car2go New York

SO SO!
I use them all the time. While it’s easy to find a car and parking is a piece of cake, their customer service can be iffy. It seems like whenever there’s an issue — which is a given that you’ll have some — there is no one to talk to. When you do, you’ll find that they are good at apologizing but not so good at compensating.
I sent them the below email last year after numerous problems in a row, to which it took them 4 days to respond. «Guess, what they did to compensate? 30 free minutes. That’s it!»
Good Morning Car2go Team,
I have been using your services for about 2 months now. While for the most part it was just fine, lately it has been a disaster.
Last Friday I reserved a car as usual. When I got there, I had no luck getting it out of the snow. I contacted your office and the woman on the phone was helpful in reserving me another car, she also assured me that I’ll be credited for that few minute trip that pretty much took me from point «A» to point «A».
The problem though is this. I have an issue with a rental I need someone to answer the phone a little faster. Think about the customer for a moment. I can’t move the car, it’s cold outside and I want to get home. But no, not yet, you gotta hold the phone in your hands and freeze your fingers a little bit before we’ll assist you.
Bad Service! Hold on! I’m not done, I’m just getting started.
Last Night, guess what; Dejavou! I reserve a car and once again I’m stuck in the snow. I can’t go backwards cause there is a mountain of snow behind my front tires, and two inches in front of me there is another parked car. I basically had to do this all over again. Call you guys, wait for someone to answer the phone while freezing my finger tips. And then, Seriously? Do you really have to verify who is calling each and every time??? I’m calling from the same cell phone that’s registered to my account. Anyways, I finally spoke to a representative and she reserved me another car, guess where, 8 blocks away. «Oh I’m sorry, we don’t have anything closer» That’s really bad. It took me more then 10 minutes to get there and then I had to look for the car, being that she wasn’t very clear on the location of the car. She told me «the car will be on Richardson between Kingsland & Morgan». Well, It was not there. I actually found the car on Debevoise Ave between Richardson & Frost.
To add insult to injury, You actually charged me for that initial two minute trip.
Unacceptable service! Hold it! I’m not done.
This Morning I reserved a car at around 7:30 so I can get to work by 8:00. I got to the car at 7:40ish and when I scanned my card the usual message popped up, «card check complete, verifying your account etc.» However, it took a good few minutes and the car didn’t unlock. Once again I had to contact your office for help. When someone finally answered the phone, She tried to restart the system or something. While working on it, the car unlocked so I told her «hey, I’m in» When I got in though, there was a message on the screen saying something like «Please leave the car etc.» and there was a countdown counting the seconds until the car locks. So the representative tells me «Oh, just get out of the car and scan your card again». So that’s what I did. However, the same problem occurred. I scanned my card and the screen said the same «card check complete, verifying your account etc.» But the car didn’t open. So she tried to restart, reset, over and over for about 10 minutes. All this time I’m standing on the street and it’s 20 degrees outside my toes are freezing and my hands are burning from cold. On top of that, I’m going to be late for work. So she finally says to me «I have another vehicle reserved for you a few blocks away» So I’m like, «That’s not going to work at all. Remember earlier when I was in the car for a minute or so? I left my coffee and lunch inside and I need it». Once again, she tries to restart, reset, while I’m wasting my time and freezing away. She then tells me «Well, I can try rebooting the system, but it’s going to take 5 – 10 minutes» Are you kidding me? Have I not waited long enough in the cold… What choice did I have. So I waited, waited and waited… After 10 minutes, guess what, the screen still said «out of service» So I figured let me scan my card anyways and see what happens. Once again the same message, «card check complete, verifying your account etc.“it took a good few minutes and nothing. So I contacted your office once again. Just as someone answered the phone the car unlocked. So I told her «never mind, I had an issue but it’s fine now».
I finally got my ride to work after waiting 30 minutes in the cold. I got to work 25 Minutes late to an angry manager, and to add injury to injury. Once again I see a charge on my account for a two minute trip. Apparently, I was in the car putting my lunch down and this is going to cost me. Unbelievable Experience!
I want to know right away what you are going to do about it.

Took two trips with Car2Go so far and I’m a huge fan. The app can be a bit glitchy at times. there was one night where a car wouldn’t unlock and I had to walk 10 blocks to the other closest Car2Go which was a pain… but overall this car service works well. I couldn’t find the refill gas cards in any of the cars I’ve been in which sucks cause sometimes I would like to refill the tank when it’s running a bit less than 25%. Its an okay car for short trips around Brooklyn– not great because the car itself is very jerky… especially when you’re braking. Overall it has made me want to drive a lot more and it’s a good idea. Just a heads up: for every trip you take they charge you a $ 1.20 protection fee so even if you do have free drive time minutes, it’s not technically a «free“drive…
Give it a try and use my code if you’d like for a $ 5 membership and a free hour of drive time: D. You honestly have nothing to lose besides $ 5. Hope to see those 4 people cars coming out soon.

Car2Go is great for when you live in South BK and need to get to Bushwick and it’s a Sunday and the R train is a nightmare. It’s a little terrifying to be in a tiny car on the BQE, but there’s always a Car2Go nearby when we want one and it’s way cheaper than a cab for trips around the borough. The trunks have a fair amount of storage. Some glitchy issues with the app but still worth it.

In theory great, in practice not so much. Echoing other reviews – poor customer service, glitchy cars and frequent headaches. I had such high hopes for the service when it arrived in Brooklyn but alas, it really is much faster and easier to take the subway, call a cab, get an Über, take a bus, really anything other than use Car2Go. What a disappointment!

I have used the car2go service in New York and in other cities.
New York poses its own challenges for a car sharing service like this. The service is a good complement to services like Zipcar as you do not have to return the vehicle to its original location as long as you park it in the authorized zone. You can also use to leave the zone but you will pay for the entire time that you have the car, not just driving time.
I have not found car2go to be much cheaper than using a cab for short trips, but the daily rate is much cheaper than going rates for a day rental with Zipcar or with most car rentals in the city.
Overall a good experience.

They suck because of every reason. But mainly, because their customer support has gone straight downhill after their first year in Brooklyn. Totally unsympathetic, unable to accommodate inconveniences they’ve conveniently tucked into their service agreements. Bad form!
The nail in the coffin is the extra mileage doublespeak on their website: $ 0.41/mi after 150 mi per trip (or rental depending on the page you view on their site) which apparently means the daily rental too, which is not clearly stated at all anywhere. What a disappointment when discovering a $ 170 bill for a day trip… Rent a car from Jersey or MH if you need one!
Car2go will ruin your day.

I originally signed up for car2go 1 year ago and received my key card in the mail. Next I receive an email that stated that due to my driver abstract I am uneligible. Although throughout the year I still receive emails from car2go about renting their cars.
Fast forward 1 year I tried to reapply but apparently I have to pay 7 dollars to pull my drivers abstract and send it to them because it’s an appeal. (imagine if Geico did this) What type of business does that? Am I taking my car in for an inspection? 36 $ pass or fail? I ask to receive 7 dollars in credit, which may cost them maybe 1 – 2 $. Nope, apparently that will bankrupt this POS company. Obviously they don’t want business and strive to provide bad customer service.

Doesn’t even deserve a star! By far the worst company ever and I never ever had a chance to use their car. I strongly do not recommend you to used car2go at all.

So far I’ve been a member for 2.5 months, never received an access card, so have had to rely on my phone’s wifi connection to gain access to a car. Each of the only 3 times I’ve done this, it has taken more than 30 minutes just to get into the car. That’s crazy and inconvenient, when the process is sold as quick and convenient. Unfortunately not even close. Whenever I call with a problem, I’m on hold for 20 minutes. I’ve called and requested a card 4 times now, the last time just a minute ago when I was told that a card was sent a while ago and that I will have to pay $ 25. for a «replacement» card. Total BS!
I think this is a way for them to make up for all of the «free memberships» they offered… I paid for mine.
I think they are another bait and switch company that’s poorly managed.
IF I receive a card and they charge me for it, I’ll become a former car2go member.

I am an active Car2Go user but they have to fix some issues. I hope someone read this comments and take all them to improve the company.
Pros
1– Excellent idea
2– Phone app works really nice
3– Fun to drive
4– Cheaper than taxi
5– Lots of cars
6– Easy to find parking spot
Cons
1– Customer service is so slow, they have to hire couple people to respond to phones. No Good!
2– Cars needs serious check ups, some of them has very bad transmissions. I was on the BQE and car suddenly slowed not good
3– Park ending problems, cant communicate with the server and asks you park somewhere else and you keep searching for places and get charged for that
4– I dont know how to turn separate radio volume and navigator I don’t hear anything navigator says
5– Sometimes cars are very dirty
6– I wish they can add more places and manhattan as well
7– I wish cars has back seat, only 2 person very limited
Overall I like Car2go I hope they will get better in time…

Car2go is great, yes it has some problems like all start-​ups but they have a great concept going. I did have one case where the screen froze and I wasn’t able to end my trip. When I called customer service they helped me try to reset the screen and when that didn’t work they helped me end the trip and then fully refunded my whole trip (which was over an hour!). I was very happy with the service.
A couple things that bother me are the transmission and cleanliness. I too noticed the transmission and acceleration to be rough but it doesn’t surprise me for such tiny cars. It doesn’t bother me much since with city driving you rarely get past 35 mph.
As far as cleanliness, the cars are not always the cleanest on the inside. I wish there was a way to report specific needs (like a good vacuum) rather than simply rating it a smiley face or frowning face. «Reporting damage» seems extreme since it just looks like someone pigged out on Shake Shack before I got in there. Same thing with smoking, which is not allowed in the car. But I have gotten into cars that definitely smelled like smoke.
Overall, the convenience and fun factor outweigh the slight problems I’ve had. I think they will keep getting better and hopefully expanding their area to Queens or over to JFK.

I took my first car2go trip today and I was excited because I thought it was a really great concept. I tracked my car down a few blocks away, used my card on the windshield to open it and got in.
And that’s when the problems started:
Problem 1: The nav screen booted up to prompt me to enter my pin and before I could even reach out and touch it, it shut down. No amount of pressing buttons would turn it back on. I got out of the car and saw it was listed as available again. I used my card to restart the rental and this time was able to enter my pin and follow the prompts. I called customer service and was told the car was «rebooting» they assured me it wouldn’t happen again while I was driving
Problem 2: There is no in between. Part of the contract with car2go requires you inspect the interior and exterior of the vehicle for dirt and damage prior to starting your trip. This seems ok, but your only options are that things or 100% good (smiley) or that things are 100% bad (frowning face) — and they warn you when you sign up that if you report the vehicle as dirty /​damaged it may be considered unsafe to drive. So even though the car was somewhat dirty I marked it as all good.
Problem 3: The transmission is so bad it makes it feel like something is wrong with the car.
Now at first I assumed it was just the vehicle I got. It was hesitating and lurching forward every 5 miles an hour during acceleration. But about 2 minutes into the trip when I put my foot on the gas after coming to a full stop the car went BACKWARDS instead of forwards (yup, it was still in D, I checked)
After that I parked the car and reported it as unsafe to drive. I reserved another car with high hopes, only to experience the exact same issues. This one was parked in a tight spot and that it could’t maintain either the speed or direction it should made it take forever to get out of the spot.
I made it home safe and looked up the smart car car2go stocks it’s fleet with. It’s called the smart fortwo
It seems this particular model is well known for having a jerky, uneven transmission and extremely poor handling. I saw videos on youtube of people turning the wheel all the way and the car would just continue straight for several seconds, and even though some people didn’t comment on the jerkiness you could tell from the video the car was still hesitating and lurching.
I called car2go’s customer service again (they were nice both times and I didn’t have to wait on hold more than a few minutes) to find out if they had any plans to incorporate other vehicles into their fleet but the rep said he didn’t know of any plans to do so at this time. He also said he hadn’t heard about this issue before which surprised me since it seems fairly well known as a problem for this make and model of car. I had to tell him to suspend my membership since I really don’t feel safe driving the smartcar they have stocked their fleet with but to shoot me an e-​mail if they ever have other vehicle options because I still think their concept is great.
TL:DR — great concept, but smart fortwo (this particular year anyway) has a terrible jerky transmission and crappy handling. If that sort of thing makes you feel unsafe, you will not feel safe driving this car.
Customer Service: B+
Driving Experience: D–
Bottom line: will do in a pinch, but if you have other options, use them.

I have used Car2Go about five times without any issues. The cars were clean and filled with gas. The app allows you to reserve a car for thirty minutes. Smooth start and end. Easy to drive and especially to park.

Do not trust this service. Only use it if you do not have to be anywhere important or are not tied to a schedule. There were numerous occasions where the trip could not be ended due to a communication error with the system. They ask that you park somewhere else and try again. Good luck with that in busy areas of Brooklyn.
The biggest problem with this is that when you try to call their «customer service» number– there is nobody there. After 20 minutes of being on hold, they redirect you to voicemail. I kept trying anyway. After ONE HOUR of trying to get through, someone eventually picked up the phone. She did not refund my $ 18 trip for a 3-​minute journey.
CAR2GO– if you can’t fix your technology, at least staff your customer service department. THE WORST!

I am giving Car2Go 3 stars largely because of the potential for this to be a really great business because the concept really is fabulous. And hey, it’s the beginning for them so they will have to work through some bugs. As of now, it’s an okay at best business and I think for most people, not worth the hassle compared to either taking a cab or just hoofing it walking or subway. I signed up for a membership during a promotion period where it was free so no complaints there. They also threw in some free driving time (which expired before I actually used the car). The app works well, you see the condition of the car and also the fueling situation before you get in. A few problems. First, the start/​end trip procedure has several steps each, so the first time, even though I only used the car for 10 minutes, because I missed the last step (swipe card on the windshield) I was billed for a full day. My mistake, but I’m pretty sure there must be a way for Car2Go to put a little alert system in the car to beep if you’ve not followed all the steps. Two of the agents I spoke to about the problem were completely clueless and not helpful, but the last agent (Ben?) was a total sweetheart so like most things, it’s who you get. Second problem: you’re billed by the minute so in Brooklyn, your five minute trip could easily turn to 45 minutes depending on the parking situation. Not sure how they’d resolve this pickle but as a rider it’s definitely a consideration when you’re debating between a cab and car2go. Third problem: No trunk space. Why would Brooklynites be looking for a car? Oftentimes it’s because we don’t have a way to get groceries home or other larger purchases. I don’t really know the utility of a Car2Go membership if the cars are so tiny that you cant’ fit much in them. Fourth problem: You would NOT want to go on the highway with this. It really is a steal for $ 90 to be able to take a car for the day. But they are really not cars you’d feel comfortable driving out of Brooklyn on highways with. In France, maybe. In the states? Never. As others have mentioned, the navigation system stinks. Oh, and my gas card wasn’t accepted at a gas station on 3^rd avenue.
Because I so much like the idea of car sharing and the free-​floating parking concept, I dont’ want to bash Car2Go. I think I would suggest they have a more diverse fleet of cars, some with more trunk space. Doesn’t need to be a SUV, but something that could be driven on the highway without fearing death. They should simplify the «end/​start trip» protocol or make a system that alerts you to any missing steps. And for the parking situation, maybe offer the rider the option of going by the minute or by the hour (which would be less than 60x the minute rate) That way, if you KNOW that parking is a pain in the ass on a Monday at 9AM, you can choose an hour to give yourself leeway.

Ditry car. In/​out
Scribbled numbers all over drivers window from the factory or something.
The computer/​nav don’t work, can’t check out.
Never ever had a gas card tI’ll today’s rental, and this one is invalid.
Customer service barely speaks english.
New home area? Invalid.
They launched crown heights as a new home area. But you can’t park there apparently.
Worst company I deal with in nyc.
After dropping 200 a month on rentals for this shit box death trap ride that rides like a horse and buggy, I’d rather just buy a car.

I’m so frustrated with car2go and I haven’t even used a car yet. I signed up and paid the registration fee. The response to my registration was a message in bright red letters telling me that there was something wrong with my license. I was a bit troubled by that so I paid $ 40 to run my driving record. Well, there’s nothing wrong with my license. I emailed customer service and they apologized but told me to «disregard» the poor wording of their initial response and that my license just needed to be verified. At this point I had spent $ 75 and still am unable to use the car. It’s been a week and I am still in limbo. And on top of that, I asked if it’d be possible to waive my registration fee because their wording was alarming and was given a hard no.
Terrible customer service, terrible experience. Stay away.

These smarties are great for short errands… even when I go to work its cheaper than a taxi. Sometimes they are hard to find in my neighborhood but when I do get a hold of one, it’s awesome. Just be careful ! When I think I’m doing 20 mph… I’m actually doing 30!
Oops.
Don’t bash this company just because it says move to a new parking spot. Overall this is a great come up and over little deals here and there… anyways. Happy Easter, I’m renting one for the day.

Meh. There are constantly problems with the technology. After three trips, I haven’t had an experience yet in which there wasn’t a problem with the trip. Each time, the trip couldn’t end, so I had to call customer service, which is always a long wait.
The first time the trip wouldn’t end for no apparent reason. The second time the car couldn’t connect
to service and I had to call customer service to start the trip. The same trip wouldn’t end because it thought I was out of the home zone even though I was fine. (They thought the park side of prospect west was actually inside the park). The third time the trunk wouldn’t close — even though it was never open, but the reservation was kept active until I called to complain. I still don’t know if I’m getting a refund for part of this trip.
I love the idea and when it works it’s convenient, but it is becoming difficult to trust the service will work when needed.

I just made my maiden voyage with Car2Go. If you don’t know what it is, think Zipcar, but you can leave the vehicle anywhere in your «home area» (and in my case, in front of my building just now).
Like ZipCar, gas is included, and even better, full insurance, including liability. Unlike ZipCar, it works more like CitiBike — if it’s available, grab it, and return it when you’re done.
But also unlike ZipCar, you get one choice of vehicle — a two-​seater Smart Car. And this is where all the problems begin.
The Smart is not terribly roomy — forget about a serious run to Costco, even if you don’t take someone with you. It also has rather twitchy brakes, and a lethargic engine.
Worse yet, the electronics are, well, not the best. Music? There’s the radio, and that’s your only option. Worse yet, if the previous driver left the radio on, it’s nearly impossible to figure out how to turn it off (hint — you can only adjust the volume if the screen display in on that mode, and that includes off). No iPhone/​Android/​Bluetooth options here, and no USB port to stick a flash drive into.
The navigation is insanely slow and confusing. In my case, it took me miles out of my way, and the supposed functionality of showing you «legal» spots did not appear to be functional. Oh, and it had a pretty old map that had multiple issues, too.
On the other hand, it is not entirely expensive (although more expensive per hour than ZipCar), and nothing beats not having to drive the car back, or bring it back by a certain time. As long as you’re using it, no deadlines, no anxieties. That’s really nice.
Hopefully they’ll improve it, but it’s still a good option for short, non-​entertaining trips.