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Friends, I am trying to compare various self drive car rental services depending on my own experience. You are welcome to add your experiences too. As of now I am comparing Zoom car vs Myles.
Up till now, I have done few long trips with these self drive cars.
Prerequisites you need to know before Self drive car booking :
Age of the driver criteria : it is 20 years at least for Zoomcar (24 years for high end luxury cars), 21 years for myles ,however they keep it changing as per their business need.
App download : You need to download their app.
Document upload : You need to upload your driving licence ( Indian or International)
In case of Zoomcar, only driving licence was enough.
Incase of Myles, Driving licence and , Adhar Card or passport. You should do the upload few days prior to booking date as it may take time to upload and the approval from the self drive car rental Cos.
Fuel :
Zoomcar offers free fuel for the prefixed maximum kilometers allowed, if in between the journey you refuel the car, you have to present the valid bill with date time & vehicle number mentioned on it. They pay you back the amount online within 7 to 8 days. If prefixed maximum kms are exceeded eg 150 km /day, 250 kms /day) they charge with a predetermined rate per km and hours.
Myles doesn't offer free fuel, they deliver you the car with full tank and you have deliver it back with full tank and there is no cap on kms travelled..
Tolls, Entry fees of various states : You have to bear them.
Payment : Both accept payment only online (debit, credit card / internet banking). Full payment needs to be done in advance so as to confirm the booking. Sometimes you have to pay deposit along with the full advance payment.
Cancellation of booking & refunds : They have their policies, keep changing from time to time.
Speed limit :
Zoom car had speed limit of 110 kmph.
Myles had speed limit of 100 kmph when I booked it, just two days prior to pick up date, they brought new scheme with speed limit of 120 kmph. I had to cancel the first booking ( bearing some charges) and do it fresh so as to avail the new speed limit.
GPS tracking: Both the companies track the movements and speed on GPS device and can penalise you for violation. However, the facility for Maps for the customer is available at extra cost.
Accident, loss, damage charges :
Zoomcar car makes you pay for the charges which are not covered under insurance , else you have option of letting the case go to the court at the district where accident took place or the insurance of the vehicle belongs.
Myles has got a loss damage waiver policy which can be availed at the time of booking with some affordable charges.
Delay charges ; Both have policies for charging the customer for delayed drop off of the car.
Areas where self drive cars not allowed : Leh Ladakh.
Rest of the rules and details are available on respective websites.
My experience with Zoomcar.
Last year, it was my first attempt to experience the self drive car. We, the family 6 people, decided to do a Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty trip .We got the air tickets for Bangalore at 11th hour so I had to book the Zoomcar online from Pune airport just 1 hr before the flight. I was lucky to get the XUV booked but facility of airport pick up and drop off was not available on that for the pirticular car.
We landed at Bangalore airport at approximately 8 am. We had to hire a Innova taxi so as to reach the Zoomcar’s pickup point which was located 40 km away from the airport, on Mysore road. . Meanwhile Zoomcar executives were in touch with me on phone as I had not reached there in time.(9 am)
Finally, we reached there at 11 am (had to spend some time at B2B restaurant for breakfast).
It was little bit difficult to find the pick up point with Google maps, however the taxi driver found it after talking with the Zoomcar executive on phone. The Zoomcar fellow checked my licence and sent me a OTP, upon entering it on the concerned page of the app, the car got unlocked on its own and I received a SMS stating that the car with the registration number such & such has got unlocked and keys are in the glove box'.
Before opening the car I saw there were some scratches and minute damages on the car body. I brought them to the notice of the Zoomcar fellow there, he made me to take pics of the concerned parts of the body so as to prevent dispute later on.
Then I checked the car for the fluid levels,lights , documents, functioning of the features, leakages, clutch function, leakage in engine compartment,tyres, spare wheel, jack spanner etc.
Car was moderately clean.
The car was 50 k km run and was fitted with some basic brand tyres.
Experience with the Zoomcar XUV was overall good thereafter. The music system was OE and good.
All the features worked well barring the IRVM which use the sag down gradually from its position leading to loss of view. For me, IRVM was not a big issue as I rarely use it except for reversing.
The Bluetooth and and OE reverse, parking guidance system to worked well.
If the speed limit of 110 kmph was crossed it use to make beep sound and steering use to start wobble.
Total running was 650km approximately.
I had to refuel the car once(Rs 700), the fuel cost was refunded by them later on online.
It was a pain again to find the drop off location which was same as that of pickup. They don't allow drop off at different location eg airport, railway station or different city.
After 6 months, I availed Zoomcar for my Hyderabad trip for 4 days. This time, I booked it few days before the trip hence I was lucky to choose the pickup & drop off point at Secunderbad railway station, but few hours before the pick up time they called me and told that they are unable to provide the car at railway station parking. I had to choose a different pick up point located at GHMC parking. I had to travel by an auto spending 200Rs. as Uber Ola etc. were on strike.
Thereafter, experience was more or less similar to the Bangalore - Mysore - Ooty trip. For this Hyderabad trip I had selected Ford aspire as we were only 4 people. This car also had some dents, scratches which I notified the executive and had taken the pics.
This time, speed limit was not a issue and most of the running was in city limits.
Periodically, they use to send me SMS regarding judicial use of clutch in city limits.
This Ford aspire did not had parking guidance system. The music system was of average quality.
I don't remember about Bluetooth connectivity.
Next time, I had booked a Ford Figo at Pune for a period of 6 hours as my own Rapid was sent for servicing. Experience was more or less same. This time also the pickup/ drop off point was not very convineant.
Zoomcar does offer a home pickup and drop off, and airport pick up and drop off but at extra cost, and depending on availability of the driver.
Suggestions for Zoomcar :
1)Pickup and drop from airports, railway stations, bus stands should be made realistic.
2) In car, DVD screen entertainment should be made available for long bookings at least if needed they can charge extra for that.
3) Mobile phone holder or GPS device holder should be made available by default.
4) Cars should be provided in squeaky clean condition for long bookings.
5) Most of the cars of Zoom car are red coloured, they attract more heat as compared to light colors.
6) Reverse park assist should be provided for all the cars
I will be posting Myles self drive car rewiew in my next post.
Friends, I am trying to compare various self drive car rental services depending on my own experience. You are welcome to add your experiences too. As of now I am comparing Zoom car vs Myles.
Up till now, I have done few long trips with these self drive cars.
Prerequisites you need to know before Self drive car booking :
Age of the driver criteria : it is 20 years at least for Zoomcar (24 years for high end luxury cars), 21 years for myles ,however they keep it changing as per their business need.
App download : You need to download their app.
Document upload : You need to upload your driving licence ( Indian or International)
In case of Zoomcar, only driving licence was enough.
Incase of Myles, Driving licence and , Adhar Card or passport. You should do the upload few days prior to booking date as it may take time to upload and the approval from the self drive car rental Cos.
Fuel :
Zoomcar offers free fuel for the prefixed maximum kilometers allowed, if in between the journey you refuel the car, you have to present the valid bill with date time & vehicle number mentioned on it. They pay you back the amount online within 7 to 8 days. If prefixed maximum kms are exceeded eg 150 km /day, 250 kms /day) they charge with a predetermined rate per km and hours.
Myles doesn't offer free fuel, they deliver you the car with full tank and you have deliver it back with full tank and there is no cap on kms travelled..
Tolls, Entry fees of various states : You have to bear them.
Payment : Both accept payment only online (debit, credit card / internet banking). Full payment needs to be done in advance so as to confirm the booking. Sometimes you have to pay deposit along with the full advance payment.
Cancellation of booking & refunds : They have their policies, keep changing from time to time.
Speed limit :
Zoom car had speed limit of 110 kmph.
Myles had speed limit of 100 kmph when I booked it, just two days prior to pick up date, they brought new scheme with speed limit of 120 kmph. I had to cancel the first booking ( bearing some charges) and do it fresh so as to avail the new speed limit.
GPS tracking: Both the companies track the movements and speed on GPS device and can penalise you for violation. However, the facility for Maps for the customer is available at extra cost.
Accident, loss, damage charges :
Zoomcar car makes you pay for the charges which are not covered under insurance , else you have option of letting the case go to the court at the district where accident took place or the insurance of the vehicle belongs.
Myles has got a loss damage waiver policy which can be availed at the time of booking with some affordable charges.
Delay charges ; Both have policies for charging the customer for delayed drop off of the car.
Areas where self drive cars not allowed : Leh Ladakh.
Rest of the rules and details are available on respective websites.
My experience with Zoomcar.
Last year, it was my first attempt to experience the self drive car. We, the family 6 people, decided to do a Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty trip .We got the air tickets for Bangalore at 11th hour so I had to book the Zoomcar online from Pune airport just 1 hr before the flight. I was lucky to get the XUV booked but facility of airport pick up and drop off was not available on that for the pirticular car.
We landed at Bangalore airport at approximately 8 am. We had to hire a Innova taxi so as to reach the Zoomcar’s pickup point which was located 40 km away from the airport, on Mysore road. . Meanwhile Zoomcar executives were in touch with me on phone as I had not reached there in time.(9 am)
Finally, we reached there at 11 am (had to spend some time at B2B restaurant for breakfast).
It was little bit difficult to find the pick up point with Google maps, however the taxi driver found it after talking with the Zoomcar executive on phone. The Zoomcar fellow checked my licence and sent me a OTP, upon entering it on the concerned page of the app, the car got unlocked on its own and I received a SMS stating that the car with the registration number such & such has got unlocked and keys are in the glove box'.
Before opening the car I saw there were some scratches and minute damages on the car body. I brought them to the notice of the Zoomcar fellow there, he made me to take pics of the concerned parts of the body so as to prevent dispute later on.
Then I checked the car for the fluid levels,lights , documents, functioning of the features, leakages, clutch function, leakage in engine compartment,tyres, spare wheel, jack spanner etc.
Car was moderately clean.
The car was 50 k km run and was fitted with some basic brand tyres.
Experience with the Zoomcar XUV was overall good thereafter. The music system was OE and good.
All the features worked well barring the IRVM which use the sag down gradually from its position leading to loss of view. For me, IRVM was not a big issue as I rarely use it except for reversing.
The Bluetooth and and OE reverse, parking guidance system to worked well.
If the speed limit of 110 kmph was crossed it use to make beep sound and steering use to start wobble.
Total running was 650km approximately.
I had to refuel the car once(Rs 700), the fuel cost was refunded by them later on online.
It was a pain again to find the drop off location which was same as that of pickup. They don't allow drop off at different location eg airport, railway station or different city.
After 6 months, I availed Zoomcar for my Hyderabad trip for 4 days. This time, I booked it few days before the trip hence I was lucky to choose the pickup & drop off point at Secunderbad railway station, but few hours before the pick up time they called me and told that they are unable to provide the car at railway station parking. I had to choose a different pick up point located at GHMC parking. I had to travel by an auto spending 200Rs. as Uber Ola etc. were on strike.
Thereafter, experience was more or less similar to the Bangalore - Mysore - Ooty trip. For this Hyderabad trip I had selected Ford aspire as we were only 4 people. This car also had some dents, scratches which I notified the executive and had taken the pics.
This time, speed limit was not a issue and most of the running was in city limits.
Periodically, they use to send me SMS regarding judicial use of clutch in city limits.
This Ford aspire did not had parking guidance system. The music system was of average quality.
I don't remember about Bluetooth connectivity.
Next time, I had booked a Ford Figo at Pune for a period of 6 hours as my own Rapid was sent for servicing. Experience was more or less same. This time also the pickup/ drop off point was not very convineant.
Zoomcar does offer a home pickup and drop off, and airport pick up and drop off but at extra cost, and depending on availability of the driver.
Suggestions for Zoomcar :
1)Pickup and drop from airports, railway stations, bus stands should be made realistic.
2) In car, DVD screen entertainment should be made available for long bookings at least if needed they can charge extra for that.
3) Mobile phone holder or GPS device holder should be made available by default.
4) Cars should be provided in squeaky clean condition for long bookings.
5) Most of the cars of Zoom car are red coloured, they attract more heat as compared to light colors.
6) Reverse park assist should be provided for all the cars
I will be posting Myles self drive car rewiew in my next post.
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![[clap]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Clap.gif "Clap [clap]")
. I am in need of a 7 seater for a 3 day trip and as of now Zoomcar appears to be the best option to me. The only downside is the car itself, they only have a Scorpio which has third row seats side facing and literally no luggage space. Myles has an XUV but it is not available for my dates so I either choose Zoomcar or go with local renters. Local renters' fees seems equal to Zoomcar and some even have Innova in their fleet but I am skeptic of car quality, breakdowns etc as this is a fairly long trip of 400 KM one-way. I planned to visit a couple of local renters this weekend to finalize between them or Zoomcar. 
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