[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by bejoy

I was hoping to park my car at their premises and take the vehicle onward the journey. I am not so sure about Concorde, Dairy Circle to have any dedicated parking, but looks like their hotel locations have dedicated slots.

Has anyone got any experience leaving our car in their parking for many days?

No I did not park my car there. Took my dad along in the morning to pick up the car. While returning I went alone and returned home by Auto.

I am not sure if they will allow us to park our car inside Concorde motors for a long period of time. TO be honest I did not even ask.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by deoelect

This was in your personal car or a Vento you rented through Zoom? So is this a manufacturer specific installation and problem? The Zoom guys made it sound like THEY installed that bracket in the car. I'm confused.

Its called the Lock Carrier. It costs 3.7K including labour. Not sure if in your case they put something costlier to save this thing

[athanedar]

Attention BHPian's around Pune :

I had booked a Ford Ecosport for Oct 2nd and 3rd. However my plan is getting canceled and I am canceling the booking today.
If anyone need to book let me know. I will cancel the booking and very next minute you can book from zoom car website so that you get the car. I will wait till 5:00 pm today for cancellation.
PM me.

P.S: the only intention of this post is for benefit of BHPian since zoom cars are in short supply in pune and its a coveted long weekend. There is no money transaction involved with me. You directly book with zoom after I cancel.

[bejoy]

I rented an XUV for 9 days from Novotel, Bellandur and took it to Kerala.
Some updates:

• It was a month old vehicle with 7.7k on the ODO. The service alert was already on. Wonder how they manage the service schedule.
• The charger/usb cable was not working.
• The phone with 3G data connection was a boon.. Used it extensively. Had to enable data roaming in the phone.
• The windshield washer tank was empty!
• Interiors were not so clean. (It seems the vehicle was returned a few hours before)
• Entry tax for Kerala (1 week, minimum option) is Rs. 150. Payment took 10 mins and got a printed receipt.
• Entry tax for TN (1 week, minimum option) is Rs. 520. Payment took 20 mins and it was handwritten receipt.
• Got flagged down by cops at Calicut, Kerala for 'invalid number plates'. The Yellow on Black is not well known in this part and I had a tough time convincing the cops.
• While returning, the RTO staff at Pollachi checkpost also questioned about the number plate.
• I parked my car at Novotel for the entire duration, and found it safe and sound though covered in dust.
  

[jesrani]

Originally Posted by deoelect

Took a Zoom car to travel Bangalore-Coorg-Bangalore the last weekend. I had booked it for 10am and the zoom representative was ready at the airport by 0945. For airport pickups, they drive you to Devanahalli(next to McDonalds) where they have a vehicle yard. The Vento I hired was a basic variant with ~47k on the odo. The vehicle was equipped with reverse parking sensors, 3G tablet, first aid kit, umbrella and multi-pin mobile charger. The executive explained about all the documents present in the car and speed limit to be followed. The sour point of the experience was when they talked about the ground clearance of the vehicle. They had attached a weird contraption inside the front bumper(sorry didn't take a pic) and asked me to to be very careful over bumps and breakers. In case the vehicle is hit and the contraption breaks, the damage to be paid is 4800. I was told that this is applicable only to the Vento! Not that I'd jump over any breakers but Zoom should clearly mention this on their website prior to the booking. I'd have gone for another car!
Did not have any other option so went ahead with the vehicle. I also took a bumper-to-bumper video of the car just to be on the safe side. Was extra cautious while driving as the not-so-good Coorg roads didn't help either. Some of the stretches(specially inside Coorg) had literally no roads and I was crawling over them with the extra sensitive vehicle I was driving. Owning a pretty low GC car myself(pre-facelift Punto) helped and the drive was smooth with the car not taking any contraption-altering hit. Personally, I felt that the Vento had a decent clearance and the situation wasn't as bad as the Zoom guys made it out to be. The return process was smooth and my money was refunded in a day. Overall a very good experience and definitely recommended. Word of advice- Please stay away from the Vento unless you absolutely need it !

We are 2 couples planning to fly to Bangalore from Mumbai and go to Coorg for 4 nights in December. I was just checking Zoom reviews and found this post. Can you tell me the time it took for you to reach Coorg and whether it is worth to self drive or better to take taxi for pickup and drop. We are planning to stay at Club Mahindra in Madikeri and maybe would need a taxi in Coorg. Any advice appreciated.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by jesrani

We are 2 couples planning to fly to Bangalore from Mumbai and go to Coorg for 4 nights in December. I was just checking Zoom reviews and found this post. Can you tell me the time it took for you to reach Coorg and whether it is worth to self drive or better to take taxi for pickup and drop. We are planning to stay at Club Mahindra in Madikeri and maybe would need a taxi in Coorg. Any advice appreciated.

If you leave around 6 am, it will take you around 5 Hours. Anything later and you need an extra hour. Self drive is worth it if you want to wander around Coorg

Roads are pretty decent.

[jesrani]

Originally Posted by ajmat

If you leave around 6 am, it will take you around 5 Hours. Anything later and you need an extra hour. Self drive is worth it if you want to wander around Coorg

Roads are pretty decent.

I did not understand the daily limit of zoom cars. Distance to Coorg is about 300kms and Zoom says daily limit is 250kms. For say 5 full days would the limit by 1250kms total or if I cover more than 250kms on day one, I have to pay for that. I will be covering more only on 1st and 5th day but otherwise will be well within total. Do they track daily usage?

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by jesrani

I did not understand the daily limit of zoom cars. Distance to Coorg is about 300kms and Zoom says daily limit is 250kms. For say 5 full days would the limit by 1250kms total or if I cover more than 250kms on day one, I have to pay for that. I will be covering more only on 1st and 5th day but otherwise will be well within total. Do they track daily usage?

The limit is cumulative, i.e. if you hire for 5 days you have 1250 kms at your disposal for the entire period, any additional kms will be charged at the rate applicable for the class of the vehicle.

If you are planning to only drive to Coorg and back and stay put there, then you will barely be using the kms you are paying for and it wont be as VFM as it could be. Drive around Coorg as Ajmat suggests, more scenery to take in, more kms clocked and you get your money's worth

Do check the air pressure in the tyres, I have found them to be overfilled on all occasions and drive safe

[jesrani]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

The limit is cumulative, i.e. if you hire for 5 days you have 1250 kms at your disposal for the entire period, any additional kms will be charged at the rate applicable for the class of the vehicle.

If you are planning to only drive to Coorg and back and stay put there, then you will barely be using the kms you are paying for and it wont be as VFM as it could be. Drive around Coorg as Ajmat suggests, more scenery to take in, more kms clocked and you get your money's worth

Do check the air pressure in the tyres, I have found them to be overfilled on all occasions and drive safe

Thanks for the information.
What are the areas around Coorg worth visiting?

[deoelect]

Originally Posted by jesrani

We are 2 couples planning to fly to Bangalore from Mumbai and go to Coorg for 4 nights in December.

Hi jesrani,
I was there for 3 nights and switched hotels once as I love hotel-hopping I prefer driving myself as I find renting a taxi and the related responsibilities(arranging the driver's bed/bath/meals) quite irritating. This, coupled with 'Love to drive' was a major reason behind opting for self drive.
Personally, didn't roam around much and just went to Abbey falls. The visit takes around 3 hours max as you cant 'get in' the falls. They have a viewing area there. Asked some locals and they informed that other tourist attractions are some temples in the Madikeri city. Didn't visit those. I was told that that there are some attractions nearby Coorg. However, the weather during our visit was so good that roaming the hotel property and the leisure activities/pools took up most of our day. (I stayed at Club Mahindra Madikeri too).
Drive from B'lore depends on the route you take. If you can figure out how to avoid the Bangalore city traffic, I'd suggest you to stick to the Mysore road. While going towards Coorg, I took the Doddaballapura-Nelamangala-Kunigal-CR Patna-Holenasirpur-Arkalgud-Somwarpet -Madikeri route as suggested by some BHPians. The route was quite average overall with some very bad stretches. Started at 1030am and reached around 645pm! Hardly took any major breaks. The road goes through lot of villages(except a good highway stretch near CRpatna) and so no major signboards anywhere and no good places to eat. I took a couple of wrong turns too. The route is very scenic towards the end but was in a hurry as was off my target by couple hours.

Talked with a lot of B'lore guys in Coorg and asked them about the return route. Almost everybody suggested the Mysore road. Started at 7am and reached Zoom center at ~1pm. Took breaks at CCD and KFC in between.The road is quite good overall but has a lot of well-marked speed breakers. However, I'd suggest this road because of clear milestones, good places to eat/washroom options and decent road quality. If you are planing to reach b'lore in the noon as I did, traffic in b'lore also wouldn't be much of an issue.

[rakesh_r]

I have rented a safari for a one day visit to mahabaleshwar. This would be my first experience with zoom as well as driving an SUV for a long distance. The main reason of hiring a self driven car is because I didn't want to damage my car by driving through the Pune -satara highway which I think is the worst part of the Golden quadrilateral. The road has become from bad to all time worst. Somewhere I heard you should not take the Ignition keys out of the car.Is it true,if yes how can I lock the car?

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Somewhere I heard you should not take the Ignition keys out of the car.Is it true,if yes how can I lock the car?

Who told you that? Of course you can lock the car, and make sure you do!!

The Safari key I that got was more like a scooter key. It did not have any remote key fob and we had to lock it manually.

[Equus]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Who told you that? Of course you can lock the car, and make sure you do!!

The Safari key I that got was more like a scooter key. It did not have any remote key fob and we had to lock it manually.

Yes indeed - pls do lock it and take the key along with you. Also the tab needs to be securely placed!

Kms are cumulative across the trip - I drove to Pune from BLR and drove like 900 *2 kms in a two days. But was there for a week

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Somewhere I heard you should not take the Ignition keys out of the car.Is it true,if yes how can I lock the car?

I too had read about the same in their website, that you should leave the keys inside and lock the car using some SMS command. Not sure what it is all about, but I had always locked using the key fob.

Here is a snip from their membership agreement:

6.1 Each time the member parks a Zoom Vehicle (either at the end of the reservation or during), the member is responsible for securing the vehicle.

a. Windows must be closed and The central locking system must be enabled using the smart phone app or the SMS command). If the car is outside of cell phone range, and the car cannot be locked through the phone command system, the user must remove the key and lock the car manually. Member will be responsible for any fees or charges associated with a failure to perform these steps.

[nikhil_d1106]

Rented a Ford Figo from Zoom for my recent trip to Coorg starting from the Bangalore Airport. Took the Mysore route on both the to and from journey. On my way to Coorg encountered a lot of traffic being the Dusserra holidays and it took me ~7hrs to reach my destination. On my way back started early to beat the Sunday rush to Bangalore and catch a 5pm flight back home. Reached the zoom centre without any obstacle in less than six hours. Drove extensively in Coorg too and enjoyed every bit of the ride thus exceeding my limit of 800kms (did 850 kms). The transaction at the zoom centre was extremely smooth and no hassles with the car too. The Figo had about 60k on the odo and was nice to drive. I received the deposit refund and the refueling adjusted for the extra kms in about 3 working days. Overall a very good experience.