explore using flexcar.com

I recently found out about the One Less Car program through Flexcar. If you get rid of your car and pledge to be carless for at least a year you are eligible for all kinds of Flexcar discounts! I have already been carless for about six months so I don’t know if I still qualify for the program but I wrote an email to find out.

EDIT: oh shoot, I just found the part of the web site that tells me I don’t qualify. Oh well, it’s still a cool program and if you are thinking of going carless you should check it out!

I guess I’m going to have to wait for one of those free membership deals they have periodically if I want a deal.

havent used it a ton (im still trying to sell my car.) but the trips i have taken have been very easy and fun! :)

so i took the trip last night. i didnt really ‘need’ to go anywhere, so i went to fred meyer and got a few essentials and did some research shopping.

all went very well! i will do this again. and it reassures me that going semi-carless is a definite posibility. ;)

the coolest things:

• the futuristic swipe card entry thing in the back window. you pass the card they give you over this one spot and the door unlocks. neato! also very back-to-the-futureish, the keypad where you enter your pin code on the dash.

• they were super helpful when i called the 800 number because i couldnt figure out how to lock the door at the end of my trip. and i didnt have to give them loads of ‘info’(member number, name, etc.) they just answered my q

• the laminated flip book of stuff you need to know in the glovebox. including: an explination of valet mode and how to NOT lock your self out.

things i was worried about:

• cleanliness. it was cleaner than my car for sure. the floorboards were a little worn/dirty but not to the point of being annoying.

• it was not a clown car. they didnt go nutso on the color(it was tan). i like cars in cool colors but not with tacky ads all over ‘em. they put their ads in tasteful/effective places and it worked. so if anyone was worried about walking out to their car and having a big florescent flashing billboard strapped to the top of it, dont worry.

speaking of advertising… they had these little cars in there to give to people to say ‘i use flexcar. you should too. heres my member number. if you join, please mention me because i get freebes for letting people know how great this service is!’

so… if anybody reads this and decides to join, here is my member number (51158), should you chose to say i referred you. oh, and i am totally willing to answer questions too. :)

im very excited that this trip went well. i plan to curb my car and flex it for a while to see if i would do it permanently.

whooohooo! :)

i just signed up for 10 oclock tonight.

i canceled my saturday trip. need to sched in the next few weeks to get back my sign-up fees.

still lookin good. :) cant wait to report back on how it goes.

i am going to take a trip before my 5 weeks is up, so it will be free. not sure what i will do. but i will drive somewhere!

the website is relatively easy to navigate. there promos regarding the 5/7/10 hours for a whole day are kind of jacked up. all of the cars have 10 hour promos on theme i searched the surrounding areas and found no 7s or 5s (if you get one of these you can rent the car for the whole day for the cost of 5/7 or 10 hours.)

I live way out in the ‘burbs: 1 mile from the nearest train stop, and 1.3 miles from the nearest FlexCar. Even at that distance, it was pretty easy: I’d lock up my bike at the FlexCar site and drive to where I needed to. Four months without my car went by pretty smoothly.

i would like to go semi-car-free to accomplish the following:
save $, at lease 400.00 a month (that is car payment and insurance)
simplify, sort of. there would probably be a learning curve, but after a while it seems like it would be ‘easier’. maybe.
exercise potential. if the car is not right there and ultra available i will more likely hoof-it(walk) or bike-it.

with the lifestyle i have now it sure looks like it is doable.

the short list to do is:
log my car use for 2 weeks.
test run NOT using the car for 2 weeks. (i already bus to work)
make sure i am not upside-down on my car loan, so i can sell it.
buy a bike.

side note: this is not to say that i will never own a car again. i was nervous for a while, thinking that this was a life-decision. if i toss the car for a few years and then decide to buy again, there will always be cars to buy. not that i should make this decision lightly, but i felt better giving myself permission to change my mind later. :)