[Marlon]

All,

I just came across the concept of Peer to Peer Car Rental. Looks interesting. T-Bhpians with international exposure can throw more light on it.

Peer-to-peer car rental - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Searched for a similar concept in India. I found a website with 1 car in mumbai listed for rental.

Maharashtra : Standard : I want to give my car on rent

Question: How does it work in India considering the legal & insurance laws are not strong ?

Mods Suggestion : I have seen other thread where fellow Bhpians look for car rental from our members when on vacation or visit other places.
May be we can think of opening a section ( like classifieds ) , where fellow Bhpians can list and share the car for a nominal charge. This would be strictly for members.

[arvind71181]

Is this allowed? Shouldn't the self hire vehicles have a yellow number plate with black numerals? What I can think of is that if someone takes a vehicle for rent from another individual owner, then he will probably get a letter of authorization and say that it is his friend's or something. That is one way to circumvent the issue of not running with taxi number plates.

Do let me know if I am wrong and cars can be hired from any individual car owner with just an agreement between the two of them.

[highway_star]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Is this allowed? Shouldn't the self hire vehicles have a yellow number plate with black numerals? What I can think of is that if someone takes a vehicle for rent from another individual owner, then he will probably get a letter of authorization and say that it is his friend's or something. That is one way to circumvent the issue of not running with taxi number plates.

Do let me know if I am wrong and cars can be hired from any individual car owner with just an agreement between the two of them.

This is not allowed. Private vehicles cannot be legally given for hire.

In Goa there are some local operators who give private bikes for hire. They instruct clients that if stopped by the police, they should say that it is a friend's bike. (I have seen this some years ago)

You do not need a letter of authorization to drive a friend's vehicle.

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Is this allowed? Shouldn't the self hire vehicles have a yellow number plate with black numerals?

I think the self hire vehicles sport black plates will yellow numerals. As far as I know, giving a personal vehicle for financial consideration is illegal. If it is found in accident, the insurance will not honor the claim.

[Marlon]

I know a friend of mine who rents out his car to a travel agency when he is not in town. How many times we have seen 'White Board' luxury vehicles been hired as bride or grooms car for wedding functions.
Regarding peer to peer sharing, I agree there could be legal road blocks but it is a concept that will grow.

[GTO]

Nice concept, but seemingly impractical for India.

1. BHPians (and other's who love their cars) won't give their rides for rent. We love our cars way too much to run the risk of a 3rd party abusing it.

2. It's ILLEGAL! Technically, you cannot give a privately-owned car on rent.

3. Risk : What if someone totals your car? Worse, what if the customer runs away with it? Good luck trying to minimise your losses. Or worse still, fighting it out for years in the court. What if someone borrows your car, and replaces the perfectly-working aircon compressor with a defective one?

In my opinion, this business is best left to the professionals (the like of Avis as well as the smaller players).

[SmartCat]

NYTimes.com article on lending cars to strangers for cash
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/te...h-renters.html

SUPPOSE you don’t need your car today. And suppose, as it happens, that a stranger in your area does need a car. Would you be willing to rent yours out?

Several car-sharing start-ups, including Getaround, RelayRides and JustShareIt, are eager to connect car owners with renters this way. The companies use different formulas, but participating owners receive, generally speaking, about two-thirds of the rental proceeds. RelayRides says an owner of a midsize, late-model sedan who rents out a car for 10 hours a week could expect to clear about $3,000 a year.

The hourly fee to rent a car, including insurance, averages $6 to $8. Older cars can run as little as $3 an hour. Fancier models can run much higher — Getaround says it has Tesla Roadsters that go for $50 to $75 an hour.

[dhanushs]

You have my answer in your poll: I love my car too much. So a big NO. I bet most of the replies here would be the same.

But then, I might borrow it from a stranger.

That said, a similar practice is very popular in Kerala, where NRI's borrow their friends/relatives cars. While giving it back, if cash payment is not an option (too close relationship), they usually spend a bit on the car. Like do a complete service, change bald tyres, install a good 'videsi' music system etc.

Even renting cars to strangers are popular down here. They charge by the day and in some cases even on per week/month basis. IIRC, an Innova goes for ~1500 bucks a day.

[mayankjha1806]

I answered the big NO to the question above. Cars are way too personal and any damage/repair to the original will never make it come back to the original (close to original but never original). Also is not used with care the damage will apparently not show up immediately and might show up after few months/years, hence its too risky to rent a personal car.

If i am ever in need of money, i would consider selling it rather then renting it.

[Nikhilb2008]

No way! I dont like my dad's driver driving the car, so letting a stranger driving it is out of the question.

[devarshi84]

Those who get Muscle cars have no respect for them. And Those who worship them only get pocket rockets. Sigh!!

A big no!!

[SmartCat]

I know the poll results won't be surprising, but how different is giving away an apartment for rent vs giving away a car for rent?

I see a huge amount of risk in giving away a Rs. 40 Lac apartment/ house for rent too -

- The tenant could be a terrorist staying in the apartment.
- The tenant might refuse to pay rent and grab the property. If you want your house back, be ready to drop in by the court for the next 10 years.
- The tenant might ruin the property during his stay.

The NYTimes article mentions that car sharing websites use technology to prevent misuse of the car (to some extent).

Anyway, there's another thread on the same topic here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...l-sharing.html

and it looks like unless the laws are changed, car sharing for money cannot take off in India.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by smartcat

...how different is giving away an apartment for rent vs giving away a car for rent?

I see a huge amount of risk in giving away a Rs. 40 Lac apartment/ house for rent too -

- The tenant could be a terrorist staying in the apartment.
- The tenant might refuse to pay rent and grab the property. If you want your house back, be ready to drop in by the court for the next 10 years.
- The tenant might ruin the property during his stay.

The NYTimes article mentions that car sharing websites use technology to prevent misuse of the car (to some extent).
...unless the laws are changed, car sharing for money cannot take off...

LOL, smartcat, renting out an apartment is so different from renting out a car.

• One can't crash my apartment under a truck;
• One can't run away with my apartment;
• One can't change or damage vital components in my apartment that would cost me almost as much as the apartment itself to replace / repair (unless one is a professional wrecker of course!)
• Can damage nothing much that a few thousand bucks won't fix - which I can deduct from one's security deposit;
• One's movable valuables are kept in my immovable property, and one doesn't want me to throw them (and the person) out on the road one night - so one would keep me happy by taking good care of my apartment; but one couldn't care less if one was not allowed access to my car AFTER the damage is done;
• One can always get under the dashboard and tamper with my tracking device - there would be enough unscrupulous mechanics willing to help there!
• Cops would be more interested to recover my apartment from suspected terrorists and property grabbers because they have easy access to the disputed property - if the car needs police help to recover, and it's been driven off to Nepal, who am I going to complain to?

Edit: I would not rent out my car, not because I love it too much, but because I would like to preempt the occurrence of unnecessary loss, headaches and problems in my otherwise smooth and tension-free life just to make a small profit!

[akshay4587]

No ways.
If I am in need of money,I would rather find out a different way to earn more money rather renting out my love

[mgh]

I know someone, who bought a qualis and rented it out when he did not need it (which was most of the time as he used his bike most of the time). He has now quit his earlier business, and is full time in the taxi business, with a fleet of cars!
So don't knock it till you have tried it! Seriously, I wouldn't rent my car either.