Re: car sharing
From: Lautner, Patricia (Patricia.Lautnerumassmed.edu)
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2012 05:32:23 -0700 (PDT)
At JPCohousing in Boston we have two shared car programs.

1) Two households share one car (I'm one of the households).  I "own" the car.  
The primary driver from the other house is listed as a driver on my insurance.  
I have a credit card that we keep hidden in the car.  We use that card to pay 
for gas and anything else car related only - that is, the card is never used 
for anything else.  We have a notebook in the car and record mileage plus 
driver name.  At the end of each month, I take the book and tally the mileage.  
We split the gas based on use.  I also record usage monthly on a summary tab 
(excel sheet - I'm happy to share with anyone) so that over time (i.e. months 
or years) I can see which household has used the car by what percentage.  
Whenever there is a major repair (i.e., muffler, tires, etc) we look at the 
summary percentages and split the cost based on that percentage.  However, some 
things we always split 50/50 - these are costs that have to get paid regardless 
of car usage like: excise tax, inspection, and insurance.  For both households 
this is our 'second' car.  I think this would easily work if three households 
participate - we did that for a while without any problems.  Also, we often 
lend the car to other members of the community.  We don't 'charge' but often 
notice that the tank is filled or the interior was washed after lending the 
car.  Nice.

2) There is another car we call the Jip car (a cute alternative to the popular 
Zip Car program available in many cities.)  One person owns the car and carries 
the insurance.  The key is kept in the common house.  Anyone can sign the car 
out and use it.  If they fill the tank, they turn in the receipt.  Otherwise 
the owner usually fills the tank.  The owner takes care of maintenance, 
inspection etc.  He tallies the costs I think annually and charges each user 
based on some formula.  I'm not sure the formula - it seems looser then option 
1 above.  But it's very cool.  I've used that car in a pinch 2 or three times 
last year and when I got my bill I owed $27.  Best deal in town!

In example 1 above, I originally owned the car.  Household two simply paid me 
half the book value and then we considered the car 'shared'.

In example 2, the Jip car was donated by the owner for this purpose. (Only in 
cohousing....)

Patti
JP Cohousing
Boston

-----Original Message-----
From: CAROL AGATE [mailto:carolagate [at] me.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 8:07 PM
To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
Subject: [C-L]_ car sharing


Does anyone have a community car that everyone shares? If so:

How do you handle the insurance? Is one person the owner who ostensibly just 
allows others to use the car?

Does the community own the car, and, if so, what kind of insurance do you get?

How do you pay for maintenance and insurance?

Does the entire community support the car or only those who use it?

Do people pay for each use?

How do you make sure the tank is kept full?

If it's paid for only by those those who use it, is there a distinction between 
households that have a car and use it as a backup and those who use it as their 
only car?

And any answers you can think of for unasked questions.

Carol Agate
Cornerstone Village Cohousing
Cambridge, MA

_________________________________________________________________
Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/




Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.