Silvercar and the End of the Car Rental Nightmare

My work forces me to travel on a regular basis. And because most car service drivers drive like madmen, I always rent a car for my trips between the airport and my clients. Unfortunately, my experience with car services has been far from great. In fact, it’s probably my second worst customer experience after air travel. That was until I discovered [Silvercar](https://www.silvercar.com/#/).
Because I closely follow tech news, I learned about Silvercar when the startup launched in early 2013, but I never had a chance to try their service until last month and a trip to California. Like many tech startups these days, Silvercar’s goal is to disrupt powerful incumbents, but here the targets are car rental companies and specifically the ones located across US airports.
In short, Silvercar provides a far better experience for airport car rentals, mainly by adding technology to its cars and using mobile apps as a way to simplify and improve the whole process. But how does it work exactly? Well, it is rather straightforward. In fact it’s so simple, that you wonder why no one thought about it before.
– Download the app
– Create an account and enter a bunch of information about yourself
– Choose your start and end rental date
– Call or text Silvercar once you arrive at the airport
– Silvercar picks you up at your terminal of arrival
– Validate the rental agreement through your smartphone
And boom, just like that you’re on your way.
This is half of the greatness of Silvercar. The other part is the price and the car. They only have one price ($59/day) and one car (fully-loaded silver Audi A4s). That’s it.
I’ve used the service twice so far and I had an amazing experience each time. I’ve also convinced all of my colleagues to use Silvercar, and they now all swear by it. I could sing praises of the service all day long but next time you have the chance, give it a try. You won’t regret it.
I won’t dwell into the full story of Silvercar, but if you’re interested I suggest you read this detailed article on [Buzzfeed](http://www.buzzfeed.com/mariahsummers/meet-silvercar-the-startup-trying-to-shake-up-airport-car-re). What I want to talk about is the car. Silvercar’s Audi A4s are really nice rides. Again they are fully-loaded, fuel efficient and quite comfortable for extended trips. Interestingly enough, a new A4 drives like a BMW 3 series F30, which drives like a Volkswagen Jetta, which probably drives like a Toyota Camry. I actually don’t know that because I never tested a Camry. They are soul-sucking cars that will make you question your life on this planet and arouse strong feelings of suicide. My point is that all these automobiles are the same and I don’t honestly understand how Audi and BMW differentiate themselves. BMW is probably doing a (slightly) better job than Audi thanks to their halo products (i.e. M cars). But if you’re an enthusiast and want to drive a decent BMW, you have to have a 35 engine and the M Sport Package and that’s not a cheap car. I just hope that a MINI doesn’t end up feeling like any other compact car on the market and for which you have drop $38K to have something exciting to drive.
11 Comments
<p>The prices do fluxuate based on the days that you rent, and they also offer Q5’s at the Denver airport.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call an Audi A4 a soul sucking car… a Nissan Versa Note would fit in that category…! And yes I was stuck with one of those for four days when my MINI was out of service due to a frozen intake.</p>
<p>A lot of travel bloggers have been pushing this too. But $59/day is insane to me. If you have some one else footing the bill I guess it can make sense. But if I’m renting a car on my own there’s no way I’d ever pay that much.Lots of rental agencies have programs that allow you to bypass the counter and just go directly to pick up your car. And it’s going to be a lot less expensive.</p>
<p>I agree that it’s expensive, but if you compare the rental price a fully loaded A4 with Silvercar against Hertz or Avis for the same vehicle, I’m fairly certain Silvercar is the better deal, plus it’s hassle free. Also these agencies don’t pick you up at the terminal like Silvercar does. I think the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program allows you to pick you car without going through the counter, but you still have to ride their shuttle from the airport terminal to their location.</p>
<p>unless the location is in the terminal, in which case no shuttle is required. Do you need an A4 when you’re renting a car for a couple of days? It just seems like a waste to me. But YMMV I suppose</p>
<p>…uhhh… MINI is very quickly becoming a $38k car…</p>
<p>Ouch, as someone who has moved out of a MINI and into an F31 328 I can’t agree that you have to have a 35 engine, nor can I agree that they are anything like a Camry. Do they have character like my R53 had? Well no. But even with the Xdrive that comes standard, I have managed to hang the tail out on a couple of occassions. My problem is the car’s capability is greater than mine as a driver, and can’t be enjoyed at legal speeds. A 335 just compounds those problems for me. Not to say I wouldn’t take one but I conscientiously chose a lesser motor and haven’t regretted it.</p>
<p>What a strange rambling post. It starts out talking about this great new service with a set price (although that’s incorrect, I just checked the price for next week at LAX and it was $89 a day). It then goes on to say the A4s are “really nice rides” – fully loaded, comfortable. Then suddenly he says they’re soul sucking and arouse strong feelings of suicide. I’ve been reading Motoringfile since the beginning and this article just doesn’t fit. Gabe? What’s up with this?</p>
<p>He did NOT call the A4 a soul sucking car. Read it again.</p>
<p>no, he did. not that I really care, its more about how this is just a poorly written, poorly thought out meandering post and how people read posts and think they have some basis in fact. That Silver Car is the “end of the car rental nightmare” Renting a car nowadays is pretty easy. I use budget with their fast pass. They give me a good price, I hop on the bus and the car is waiting for me. There’s no line or rental counter, my paperwork is in the car.</p>
<p>Back to your comment – he says that “a new A4 drives like a BMW 3 series F30, which drives like a Volkswagen Jetta, which probably drives like a Toyota Camry”… They are soul-sucking cars that will make you question your life on this planet and arouse strong feelings of suicide.” He’s saying that the a4 and the Camry drive alike – even though he’s never driven one. Since they are basically the same car, they’re all soul sucking.</p>
<p>Somehow the post goes from an ad for Silvercar to a post about how all cars suck except for Minis and M cars. Sorry to vent. I just found this all particularly annoying for some reason. Rant over.</p>
<p><blockquote>Silvercar’s goal is to disrupt powerful incumbents</blockquote></p>
<p>I think Silvercar is quite vulnerable. If they make inroads, any of the majors could easily match the service and undercut in price. A possible outcome (perhaps even their business plan) is that they will be acquired by one of the majors.</p>