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Moped/Scooters/Zip cars anyone?
Last Monday, my car died on my way home from work and it caught on fire shortly after that. Needless to say it is totaled and now DH and I are waiting on word from insurance and trying to figure out what we are going to do in the meantime, this was our only car.
We have been looking at cars, but we can't really afford what we would like to have and it not sure if we want to put the money into something we aren't crazy about. We are also looking into how much we actually NEED a car.
I think it would take some getting used to not having our own car, but we have also been toying with the thought of buying a two person scooter that could get us to the grocery store for little things, rent movies, we could even go downtown if we wanted. Then for times that we did need a car we could use a Zip car. There are three parked farely close to us.
I was just curious to know if any of you Portland girls have scooters and how it works for you? I have only rode a scooter around a parking lot once, so I am no expert by any means! Oh, and our reasoning behind doing this is that it would allow us to not have a car payment, which would allow us to save more money, pay off the credit card, and save up for a new car all much, much faster than our rate right now. I also carpool to work or can take transit (long ride, but it gets me there) and DH takes the MAX to downtown. If anyone has any experience with using scooters or Zip cars, please share! (I might post this on another board too, to get more responses)
Re: Moped/Scooters/Zip cars anyone?
That's a fantastic idea! Very eco-friendly too...
Sorry I don't have any perosnal experience to share!
I've known a few people that have used scooters, and they've been very happy with them.
I don't know much about the Zip cars, though I think it is a great idea! I also had a friend that worked at a car rental agency and she said most of their customers were local regulars who would rent cars occasionally to do big shopping trips, get to different events, etc. They found that it was cheaper to rent than to participate in zip cars/flex cars. Something to consider
I use Zipcar for work related meetings etc. I like Flexcar over Zipcar, but since they are not longer an option...
Zip is a bit more expensive than Flexcar, so the price of 'borrowing' a car is more.
As for your scooter question, you should page Pdxphotogrl on Portland knot board. She just bought a new one and it is hot. Plus, it is has great gas mileage.
Sorry to hear about your car. That sucks.
Mi Casa
What is this Zip Car madness? I keep seeing the parking spots "for zip cars only" but I don't get it. It can't just be a regular rental car...
I think the scooter idea is awesome. I want a Vespa! You guys get one and I'll live vicariously through you!
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Oooh ooh! Me me me! All of the above. Sorry I'm late to this.
We bought a scooter about a month ago to cut down on our gas consumption, and it is just about the greatest thing ever. We bought a 50cc Yamaha Vino classic. It gets ~100mpg right now, and that should even improve a bit once we finish breaking in the engine. It only seats one person, though, but you don't need a motorcycle license and it still gets up Marquam Hill every day for me quite easily. Top speed is about 40mph. We're already planning to buy a 2nd scooter in the next month!
I can wax poetic if you like about which brands and what size and so forth.
Briefly, Yamaha, Honda, Kymco, Genuine, and Sym all make really high quality/low emissions/low maintenance products. Stay away from Chinese clones as they tend to fail catastrophically within 1000 miles. Vespas are really pretty but WAY overpriced and heavy. You should get one soon to take advantage of the great weather coming up!
This is my favorite subject at the mo. Sorry for my verboseness.
We ALSO have a Zipcar (formerly Flexcar) membership. This has been less useful in recent months, however, since Flexcar merged with Zipcar. The rates are higher, there's no return grace period, they're less helpful, and so forth. However, it's still great to have and we've used their pick-up trucks/hatchbacks on several occasions.
Between the scooter, our single car, and Zipcar, neither of us ever feels vehicularly stranded. I cannot WAIT to get a second scooter so my H and I can scoot together.
The hair grows in thick where the horn used to be.