Is start up car rental not a good idea in light of peer to peer car sharing?

[Takumi]

I was thinking of starting a small car rental business however with the advent of car sharing websites such as 'ridelink'. it seems to me people will start using them instead of rental companies for all types of cars such e.g. cheap cars, luxury , sports etc. Of course rental companies will still do well in locations such as airports or where people want security etc but due to the prices you can offer on those websites, how easy it is to pick up a car local to you etc I can easily see why people would start using car share websites. Actually since I came to know of ridelink I've started using it over rental companies.

Do you think car rental companies are going to start dying out due to companies like ridelink? Would it be unwise to star a small car rental business given the advent of peer to peer. I don't have statistics so don't know how rapidly peer to peer is growing but I don't see why people who need a car for local and national travel wouldnt go for peer to peer once they become aware of it.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

No People that rent vehicles normally have no intrest in car sharing . Car sharing is not such a good thing and is still a very rare thing
It is not completion that is effecting the vehcle retal companies it is the ever increasing cost of insurance for them that is putting them out of business .

At the moment I have 2 Mercedes Sprinters on hire and a red a class Mercedes car I would not be car sharing !

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Car hire is so cheap now days and can be delivered and picked up at your door if required

Hire in say Glasgow and make a few stops around the country and drop it off in say Birmingham for just a few quid. But that's only in UK abroad then lots of research is needed unless you use the big companies

 

[Takumi]

Chris, can you give me an example of a company that allows you to hire in the way you say, I'm not aware of any companies that offer those services and are cheap as say what you may get in car sharing.

 

[Takumi]

Jeremy, people who rent vehicles may not want to share their car(in case people mistreat it), but they sure would rent another persons car. wants the difference between renting from a company and renting from a person u under the jurisdiction of a company fully insured? Vehicles are also a few years old and could be located right next to the renters home.

 

[Mr D]

Have rented cars several times, have had cars rented for me many more times.
Have never used car sharing.

I plan to rent a car in about 5 weeks for a few days. Not car sharing, I want exclusive use. Might only be 2 days, may be as much as 5. Not sharing in any way while I have it.

Cannot offhand think of any instance in the past where have hired a car where car sharing would have been of any use.

While there may be a place for car sharing, I cannot see it being in my business or with my personal use.

 

[Mitch3473]

No, you cant share a car to take the family down to Cornwall for 2 weeks or move a piano or a one way hire from Lands End to John O Groats. People will always needs car rental, some more than others. The busy times are holiday periods and for vans the weekends. There are other influences which can even this out but it depends on which market you are going to hit. It's a very competative market to enter. The good thing is you can make a small fortune if you do it right. You'll a bigger fortune to start with though.

 

[Takumi]

Oh sorry guys, seems I have made a big mistake in the thread title so getting the wrong answers. God knows why I wrote 'car sharing'. By this I didn't mean you get in a car with somebody. I was actually asking about renting your car to somebody else or renting their car, it is not car sharing in anyway. If you look at the ridelink website it gives you instant access to rent cars just as you would do from a rental company only these cars belong to people! It's just like renting from a rental company only more convenient. There is no sharing involved. I think it's called peer to peer car renting. Hope that make sense

Yes, maybe it's not good for one way but I think most car hires are not about one way, they are rented for n days then returned where you got them from, even when returning to a different location there is usually a premium.

 

[TomJ83]

RideLink is something pretty new. They started in 2015. Personally I haven't heard about them. They claim that they have grown steadily but that doesn't mean that they have taken the market by storm. I don't think RideLink will outcompete other car rental companies. Car rental companies like Enterprise have perfect locations, at airports, train stations etc. RideLink acts more like AirBnb connecting those who have something to those who need something. They are not involved in the rental more than offering a website where people can connect. So there won't be convenient airport spots etc.

If however RideLink does well in your local area, could you perhaps operate your car rental through their platform?

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Insurance is high enough with just one driver, with another named driver it's even more expensive yet alone in-named drivers as I imagine you wont be calling up your insurance a few days each week

Nice car forged documents Oops

Hirer lets friend drive and have accident so no insurance

Not a good risk for most owners

 

[SALESSALESSALESSALES]

It is not a good idea if you know so little about the market you come on here and ask that question

 

[MBE2017]

Never heard of Ridelink before, but in my area similar vehicles to what I recently rented through enterprise cost 2-3 times the cost, vehicles dropped and collected, no business use restriction etc, so I will continue to rent through car hire firms.

 

[Mr D]

The fee to drop car off at a different location / have it collected from an agreed location can be minor. Think last time the company provided one there was a fee of £25. As I was around 300 miles from the place the car was hired from and was going to be tied up on site a week before needing a hire car again it made a lot of sense to get rid of car and get another later.

 

[Takumi]

Sorry guys, seems I have not been very clear about my market. I am thinking of specifically renting classic cars i.e. it's a niche market.

Issues about car rental having a place at airports are redundant since it doesn't apply to my market and I did already mention car rental will always have a place at airports likewise returning a vehicle after a one way journey or business use doesn't apply since my market(classic cars) is for neither.

Yes Tom, I have thought about renting the cars through ridelink however they don't allow companies to rent cars there so it's either your own company or theirs. As you can imagine there are pros and cons for both. But your comment kind of shows my concern, since it's becoming popular it might be better for me to go through them. The problem is if companies like this grow and expand more and people start posting the same niche cars(a few of which I can already see) it creates more competition for me and if that happens my plan may not be so viable.

 

[The Byre]

Sorry guys, seems I have not been very clear about my market. I am thinking of specifically renting classic cars.

You should make your mind up, what question you are asking.

 

[TomJ83]

The classic car rental niche is definitely something that it's worth looking into, as you mention. I can see many uses. People wanting to rent a classic car for their weddings, corporate day, birthdays etc. I understand your concerns using a platform, but for this niche I think it might be best having your own platform/website. If there is a market or not for the rental services that you want to provide depends a bit on where you're located. If you're located in a big town/city or in a nearby area, there should be enough people demanding your services which in the end will make your venture profitable.

 

[Takumi]

You should make your mind up, what question you are asking.

lol

 

[Mike_Cartwright]

Car sharing and car rentals have their own market by the looks of it. Well, you can target the wedding industry. Rental wedding cars would be a nice business, just check for competitors in the area, weddings are special events, therefore, doesn't happen as often.