Car sharing at Popham

[Sam Rutherford]

Anyone interested in this? Having a car parked there full time, so available for any 'members' who fly in?

Mac and Greg at Airbourne have kindly agreed to look after it, so that's sorted...

Anyone done something similar anywhere else - positives and negatives?

Cheers, Sam.

[Wuniform]

App2Drive (https://app2drive.com/app2drive/de-en/app2drive.nsf/c/footernav,verkehrslandeplätze) started a while ago, maybe this is a natural extension of their current Germany engagement?

[JW411]

Sam, I hate to put a downer on your idea but I have, in the past, been involved in such schemes. It has ALWAYS ended in tears. I even had a boss who gave us two mini-mokes to get us around in Barbados. Maintenance and insurance was all taken care of. All we had to do was put petrol in the tanks. Sadly, there is always a lowest common denominator in every society and some of them couldn't even find the fuel cap.

Buy yourself a banger and keep it there for your own use and for very close friends.

[Sam Rutherford]

I've already thought of that - 100% electric. All they do is bring it back before empty, it'll be charged overnight ready for the next person!

[alex90]

100% electric? Isn't that going to be an expensive car then? Would you trust a complete stranger with an expensive car without full knowledge of whether or not they can pay the (probably hefty) excess on the insurance?

I hear that it works well in the USA, especially in airports with little else there. I have seen the keys on the hook saying "please bring back full" and a donation box. It didn't seem that you needed to pay anything - but a donation was customary.

If I were you I'd buy an old cheap car that is mechanically sound, and most importantly cheap to insure commercially. Say bring back full or pay £40 (or whatever a full tank normally costs) and boom. But you'll find that it is a bit of hassle...

[terry holloway]

Good idea. I fly there from time to time and sometimes need a car to get to Fair Oak

[India Four Two]

The concept of a "courtesy car" works well in North America.

On a trip last year, at one small airport in Wisconsin, on a Sunday, there was no one at the FBO. Unlocked the door using the "Emergency Frequency" code. Keys hanging on the wall for two courtesy cars - black ex-police Crown Victorias. No one passed us on the way into town, which was ironically called Siren!

Late in the day, the refuelling truck driver at a Montana airport, after hearing that we planned to go into town for lunch, said that the courtesy car was not very reliable and handed us the keys to his $30,000 truck!

[Sam Rutherford]

http://www.kearys.ie/new-cars/renault/fluence-ze

Actually, purchase price is £3000 (for a 2012 model!) - it's ugly as sin (search 'Renault Fluence EV) and then put that in pale metallic blue...!

BUT, very smooth, very quiet, fits easily 5 adults, GPS nav etc.

So, not pretty but does the job perfectly.

Cheers, Sam.

[alex90]

Well that sounds pretty amazing! 100mile range (on paper) suggests enough for an airfield car - that's awesome!

What kind of arrangement would you have for people wanting to take the car?

:-)

[Sam Rutherford]

Actually, I have little idea!

Perhaps sell 3 other resellable shares (at £750 each), and then the annual costs (perhaps £400 each for insurance, MOT and the battery hire). There's no tax to pay, or fuel costs. Then any maintenance can be paid for by ratio of miles driven by each partner. Biggest user pays biggest share.

For practical use, find a really simple asset-share site such as Share Timetable ? Free Online Resource and Appointment Scheduling (http://www.sharetimetable.com/) .

Because of the type of car, it'll only ever be used for short, local trips - so should be very rare that there will be a clash of needs...?

Interested?

[xrayalpha]

Hi Sam,

there was talk of a bike share scheme at Bute - using the little shed that was for the runway lights.

I have always liked the US idea and, indeed, we make my old heap available for visitors to pop into town at Strathaven.

We once looked at having an electric courtesy car: first, it would be nice to have it financed and powered by the wind farm people who have taken up so much of our time. Second, it would be good for the local community - because being electric you couldn't drive it too far!

But even your cheap Renault has a £77 a month battery hire charge. My RX4 cost just £700 total to buy outright!

Maybe try EasyCar Club to run the hiring of a Popham car?

[alex90]

I haven't flown into Popham before... But might it be an idea to make it available to anyone who flies in via a booking system? Charge a small fee for the rental, you would just need to have more than x bookings a month and you could make a small profit!

I am not sure a car club will stretch that far out of a major city in the UK, but might be worth contacting one, just to see!

[Sam Rutherford]

Hi Alex,

At that stage I'm sure there are all sorts of legal activity issues that come into play - not sure I want to become Avis!

Cheers, Sam.

[ericferret]

Reminds me of a friend who flew into a German airfield and asked where she could stay locally. She was given accomodation on site for free. She then enquired as to where she could get transport to a town about 30 miles away and was rewarded with the keys to a company car!!!!!!

I would love to tell you the name of this airfield and the company that operates from there, as such goodwill deserves to be recognised. However I doubt they would thank me!!!!