[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by black_rider

Yes, tablet is not offered anymore. But a torch sure is.

Also some places are offering Key Less Entry(KLE), while some have reverted to manual filling of checklist. People manning Brigade Metropolis outlet said that KLE will be removed soon, as they want to update every customer about car details, in person, before he/she starts driving it.

I would maybe like a small little tour of the car before I start driving, on request. What the buttons do, how to do the basics, etc.. Not everyone has driven every brand of car after all.

I don't have experience with too many cars. But when I drove the XUV, I struggled to figure out how to slot it into reverse. I eventually had to Google for it to figure it out.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

I would maybe like a small little tour of the car before I start driving, on request. What the buttons do, how to do the basics, etc.. Not everyone has driven every brand of car after all.

I don't have experience with too many cars. But when I drove the XUV, I struggled to figure out how to slot it into reverse. I eventually had to Google for it to figure it out.

Hahaha stuff like this happens I realised only on the last day of my booking that the Figo had keyless entry remote. The buttons were hard and hence I hadn't realised this until I studied the key in detail.

Zoomcar is currently short of manpower which is causing some issues. This results in more confusions during pick and drop. Even I realised that the tablet was missing after driving the Scorpio for a distance and immediately called them to inform them of the same. On a my recent figo booking, that too in Pune, there was an executive present who helped us with checklist and he entered it manually on his booklet also with complete details along with signatures. In contrast, I haven't signed in a single place in my Scorpio booking. Apart from their online records, they have no evidence on paper that I have driven the car.

[fiat_tarun]

I used Zoom-Car for the first time in Pune recently. Hired the CLA for about 10 hours and drove to Mahabaleshwar. Hassle free experience - picked the car up from Adlabs, Kalyani Nagar.

I got there at the booked time, there was a Zoom representative who prepared the manual checklist, etc. and asked me if I had driven a Merc before and needed any brief. I have driven the A Class & the CLA earlier, so I knew my way around (one needs to get used to the gear selector on the steering stalk). They have the Diesel CLA's (style variants if i'm right) and the car I got had done about 15k km and was in a good condition. The drive was good, although I felt the diesel was a little noisy. My previous CLA experience was in the petrol (not Zoom) and I definitely enjoyed the petrol more.

Returned the car in time and the return process was also fairly fuss free. An XUV 500 returned just before me was billed Rs.300 for a car wash as the car was quite dirty inside and there was an argument going on ! The deposit balance was refunded after adjusting for the extra km that same night and it took about 2 days for the money to reach my account with the withdraw option that Citrus uses.

Overall a good experience and I will definitely use Zoom again . Oh yes, the USB charging cable that Zoom provided wasn't working which was the only downer.

The CLA I got did not have any Zoom branding. Noticed the other CLA parked at the pickup had the zoom url sticker on the rear windshield.

[kiku007]

Is there any speed limit on the CLA? If yes, how much?

The Chennai Zoomcar GLA I saw had no branding on the doors; but just the website URL sticker in the rear windshield. Strangely the number plates were silver colour with black fonts. It was a TN-22 brown GLA.

[fiat_tarun]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Is there any speed limit on the CLA? If yes, how much?

The Chennai Zoomcar GLA I saw had no branding on the doors; but just the website URL sticker in the rear windshield. Strangely the number plates were silver colour with black fonts. It was a TN-22 brown GLA.

It is 125 kmph and if it's crossed you are billed Rs.500 ! It was raining all through and there was quite a bit of weekend traffic, so I cruising at around 120 only. I had a blast up the ghats though . The CLA handles really well.

This speed limit fine I think applies only once - so I guess if someone really want to go faster they can pay Rs.500 and exceed this limit !

[PADAS]

Originally Posted by fiat_tarun

It is 125 kmph and if it's crossed you are billed Rs.500 ! It was raining all through and there was quite a bit of weekend traffic, so I cruising at around 120 only. I had a blast up the ghats though . The CLA handles really well.

That's interesting. Do they have this speed limit thing for all their cars? And how do they track it? Using some GPS device ?

As an alternative, they could put a speed governor kind of device on their cars which will not allow people to go beyond the set speed limits instead of the penalty.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by fiat_tarun

.

This speed limit fine I think applies only once - so I guess if someone really want to go faster they can pay Rs.500 and exceed this limit !

Fine applies once, but three times means your membership will be terminated. Hence Rs. 500 doesn't give you a license to speed.

Installing a speed governor will mean greater tampering of the vehicles circuit compared to installing a tracker. Hence is this system.

[kiku007]

That's a dampener. Nevertheless considering the sheer lack of options something is better than nothing

How about the speed limit for other cars? Does it differ?

[ashwin.terminat]

From the horse's mouth:

Overspeeding >= 125 km/hr
₹500 over and above other fines that may have been levied
Expulsion from Zoomcar if overspeeding occurs in two bookings

Overspeeding >= 150 km/h
Expulsion from Zoomcar

Originally Posted by kiku007

That's a dampener. Nevertheless considering the sheer lack of options something is better than nothing

How about the speed limit for other cars? Does it differ?

I think not. I think the speed limits are across all cars.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by PADAS

That's interesting. Do they have this speed limit thing for all their cars? And how do they track it? Using some GPS device ?

As an alternative, they could put a speed governor kind of device on their cars which will not allow people to go beyond the set speed limits instead of the penalty.

I am familiar with at least part of the technology involved here.

Insurance companies in the USA, Europe and Japan have successfully marketed Telematics devices to their customers. And it is expected that telematics will penetrate these markets 100% in a few years.

I took one such device from Progressive Corp here in the US for my SUV. This device looks like a pen-drive and is plugged in to the OBD II port which all modern cars have.

Progressive gave me a 30% discount on my premium by monitoring the following:
1) Hard-braking (i.e., the rate of deceleration exceeding a threshold)
2) Time of the day when driven (12 midnight to 4AM means high risk)
3) Number of miles driven (low usage = low risk)
4) Speeds driven (monitored but not used in premium revisions)

Progressive even provided a monthly report to me showing a detailed report of when I drove, for how many miles, at what speeds (along with a speed-graph of each trip), the number of hard-brakes per 100 miles etc. It was mind-boggling! I am planning to write a review of Progressive's telematics offering on TBHP very soon.

State Farm insurance company in the USA is now adding one more parameter with its telematics devices - lateral G forces. So if you're the kind of driver that turns hard such that the passengers' heads rock side to side, they will jack up the premiums.

How it works:

The telematics devices read a lot of information via the OBD port and they contain a SIM card that relays information via a cellular provider's towers. A few insurers in the USA have tied up with Verizon for this purpose.

Not all telematics devices work with a plugged-in device on the OBD port though. Some insurers in the USA also plant a blackbox somewhere in the engine bay, since the former device can be tampered with.

It could be that Zoomcar has a similar blackbox planted in their cars. Or if anyone sees a pen-drive like device planted in the OBD port, please let us all know, for curiosity's sake.

[PADAS]

On what basis do they keep the 125 kmph as the limit? It's definitely not the "legal" speed limits on any of our highways or toll roads. So it's not about any notice/challan they might get from the authorities. Else they would have kept it based on the roads' speed limits. (It can get complex though).

So what's the concern here? Passenger safety ? Or any wear and tear damage to vehicle ?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by PADAS

On what basis do they keep the 125 kmph as the limit? It's definitely not the "legal" speed limits on any of our highways or toll roads. So it's not about any notice/challan they might get from the authorities. Else they would have kept it based on the roads' speed limits. (It can get complex though).

So what's the concern here? Passenger safety ? Or any wear and tear damage to vehicle ?

I guess they seem to have set this on their own logic. Either ways, in all my bookings so far, I haven't felt the need for a higher speed limit. Maybe the luxury cars might tempt to go faster, but I guess with the smaller cars it shouldn't be an issue. IIRC it was 115kmph before when they started their services.

Sometime back a few guys ended up totalling a Zoomcar XUV 500 on NICE road due to overspeeding and loss of control. The vehicle threw itself all over the road and was mangled. Maybe as per Zoomcars management less than 125 is considered safe? Not sure.

I noticed that there was no GPS antenna in the car dashboard. Is this hidden somewhere? AFAIK it should be line of sight with the satellite so the antenna must be exposed somewhere. The only wierd thing I have ever found was a keyhole inside the glovebox of the scorpio with a key. Didnt meddle with it since I was worried the car would lock or something.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Maybe as per Zoomcars management less than 125 is considered safe? Not sure.

I noticed that there was no GPS antenna in the car dashboard. Is this hidden somewhere? AFAIK it should be line of sight with the satellite so the antenna must be exposed somewhere.

Even in the US, with its wide open interstate roads, the speed limits top out at 65 - 75 mph (i.e., 104 - 121 kmph). Only Texas has a stretch which allows 80 mph (i.e., 128 kmph) I think.

There is no way in Indian conditions, such speeds (120 kmph +) can be considered safe. You just can't predict the unknowns in India - stray animals, people, vehicles, bullock carts etc that can jut in at any time, vehicles broken down randomly on the road, mad drivers, road-damage etc.

And about the GPS - as I had stated in a prior post, I suspect that Zoomcar utilizes technology similar to the one used by Insurers globally. All they need is a device (fitted somewhere directly in the engine-bay, or, to the OBD port) that can do two things:
1) Read data from the car's computer, and,
2) Relay it via a SIM card

Line of sight is not an issue at all with such technology, neither would they need a satellite. All they need is to tie up with a telecom provider to whom they would pay a fixed rate per MB of data relayed. In the USA for instance, an insurance customer who subscribes to a telematics device generates between 100 - 150 MB of data annually.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by locusjag

And about the GPS - as I had stated in a prior post, I suspect that Zoomcar utilizes technology similar to the one used by Insurers globally. All they need is a device (fitted somewhere directly in the engine-bay, or, to the OBD port) that can do two things:
1) Read data from the car's computer, and,
2) Relay it via a SIM card

Line of sight is not an issue at all with such technology, neither would they need a satellite. All they need is to tie up with a telecom provider to whom they would pay a fixed rate per MB of data relayed. In the USA for instance, an insurance customer who subscribes to a telematics device generates between 100 - 150 MB of data annually.

They not only track speed but also the location of the vehicle. Hence, GPS is a must. Moreover, they can lock, unlock and can immobilise the vehicle from a remote location if required. Hence this is not the usual OBD based device as you claim. It has to be a much more sophisticated setup. Moreover they have superb backend setup. Imagine having to send an SMS to a centralised number and the car allocated to you will unlock. This is not similar to a GPS based security system which will have a number for each car and you can command it via text messages. Overall their system is pretty advanced and it is just that they are currently short of manpower which is causing a few issues here and there.

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by floyd

My recent experience with Zoomcar:-

Originally Posted by audioholic

[b]Part 2 of the ordeal:

Guys - A quick Question on the Scorpios that you took for hire. Was it a 7 seater or 8 seater? If it was a 7 seater, was it front facing or side facing?

I am planning to hire a scorpio for ferrying 6 people. The person sitting in the last row would feel uncomfortable on long drives that we have planned.