It was time to retire the old car, but my wife and I didn’t want to buy another one. We’d heard of GoGet, but we weren’t sure it could work for us. We decided that we would try – for one month we’d live without using our own car, and then we’d decide.
All the cars have names. Our nearest car is Liam the Yaris, and we booked him for two hours the following Saturday.
Come the day, there’s dog hair all over Liam’s front seats. We have him cleaned, then find out we will only be partially reimbursed for the expense. And that we have to scan the receipt and email it. Overall, the trip was stressful – so much to learn – using a swipe card to lock and unlock the car, finding where the key lives (under the dash), checking that some minor scratches have been recorded in the log book, dealing with the fuel card, and, worst of all for us, Liam is an automatic.
It is an odd feeling to park a car in the street and abandon it.
The next time we try to use Liam, there is no dog hair – there is no Liam. We ring GoGet, they blow the horn remotely, just in case the car is parked nearby. Nothing. They book a nearby car for us and credit us $25 for the inconvenience – more than the cost of the trip.
The next booking, there is, again, no Liam. Same procedure, and again we “earn” $25 for walking around the block. (This would have been more than inconvenient had there not been another car available nearby.) We’re told that the recalcitrant member will be suspended – she pulled the same stunt the day before.
Three days later, another booking and this time Liam is there. A totally uneventful outing.
Encouraged, we book our first big excursion, to Kiama. We fill up on the way back and they don’t accept the fuel card. Another receipt to scan and email through for reimbursement.
After a month we haven’t used our car, but we think we should. How long can you leave a car unused before the battery goes flat? It starts perfectly, and we go shopping. When we get home we find that we have a flat tyre. Coincidence? Who knows. We change the tyre. The rego is due soon. We sell the car instead.
After a month of booking in advance, there is an evening meeting to attend. Liam is free so I book it and go. The meeting runs over so I ring up and extend the booking by an hour – fortunately, no-one else had booked him.
Later, walking home from the milk bar, we are passed by Liam. Someone else has taken “our” car!
After two months, using GoGet has become uneventful. We book a car, use it, return it. We never again experience the sort of dramas we did the first few times. In Adelaide for a weekend, we book a GoGet, and it all just works.
We do once find graffiti on the side window: “Go Get F’d.” Presumably someone resents not being able to use the car’s dedicated parking spot. But they are missing the point. The more people use GoGet instead of having their own car, the more parking for everyone else.
Over the year we made 39 trips, including three day trips and 84 hours worth of shorter trips. Short trips like the local shops or the fish market are $13 to $15 each. Longer trips typically a bit over $80. We walk more than we used to. To our surprise, we aren’t spending more on taxis; so long as there is parking, GoGet is more convenient. All up, we travelled a total of 989 km, and it cost $1,204.
The need to book means it’s not as convenient as owning your own car. But we don’t worry about rego or insurance or servicing, each car has its own reserved car park, we have the option of using different cars, and it is much cheaper. We have no plans to buy another car.
