You can now live Car Free in OKC - well sort of

[kevinpate]

hmmmm, by the hour rent it, drop it transportation. Sounds good, and hopefully it'll be a huge benny for folks.
(and preferably not folks cruising S Robinson in hopes of keeping their own rides and tags from being captured on tape.)

[Just the facts]

hmmmm, by the hour rent it, drop it transportation. Sounds good, and hopefully it'll be a huge benny for folks.
(and preferably not folks cruising S Robinson in hopes of keeping their own rides and tags from being captured on tape.)

LOL - that made me think of Dirty Mike and the Boys from The Other Guys.

[BBatesokc]

Has TimeCar pulled out of the Oklahoma City area? Brought up their map and it doesn't show any locations in or around the metro.

Locations and Rates | Timecar

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Just looked on their Facebook. The company closed at the end of 2014. Probably way too hard to compete with the likes of ride-sharing.

[BBatesokc]

Uber and Lift are slowly killing ZipCar and the like.

And Uber is killing itself.... then the circle will be complete!

I was actually needing a small truck to rent and was hoping TimeCar was still on life support. O'well.

[Just the facts]

And Uber is killing itself.... then the circle will be complete!

I was actually needing a small truck to rent and was hoping TimeCar was still on life support. O'well.

Lowes and Home Depot rent pickups.

[Jersey Boss]

As does U-Haul and Enterprise(who will pick you up at your house as well). My experience with the big box store is that their rates are not competitive, especially if you are spending an hour or better to get to the store from your house.

[BBatesokc]

As does U-Haul and Enterprise(who will pick you up at your house as well). My experience with the big box store is that their rates are not competitive, especially if you are spending an hour or better to get to the store from your house.

I've actually rented from Home Depot before. I found their rates are far better than UHaul's and car rental places - IF - you're just picking up and dropping off.

I've used it to pick up a large item at Sam's and at IO Metro.

[okie405]

Yeah. Not car free.

And, you've been able to rent a car for 50 years. Enterprise, Hertz, etc. You can rent a car from them for an entire day for $20 with specials. TimeCar isn't that cheap for a day's use of a car, is it? Their website won't even let me view their rental rates as their map for rates is broken.

Zipcar, another car sharing service, has existed for... what... a decade? I tried that when I lived in another city, and it was fine... but it's just not practical. How many times do you need to drive a car that you don't stay at your destination a considerable amount of time? Say you want to go to a friend's party in NW OKC, or you want to go to the zoo, or to a work meeting across town. Or, shopping. And what if there's traffic or time needed to park?

You're not just looking at one or two hours of renting a car, you're looking at 3-4. Car "sharing" services get expensive and fast with mile fees and the hours you end up using. Who needs a car to drive across town, stay for only half an hour, then drive back?

You're easily looking at $50+ dollars per trip each day you want an outing unless you only want to be at your destination for a very short time.

You can "timeshare" a car. I mean, you could just take a taxi or Uber/Lyft around the city and not technically "own" a car either, but you would still be using a car.

Not "using" a car in OKC is incredibly impracticable in 99.9% of neighborhoods.

You could maybe swing it in Bricktown or some urban apartment with a deli/gas station/grocery store a few blocks away, but even then, you would have to have a job that nearby too.

Bus routes here take forever, and connections to most popular destinations make that length of time even longer. Clean bus service, but impracticable for most people. Who wants to spend hours a day on or waiting for a bus (or bus connection)?

What about spending time with friends in the suburbs or going to stores in NW OKC? Yeah, bus service there isn't very usable and walking would suck.

OKC is just too spread out a city to walk across, and the weather blows (literally and figuratively).

You can BUY a working used car for $500-700. With liability only insurance and cheap gas now, you could easily save money and have a full-time car instead of having to cough up +-$50 for every day trip you want. Unless you live and work within a few blocks and walk everywhere 99% of the time.... which is very, very few people in Oklahoma.

[kevinpate]

would not need to limit to liability only. My youngest is 22. monthly on his 2000 still nice and well covered ride is a hair over 100 month.
a 92 honda i own, same coverage except no collision is about half that, but i get certain old hermit discounts.

[BBatesokc]

@okie405 -- I think the spirit of the thread was that you don't have to own a car, not that you won't need access to one to get around.

In that spirit it is true, you don't have to own a car in Oklahoma. And, for some people it's probably a better financial option.

As mentioned earlier in the thread, TimeCar is out of business.

The rental car cheap rates are few and far between and usually only apply to weekends.

Ride sharing is probably the best option for most people. Current rates are far below taxi rates. The bus is still a joke, though the Edmond CityLink is pretty well done if you live near it.

[bradh]

What about spending time with friends in the suburbs or going to stores in NW OKC? Yeah, bus service there isn't very usable and walking would suck.

Pfft, they don't have friends in NW OKC or the burbs, they just turn their nose up at all of them

[no1cub17]

Pfft, they don't have friends in NW OKC or the burbs, they just turn their nose up at all of them

Yup - I just use my low tolerance as an excuse and make em drive downtown

[bradh]

Yup - I just use my low tolerance as an excuse and make em drive downtown

We spend most of our nights out with friends down there anyway, hooray Uber and designated drivers!

Seriously, for some of our friends, we may have to offers Uber reimbursement to come to our house warming party lol