A couple of months ago a friend of mine introduced me to a website he thought was pretty cool. It's based on the idea of peer-to-peer car renting. Essentially, people rent out their cars when they're not using them. What struck me was not the (admittedly) revolutionary idea behind the site, but the models of cars that were available to rent.
Like a Porsche Boxster for $70 a day. If you consider that spending $70 at a major hire car company would only get you a bog-standard Ford Falcon, it's easy to see why p2p car renting is being so widely embraced.
Not one to be left out, I decided to embrace it, too. Except instead of a Boxster (which I am already familiar with), I decided to test out Hyundai's new i30cw CRDi, courtesy of DriveMyCar Rentals. This is a brand new 1.6L turbo-diesel wagon priced at $40 a day, with about 10,000 clicks on the clock and still smelling new.
As he opened the gates to move out one of his many cars, the owner of the Hyundai, Paul, explained to me that he sold a business and received a number of surplus vehicles that now aren't being driven. To offset repayments, maintenance, registration, insurance, depreciation, and all the other costs associated with owning a car, Paul decided to put the vehicles up for rent. Insurance is covered through DriveMyCar, and Paul gets final word on who gets to drive his cars. And by hiring out his cars, he can recoup some of the expenses and occasionally turn a profit.
The founder and Managing Director of DriveMyCar Rentals, Daniel Noble, said the idea came to him after he witnessed a friend of his rent out her car to a neighbour for $600 a month. That covered all of her vehicle expenses. "Effectively, she had a car for free!"
I ponder this as the Hyundai hums down the freeway. It's the middle of winter, and I've planned a weekend away at a bed and breakfast on Phillip Island with my better half.
I'm keen to drive the i30cw. I was a big fan of the i30 petrol hatch when I first drove it at its release. Particularly, I want to see if adding the practicality of a diesel engine and a wagon body will detract from the fun factor, so prevalent in the original petrol hatch i30.
By the time we get there, it's freezing outside and the rain is falling hard and strong. The i30cw is far more suited to the conditions than the rear-engined ragtop Porsche. It has a maximum five-star safety rating and the blue hue from the dials look sharp and modern.
On the road the i30cw CRDi feels like a nose-heavy dart. With the weighty diesel engine at the front, the suspension feels like it struggles a little bit over road undulations, thumping and bouncing at its worst. Which isn't often. By contrast, the rear of the car feels light, and though the diesel wagon isn't as lithe and eager as its petrol hatch sister, the car does feel somewhat spritely through corners - that's before the weight of the front end pushes wide, causing understeer. The engine, however, is very impressive. It doesn't quite have the same level of refinement found in the offerings from Germany, but it is smooth enough to grant it a nod. The fuel economy on the vehicle is exceptionally good.
Overall, the Hyundai i30cw CRDi is very well built. It might not have a glass roof and all the chrome and leather found on a Peugeot 308 Touring, but it doesn't feel much different when you're behind the wheel. My, how far we've come.
But it's the fact that I could borrow this vehicle for a measly $40 that is equally amazing. We spent more on dinner when we were away for the weekend. Like the bed and breakfast industry (where it's really just people hiring out their spare rooms), there are users who are actually making a living renting out cars through DriveMyCar. Daniel Noble tells me that there was one fellow who, after losing his job, rented out both his cars and turned a $1,500 profit every month.
Of course, peer-to-peer car renting will never replace the car rental big-boys, just as eBay hasn't replaced classifieds and bed and breakfasts haven't replaced hotels. But it is a brilliant idea, and one that I will certainly be taking advantage of.
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