My Way On The Highway

Maybe you enjoy your holidays best when you’re behind the wheel. Maybe you have that last minute meeting and
your regular ride had gone for a monthly tune up or maybe you want to surprise that someone special with a super cool set of wheels for a weekend away from town. For all these scenarios, your best bet is a self drive rental car service. Zoomcar is the largest player in this largely untapped segment and it promises a unique hassle free experience. The proof is in the pudding as they say and so Team OVERDRIVE spent a few days behind the wheels of Zoomcars across the country for something we do best – fun driving experiences.

Zoomcar is present in six cities across the country at the moment and their fleet comprises of a great mix of cars. There’s almost everything on offer from the Ford Figo hatchback, sedans like the Honda City and Maruti Ciaz, SUVs like the Tata Safari, Mahindra Scorpio and Mahindra XUV500 to luxury cars like the Mercedes-Benz CLA and GLA or a BMW 3 Series.

Getting started is a really simple process – first install the Android or Apple application on your smart phone and create an account for yourself. Once you sign up for a Citrus Cash account to pay for your Zoomcar bookings, you are good to go. The app is simple and easy to use – select when you will pick up and drop the car, select your location and the car and then complete your booking. You will need to pay a Rs. 5,000 security deposit and rental for the car you choose and you’re ready to book your drive. After choosing from the available cars, you just need to arrive at the Zoomcar parking lot where the car you have booked will be waiting for you – all fueled up. In case you are going for a long trip, you will be given a car with a full tank. You need to give your car a once-over for any external damage and then, you are ready to set off. It really is as simple as that.

Some points to keep in mind:
• Pay attention to the comprehensive checklists on the Zoomcar app. They’re there to help you find everything you need to drive – registration and insurance papers, spares and tools. They’re designed to ensure that nothing is left to chance.
• Zoomcar takes care of your fuel expenses as well (upto 240km a day), so anytime you fill up, save the fuel receipts and they will refund this amount.
• You will have to return the car to the same parking lot you picked it up from else you will incur rental charges up till the time the car is returned to its rightful garage and an additional penalty amount of Rs.2,000.
• All Zoomcars have a GPS tracker installed for your safety. They can easily locate you in case of any incident so there is no need to worry. They also monitor the speed of the car, so don’t cross the speed limit (125kmph) or else you will be fined.
• All Zoomcars can be driven anywhere in the country and have a complete set of documents with comprehensive insurance. Customers are only liable for damages up to Rs.5,000. (In case of damages incurred due to legal violations by customers like drunk driving/ overloading of car/switching on engine even after an accident, the liability may vary)
• When picking up a car from a parking lot near the airport in Bengaluru, you can make use of Zoomcar’s pick up and drop service to and from the airport.
• Try and keep the car interiors as clean as possible for the next customers so they too can enjoy the Zoomcar experience.

A business meeting:

We are based in Mumbai and a lot of auto manufacturers are based about 150 km away. We often find ourselves making a quick trip over for a vehicle launch or a business meeting. With all of our OD Garage cars busy, Zoomcar proved to be the idea solution. We quickly found a Zoomcar parking lot close to our office in Mumbai using the well-designed app. The app also helped us rapidly complete the booking process. The great thing about the Zoomcar
fleet is the immense choice of cars on offer. If it’s a simple, efficient hatchback you need or this sleek and elegant Mercedes-Benz GLA, there is a car to suit every occasion, budget and status. The staff members at the parking garage are very courteous and they will inform you of all the dos and don’ts. The cars also come with a complete set of accessories that you would need on a long drive, like a multi point charger and aux cable so you can play your own favorite tunes straight from your smart phone or portable music player.

A weekend in the hills:

Though Pune is a rapidly expanding tier one city, it’s still fairly small and driving just one hour in either direction out of the city gets you away from the chaos and out into the open. Don’t have a set of wheels to make the trip? Don’t worry, Zoomcar has your back with the perfect solution and the perfect set of cars in its garage. There’s one for every budget and if you’re willing to splurge, the Mercedes-Benz CLA makes for a super stylish chariot for your weekend adventures. The full tank of gas is also perfect for Pune, where most destinations are within a hundred kilometres away. We decided to head for the hills around the Khadakwasla Dam and with a break in
the monsoon allowing for dry roads, we could still enjoy the lush green countryside befitting the season. Our excuse for making this trip was to gorge on spicy onion fritters and piping hot chai that this kind of weather
really deserves. Next week, I’m sure we’ll find another excuse to make the trip again.

Cravings:

When you leave Chennai for Bangalore, you pass a small town called Ambur. This tanning city is known as the leather capital of South India but it’s also known for it’s brilliant biryani and Chicken 65. And we are well known for our great appetites – we appreciate good food just as much as hot cars and motorcycles. Ambur and its famous food are a 310km round trip from the Tami Nadu capital and as it turns out, Zoomcar became the perfect partner for this trip. The Ciaz automatic was perfect. The smooth automatic made a stress free drive down the highway. We packed in five people – Zoomcar allows as many passengers as there are seatbelts, a sensible idea – and it was a
great trip. A trip made vastly easier on our pockets by Zoomcar.

A family vacation:

Want to take the whole family on a driving holiday and don’t want the extra hassle and expense of transporting your car all the way to a far-off destination? Just plan a driving vacation from any one of the Zoomcar cities and you could take your whole family along in a spacious SUV like the Mahindra XUV500 or for a smaller family, the Ford EcoSport could be the perfect balance of space and style. For our family trip to the temple town of Mahabalipuram on the outskirts of Chennai, rather than taking our family car from home, we simply flew to Chennai booking a Zoomcar on the user-friendly app. Also, the car came with a charger to keep everyone’s smart phones charged and
also an aux cable so we could keep the music playing in the car throughout the trip.

Explore your city:

Have relatives coming to visit you over the holidays and your car has just checked into the local garage for some repairs? Well you don’t need to hire a guide and a travel company to take them on a tour of the city. Who better to show them around, than you? And you could do this from your nearest Zoomcar parking lot. On our trip to Hyderabad, the Honda Amaze was a brilliant companion on our adventures through the old city. Small enough to squeeze through the narrow streets and still spacious and comfortable enough for a family outing on the town. The fuel allowance means you could cover all the sights and tourist hot spots in Hyderabad and for that matter any city on a day trip and still come home with some fuel in the tank.