car2go Columbus

I live in a student area and it is hard to find car2go near to your place specially on the weekend!
Speaking of price, I tried two methods to go to the same place and compare the prices.
From my place to the whole food in upper Arlington by car2go is $ 8.73 + 1.08 protection fee (=$ 9.81). There wasn’t any parking area so either rent the car till you finish or go 40 mins to park it! (note that cat2go dropped their rate this week for limited time to be $.29 per a minute) instead of ($.41).
The same distance from my place to the whole food by Über is only $ 6.69.
Why would anyone use car2go if Über has cheaper price and fancy cars?
Notes:
There is no parking on Tuttle mall area!
There is no parking on upper Arlington area!
There is no parking on bethel road area!

Two weeks… two weeks after signing up for this handy service cars2go has pulled the rug out from under my feet (and I assume countless others) by shrinking their coverage area. There is a performance (or lack of…) joke in there somewhere. Thanks cars2go, this relationship is official and literally going no where.

For someone without a car, I definitely see how this service can come in handy, and given that there are few alternatives, the membership base is not surprising. However — I have zero idea how this system has such great reviews. For someone who takes the car to avoid driving home from the bar or parking at an event — sure, I get it. For anyone looking for an alternative to owning a car or relying on the bus — not worth it. Get a bus pass or a bike — it’s significantly cheaper, potentially faster, and infinitely less irritating.
I started using Car2Go a few months ago to supplement our single-​car household, and I am ceasing my membership today after months of tiny irritations with *each and every interaction* with the service. Their connectivity issues are outrageous, constant and, frankly, pathetically 1998. I’m regularly charged for parked time sitting in the car, begging it to end my trip, and have to reach out to customer service weekly so that I’m only charged for what I actually used. (They do credit you for ‘parked time’ but it rarely covers the whole time I’m actually sitting there.)
At least once a week, I get an email mid-​day saying that my trip did not end, instructing me to leave my job, walk 5 minutes, and try again, OR a notification when parking that there are connectivity issues and I need to move to a different location. Audacious, much? You figure out your own crappy issues, Car2Go, and stop putting the task on customers to deal with your weak infrastructure. Whether you’re using it for work or for entertainment, finding a different location to park or leaving your event to deal with their issues is extremely inconvenient.
Final complaint is that these cars are, obviously, tiny cars. They are lawnmowers with comfortable seats. It is what it is — I get it, I guess. But fair warning that there is 0% ‘get up and go’ when you’re driving in the city. You are perpetually and unavoidably the gigantic asshole driving around downtown like an 87 year old tourist. And if you deign to accelerate at a normal speed, you’ll get a warning box that you are driving erratically and they might take away your membership.
That would actually be all fine and good, but Car2Go charges you per *minute* not *mile*, so their crazy slow cars fetch them more cash. Not to mention the $ 1.08 fee on each and every trip they added in June for… well, for some kind of reason about lowering deductibles for customers in an accident … that offers less than zero value to the consumer and simply makes using one of these cars so much more expensive than COTA that I’m inclined to spend the extra 10 minutes waiting for the bus rather than walking 5 minutes to find a car, shelling out $ 7 for a 12 minute drive to work with a +5 minute wait sitting in the car while it handles its business. When you look at the trip from start to finish, you’re spending the same amount of time on transportation for an extra $ 5 a pop. Pass.

I found a car on my app, reserved it, and then pressed Start Rental when I got to the car. It then said Vehicle not found. I did this a couple times. I tried to cancel the reservation, and it wouldn’t cancel it. I walked to where 2 cars where, and I finally got the second car to start the rental. I drove to where I needed to go. When I left, I saw a car, opened my app, and saw the car was available. I pressed Start Rental. I got Vehicle not found. I closed the app, and tried again. Then I called Car2Go. Once I got to a person, the car was reserved. The woman on the phone did not help at all. All she offered was to send it to the tech team. I had to walk .6 miles to the closest car. She could have at least offered to add free minutes equal to the time it took me to walk to the car.

Car2go has changed our lives!
You know, we can complain about Columbus having terrible public transportation all day, but I think this community has cobbled together some really great transportation alternatives. I’m not saying Car2go solves all of these problems (nor should it), but my favorite thing about Car2go is how it fits in seamlessly with the «bigger picture» of transportation in Columbus.
Because we live, work, and play within Car2go’s range, we went from a 2-​car household to 1. A lot of the time, it’s easier to take Car2go than even driving our own car. We almost always use it in conjunction with another transportation service. Our favorite combo is to take Car2go somewhere, imbibe, and Über home. Or, we’ll car2go somewhere busy (like Nationwide arena), and get parking that wouldn’t have been available to us in a normal car. Sometimes my husband will drop me off somewhere in the car on his way to something else, and then I can Car2go home. You could Car2go directly to a bus line, even.
Car2go is so easy to use. Bryant’s review does a good job of explaining the mechanics. Using the app is easy, payment is all streamlined. One of the things you might be surprised to know is that there’s no monthly or annual fee. There’s a one-​time-​only sign up fee (and often if you sign up for Car2go at an event, they’ll waive it), and then forever and ever you just pay when you use the service. And it’s very affordable! Less expensive than paying for parking, in most cases. Gas is included!
I’ve also never had trouble finding a car near me. You can make a reservation on the app up to 30 minutes ahead of time, too.
My one teensiest beef with Car2go is the occasional connectivity issues of the cars. I tried to take a car one time, and it couldn’t connect to my account despite several attempts. There was another car parked directly behind this one, and I was able to login with that car. So it was only a minor inconvenience. But, I’ve heard of others having similar problems with not being able to end their trip. I’m not sure the solution to this… installing hotspots maybe? Don’t even know if that is practical/​realistic.
I also hear they’re working on being able to use your phone to connect to the cars, rather than having to have a card. That would be sweet!
Hmm. what else? I think the lights are automatic, which in Ohio’s twilight winters is good to know. The first time I used it, I was really unsure of whether my lights were on.
I admit I was a little nervous the first time I used it, but there was no need! It’s so easy. If you’re at all apprehensive, take it for a spin! You’ll quickly start realizing you NEED Car2go in your life.

Although I bike a lot in the warmer months, car sharing has been a huge help as it gets colder and darker. We have one car between a two-​person household, so I signed up for Car2Go in mid-​July and have had a decent experience since. That being said, there are some key issues I wish I had known ahead of time.
For example, each time you drive, the trip info (time you start, time you end, stopovers, etc.) is recorded and transmitted through the onboard computer. Sometimes the computer can’t find a signal to send your data. When this happens, you are unable to end your trip and leave the car, but instead have to drive around trying to find a new parking spot where there’s service.
I’ve had times when a 10 minute drive home, turned into a 30 minute ordeal where I ended up several blocks away from where I was meant to be. It’s a rare occurrence, but it does happen.
Also, make sure to check the parking guidelines! Once I parked in a legal parking spot at a legal time, but because no one used the car2go after me, the car eventually got towed. There are spots in Columbus (especially with street sweeping roads) where a completely legal parking spot can become illegal. YOU, the driver, are held accountable for this. I ended up paying both the towing fee and the parking ticket (for a car I don’t own) – Ouch!
All in all though, I think car sharing is great addition to the city of Columbus. I only wish Car2Go was executing a little better.
PS — One feature I really like is that the radio/​navigation system remembers which radio station you were listening to the last time you drove. So if you have a favorite station, it’s already playing when you start the next trip – a nice personal touch.

I’d become a member of car2go several months ago with the hopes of being able to turn in my OSU parking pass. However, working the night shift, most of the car2gos are gone from the campus parkspots by the time my shift ends between 10PM and 2AM. But I was excited to hear that car2go now had a parkspot at the airport. Parking at the airport can get expensive, and I don’t always want to bother friends for rides to the airport at odd hours. When I was getting ready to take a recent vacation, I reserved the car2go that was nearest to my apartment, hauled my luggage over, and zipped off to the airport, where I dropped off the car at The Parking Spot. I was a little nervous getting the smartcar around on the freeway, and there’s a bit of a blind spot over the shoulder for me, but we made it there safely. On my return, I was a little worried about there being cars available, but I used the car2go app to reserve one as soon as I got off the plane, and The Parking Spot shuttle took me right over.
The rates are pretty reasonable at 38c/​minute (it was about a $ 6.50 trip to the airport, with a $ 10 fee which I assume helps pay for space at The Parking Spot). I do wish that they had space for a larger reserve of cars at OSU, since I would love to be able to walk to work and then drive a car2go home, but would rather not be wandering all over the campus area to pick up a car in the middle of the night.
EDIT: One other thing — I do wish that they would offer the option of getting a bill monthly instead of charging my card each individual time I use a car. For my most recent airport trip, I was billed first for the actual time, and then about a week later for the airport drop-​off fee.

Car2go is a great service. At first I wasn’t sure how the two of us with two cars would use it, but once you get the hang of it, it works out great. The beauty is it’s all one way. Going to meet someone, going somewhere where you know you’ll be drinking, going somewhere where parking is going to be either expensive or difficult, car2go is the solution. The app works really well allowing you to locate and reserve a car, so you know how far you’ll need to go, and know the car will be there once you get there.
The cars themselves are amazingly roomy and fun to drive. We actually put two peoples and 3 large suitcases in one relatively comfortably.
Finally, the service is available in many cities. Once you are signed up one place, your card works wherever the service is available. I’ve used it in 3 cities so far. No problems.
The only thing that could make the service better would be an expanded area of service, especially the airport and more major shopping areas (although they recently added Easton).

I live, work and play in Downtown Columbus and have been car-​free for more than 2 years. Right around the 1 year mark, I started to hear that Car2Go was coming to town and that was when I was considering throwing in the towel and getting a new ride. I’m so glad I didn’t and I don’t know what I’d do without this company here to help me do some errands and get to places I love outside my neighborhood safely and easily. This is the future of transportation in Columbus and the future, thank goodness, is NOW!

I finally did it… I tried car2go!
In case you’re not familiar with car2go, here’s a quick rundown. It’s a car share program where you pick up a smart car in the home region and either pay by the minute, the hour, or the day. The home region focuses on German Village to OSU, and then there are designated spots at Easton too.
My Honda was in the shop today, so I decided to finally use my c2g membership. It was an absolute blast and the highlight of my day. I’m gonna give you the basic steps in case you’re a first-​timer like me:
1. Sign up and get your member card. This is the key to using c2g.
2. Watch their YouTube video to help prep for your first drive.
3. Download the mobile app or go to their website to find a car.
4. Walk up to the car and wave your member card on the sensor in the dash.
5. Wait for the sensor to unlock the car, and then you’re in.
6. Once you’re in, enter your pin on the screen, followed by a few simple questions about the car’s condition.
7. Take the key out of the console and put it in the ignition! You’re off!
Now that we’ve covered the basics, I’ll tell you a little about my experience today. I was downtown for meetings, and the first car I tried to take wouldn’t let me in. I called the help line, and the nice rep told me the sensor must be broken. So I moved on down Gay Street and quickly found another car. This one worked like a charm.
Once I was in, I got a bit nervous… I just didn’t know what to do! After a couple of minutes, I worked it out and was on my way. I made a few stops in the city before heading out to Easton. I loved everything about the experience. The car was zippy and filled with gas, and I had a special parking space waiting for me at Easton!
After I parked in the designated spots at Easton, I ended my ride and I was done. Easy peasy!
Was everything perfect about car2go? Nope. But I loved it anyway! We are super lucky to have a car share program here in Columbus!