[reignofchaos]

Instead of booking from carzonrent, you can book directly from the Hertz international website. In that case, they don't block your card for the 30000 rupees. Been there, done that. Hertz is serviced in India by carzonrent.

[veyron_head]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

If you come to Bangalore. Don't look further than Zoom. Their setup is much better than the myles setup.

Even more efficient and 11 pickup points. Major difference is Zoom includes fuel whereas myles is unlimited kms but you pay for fuel. Zoom doesn't charge additional till 225kms/day.

After the experience in Delhi, I booked an Innova in Jaipur for a family trip from Myles.

Zoom could be a good option to drive within the city. But if you want to take their cars out of town, there is a 200km upper cap on the daily mileage, which is plain ridiculous when you driving to another state/city. I was wanting to rent their car to do a bangalore-chennai trip but was put off with this 200 km limit on driving.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by GTO

.........


In recent time, the only black background + yellow font plates I've seen have been on rides used by 5 star hotels. EPCG imports, perhaps?

The Zoom fleet in Bangalore seems to have yellow-on-black plates, at least the numerous Figos (and some Ventos) I've seen.

Zoom does seem to favor blue cars, which is just as well because both the Ford and VW blue shades are lookers

[zulfi hansi]

One major difference I could see between the two; Speed limits, while Carzonrent mandates speed limits fixed by Law, whereas Zoomcar mandates their own set of rules for it. This becomes an issue when the car is driven outstation on very good highways where you might easily trip over 115 kms/hr which is a limit set by Zoom.

Otherwise cost difference is not much if you drive up 250 kms/day (considering week days discounts of Zoom, on weekends (no discounts) may be it does not make sense.

Or even the choice of cars could also tilt in from whom you want to hire.
All this makes sense if you live in Bangalore that is.

[arjithin]

Idea of handing over the car to a person at airport is scary to me. How did you recognize that he is the right person? Did he give any receipts confirming the possession of the car with time/mileage documented?

I would rather drop the car at an office and then request a drop to airport !!!

[GetLife]

How does one ensure Tank-full difference being charged appropriately by the provider ? (I read earlier GTO just dropped off the car and asked the Carzonrent to bill him)
Also, what's the lead time to get your security deposit amount un-blocked on the credit card ?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Idea of handing over the car to a person at airport is scary to me. How did you recognize that he is the right person? Did he give any receipts confirming the possession of the car with time/mileage documented?

I would rather drop the car at an office and then request a drop to airport !!!

We coordinated with their office. They gave the guys's mobile number and name. When he came to the car we checked his ID card which had his photo and mentioned that he was part of airport staff carzonrent vendor.

Originally Posted by GetLife

How does one ensure Tank-full difference being charged appropriately by the provider ? (I read earlier GTO just dropped off the car and asked the Carzonrent to bill him)
Also, what's the lead time to get your security deposit amount un-blocked on the credit card ?

Well you have 2 options. Return the car with a full tank which is what they give you the car with or let them tank up and charge the amount. If you go with second option, obviously either you trust them or accept that there will be a few hundred rupees difference. It depends on convenience. We didn't want to search around for a bunk to top up one bar that had gone down.

[Recompose]

Originally Posted by GetLife

How does one ensure Tank-full difference being charged appropriately by the provider?

What if one hires the car and switches the parts and accessories?

I suppose this business runs primarily on trust. Negative reviews hurt a lot more than a few hundred bucks of diesel.

[slamnos]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

+1 to Zoom

My friend took Zoom car (ford figo) recently for few days and was very happy with the decision. Now a days I spot Zoom cars regularly in Ecity area.

+1 more to Zoom cars, really appreciate their model over Carz-on-Rent

Originally Posted by GTO

If you want to rent for a full day (or 2 - 3 days), Carzonrent is cheaper (Vento from Zoom = 3000 vs 1,800 for Carzonrent). I understand the fuel is included with Zoom, but few people will be using Rs. 1,200 bucks of diesel in a single day (we didn't in 3 days!!).

If I don't need the space, much rather pick a Carzonrent Swift @ 1,300 / day than Zoom's Figo for 2,500 bucks.

Yes I do agree that you pay more in Zoom as the fuel is included, it works cost effectively when you are taking it on highways/use more kms per day.

And unlike Carz-on-Rent you dont need to block huge amount in your credit card, in Zoom you pay for only what you use.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

While Carzonrent is cheaper in certain circumstances, the deposit amount blocked by Carzonrent is quite steep.

They already have full insurance for their cars, thus a large deposit is unnecessary IMHO.

I guess this is one of the ways in which they filter out customers they rent cars out to.

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Instead of booking from carzonrent, you can book directly from the Hertz international website. In that case, they don't block your card for the 30000 rupees. Been there, done that. Hertz is serviced in India by carzonrent.

Sweet tip, thanks!

Originally Posted by zulfi hansi

Otherwise cost difference is not much if you drive up 250 kms/day (considering week days discounts of Zoom, on weekends (no discounts) may be it does not make sense.

For a full day rental, Zoom makes sense only if you're going to drive those 200 kms (since cost of fuel is included). Carzonrent is cheaper if your driving is lower, and the same price if it's 200+ kms.

Originally Posted by arjithin

Idea of handing over the car to a person at airport is scary to me.

In addition to what Vid posted, there's a reason I clicked his picture

Originally Posted by GetLife

How does one ensure Tank-full difference being charged appropriately by the provider ? (I read earlier GTO just dropped off the car and asked the Carzonrent to bill him)

Agreed. It's definitely wiser to fill it up yourself before handing the car back.

Originally Posted by Recompose

What if one hires the car and switches the parts and accessories?

Unfortunately, this is one of the biggest concerns of self-drive car agencies. The instance of fraud is very high and there have been reported cases where car owners have swapped a defective part of their own car with a functional one from a rental. Whether we like it or not, am pretty sure there is some kind of profiling these companies do to keep their cars away from thieves & fraudsters.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by scarecrow

@GTO - Had a query

Since its a yellow plate car, what docs / proof does the car have in case we are stopped by police for security checks?

Originally Posted by prkiran

Exactly my thoughts. Isn't it supposed to be yellow on black plates for self-drive rental cars?

Originally Posted by GTO

At the time of taking the Etios, I was given a rundown on the documents located in the glovebox. One of them had specific instructions "Use this if the police pull you over for driving a cab". Sorry, but I didn't take a picture of that document. We drove around Delhi & Noida. The Auto Expo venue was full of traffic cops, yet we weren't pulled over anywhere.

Considering that Carzonrent is investing 400 crores in their self-drive business, I'm pretty sure they've gotten the legalities worked out.
In recent time, the only black background + yellow font plates I've seen have been on rides used by 5 star hotels. EPCG imports, perhaps?

I am not sure what that document was but would be very interested to know. If you could probably email them to seek the info, (and share this review as well), maybe they would provide more details?

Why do I ask? You need a "commercial vehicle license" for driving a yellow board car. For self drives you get black plate with yellow letters. I checked with quite a few players about a year back - and all of them confirmed this. A few local unorganised players were even renting out white board vehicles. But, never came across yellow board car.

I opted out of the self drive idea eventually since I was travelling across 4 states.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Dunno about the other cities (wrt all cars being available), but in Goa the options are huge! Right from smaller & larger hatchbacks (Santro, Beat, i10, Swift, etc) to sedans (Dzire, City, Sonata, etc) to S/MUVs (Innova, Xylo, Tavera and even a Thar!).

The Thar (Crde) comes at a nice 2500 per day tag, and the pick-up location is extremely close to the railway station. These guys seem to expect a lot of business from Goa for sure

Just goes to show their market research. Goa has a lot of competition . And thus a lot of opportunity as well. They have chosen the markets wisely.


Seems they also have 'fuel included' plans with restrictions on kms.

1Hour - 25 Kms rate (extra km @) -
Fortuner Rs.599 (25)
Endeavour Rs.529 (20)
Innova Rs.399 (10)
XUV-500 Rs.399 (15)
SUNNY/Vento Rs.329 (10)
Ertiga Rs.319 (8)
Etios Rs.299 (8)
Polo/Swift Rs.249 (8)

**VAT 12.5% is extra.

[reignofchaos]

Regarding yellow vs black board, the Baleno I had rented from carzonrent in Calcutta in 2010 was a black board one. Surprised that the Delhi ones are yellow board.

[moralfibre]

Great review GTO. Self drive rentals are slowly catching up in India and I am glad it is getting affordable.

Originally Posted by scarecrow

Since its a yellow plate car, what docs / proof does the car have in case we are stopped by police for security checks?

Originally Posted by prkiran

Exactly my thoughts. Isn't it supposed to be yellow on black plates for self-drive rental cars?

Originally Posted by GTO

One of them had specific instructions "Use this if the police pull you over for driving a cab". Sorry, but I didn't take a picture of that document. We drove around Delhi & Noida. The Auto Expo venue was full of traffic cops, yet we weren't pulled over anywhere.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

The Zoom fleet in Bangalore seems to have yellow-on-black plates, at least the numerous Figos (and some Ventos) I've seen.

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

I am not sure what that document was but would be very interested to know. If you could probably email them to seek the info, (and share this review as well), maybe they would provide more details?

Why do I ask? You need a "commercial vehicle license" for driving a yellow board car. For self drives you get black plate with yellow letters. I checked with quite a few players about a year back - and all of them confirmed this. A few local unorganised players were even renting out white board vehicles. But, never came across yellow board car.

I opted out of the self drive idea eventually since I was travelling across 4 states.

Something is amiss here. Black lettering on Yellow background is a registered taxi. A self drive rental has to be the other way round. If you are driving a Yellow plate car, you need to be in a uniform with a drivers badge obtained from the RTO. Additionally, your license is marked with a "T" suffixed to your class of motor vehicle. For example: LMV (T). These transport licenses are valid only for 5 years from the date of issue and warrant a medical / fitness certificate during renewal. Additionally, a Yellow plate car has to pay certain fees when crossing state borders.

I am very keen to know what document they used to produce if you are pulled over.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by GTO

For a full day rental, Zoom makes sense only if you're going to drive those 200 kms (since cost of fuel is included). Carzonrent is cheaper if your driving is lower, and the same price if it's 200+ kms.

GTO,
Zoom Cars seems to be doling out discounts big time. They have a lot of offers/promos going on for quite some time.

http://www.zoomcar.in/bangalore/offers

[B103]

Good option to try and see. Is it a taxi registration ?

If I rent one of these cars and drive to another state, would I be obliged to pay the vehicle tax ( reckoned per seat ) to be paid at the border checkpost ? I know private cars are exempted from this tax.