcard at the sensor under the corner of the windshield, and it magically knows that you, and only you, are allowed to unlock it with your Zipcard.

After factoring in insurance and gas costs (both are included in the up-front Zipcar reservation fees), the daily or hourly cost is just as good, if not better than, a lot of typical rental shop deals. And did I mention you don't have to interact with anyone to reserve a car? I really like that part. The XM radio is a nice extra as well.

So here we are, in Charlottesville, VA, having arrived safely in our chosen Zipcar for the weekend, a Ford Escape named Ethel (another difference from typical rental car places: all Zipcars have names). She has been a good steed thus far, and it's nice knowing she'll be ready to take us on another ride when we want to venture outside the reaches of the DC Metro. Of course, Bert, a Scion xB parked near the Georgetown Law School campus, looks pretty tempting...