Street cars - London

Has anyone signed up for this service??? I've seen the ads on the underground, and there was a leaflet thru our door that told us there is one up the street.

Any personal experiences???

I don't have any experience with Streetcar, but I see that they're merging with ZipCar and I have experience with them (in the states).  I think it's a really great idea and really convenient as well.  The rates are really affordable for short bursts of needing a car or for a whole day and you don't have to worry about gas or insurance, which is great.  You reserve online (or in an iPhone app), show up and hold your card over a place on the dash and voila, you're in, keys are in the car.  And you can use ZipCar in any city where they have a presence, in the US or the UK.  Way easier than the hassle involved with owning a car.

I'm with aimless on this one.  I joined Zipcar here in the States and LOVE them!  I know that they are in the UK and I also heard they were merging with Streetcar.  If you don't have a car and sometimes need one to run an errand for a couple of hours or just want to get away, but don't want to travel by rail, it's great.  I know with Zipcar, you can hire for an hour or for the day (or a couple of days, if needed).  As aimless mentioned, gas and insurance are included in the price of the rental (which is really about what you'd pay to hire a car with insurance anyway...only the added perk is gas is included).

I actually did a little looking at their website (http://www.streetcar.co.uk/) and not only are gas and insurance included, but the congestion charge is as well!  Nice deal.

I used Streetcar in London and loved it. It was so easy and convenient for us. There were many cars near our flat and we always had a choice of available vehicles.

Unfortunately they are not were I live

Thanks everyone. Sounds like a great experience! And yes, the small print does say that they are a part of zipcars.

I'm gonna try it. Doesn't cost too much for a year, and why not!!!

Thanks

I have two co-workers that love it. They never seem to have problems with having access to cars and they can't believe how much money they've saved since getting rid of their personal cars. I would love to have a membership, but I live a bit too far outside of London to get one!

Why don't they have this in Dublin!?? 

Join up with my groupon, they've done this offer as deal of the day twice now -

£17.50 for 1 years Streetcar membership and 2 hours driving in a BMW worth £73.40 incl. petrol, insurance and congestion charge - Save 76%


I'm going to do it as soon as I pass my test, I'm super excited about streetcar as there's one at the end of my street!

We used Streetcar for a few years and LOVED it! We have something like 6 cars within ten minutes' walk from us and there was always at least one available when we needed it. We'd really only use it to go big box store shopping, so it was really useful for Costco and IKEA runs.

The only thing you have to be careful about is to always be REALLY anal-retentive every single time you get in the car and do a thorough check over to look for any tiny scratches or dents and report them using the in-car system before you move the car, because if you don't report it and the next person does, you'll get the blame for it! But as long as you always do that, you'll be fine. And the customer service people are awesome, they're there all the time, even Christmas Day.

The only reason we stopped streetcar at all was when we were forced to buy a car immediately after my transplant because of germ reasons (you don't know if the person who used the streetcar before you had a cold or something). We love our car now, but I still have a warm place in my heart for Streetcar.

(And CB, I just unsubscribed from Groupon because I'm SO annoyed with the 95% crappy spa deals I don't care about. They should call it "Spa-on"!)

We used Streetcar for a few years and LOVED it! We have something like 6 cars within ten minutes' walk from us and there was always at least one available when we needed it. We'd really only use it to go big box store shopping, so it was really useful for Costco and IKEA runs.

The only thing you have to be careful about is to always be REALLY anal-retentive every single time you get in the car and do a thorough check over to look for any tiny scratches or dents and report them using the in-car system before you move the car, because if you don't report it and the next person does, you'll get the blame for it! But as long as you always do that, you'll be fine. And the customer service people are awesome, they're there all the time, even Christmas Day.

The only reason we stopped streetcar at all was when we were forced to buy a car immediately after my transplant because of germ reasons (you don't know if the person who used the streetcar before you had a cold or something). We love our car now, but I still have a warm place in my heart for Streetcar.

(And CB, I just unsubscribed from Groupon because I'm SO annoyed with the 95% crappy spa deals I don't care about. They should call it "Spa-on"!)

Their spa deals looks like such a rip-off anyway, even when reduced!
I haven't seen anything good on there aside from the cheap streetcar thing yet to be honest :/ London is a massive city full of things to do deals on, rather than dodgy haircuts and five minute massages.

I'm going to do streetcar as soon (if) I pass my test, it just doesn't make sense for us to have a car, but I want to make sure I drive regularly, and also make like ikea/costco runs and have days out

I just signed up for Streetcar with Groupon's deal. (I agree, every other thing I've seen from them is crap!) I don't know how often I'll use it, but I figure £18 for access to cars all around London for a year is pretty good.

can't believe how much money they've saved since getting rid of their personal cars. I would love to have a membership, but I live a bit too far outside of London to get one!

These are my sentiments exactly!
I am getting rid of my car next week because the lease is up. I owe about £1400 for excess miles. I went over the 36,000 that was allowed.
With you- no Street Cars around here but the car rentals are cheap, like £10 a day from Budget.