How To Drive A Car Without Buying One? Carsharing Reviews | Getgo Vs. BlueSG

Owning a car in Singapore can be an expensive dream for many people, including myself. Other than the cost of the vehicle, car owners have to fork out tens of thousands for the Certificate Of Entitlement (COE) that gives them the right to drive the car for 10 years. COE prices have hit an all-time high despite the pandemic.

While you may not be able to drive your own car, it does not mean you cannot drive a car on your own. This is made possible in a carsharing scheme whereby you pay to drive whenever you need to. And when you are not driving, you do not have to pay a single cent, unlike owning a car where you are paying for the car price, regardless of how often you use it.

In this article, I will be sharing with you my thoughts and experiences with 2 carsharing companies, Getgo and BlueSG, what I like and don’t like about each of them.

Let’s start off with BlueSG. BlueSG is an Electric Vehicle (EV) company with more than 650 shared EVs and 1,500 charging points in Singapore. They offer rental services from point A to point B, where A is your start location and B is your destination location.

What I like about BlueSG:

1. The pickup point is right below my block and there is another pickup point near my parents’ place. In this aspect, it is convenient for me to start renting from my place and then stop renting when I have driven to visit my parents.
2. Using electricity to power up the car, there no need to refill your fuel.
3. Allowed to reserve a car or carpark slot for 30 mins and 45 mins respectively.

What I don’t like about BlueSG:

1. Car is too stuffy and aircon has only 3 modes, cold air (which is not cold at all), hot and cold air and hot air (which is more suitable for European/ American countries).
2. Rental Fees of $8/ month, whether you use it or not.
3. High rental rates at $0.36/ min.
4. Lack of cars in heartlands in the morning, lack of places to park in CBD area. If you can’t book a car, it does not matter how near you are to the pickup location. If you can’t book a carpark slot one of the charging station, you either have to find the next nearest carpark slot or park in a normal car and continue to let the charges of $0.36/ min run, which does not make any economical sense.
5. No charging point/ carpark slot near the farms, nature reserves, typically the places you may want to drive and tour around with a car. BlueSG has rental packages if you need to use the car for 3 to 4 hours but it is quite expensive as compared to renting a car from other companies in the same time frame.
6. Car is small and has limited power, there is no doors at the back and passengers behind have to enter and exit through the front door (with driver seat pushed down).

The 2nd carsharing company that I want to share in this article is GetGo.

GetGo is a fast-growing carsharing company that launched with 400 vehicles across 300 locations in Singapore and aims to be the largest carsharing platform by end of 2021. They offer rental services from point A to point A, which means you have to return the car to where you pick it up from.

What I like about GetGo:

1. Easy registration, can use MyInfo from Singpass and you are registered. No need to take picture of NRIC photo (front/back) and driving licence.
2. No monthly membership fees.
3. No need to top up fuel to 25% tank before returning.
4. At least 5 cars that are within walking distance to my place.
5. Ability to rent the car whole day and visit remote places like farms, Sungei Buloh and other nature reserves.
6. Car is new, clean and in good condition, aircon is powerful too.
7. Promo codes are available every now and then to get a discount off the total cost.
8. Can reserve a car way in advance (30 days).
9. Different tier of rental charges, range from $3/h (non-peak) to $9/h for peak periods.

What I don’t like about GetGo:

1. Cannot cancel for free if it is within 48 hours of the booking.
2. No hotline to call for technical issues, need to go through live chat, though the agents reply pretty fast and most of the time can help to resolve the issue.
3. May face locking issues for certain cars.

Conclusion
I hope this sharing is useful to you, especially if you are considering between BlueSG and GetGo, or considering starting carsharing services. As you can see from the pros and cons of renting for the 2 respective companies, I would go for GetGo as it feels more like driving my own car. And a car in optimal condition.

Carsharing is a good way of driving a car as and when you want it, without paying the hefty costs (monthly loan, fuel cost, road tax, season carpark costs) of owning a car. You also don’t have to worry about maintenance and servicing. It is a smart way of having both the convenience of driving and saving money at the same time.

P.S. If you are considering signing up for GetGo, you can use my referral code KORRT12R to get $5 off your first booking.