Car2Go Shutting Down Service in Calgary Oct 31 2019

[dino_martini]

Just saw it come across the twitter feed. Now how else will I post pictures with the Mercedes steering wheel in it to impress my fans? Seriously though, what a bummer. Super convenient to take to Flames games or the Stampede and beat the heck out of public transit. Did Big Scooter and Big Electric Bike cause the death of Car2Go?

87656

[ExtraSlow]

I still owe them $2 over a dispute regarding a cancelled rental. Guess I win!

[you&me]

I still owe them $2 over a dispute regarding a cancelled rental. Guess I win!

The straw that broke the camel's back.

Thanks a lot, Slow...

[TomcoPDR]

:(

[pheoxs]

Are they completely pulling out or will sharenow take over? I thought car2go joined sharenow

[sabad66]

Pretty crazy. I wonder how much of their business went to the scooter companies? They should have at least went through the winter and see how that went.

I wonder if they will sell any of their fleet or just move to other locations?

[rage2]

Pretty crazy. I wonder how much of their business went to the scooter companies? They should have at least went through the winter and see how that went.

I wonder if they will sell any of their fleet or just move to other locations?
Pulling out before winter is the ultimate troll move to teach the scooter gang a lesson for fucking Car2Go business model over.

[pheoxs]

I wonder if they will sell any of their fleet or just move to other locations?

I hope they do. I’d pick up a gla250 for cheap.

Car2go isn’t in that many cities so I doubt they can just shuffle all the Calgary Cars to Vancouver / Toronto and not have too many

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Time to score some super cheap smart cars.

[Cagare]

Time to score some super cheap smart cars.

Smart Car racing league.

[95EagleAWD]

I hope they do. I’d pick up a gla250 for cheap.

Car2go isn’t in that many cities so I doubt they can just shuffle all the Calgary Cars to Vancouver / Toronto and not have too many

I haven’t seen Car2Go here in Toronto forever.... although fucking Uber’s are EVERYWHERE NOW....:banghead:

[killramos]

Man, who are Mercedes going to sell all their CLA, GLA, and Smarts to now.

Presumably this is for the new company to roll out? Car2Go is massively popular here.

[ZenOps]

Scooters will win when they take out the dedicated bike lane for a dedicated scooter lane, which might not be all that far off.

[ExtraSlow]

Smart Car racing league.

In

[ercchry]

Really disappointing... but I’m also in the burbs now... so no change to my life

[schocker]

Boooo especially since 4 scooters are way more than a car2go.

[tonytiger55]

Pulling out before winter is the ultimate troll move to teach the scooter gang a lesson for fucking Car2Go business model over.

I thought they would have at least stayed till winter was done..

[Mitsu3000gt]

If the cars were ever where the GPS said they were, maybe they would get used more :rofl:

[jwslam]

I haven’t seen Car2Go here in Toronto forever.... although fucking Uber’s are EVERYWHERE NOW....:banghead:
They left Toronto May 2018
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/car2go-leaving-toronto-1.4675923

[Manhattan]

Gonna miss it. Hopefully scooters get the boot and another company will fill the car sharing void. Pretty useful for a quick odd trip and a great cheaper alternative to taxi to/from the airport. Only downside is it really jammed up DT parking. Overall it was nice to have the choice.

[pheoxs]

Seriously though if someone sees these start popping up at wholesale or auction places someone should make a thread. Curious what they’ll dump them for or if they’ll just get sold off to rental agencies

[Mitsu3000gt]

Seriously though if someone sees these start popping up at wholesale or auction places someone should make a thread. Curious what they’ll dump them for or if they’ll just get sold off to rental agencies

I don't think you could pay me to own an ex-Car2go car off warranty haha. The abuse those things take....

Rental agencies probably won't want them either as to my knowledge they don't hang onto anything without warranty.

[Super_Geo]

Weird... I loved Car2Go in Calgary. I wonder if it was cannibalizing Mercedes' lower end sales? I always wondered who was paying Mercedes money just to look like they're driving a Car2Go :rofl:

That being said, really sucks that they're pulling out of Calgary.

[bjstare]

I don't think you could pay me to own an ex-Car2go car off warranty haha. The abuse those things take....



That was my first thought. These are probably one of the worst cars a person could buy second hand. (unless they were only like $2k and completely disposable)

[firebane]

Not just Calgary.

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/car2go-to-pull-out-of-calgary-and-select-u-s-cities-1.4613823



Car2go will pull out of Calgary, Austin, Denver and Portland by Halloween 2019 and will vacate Chicago effective New Year's Eve 2019. Members in these cities will not receive refunds as credits will remain active and can be used in the cities where Car2Go will continue to operate.

[95EagleAWD]

They left Toronto May 2018
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/car2go-leaving-toronto-1.4675923

That explains it haha.

[pheoxs]

I don't think you could pay me to own an ex-Car2go car off warranty haha. The abuse those things take....

Rental agencies probably won't want them either as to my knowledge they don't hang onto anything without warranty.

The smart cars yeah, but a bunch of the Mercedes I’ve driven are barley around 10k Kms and would still be under warranty.

[Mitsu3000gt]

The smart cars yeah, but a bunch of the Mercedes I’ve driven are barley around 10k Kms and would still be under warranty.

10,000 KM as a Car2Go is probably like 200,000 KM of normal usage haha. All super short trips, abusive use in the winter (people bounce off the rev limiter to warm them up), etc. The CLA is pretty old, way more than 4 years old which I believe is the warranty period, but I don't know the average age of the particular Car2Go fleet.

[mzdspd]

I don't think you could pay me to own an ex-Car2go car off warranty haha. The abuse those things take....

Rental agencies probably won't want them either as to my knowledge they don't hang onto anything without warranty.

This car looks like an old car2go.. Check the carfax.. 2 years as a daily rental with 17k worth of driving..

https://www.goauto.ca/inventory/listing/used-2018-mercedes-benz-gla-gla-250-edmonton/17052646

[BerserkerCatSplat]

I've seen the older FourTwos at Adesa Auctions before, not sure if they've only been offered to dealers or if they allowed private bidders.

[you&me]

The car2go fleet is remarketed by Daimler. Their direct sales usually require someone to buy in large numbers (hundreds, if not thousands at a time). Any left overs through Adesa in Canada and Manheim in the US. It's not uncommon to still see a run list of a few hundred cars at a single auction site.

The last deal I saw was for nearly 1,200 cars. They were about a year old, averaged about 6,500 miles (~10k km) and were sold for ~55% of MSRP...

Edit - scratch that... the last deal was for 700 cars, all with under 200 miles for ~40% of MSRP... This was back in 2017. Someone at Car2Go fucked up big time, because orders had been made to replace some of the fleet, except this was just as the new style of Smart car was coming to market... Can't have your in-house care sharing service using your old merchandise... I think in total, there were a few thousand first gen cars sold off with under 200 miles in the 7k range (MSRP was ~$17,600).

[ercchry]

I can’t count how many benz I was in there were 10k past service due

[adam c]

Tbh I’m glad

The amount of people who shouldn’t be driving yet have the opportunity with this service was terrible, people acting like they owned the cars and putting them in their garage or parking spot, grr, and parking downtown was a damn nightmare as these were everywhere...

[cam_wmh]

Tbh I’m glad

The amount of people who shouldn’t be driving yet have the opportunity with this service was terrible, people acting like they owned the cars and putting them in their garage or parking spot, grr, and parking downtown was a damn nightmare as these were everywhere...

Yup this.

Back on the bus you plebs.

[mr2mike]

Yeah I wouldn't buy a used car2go just based on personal experiences.
Found them more fun than a rental after they got rid of the eco rating setup.

[Tik-Tok]

Scooters will win when they take out the dedicated bike lane for a dedicated scooter lane, which might not be all that far off.

You aren't thinking Nenshi enough. The city will remove another car lane to make a dedicated electric scooter/bike lane.

[zieg]

Did they have any electric smarts in Calgary? That might be something worth picking up if they're cheap enough, eh?

[rage2]

Electric smarts were brutal. Had a friend that had one. Slow and no range. Barely able to do a busy day of driving in city.

[zieg]

Electric smarts were brutal. Had a friend that had one. Slow and no range. Barely able to do a busy day of driving in city.



Power: peak power output of 55 kW (74 hp)
Top speed of 125 km/h (78 mph)
0 to 100 km/h (0 to 60 mph) in 11.5
Range: 145 km (90 mi)



Damn, I didn't realize they were THAT shitty. Yeah, pass.

[rage2]

That range was worse in winter lol. Barely get to work and back haha.

[04Terminator]

I doubt scooters had anything to do with it, but I am truly shocked how many geeks use them.

[vengie]

Seriously though if someone sees these start popping up at wholesale or auction places someone should make a thread. Curious what they’ll dump them for or if they’ll just get sold off to rental agencies

Not even kidding I would love to know if anyone sees the smart cars come up.

I have a project in mind.

[ThePenIsMightier]

Pulling out before winter is the ultimate troll move to teach the scooter gang a lesson for fucking Car2Go business model over.

Scooter Monday, coming up!!
I bet I'd make better time up MacLeod in the morning with a scooter than the BomalianSumperCars 25km/hr demo derby.
Fuck it - spumoni! I'm not even going in.

[pheoxs]

https://globalnews.ca/news/5972821/city-officials-meet-car2go-calgary/

City officials to meet with Car2go to discuss why they are pulling out

[Buster]

communism doesn't work even when it's capitalism.

[JRSC00LUDE]

https://globalnews.ca/news/5972821/city-officials-meet-car2go-calgary/

City officials to meet with Car2go to discuss why they are pulling out

Cue Nenshi making a big announcement of how the City is expanding their public transit network in 4....3...2....

[Homerrca]

I remember seeing a news article (2016 timeframe) of a east village condo that has no parking spaces and were giving deals for car2go and the ebikes.. It must suck for those folks who bought one thinking they could just use car2go for shopping and such. Guess we will see folks on scooters / bikes trying to haul groceries or ikea furniture home.

[jwslam]

I remember seeing a news article (2016 timeframe) of a east village condo that has no parking spaces and were giving deals for car2go and the ebikes.. It must suck for those folks who bought one thinking they could just use car2go for shopping and such. Guess we will see folks on scooters / bikes trying to haul groceries or ikea furniture home.
It's N3
"No car. No parking. No worries"

https://calgaryherald.com/life/homes/condos/carless-in-calgary-living-large-at-n3

[mr2mike]

I just hope the conversation is open to public on the costs the city charges to car2go to align the cab company fares.

[pheoxs]

Gonna miss taking car2go's to the airport though. Usually came out to half the price of an uber even with the airport surcharges.

[killramos]

I can’t wait to be able to street park downtown again.

Thank god the A class never became a car2go, now maybe I can buy one.

[Tik-Tok]

City officials can go fuck themselves. They hindered Uber at every turn, but are going to bend over backwards for Car2Go?

[rage2]

City officials can go fuck themselves. They hindered Uber at every turn, but are going to bend over backwards for Car2Go?
They're not bending over backwards. If you read the article, this is merely an exit interview. They just have no clue why Calgary became undesirable to Car2Go. It's probably something as simple as financials and has nothing to do with us.

It's the least they can do for all the poor inner city folk that relied on the service to be Carless. City is pro density, and this is a huge backwards step to a high density urban utopia that Council wants for us.

[AndyL]

So car2go is gone and lime and bird will be shut down in a month.

Glad I don't go to Calgary much anymore ;)

[rage2]

So car2go is gone and lime and bird will be shut down in a month.

Glad I don't go to Calgary much anymore ;)
Why would you even use either service living outside Calgary? haha

[AndyL]

Why would you even use either service living outside Calgary? haha
To avoid driving or parking downtown :rofl:

[rage2]

To avoid driving or parking downtown :rofl:
Downtown has been dead since oil prices tanked. Even with all the car2gos, parking isn't terrible at all, even the dreaded 5th Ave traffic is pretty easy.

Wait, you still need to drive and park with Car2Go wtf! :rofl:

[suntan]

They've been struggling everywhere. They're going to be gone soon enough.

[pheoxs]

Downtown has been dead since oil prices tanked. Even with all the car2gos, parking isn't terrible at all, even the dreaded 5th Ave traffic is pretty easy.

Wait, you still need to drive and park with Car2Go wtf! :rofl:

Free parking in the James short parkade. Cost me 6$ to take a car2go downtown and park it there. Way cheaper than a parking pass anywhere

[AndyL]

Downtown has been dead since oil prices tanked. Even with all the car2gos, parking isn't terrible at all, even the dreaded 5th Ave traffic is pretty easy.

Wait, you still need to drive and park with Car2Go wtf! :rofl:

Nah I park south and use the train... Then walk/lime/car2go from lawyers to courthouse.

And as long as I don't have to pay for parking im ok with it lol.

[Tik-Tok]

They're not bending over backwards. If you read the article, this is merely an exit interview. They just have no clue why Calgary became undesirable to Car2Go. It's probably something as simple as financials and has nothing to do with us.

It's the least they can do for all the poor inner city folk that relied on the service to be Carless. City is pro density, and this is a huge backwards step to a high density urban utopia that Council wants for us.

If Uber pulled out, do you think there would be an exit interview?

[pheoxs]

Just noticed all the lime scooters and bird scooters are gone. Only the lime bicycles now.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Just noticed all the lime scooters and bird scooters are gone. Only the lime bicycles now.

They take them away for the Winter I believe, though I am not sure if they are coming back in the Spring or not. They seemed popular at first but the novelty definitely wore off (many people seemed to be just riding for fun to get their Instagram shot), at least in terms of how many people I saw riding them and vs how many are sitting around available before they took them away. Either that or they added a bunch more scooters near the end.

[pheoxs]

They take them away for the Winter I believe, though I am not sure if they are coming back in the Spring or not. They seemed popular at first but the novelty definitely wore off (many people seemed to be just riding for fun to get their Instagram shot), at least in terms of how many people I saw riding them and vs how many are sitting around available before they took them away. Either that or they added a bunch more scooters near the end.

Just surprised, there was no announcement or push notification. The app FAQ just had they shrink the zone for November but I guess that means bikes only for winter

[AndyL]

The juicers are being told to hold or deliver to the base, not to release in the cold... Pretty sure cutoff for the season is November

[ercchry]

Would love to witness the chaos of limes in the +15 system for winter :rofl:

[pheoxs]

The juicers are being told to hold or deliver to the base, not to release in the cold... Pretty sure cutoff for the season is November

Wonder if that means they’ll roll back out in a few days once the sidewalks are clear. In theory it’s super easy to deploy and activate them for a week and then pull them again

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

The juicers are being told to hold or deliver to the base, not to release in the cold... Pretty sure cutoff for the season is November

Yeah, cutoff for the scooters is Nov 1 until... March? They're back next year as well, as the pilot runs until Oct 2020.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Bird scooters were back out today.

[TomcoPDR]

Looking at car2go map, FEELS like they’ve thinned out the fleet a bit.

[pheoxs]

Looking at car2go map, FEELS like they’ve thinned out the fleet a bit.

Definitely thinned out. Tried using one on the weekend and none to be had anywhere nearby. Even today there's normally 20 in the James short parkade around lunchtime and I saw <5 in the app today and none now (2pm). Usually there is lots until 4pm.

Definitely clearing them out, just curious if they are shipping elsewhere or starting to unload them

[Xtrema]

Just noticed all the lime scooters and bird scooters are gone. Only the lime bicycles now.

They are still littered everywhere. End of POC for this season is Oct 31st. Funny would see kids trick or treat with them.

As for Car2Go, I wonder if selling Smart to the Chinese and Smart pulling out of America basically killed the service. I assume the service can't survive on CLA/GLA. It's inevitable, Renault doesn't want to sign up to build another generation of Smart and it turned into a fire sale of the brand to Geely. Looks like Geely will continue Smart in Europe as EVs.

[Manhattan]

Used car2go on the weekend and at the end of the trip the app said the car was offline. Couldn't end the rental so had to call support who locked it remotely. Guessing that was the last trip for that GLA.

[ExtraSlow]

All the Mercs will be on dealer lots as "certified pre-owned" very soon.

[pheoxs]

They are still littered everywhere. End of POC for this season is Oct 31st. Funny would see kids trick or treat with them.

As for Car2Go, I wonder if selling Smart to the Chinese and Smart pulling out of America basically killed the service. I assume the service can't survive on CLA/GLA. It's inevitable, Renault doesn't want to sign up to build another generation of Smart and it turned into a fire sale of the brand to Geely. Looks like Geely will continue Smart in Europe as EVs.

That was posted during the snowfall we had, and they did all disappear but they rolled them back out a few days later. I'm guessing they'll do the same until the snow sticks. Although their app says it'll be a smaller zone as of November.

[Mitsu3000gt]

All the Mercs will be on dealer lots as "certified pre-owned" very soon.

It's going to cost them a fortune to 'certify' all those heavily abused POS' haha. I feel bad for anyone who buys one without knowing what it was beforehand.

[ExtraSlow]

It's going to cost them a fortune to 'certify' all those heavily abused POS' haha. I feel bad for anyone who buys one without knowing what it was beforehand.
To be fair, I don't know the process for Mercedes. I can say with some certainty that some of the higher volume brands bring back former rental cars and "certify" them, which in most cases involves nothing more than typing the nine letters in the word C-E-R-T-I-F-I-E-D and hoping nothing is wrong. Maybe Mercedes does it differently?

[rage2]

To be fair, I don't know the process for Mercedes. I can say with some certainty that some of the higher volume brands bring back former rental cars and "certify" them, which in most cases involves nothing more than typing the nine letters in the word C-E-R-T-I-F-I-E-D and hoping nothing is wrong. Maybe Mercedes does it differently?
They just make sure checklist is checked. Good tires, good brakes, no windows cracked, and no big damage. The rest is all dealt with at the warranty level.

There was a guy that bought a CPO C63 and it was an ex-ADA track car.

[ExtraSlow]

They just make sure checklist is checked. Good tires, good brakes, no windows cracked, and no big damage. The rest is all dealt with at the warranty level.

There was a guy that bought a CPO C63 and it was an ex-ADA track car. Then it sounds like virtually every automaker has the same "not much of a hassle" process.

[killramos]

They just make sure checklist is checked. Good tires, good brakes, no windows cracked, and no big damage. The rest is all dealt with at the warranty level.

There was a guy that bought a CPO C63 and it was an ex-ADA track car.

Reminds me of the story of the guy in Britain who realized his M3 was thrashed by Clarkson on top gear.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Then it sounds like virtually every automaker has the same "not much of a hassle" process.

From everything I've read, they literally just eye-ball it, check a few of the easier things (tires, brakes, etc.) and pass along any less obvious issues to the buyer. This is generally speaking, not necessarily what Mercedes does.

[rage2]

Then it sounds like virtually every automaker has the same "not much of a hassle" process.
Except Tesla. They just dumped the CPO program and sells cars as is. Basically auction level quality for their used inventory.

[rage2]

It's going to cost them a fortune to 'certify' all those heavily abused POS' haha.

From everything I've read, they literally just eye-ball it, check a few of the easier things (tires, brakes, etc.) and pass along any less obvious issues to the buyer.
Contradiction detected.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Contradiction detected.

What I meant was they aren't going to do it - hence the air quotes haha. It was supposed to be a joke but apparently it didn't land!

[ExtraSlow]

What I meant was they aren't going to do it - hence the air quotes haha. It was supposed to be a joke but apparently it didn't land!
That was so far above my head.

[mr2mike]

Reminds me of the story of the guy in Britain who realized his M3 was thrashed by Clarkson on top gear.

Did he at least sign the dashboard or is there just a pencil in the glove box with Clarkson's teeth imprint in it?

[Cagare]

Well that escalated quickly

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/company-that-owns-vancouvers-car2g0-shutting-down-north-american-operations

[jaeden]

I guess I can't blame Nenshi, Notley, Kenney, Trudeau or Brian Boitano for this.

[Xtrema]

I guess I can't blame Nenshi, Notley, Kenney, Trudeau or Brian Boitano for this.

You probably can blame Elon tho for flipping the auto industry upside down.

[Cagare]

You probably can blame Elon tho for flipping the auto industry upside down.

Blame millenials or generation z for not getting driver's licenses maybe?

[Thaco]

so now that they're shut down across north america, where can i get a cheap smartcar haha

[schocker]

This makes me feel a lot better about them leaving now that everyone lost it. :rofl:

[Manhattan]

You probably can blame Elon tho for flipping the auto industry upside down.

Leaving North America but staying in Europe makes me think the differences in attitudes towards car ownership and density of neighborhoods. North American cities are more spread out and people more likely to already own cars vs the opposite in Europe.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Good riddance as far as I'm concerned - I always had issues with their GPS service and just used Uber for the most part anyway.

There's also now way more street parking DT.

[Manhattan]

They sure did jam up downtown parking. Mostly just street parking though. Miss having them as cheaper option to and from the airport though.

[ExtraSlow]

The parking being more open now has little to do with car2go and everything to do with the massive vacancy rate.

[Xtrema]

They sure did jam up downtown parking. Mostly just street parking though. Miss having them as cheaper option to and from the airport though.

Cheap option period. My usual trip from Chinatown to 17th ave is around $5. Taxi is $10. And scooter is $6 or $7 depends on how jams the sidewalks are.

[TomcoPDR]

The parking being more open now has little to do with car2go and everything to do with the massive vacancy rate.

How vacant is dt nowadays? For all you office dwellers here.

[Mitsu3000gt]

How vacant is dt nowadays? For all you office dwellers here.

It's very quiet now that everyone is burning their holidays before Christmas, but it doesn't feel that vacant on a normal day IMHO. +15's are packed when it's cold out and you can easily wait 10-20 minutes for food at lunch hour if you go to a popular spot. Street parking is always full and all the good/cheap parkades are full for the most part unless you want to pay $400-500+ a month. What you don't see is how empty some office buildings are though, my understanding is some of them are half full or so if they were built during the busier times. My building is full to my knowledge, but I have heard buildings like Brookfield and The Bow are struggling to find tenants. I'm sure it was busier in 2013/14 with $90-100 oil but in my opinion it's not as dead as some people would have you believe. I go for a long walk every lunch hour that I don't have to work through, and I could barely walk through the CORE Mall today because of all the xmas shoppers.

[pheoxs]

It's very quiet now that everyone is burning their holidays before Christmas, but it doesn't feel that vacant on a normal day IMHO. +15's are packed when it's cold out and you can easily wait 10-20 minutes for food at lunch hour if you go to a popular spot. Street parking is always full and all the good/cheap parkades are full for the most part unless you want to pay $400-500+ a month. What you don't see is how empty some office buildings are though, my understanding is some of them are half full or so if they were built during the busier times. My building is full to my knowledge, but I have heard buildings like Brookfield and The Bow are struggling to find tenants. I'm sure it was busier in 2013/14 with $90-100 oil but in my opinion it's not as dead as some people would have you believe. I go for a long walk every lunch hour that I don't have to work through, and I could barely walk through the CORE Mall today because of all the xmas shoppers.

Pretty much how I feel too. Seems to feel pretty busy in the +15s but I'm sure some buildings are fairly empty.

For our office they recently renovated our floor to pack us in more densely with smaller cubicles so I'm not sure if thats a sign they were running out of space or what. Kinda salty because the new desks are tiny as fuck, feels very call-center like almost with no personal space.