car2go Toronto

Car2Go is great for quick trips of less than an hour to get from A to B but seriously their pricing structure is pretty shitty.
It is convenient in that cars parking locations are spaced out decently over the city but too many times you can find certain spots with a surplus of cars and others vacant of any cars.
I don’t have a problem with the smart cars, they are great for zipping around in but the interface that is installed is a piece of shit, slow with a crappy built in sat nav.
Also too many times with underground car parks you can end up losing time trying to get a signal so you can end the journey, this is common problem I find and if like me you get fed up trying you will just abandon the car and contact car2go. (which again is almost impossible outside of normal hours)
Okay so on to my biggest grip — the pricing. Less than an hour or a quick grocery trip then great. Anything longer than an hour just gets pointless. Renting a car from budget is definitely cheaper for the day and extra seats.
They have weekend specials at times for $ 50 + 400 km for the day, but on the same weekend a rental for up to 4 hours can end up costing the same at the hourly rate.
I also found out recently that if you intention is to only have the car for a few hours, soon as you go over 5 hours and 27 minutes (most random figure ever) that it automatically switches to daily rate??? WTF???
So pricing wise you can really get caught out and the gist of it is if you rent for a few hours but less than 5hrs 27m it will cost you more than the special day rate… DOH!

I’ve used car2go pretty infrequently, but have found it convenient when you need to do trips around town that aren’t full day excursions. Once you get over a few hours it is cheaper to rent a car.
But the thing that has made this service incredibly better is that since March 31^st of 2016, you can end your trip parking on side streets instead of having to go back to a Green P lot. This actually makes things way more easy to use and encouraging, as previously when ending my trip I’d have to return the car to a lot which was a good 7 – 10 minute walk from my house.
I also like that they’ve started to include 4 door Mercedes into the mix of vehicles. More of these please!
On a customer service front, the one time I had an issue, I contacted car2go and they refunded me the amount of the issue caused right away.
No 5 stars for the service though as some of the Smart cars drive worse than golf carts.

WARNING! Car2go security is garbage and they will make you pay when it fails.
The card they issue you can be used to access any car2go. Even though a PIN is required to start it, if any vandalism or theft happens in the car, they will take no responsibility and charge you for it.
ALSO, they don’t do any real monitoring of fraudulent behaviour with the cards. My stolen card was used 4 times in 10 minutes to access 4 different cars without entering the PIN. They didn’t notice.
They contacted me three days later when another user reported a missing key. Hopeless! If the credit card companies were as lax with fraud, no one would use them. I recommend you don’t use Car2go until they fix their security model. I certainly won’t be using them anymore.

I signed up mainly to test their new 4-​door Mercedes B250, really do not want to test it at the dealer as I do not have plan to buy it right away.
Car2go offer deals time to time. From Dec 22 to Jan 3, you can have the car for 24 hours for $ 50, 400 km included!!! They also give out tickets to the Christmas Market in Nov.
I find the B250 pleasant to drive as they are newer and spacious. However, the condition of 2-​door Smart is hit or miss as some cars’ brake pedals need some time to get used to. Not a big problem as I do not drive fast in downtown TO.
Their service have been good, once I could not end a trip and drove it to another parking lot but still could not end it. The customer service helped to end it and waived the cost of the trip.

Get it under a promo code and use it only at night or early in the morning. After UBER appeared this service has been beaten up. Day rentals are ridiculous, go get some promos with car rental companies.

2 stars. It received one right off for the easy set up of the account (although if one wanted to set up, and GO it is impossible as it takes 5 days to check your background, drivers license status, etc) and the vast amount of easy to access information available and some snazzy videos too. It received the second star for the zippy cars they use (unfortunately zipcar and autoshare have ceased to use smart cars, so BOOOOOO!). It did NOT receive a 3^rd star due to the issues they do experience with connectivity/​ending trip/​car hardware problems. It did NOT receive a 4^th star due to the rollback/​removal on updating the fleet with electric drive smarts for Toronto (this was a huge selling point for us wishing to join car2go at the beginning), and finally it did NOT receive the 5^th star due to the ridiculously small «home» area. Toronto is big and there are a LOT of people who would like to pick up/​drop off/​use a car just outside the home area. I work all over Toronto and would defiantly use a car if one was close to me in the west non-​home area (4km from the zone boundary) and would finish my trip 3 km east of the home boundary, and I work 4 km north of the boundary), however, If they expanded to 427 in the west, 401 (or even better Finch) to the north, and Kennedy to the east, it would boost the usage 10-​fold plus. Also, no one at car2go has explained (and they are confused as I am) that (currently) 21cars are located 3−6km OUTSIDE the home area in GreenP lots, that can start and end trips and yet there are no signs in these lots for car2go and when we attempted it (parked in the SAME spot as a car was 20mons earlier) we cannot end the trip.

Car2go is a fun way to get around downtown Toronto. Rates are pretty reasonable at 0.41 a minute or $ 14.99 a hour up to a max of $ 84.99 and some times lower depending on if they have a promotion or not. Insurance, gas and 200kms a day is included. It may seem pricey but if you do the math the rates are quite comparable to a regular car rental (ie enterprise or Alamo) when you add insurance, gas and all the other hidden fees they add on your rental.
Picking up the rental is quite easy use your smartphone to locate nearby vehicles. Once you are at the car you can use your membership card to unlock the vehicle or your smartphone. Ending the rental is quite easy as well just pull up to a approved lot, shut the doors and that’s it. The doors will automatically lock once you end the rental.
The car it self is a smart for 2, can fit 2 people quite comfortably, the trunk can hold 2 large suitcases quite easily. I normally use car 2 go to get groceries and to Pearson airport. Performance wise its a smart car… It’s fine on city roads but on the highway it can get a little scary, I wouldn’t do more than 100kms/​h on it and try to stay on the right lane. Also I find the car lacks power especially if the ac is on while on the highway.
My only gripe is the check in and check out process in some lots especially multi level ones or underground. Sometimes it will say it can not end you rental due to connectivity issues and meter is running while you figure out these issues. I would avoid picking up/​ending the rentals at multi level or underground lots if at all possible and stick to the outdoor lots.

I find it very handy and convenient for quick jaunts across downtown when I’m in a hurry. Currently it works very well to get between the main office at work to one of our clients. Works out to be much faster than transit, and half or less the cost of a cab depending on traffic. Split the ride with a co-​worker and it’s as cheap as transit. And it’s fun zipping through downtown in these tiny but punchy little cars through downtown!
I give 3 stars though because, although it has worked for me probably 85% of the time, there have been some hiccups including not being able to end a trip due to a jammed rear hatch door, as well as wireless connectivity issues when inside parking structures that prevent starting or ending trips. The help line is usually good to sort some of these issues out.
You also have to carefully study the parking locations on a map around your destination because in the event that your target parking lot is full, you’ll need to locate another one in a hurry. You’ll want the smart phone app for this.
Overall I like it a lot, but it can improve and it’s not great for people who are not very familiar with their destination unless they’re ok with the meter running as they figure it out. I hope it expands!

The service offered is great and very useful. unfortunately their
execution is atrocious. I’ve only been a member for 1 month and i’ve
already had 4 issues trying to end my trip
The second trip i ever took with car2go had an issue because they reset their servers while i was ending my trip and i spent 20min trying to figure out what was going on.
then last week as i was ending my trip it said it was sending a «end trip» request and i waited for 3 minutes for the car’s call to be answered.
the same day, i parked and it said my trip was done and i can leave the car. 10 min later i got a text saying my trip wasn’t complete and i spent 10 min on the phone trying to figure out the issue with a customer service person and we figured out it was the passenger car door not being closed properly. if that was the issue then the car shouldn’t say my trip is complete. that is a ridiculous bug they need to fix
then today i got home and as i was parking my car it said my trunk was open even though i never used the trunk. had to call in to figure out how to fix the issue
as you can see for the short time I’ve been using this service it has been really frustrating. I use the service to get around faster and when i have to deal with things like this it doesn’t save me any time and in fact i have to always call in to get my time refunded! this is ridiculous and as of now i would never recommend this service and in fact i would suggest people stay away. They have a lot of work to do to remedy these issues.

Ok today it looks as thought progress has been made, the account is open and I have changed the rating… if everything is figured out I will again update the review and alter the rating. Todays customer service agent was far more helpful.
REVIEW #1
I have been struggling with the customer service aspect of this company in Toronto for months now. They are unable to process a transaction on my card, despite it working everywhere else, and since they outsource their billing the actual company can’t deal with it directly. Seeing as the majority of their business revolves around precision billing I am surprised they would not have more direct involvement. I am hoping to be able to resolve this soon, then I would happily re-​evaluate. At this point I am filling out my ZipCar application immediately after writing this.

Needs improvement but the concept is brilliant.
I’m also a Zipcar member and I actively use both depending on the circumstance.
I’m going to give you a scenario by scenario comparison between the 2 companies in order to help understand why car2go is awesome and why people think it’s not.
Point A to B? or A to A?
When I intend to be somewhere for an extended amount of time, like dinner with friends or a concert or a yoga class, I prefer to use Car2go so I can travel from point A to B and leave the car indefinitely. If I’m lucky, an hour or two later, that same car is still available to take back home but I don’t pay for the time it sits in the lot.
If I’m running errands or picking someone up from the airport, it sometimes makes better sense to rent a Zipcar when you need to travel point A to A again. I also consider whether I need a lot of trunk space or not.
Other pros of Car2go. You pay buy the minute! So yes, some complain that it works out to $ 15 per hour, but if you accidentally drive 1 hour and 6 minutes you get charged 1 hour and 6 minutes. Where with Zipcar you have to confirm no one else has booked the car right after you and if you return it late without notifying them, you will get penalized heavily.
If you fill up a Car2go with gas, you get 15 min of free driving!
Car2go’s are only smart cars, and this is a company that relies on GPS for finding Car2go lots and everything is automated so yes, expect problems. And I have!
I don’t like Car2go in underground lots. I’ve had bad reception and a few problems with the car not completing the trip because it thought the gas card wasn’t in it’s place. Twice I wasted nearly half an hour trying to reach customer service so they could reboot the system from their end so I could complete my trip.
All in all I thought Car2go was pretty smart (no pun intended). And then I spoke to someone who used Car2go in Vancouver and now I’m jealous. Apparently there are Car2go cars not just in the parking lots but they’re all over the side streets where permit parking is permitted. That means there are probably thousands more of these cars available and more flexibility to park them. But don’t take my word for it. I haven’t been to Vancouver in a few years. But if it’s true, that idea is gold!

Lacking in professionalism and customer service.
I was very excited to get my membership and try the service out. The day came when I needed to use it, I found a car and reserved it. I live slightly outside the home area, so I had to get someone to drive me to the vehicle. Got in, started my trip, attempted to start the car and to my surprise the battery went completely DEAD!
Right away I contacted the cx service line and they confirmed the battery was in fact dead. And that was pretty much the only definite I got from the rep. She could not answer or address any of my other concerns, such as:
Was the trip ended successfully? (Since battery was dead and I couldn’t scan my card anymore)
If not, would I be charged for it?
Am I going to be compensated for my time, since I missed the appointment I was headed to because of this?
And the most shocking one — is there another vehicle nearby? Her answer: NO.
While at the same time I am looking at approximately a dozen vehicles within a 10 km radius on the app.
In essence, I was left in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere without a ride and without any real resolution of my issue. On top of that I was told that there is no guarantee that I won’t have to pay for this «trip». Oh and I had to take a cab back home!
The rep of course could not give me a timeline either on when someone would be contacting me to address the above concerns.
What a joke!
I went into this with a positive attitude and eager to be a Car2Go customer, I am NEVER AGAIN using this service, card is cut up and in the trash. I can go sit in a parking lot for free!

I’m not exactly sure why car2go has had so many reviews but I tend to disagree as I LOVE it! It’s one of those things you are almost scared to rave about because it might become impossible to find availability.
Unlike other car rental services you don’t have to return the car where you left it. This is Ah-​maze-​ing! If you drive across the city like I do, it’s less than half the price of a cab and way faster than that dreaded King street car.
My pointer to you is to download the app because it uses GPS to tell you where the closest cars & park spots are. It’s brilliant. You know what else is brilliant? Ripping around in a go-​cart! Those things are fun. They don’t have enough power to go very fast so you don’t have to worry about speeding but be warned, they slip around like crazy on the icy streetcar tracks.
The only reason it doesn’t get a perfect score is because during peak times it can be hard to find an available car, even with the GPS enabled app. As well, I imagine if you drive outside of the city often, that could be a bit problematic as well. However, if you are like me and just need a car occasionally to zip from point A to point B, then this is a great option!

Absolutely terrible. After signing up for the service and awarded minutes for joining Car2go said I could not use them as my profile was not updated.
The lost awarded minutes never materialized other than the promise that someone would restore them as soon as possible. We proceeded to dance around with customer service for months to restore them. Each and every time Car2go where at a remote location they «had problems with their wifi. And why don’t I call CS and they will fix the issue.» This went on for over a year.
Ridiculous. Unprofessional. The lack of customer service fro C2G is worthy of song…

Much like other reviewers, there are things I love and hate about car2go.
For short trips with another person it can be cheaper than the TTC and it’s a good choice for a destination where parking would otherwise be expensive.
It gets expensive if your trip is slowed down, and this is particularly annoying when you are slowed down because of the service itself. For example, having to pay per minute to talk to customer service, to sort out problems with getting gas, looking for parking, or while waiting for your account to be verified.
Also, the cars themselves are just not very good and you get a bit of a jolt every time it changes gears.

I’ve been a Car2Go member for months now, and I love it. I agree with most of the opinions here that it needs work, but it’s inherently such a well designed system that working out the kinks shouldn’t be too much trouble and will be fixed in time.
Pros
1. Often it’s cheaper or equal to the TTC. We live around the corner from three lots that usually have cars in them, and we mostly drive short distances around downtown. Last night from Yonge/​Wellesley to Yonge/​Eglinton was 6 dollars… same as a spin on the TTC for two.
2. I love the car. I used to own a Camry, and backing in, parallel parking, and passing bicyclists are all significantly easier maneuvers to achieve in a tiny little car. It’s a little hurky jurky between 0 – 20 km/​h, but just pretend it’s a golf cart. No big deal.
3. Obviously, the one way rentals are phenomenally useful. Especially when it’s raining when you leave but sunny on the return. Or if you feel like drinking. Or if you plan to go to a third destination.
4. Customer service has gotten bad rap, but I find them perfectly pleasant and willing to refund me minutes I lose to short issues. For example, the Mastercard-​at-​gas-​stations problem, or when the dummy before me didn’t park on the roof.
Cons
1. As mentioned, a lot of the other drivers are clearly not the brightest and park the car incorrectly, or as we once had to deal with, take a parking ticket instead of using the parking pass, and then boneheadedly take the ticket with them. Oh well, bad luck sometimes I guess… you pay the price of sharing with other people.
2. We tried filling up with gas and got turned away once, and won’t ever do it again unless we happen to be passing a station when the car is below 25%. I’m sure they’ll figure this out.
3. The SOS system can sometimes cost you minutes… we waited 15 minutes to be told the Nav led us to the wrong lot, and we couldn’t end the trip. Being in the wrong lot was my fault, but waiting 15 minutes for help in the heat… well that sucked. They refunded us the minutes though, and then some, so I’m not going to hold a grudge. But I will, from now on, aim to get where I’m going ten minutes early just in case.
The pros clearly outweigh the cons. Car2go absolutely has reinforced my decision to sell my car, and I’m sure it’ll only get better as they figure out these minute details.

The car2go service itself has been pretty fantastic — good prices, decent cars and availability. Their corporate side seems pretty on the ball. Their app is great.
However, my experience with their customer service team in Toronto has been terrible. I attempted to fill up recently, and the provided mastercard did not work at the station. I was told to fill up and pay inside by the gas attendant, at which point the card still didn’t work.
After 15 minutes on the phone, being placed on hold standing awkwardly in the gas station, I was told to pay for the gas myself and send the reciept to customer service for reimbursement. That was pretty annoying, but not the worst. After contacting customer service I received an extremely rude e-​mail where I was told I refilled improperly and would only be refunded my money this time, but next time I would only receive credit in minutes. After I paid to fill up their car with my money. After their gas card was declined.
I don’t really understand what their problem is, what should have been a straightforward issue to resolve was an opportunity for their customer service to inform me I cannot read directions (I can).
I guess I’ll continue to use the service but I’ll never refuel a car for them after that because I don’t want to go through that experience again. I’d advise anyone using the service to avoid it as well.

Great idea but needs work!
1. Misleading fees — I used a sign-​up code which was supposed to give me free membership — they charged my credit card the sign-​up fee anyway! The website gave me no warning about this whatsoever — it looked as though it worked. I called them about this and they refused to do anything about it.
2. Snotty customer service — they are very defensive — not a customer service oriented company.
3. They end up nickel and diming you. It’s not that expensive, but it is annoying. For example, it may take you awhile to get out of a parking garage because the last guy didn’t properly sign in to a garage with the car2go parking card. Or you may need to get gas. All these things (and others like them) take time and you end up paying for that time. Another example: if you misplace your card they charge you a $ 25 «RFID fee» — even though RFID costs about 10 cents.
I am going to give them more of a chance since they are new to Toronto and I still like the concept. But I don’t trust them as a company… you need to be vigilant with them.

I am a big fan of Car2Go. I’ve written a very detailed review with pictures on my blog here:
, but will do a more summarized version for Unilocal too.
Good:
— Cheap
— Less expensive than a taxi
— You can take 1-​way trips
— Membership is only $ 30
— Great for getting around in the city
— Can even be cheaper than TTC
— Environmentally friendly when compared to many cars
Bad:
— Occassionally issues unlocking cars because they don’t have satellite signal
— Finding parking can be difficult if you are going to an area where the lots only hold a few cars
— Though accessibility is growing, occassionally it can be difficult to find a car near you.
Overall, if you can put up with the bad stuff it is an awesome service for getting around the city without having to own a car, or as an alternative to your current vehicle. Always cheaper than a taxi and sometimes even less expensive than the TTC.
This would be bumped to 5 stars if you could park at any metered parking space or if they had more lots to use.

This car sharing service is funny and weird. Funny and weird because the car itself is a piece of shit little thing that fits two people — it’s like driving a chair along the maniacal Toronto streets. Going over a speed bump is like biking up that very steep hill towards St. Clair and Bathurst. I’m not much of a driver, but I felt super confident behind the wheel and wasn’t afraid to heavy foot it and weave in and out of traffic, onto the sidewalk, through alleys, up the hill, down the hill, wrong ways on one ways, through the Dufferin Mall, onto the grass and into tennis courts. Don’t drive drunk.
I like the aspect of dropping the car off and be done with it as soon as you park it at a Green P.