I THINK ITS TIME

[SwissPaul]

I have an 04 Skoda Fab - 108k on the clock. Am thinking of retiring and cant see any reason for a car besides its availabilty.

I live in the suburbs of a city and so I can get free over 60's travel (am a twirly), also have a push bike and am ok getting around on that . I have a feeling that every so often I would like to hire a car for a weekend or mid week jaunt.

Anyway, any recommendations for regular / occasional car hire. Is there a car hire club that could be reccomended. Also last time I hired car in the UK I got a little bit stung by the CDW - Can I buy my own policy for that and same again any reccomenadations would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Mike4]

What is CDW?

Is there a Campaign Against TLAs?

[swill453]

I use insurance4carhire for an annual policy, which allows you to shop around for the cheapest car hire and ignore any upselling of excess waivers.

Scott.

[kiloran]

What is CDW?

Is there a Campaign Against TLAs?

Collision Damage Waiver

--kiloran

[dspp]

I have an 04 Skoda Fab - 108k on the clock. Am thinking of retiring and cant see any reason for a car besides its availabilty.

I live in the suburbs of a city and so I can get free over 60's travel (am a twirly), also have a push bike and am ok getting around on that . I have a feeling that every so often I would like to hire a car for a weekend or mid week jaunt.

Anyway, any recommendations for regular / occasional car hire. Is there a car hire club that could be reccomended. Also last time I hired car in the UK I got a little bit stung by the CDW - Can I buy my own policy for that and same again any reccomenadations would be appreciated.

Thanks

Are ZipCar available in your metropolis ? My metro friends tend to use them. Regards, dspp

[DrFfybes]

There are quite a few 'car clubs these days - Co Car is popular in Devon, Co-wheels in Shropshire, and Enterprise were doing a 'pay per hour' hire scheme last year as they had a collection point at the Self Store place we used.

Lots of places do CDW excess cover from about £4 per day for short term or annual policies.

I'm looking outside now at the cold driving rain and thinking that the idea of walking 10 mins to the bus stop to go to B&Q and then carrying the 'Black Friday Click and Collect' 4 foot long garden store back might be better done in the car You don't say what the ownership cost of your car is, but the convenience of having a car available is a big bonus.

Paul

[bungeejumper]

I'm looking outside now at the cold driving rain and thinking that the idea of walking 10 mins to the bus stop to go to B&Q and then carrying the 'Black Friday Click and Collect' 4 foot long garden store back might be better done in the car You don't say what the ownership cost of your car is, but the convenience of having a car available is a big bonus.

Not disagreeing with your point, but can't you hire a van by the hour from B&Q?

I've read that car hire can get more complicated for the over-70s. More likely to be a prob outside the UK than here at home, but I'd be interested to hear how others have got on? (Of course, all bets might be off for the EU in five weeks' time, but just for old times' sake...)

https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/motorin ... r-car-hire

BJ

[SwissPaul]

Hi I think it is a convenicence having a car outside, but for that conveniece am paying MOT (inc servicing) of approx 400 p.a then tax on top of that.
Insurance is about 350 - so say all in all a grand (£1k for the convenience of it sitting outside gathering rust then petrol and other aspects - occasional flat tyre etc

[bungeejumper]

Hi I think it is a convenicence having a car outside, but for that conveniece am paying MOT (inc servicing) of approx 400 p.a then tax on top of that.
Insurance is about 350 - so say all in all a grand (£1k for the convenience of it sitting outside gathering rust then petrol and other aspects - occasional flat tyre etc

Yes, those figures seem broadly right - £1000 a year plus petrol plus depreciation, is about as cheap as it gets. Although that insurance figure seems a bit heavy for a Fabia. A postcode issue, I suppose?

No matter. If it suits you not to have the bother of a car, and you've got a bus service (I should be so lucky in this rural area ), and you've got your grocery delivery slots all organised, then go for it. You won't be alone - this lockdown year has persuaded quite a lot of people (in cities) to take a second look at their need for wheels. Good luck.

BJ

[Dod101]

And then as you get older you will not need to face the prospect of losing your licence because of eyesight or whatever. An old chap down my street (a sort of village with about a dozen houses in my relatively rural spot) has lost his licence and has discovered that there is a bus service of sorts and a decent taxi service. He finds it occasionally frustrating but on the whole manageable. To get to the nearest town and return is a major expedition and takes so much time, at least a whole morning setting out at 8.30 am. I can be there and back by 10 am. Covid has shown that we can do without a car but who wants to live like that?

Living in a city would of course be very different.

Dod

[staffordian]

I think many people who consider managing without a car tend to baulk at the cost of taxis, but even if used on a regular basis, to the exclusion of slumming it on a bus ,it's unlikely to be anything like as expensive as running a car, especially when a car's true cost, incuding depreciation is taken into account.

I guess Uber is not an option out in the sticks, but most areas have at least one good local taxi service.

[richlist]

My problem with taxis is they are not kept clean enough. Taxis are ok in London but in my part of Essex, when I've phoned for a taxi they are often dirty smelly things that I wouldn't use unless I had to.

Any taxi operators out there who are reading this......if you want more business try putting more effort into what you are offering.

[didds]

No matter. If it suits you not to have the bother of a car, and you've got a bus service (I should be so lucky in this rural area ), and you've got your grocery delivery slots all organised, then go for it. You won't be alone - this lockdown year has persuaded quite a lot of people (in cities) to take a second look at their need for wheels. Good luck.

BJ

Just to add to that and the B&Q query... the occassional cab is maybe an option of course. And if you have uber in your area it seems they are really cheap?

didds

[wydffa]

I sold my car 2 years ago, only used it for long trips. I live in London and use a zipcar (several stationed within 15-20 min walk) for weekends etc (expensive for high mileage) or enterprise hire for longer duration.
Zipcar is very useful for pick-up/drop-off out of hours. Supplemented by public transport and Uber.
It is not really a cheap option but less hassle than running a car. Some loss of spontaneity though as have plan in advance. And I don't know what would happen if I broke down in a zipcar or rental, I chose not to maintain RAC membership.
I will review when retired as hope to have lots of little holidays so may buy a car.

[dundas666]

A bit late to this conversation, but I've been thinking about informal car clubs ahead of retiring in a few years, when I expect I'll only need a car occasionally.

The commercial car share clubs seem quite expensive and would put me off, and after all you're paying for staff to maintain, clean, administer the cars which is not what I want to be paying for.

I'd imagine it would be much cheaper if, say, 10 households agreed to share 2 or 3 cars, and costs like MOT and servicing could be shared.

Anyone have experience with this?

[bungeejumper]

I'd imagine it would be much cheaper if, say, 10 households agreed to share 2 or 3 cars, and costs like MOT and servicing could be shared.

Anyone have experience with this?

Not quite, but about twenty years ago a friend in congested Cambridge bought a car jointly with his next door neighbour, and AFAIK they were still sharing five years ago when I lost touch. But good fences make good neighbours, and they drew up a formal signed agreement about sharing all costs, and washing the car on alternate months, and keeping a petrol/mileage log.

Their agreement also said that if they both wanted the car on the same day, one of them could hire a car and the rental would go onto the central bill. It worked pretty well, as far as I could see. Would have needed a slightly unconventional insurance contract, I suppose?

BJ

[didds]

Their agreement also said that if they both wanted the car on the same day, one of them could hire a car and the rental would go onto the central bill. It worked pretty well, as far as I could see. Would have needed a slightly unconventional insurance contract, I suppose?

just two named drivers (or 4 with spouses or whatever) ? fairly standard ?