Lifehacking Request: Optimizing car fees / Sharoo

Life Hacking
1

Hi,

I have a car, and its ongoing costs are burning a hole in my pocket.

I hate that I need the car as I use it rarely (i.e.: every day for a month, then not at all for several months on end, then for a weekend, then not for several weeks on end etc), but I can’t find a substitute for the times I do need it.

Given that I use it so rarely, do you guys have any tips on optimizing cost?

I was thinking of renting it out on Sharoo, but there’s a monthly subscription fees, and I’m not sure if the service is used enough in Geneva to even make up that cost.

There’s Uber of course, but the little spare time I have I don’t want to spend driving drunks around.

I’m already doing Blablacar whenever possible.

Any tips? Any insights on Sharoo?

All your input (may that be insurance/maintenance/renting out/whatever related) is much appreciated.

Cheers

2

Yes, I do car maintenance once a year in Poland. Big savings.

3

First of all: what car is it and how is it insured?

4

True, but Poland is a bit far off for me :wink: France maybe an option though.

5

It’s an Audi A1 with full casco insurance. The vehicule is from December 2017, so pretty new.

Insurance is from Axa and is about 1350 CHF/year. To those costs there are about 150CHF in taxes and 200CHF parking on blue spots in my area.

6

The vehicule is from December 2017, so pretty new.

Well there’s your problem, you bought a new car and even a luxury one. Depreciation alone will be a lot more than all other costs combined. It doesn’t make any economic sense in Switzerland, you’d do it for fun not for money. If money is tight, then secondary market is full of great bargains here and in great condition compared to third world countries

with full casco insurance

It’s not mandatory if you don’t care about scratching it. Liability insurance (mandatory) alone is much cheaper, I pay about 500 Fr. And I’m from a country that insurers here heavily discriminate against. With the right passport it should be even cheaper.

2 Likes
7

I’m not one to argue that the car was a good choice, but I got it a price that is lower than the one of the Polo (my initial choice), and the circumstances at the time warranted it.

I’m not one to argue that it was a mustaschian choice. If I had to redo it, I would have selected a different car.

I’m actually debating whether I should sell it, but I’m unsure how I would go about doing that and get a decent price.

I see your point about insurance - but in this past year, the insurance paid for itself (people in Geneva clearly do not know how to park), so I’m tempted to keep it if possible.

8

I used their offer to get the box installed for free (costs 100 otherwise) and have been making the car available since November. It is working well so far, November was probably a very good month with about 200 CHF income (from which one should subtract petrol and car/tyre usage - maybe 20 CHF), December has been slower because I had to use the car a bit more often, but already got more than double the monthly fee. So far, good enough for me, but I am planning to evaluate the whole thing after one year or so.

1 Like
9

Interesting.

Where are you located? I have the feeling (i.e. my gut is telling me) that Swiss German people are more targeted towards these use cases, but I might be wrong.

How does it work with your insurance? IIRC, there’s way of getting insurance through them. Did you do that? Or was your current provider fine with the ride sharing?.

Do you happen to know if they stil waive the installation fee? I’m subscribed to their newsletter but didn’t see that info popping up.

10

I am in Zurich. I did tell my insurance that I was going to rent the car out and that it would be covered by sharoo’s insurance (mobiliar) during the rentals, they were fine with that.

Not sure if the fee is back, I did it in October.

11

I dont think there is much of a point in selling it, as new cars lose the most value the 1st year and then the 2nd and 3rd year. So the worst is already over from a depreciation perspective.

I think the best you can do in that regard is stretch the lifetime of the car. Of course some things are out of your influence but personally I drive the car responsibly, do proper maintenance, etc. - if you drive the car for more than 10 years, the yearly depreciation is irrelevant.

As for insurance - as hedgehog said you dont need full casco insurance. If you still want to keep it, have a look at Smile Direct insurance, they were a lot cheaper than Axa for me. Also higher deductibles might be worth it when configuring your insurance.

12

I said it before and will say it again.

Get an old banger. Get the cheapest insurance. Only fix what’s needed to keep it safe and rolling. Find a cheap mechanic (that rules out any official branded ones), preferably one who will allow you to get parts yourself from Amazon etc. Don’t save on tires and brakes. My long term effective cost per km driven (at 15000km/year) is 0.21 CHF (includes depreciation, fuel, insurance, taxes, repairs at a Swiss mechanic).

2 Likes
13

Which car do you have @glina ?
I see similar costs with 125cc scooter, bought also second hand, and going the frugal way.

Riding a 125cc in a city and outside is quite a lot of fun, but having a car when similar costs are involved, might be much more useful.

14

Mazda 6, 2005y diesel. Rusty but trusty :wink:

1 Like
15

Did you get any rust fixes done yourself? My colleagues Mazda 6 failed MFK due to the rust issue

16

It’s not THAT rusty. The usual stuff which all Mazda 6 owners have to deal with.

A 20 EUR can of color matched spray paint from Ebay.de does the job for the bodywork. Brunox Epoxy for the chassis. I actually get compliments at the MFK for keeping the car well maintaned ;-).