Originally Posted by
Reason077
A great shame if so.
Zipcar are in need of some serious competition in this city, having already absorbed all their other real rivals. Prices are sharply higher and overall availability of cars lower compared to 2-3 years ago when there were more players on the scene.
I think the problem with 24/7 is that it was never marketed very seriously here outside of Hertz's own channels (I think I signed up after seeing it on Hertz's own website) - compared to Zipcar's near-saturation advertising. And the target market for carshare isn't necessarily the same as that of traditional rentals.
Definitely agree- Hertz should be targeting 18-21 yr olds in college, especially those in major cities like DC and New York imo. Many students in a metro area will stay in that metro area after graduating and continue using the particular carshare service they used in college.
ZipCar's pricing has definitely gone up since the acquisition by Avis. 9/10 times I rent a car from DCA now on the weekends when I need a car. I can generally get a Prius or nicer car for ~$25 to $30/day and spend maybe $15 or $20 on gas... Beats the hell out paying ~$100 for a day with Zipcar especially since I get a cleaner, nicer car.
Enterprise CarShare seems to be gaining some ground, at least in the DC area from what I can tell, but still lacks the number of locations that ZipCar has.