The average car sits idle in a garage twenty two hours a day. Getaround.com is helping car owners capitalize on this situation by giving them a quick and safe way to rent out their cars – by the hour, day or week. Best of all, you don’t have to be there for the renter to pick up the car. Getaround provides you with a small piece of hardware that allows you to lock and unlock the car using your smart phone.
Getaround is free to join and provides a $1 million insurance policy to cover each vehicle. Backed by Berkshire Hathaway, the coverage includes uninsured motorist protection, liability and property damage.
If you have a car that you’d like to rent out, you can go to Getaround.com, take a tour, fill out their membership form and list your car. Those looking to rent can do a quick search for available cars using an iPhone app or by visiting the company’s website. You can rent a Honda Civic for as low as $4.50/hour or a Tesla Roadster for $75/hour. There are enough cars listed on Getaround to fit anyone’s budget.
Car owners are in total control of the rental process. You set the price for renting your car and the times when your car will be available for renting. You also have the flexibility of approving who rents your car. You are provided with a photo of the renter, along with their name, reviews and previous ratings. Car owners and renters can also exchange messages to get more information about the car or trip.
Sharing or renting a car has never been this easy or profitable. Getaround turns your car into an alternative source of income. Earn at least $300 a month for as short as 15 hours a week and have complete say on how much the rent is, who can rent it and when your car is rented. Drivers must submit their driving license to Getaround for approval before they can rent a vehicle.
The service is currently provided in San Francisco, Austin, Portland, San Diego and Chicago, and the company plans to expand to other cities. In August of 2012, they raised $13.9 million in funding from popular VCs including Eric Schmidt (Google) and Marissa Mayer (Yahoo).
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