Re:FlightCar (YC W13) Raises $5.5M Round to Expand and Hire
by shrig94 on Monday April 15, 2013 @03:20PM
(#5553615)
For brand new cars, FlightCar honestly comes out to about even as you mentioned. Though, our ordinary car is an '08 Prius, which has depreciated enough in value (as cars depreciate quickly!) to make our service a definite positive. Also, our utility will probably never really be 100% (Hertz for example is doing a lot to increase their's and is at 65% or so I believe). So your car most likely won't be rented for everyday you're gone.
We do try and make the experience way better than traditional airport parking. We drop you off and pick you up in a town car and we give you free Starbuck's coffee before you fly and after you land! You also don't come home to an outrageous bill!
Re:FlightCar (YC W13) Raises $5.5M Round to Expand and Hire
by QuotedForTruth on Monday April 15, 2013 @03:31PM
(#5553691)
Thanks for the reply. As you mention, a day or two without being rented would definitely swing it more in the car owners favor. Perhaps the best idea is just to bring a car so ugly no one would rent it!
Re:FlightCar (YC W13) Raises $5.5M Round to Expand and Hire
by cjreyes on Monday April 15, 2013 @06:20PM
(#5554811)
I tried to bring my 95' Camry with broken door handles, windows that don't go down, oil leak, and no paint on the hood to rent with FlightCar ... but it didn't qualify. Not surprisingly, they have quality standards :-p
The federal reimbursment rate is $.55/mile. You have to pull gas reimbursment out of that because like normal rental cars (I assume) flightcar renters pay for their own gas.
A conservative estimate based on 20 miles/gallon and $4/gallon is $.20/mile in gas cost. Each mile the renter drives using your vehicle thus costs you $.35 in wear and tear and depreciation.
An alternative data point would be car lease mileage overage fees. They are commonly $.15-$.25/mile and are supposed to represent the extra depreciation of the vehicle.
So its in the right neighborhood of value to the car owner but probably doesnt represent much profit and may not be worth the hassle.