Is it for you?

Car Clubs suit some and not others. This is intended to help you see which camp you fall into.

Expense  

If you do a daily commute, the Car Club will work out more expensive than your own car.

If you have a car (and it may be your household's second car) that you use no more than about 20 hours a week (including the time it's parked somewhere other than home), Car Clubs start to make a lot of financial sense.

If you just want to use a car a couple of times a week (sporting event one evening, big shop every now and again, trip out of town or an evening with friends) Car Clubs were designed for you! Using a Car Club would cost you far less than owning and running your own (even if it's an old model that sits idly most of the time). Tax, MOT, insurance, breakdown cover, servicing, tyres, exhaust... etc.. etc... Several websites offer calculators to help you uncover the true cost of keeping your own vehicle (the charity Carplus has one - click here).

Students

For lots of reasons we want to make it easy for students to use the Car Club. Commonwheels waives the monthly minimum spend for anyone holding a valid NUS card and there is no minimum age (save that you must have held a full licence for at least one year).

Location Location Location    

If you are one of the lucky ones with a Car Club bay just a few yards from your front gate (and there are a lot of you), the Car Club may be obviously more convenient than owning your own (someone else looks after the documentation, bills, cleaning, garage visits etc).

If the nearest bay is a few minutes walk away, it's down to personal judgement whether that's convenient enough. If you're in an area where parking is difficult at least the Car Club car has a permanent bay reserved for it (it's illegal for others to park in the bays).

If your nearest car is the other side of town it will depend on when and for what you'll need the car - some people are more than happy to cycle to their nearest car.

Availability    

Obviously other people use the Car Club cars too. If you have a really important journey though you can always book a long way in advance.

The bays are also intentionally located wherever possible so that when one is in use it is just a short walk to the next.  The Club always aims to provide enough cars so that there is never a time when they are all booked out at once.  As demand increases the fleet will too.

Administration    

There are some situations where car hire is cheaper (for example, taking a car on a week's holiday) but usually it requires some patient shopping around and then waiting in an office somewhere beyond bus reach while forms are filled in and vehicles checked. With a Car Club, once you have your member's card you can book yourself a car online in moments, unlock a car in seconds and pay monthly by direct debit...

You and your car  

If you have a close relationship with your particular car, the Car Club may not work for you. If your car doubles up as a wardrobe / shed / sweetstore, you'll need to rethink things but you may find it completely liberating to share a clean, empty one with others instead.

If however, you are a pioneer, an early adopter, ahead of the curve, or just content to get from A to B reliably and in comfort, no matter what brand the ride, then you'll love the Car Club!