[vinitbhavi]

Originally Posted by a*ed

ZoomCar have increased the tariff of their fleet. I remember renting a GLA for 240 per hour in July. Whereas, now they are charging 280 per hour.

What city is this. Most of these guys from any portal / service always start out at lower prices to attract potential customers and gradually increase prices once a foothold is achieved in a particular sector. How was the drive in the GLA and the car condition in general.

[audioholic]

I was wondering how they could price swift at 95/hr while figo was 80/hr. Now they have done justice

All these days it was either cheap or not so expensive. Now it looks to be a tad high.

@grace
The e2o looks available to me throughout next week in JP Nagar when I randomly checked. Not sure why it isn't available to you.

[createrkid]

Booked my first zoomcar(Ecosport) for a trip to ooty with my family for 2 days. This is going to be my first experience. Any advice will gladly be accepted.

[vinitbhavi]

Originally Posted by createrkid

Booked my first zoomcar(Ecosport) for a trip to ooty with my family for 2 days. This is going to be my first experience. Any advice will gladly be accepted.

Firstly here's hoping you have a great drive and a wonderful time with your family. Here are somethings you can keep in mind.
-Try to complete the deposit payment (5000/-) well in advance and not till the end. It has to be done a minimum of 24 hrs before the date/time.
-Take a quick PDI of sorts of the vehicle and point out any scratches and /or dents you see to the executive.
-Make sure what you have brought to his attention is in writing on the initial form and not verbal.
-The executive may also point out some shortcomings in the vehicle and any non functional equipment (mine were the fog lamps). Make sure this too is written down.
-Carefully note the km/time at start and if possible get a picture of the same(just for your reference). This maybe done also when returning the vehicle.

Do post your experience and pictures of the ooty drive /stay.
Cheers.

[hserus]

And goes without saying - check the accelerator / brake / clutch / steering / gear throw, take it for a short spin around the zoom parking lot at least. Many of the vehicles are rather heavily abused - and while they undergo routine maintenance you still do have to watch out a bit.

[Eddy]

Do check the spare tyre and see if the toolbox has all the necessary tools.

[girimajiananth]

Originally Posted by createrkid

Booked my first zoomcar(Ecosport) for a trip to ooty with my family for 2 days. This is going to be my first experience. Any advice will gladly be accepted.

Better to keep some ford service stations contact details handy. A fellow team bhpian had booked a scorpio and faced a breakdown . He has shared his experiences somewhere in this thread. Do go through it and you will get a brief idea.

[super.cars]

This 250KMs per day limit, is it strictly restricted to one day ?

For example, i book a car for 2 days with total 500 KMs free. Can i travel 400 KMs on day one and 100 KMs on the second day and count 500 KMs in total for two days ?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by super.cars

This 250KMs per day limit, is it strictly restricted to one day ?

For example, i book a car for 2 days with total 500 KMs free. Can i travel 400 KMs on day one and 100 KMs on the second day and count 500 KMs in total for two days ?

Yes you can do that. As long as you do not cross the 480kms over the 2 days. You can do 480kms in one day and park teh car second day. No issues.

[suresh_gs]

OT:

Is it not a good idea to book the vehicle from the tours operator rather than hiring a vehicle (say zoom cars). One will probably never know to what extent the vehicle has been abused.
If we use the taxi vehicle, the driving and maintenance part will be taken care by the driver.
Or may be we can hire a driver for our personal vehicle to go on tours.

Experts, your comments please.

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

OT:

Is it not a good idea to book the vehicle from the tours operator rather than hiring a vehicle (say zoom cars). One will probably never know to what extent the vehicle has been abused.
If we use the taxi vehicle, the driving and maintenance part will be taken care by the driver.
Or may be we can hire a driver for our personal vehicle to go on tours.

Experts, your comments please.

Okay, I am not an expert but my 2 cents here-

The whole idea of Zoomcars or other similar firms is to cater the luxury of 'Self-driving' across all cities where a customer might not have any contacts to get a CAR to DRIVE.
The point raised might apply to the ones who consider driving a burden unlike folks down here or I assume, atleast.

So hiring a driver would just be party spoiler for Bhpians!

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

OT:

Is it not a good idea to book the vehicle from the tours operator rather than hiring a vehicle (say zoom cars). One will probably never know to what extent the vehicle has been abused.
If we use the taxi vehicle, the driving and maintenance part will be taken care by the driver.
Or may be we can hire a driver for our personal vehicle to go on tours.

Experts, your comments please.

Indeed some of the cars do come with issues and are abused pretty badly. But even a taxi can break down and leave you stranded on the road anytime.

Personally, why I preferred Zoomcars on many occasions were:
1. First and foremost I love driving and that is never a problem for me.
2. Choice of car - I couldnt have booked a scorpio as a taxi as they are rare and the only option are MUVs. The resort we stayed had a screwed up approach and the last one km was very narrow and bad. So the innova driver might have refused to take the car there and we would have had to use some other transport everytime. Also, we had an exciting experience of taking the car to jeep-only roads where an innova wouldnt have dared to go.

3. Price structure - We pay by the hour instead of hiring a taxi and having to pay up for a minimum of 250-300kms a day whether or not we make use of it. Here, at least I make use of the total distance allotted over the whole trip.

4. Entertaining the driver - Is an issue for me. Firstly there is a privacy issue, and secondly, he will be an extra person wherever we go. I sympathise with drivers and suppose he tags along with us, I will let him have lunch at the same place we will have, and arrange accomodation for him. However some people dont do so much and just tell him to have lunch somewhere paying little cash. I dont have the heart to do it. Hence, I will avoid driver completely.

5. Price structure continued - In my last trip to Pune, I booked a Zoomcar figo for 2 days, 12hrs or so. Hence I had roughly got around 600kms to use, not exact. Suppose I had to take a taxi, I would have to pay him driver Bata for three days, and a minimum of 750kms for three days and cover up his food and accomodation too. The trip was for around 560kms only. Hence, the money was well worth it in Zoomcar.

6. Hiring a BMW or a mercedes Taxi is no fun for me, unless I get to drive it.

In addition, I dont have to request driver to leave engine running with AC, drive faster or slower, and other comforts.

Hence, as long as they maintain some amount of quality, its always Zoomcar for me.

To sum it up, it depends upon where, as a person, you would want to be - The front seat or the back seat

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

OT:

Is it not a good idea to book the vehicle from the tours operator rather than hiring a vehicle (say zoom cars). One will probably never know to what extent the vehicle has been abused.
If we use the taxi vehicle, the driving and maintenance part will be taken care by the driver.
Or may be we can hire a driver for our personal vehicle to go on tours.

Experts, your comments please.

Well, for me the only reason I will take the self drive against the chauffeur driven Taxis is that I do not have to depend on the driving skills of the driver. A driver's life is a hard life and by driving all day, they kind of get complacent.

I am almost always worried whenever I am in a chauffeur driven car. So if there is an option, I would always choose the self driven car.

Regarding the maintenance of the car, please do not assume the taxis are beautifully maintained. You will be surprised to see so many driving around in bald tyres. They would not think twice before taking these bald tyres to the highways.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by audioholic

. Choice of car - I couldnt have booked a scorpio as a taxi as they are rare and the only option are MUVs. The resort we stayed had a screwed up approach and the last one km was very narrow and bad. So the innova driver might have refused to take the car there and we would have had to use some other transport everytime. Also, we had an exciting experience of taking the car to jeep-only roads where an innova wouldnt have dared to go.

Which sort of explains why zoomcars are sometimes so horrible to drive - people tend to abuse them rather more than they abuse their own cars.

Hertz has a clear cut policy - you can drive these only on regular roads. Taking the vehicle offroad invalidates your contract with them and has heavy penalties.

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/misc/...utoRentFAQ.xml

Can't I travel on unsealed roads?
We aren't saying that you can't travel on unsealed roads, just that they're much riskier than sealed roads. So, if you can't avoid unsealed roads, slow right down and take extreme care. (A higher non-reducible liability applies if there's any loss/damage/accidents on an unsealed road).

Are there any places we can't take our vehicle?
The vehicle is permitted to be used on made roads only. It's prohibited to use the vehicle off road, such as cross country, bush tracks or on beaches. If you ignore this prohibition you'll be liable for ALL damage to the vehicle and will not be provided with a replacement vehicle.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by hserus

Which sort of explains why zoomcars are sometimes so horrible to drive - people tend to abuse them rather more than they abuse their own cars.

Hertz has a clear cut policy - you can drive these only on regular roads. Taking the vehicle offroad invalidates your contract with them and has heavy penalties.

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/misc/...utoRentFAQ.xml

How will they decide whether the car has been driven on well paved roads or bad roads? Difficult in India since the said road we took was a part of google maps. The Scorpio took the roads without fuss and when we reached the resort, we found a Zoomcar figo, which was a surprise to us. Here is a link to the video

http://youtu.be/QNOtW7vE8NA

Hertz can't enforce this rule in India since its very difficult to judge the whereabouts of a car, and moreover such roads are common here. The only way they can take advantage is in case the car breaks down off the road. Then they can make the customer responsible.

Moreover this is nothing like abuse for a Scorpio. The way the car takes on such roads without having to be pushed is just brilliant.