City CarShare, day 1

On Saturday I learned my first lesson of car sharing: I am at the mercy of my fellow members.

First, some background. As a member City CarShare, you are issued an electronic key fob and access to the online car reservation system. You reserve a class of car at a particular location, arrive at the specified time, and swipe your key fob near the windshield. This unlocks the doors and logs your entry in the reservation system; the ignition key itself is waiting inside tethered to the steering column.

You pay based on mileage and the length of time you have the car. Gas and insurance are included–the glovebox has all the paperwork including a gas card you can use to pump free gas at just about any gas station. It sounds simple, but it doesn’t always work out that way.

In my case, the previous driver of my car left me with a nice surprise. Or rather, he forgot to leave something: the garage key. After throughly checking the car for damage (turns out City CarShare vehicles get pretty beat up), adjusting the mirrors, and generally familiarizing myself with my Scion xA, I read the notice on the dashboard. To paraphrase, “in order to exit and re-enter the garage, please use the garage keycard located in the visor pocket.” But there was no keycard. Doh.

It took several phone calls to City CarShare over the course of about 45 minutes to get the whole thing resolved. Eventually a replacement vehicle became available and I was finally on my way. But it was all good: despite this inconvenience it was still faster than taking public transportation. And City CarShare reimbursed me for my trouble, so it was cheaper as well.

Aside from the garage key mixup, the experience was good. The Scion xA was a nice little car with great gas mileage and decent looks (unlike the hideous box-on-wheels Scion xB).

Now if only the guy before me hadn’t walked of with the garage key. Hmph.