ZipcarReviews of zipcar.com

I used to be a regular user. Not so much lately mainly because its gotten a lot more expensive and the cars are not well kept. But I rented a car on June 20th, 2026. In August 25th, over two months later. I get a charge from zipcar for $163.00 for smoking. There was no smoking in the car, I do not smoke. But I wasnt even given a chance to defend myself, although there was nothing to defend, I didnt smoke. But a Boesch car sensor somehow got trigerred for 5 minutes and that was enough for them. Even hairspray, heavy cologne or exhaust from other cars can cause this. Pretty crazy, that a company can just help themselves to money from your account based on bogus accusation. Since that happened, I've encountered numerous accounts of people dealing with the same issue. Do yourselves a favor, and avoid the hassle of dealing with this company.

Total scam. They say it's within their policy to charge you even if the car isn't where it is supposed to be and then they layer on all these extra fees. Save yourself the headache and rent from a reputable place!

I am extremely disappointed with my experience with Zipcar. This was my first time ever using Zipcar, and unfortunately, it was an extreme disappointment. I am a broke college student, and I specifically paid for a Zipcar membership because it allows 18-year-olds like me to rent a car when I genuinely need one. I booked a car to get to a doctor’s appointment, and everything seemed fine until I actually arrived at the vehicle. I spent a significant amount of time trying to connect my phone to the car through Bluetooth, repeatedly restarting my phone and turning my Bluetooth on and off, before finally having to call customer service. The representative I spoke with was very kind and helpful, and I want to make it clear that this was absolutely not his fault. However, I was then informed that the car I had specifically reserved had a DEAD BATTERY. I genuinely do not understand how Zipcar can allow a customer to reserve and rely on a vehicle that is not even operational. This was not a minor inconvenience — I was trying to get to an important medical appointment, I was left waiting around and ultimately arrived late, and I had to spend additional money on an Uber to get to my appointment and another Uber to get back to my dorm. As a college student who purchased this membership specifically to have an affordable transportation option, having to unexpectedly pay for multiple Ubers completely defeats the purpose. While I appreciate that I was refunded for the rental, I do not feel that a simple refund adequately addresses the time, stress, lateness, and additional expenses this situation caused me. I paid for a service that was supposed to provide me with reliable transportation, and instead I was left without a vehicle after already making the trip to the car. For my very first experience with Zipcar to go this poorly is extremely frustrating and has seriously affected my confidence in using the service again. Zipcar needs to take responsibility for situations like this and have a system in place to ensure vehicles listed as available are actually functional before allowing customers to reserve them. I am asking Zipcar to seriously reconsider how they compensate customers when a vehicle failure is entirely preventable on their end. This experience was incredibly frustrating, especially given my financial situation, and I expected much better from a service I paid for specifically because I needed dependable and affordable transportation.

rarely leave negative reviews, but my experience with Zipcar was frustrating enough that I feel other customers should know what to expect. The problems started before my trip even began. I went to pick up the vehicle that I had specifically reserved, only to discover that it was not drivable because of a flat tire. Instead of providing a comparable replacement, Zipcar gave me another vehicle that was lower quality than the one I had reserved. What was especially disappointing was that the price was not adjusted, even though I was given an inferior vehicle through no fault of my own. I tried to be understanding and continue with my trip, but the problems didn't stop there. When I needed to refuel the vehicle, the Zipcar gas card did not work at the gas station. This created unnecessary stress and inconvenience, and I had to figure out how to deal with the situation myself. Then, after the rental, I noticed an unexpected charge on my bank statement. At this point, the experience became even more frustrating because I was already dealing with problems that should have been handled by Zipcar. The biggest issue for me is not that something went wrong. Cars can have mechanical problems, cards can malfunction, and mistakes can happen. What matters is how a company responds when things go wrong. Unfortunately, I did not feel that Zipcar took ownership of the problems or made a genuine effort to compensate me for the inconvenience. Instead, I felt like I was left to deal with issues that were completely outside my control. For a car-sharing company, I expect safe and reliable vehicles, functioning payment/gas systems, transparent billing, and responsive customer service. My experience fell short in all of these areas. I hope Zipcar takes this feedback seriously and reviews both its vehicle maintenance process and customer-service procedures. Customers should not have to pay the same price for an inferior replacement vehicle, troubleshoot a non-working gas card, and then discover unexpected charges afterward. Based on this experience, I would think twice before using Zipcar again.

I have an accident happened on 7/26/2026 , my vehicle is sitting on my driveway, zip car didn’t provide any claim number after calling them more than 20 times , even the team claimed they have done escalation but NO management is looking at it? No KPI ? No complaint number or escalation?

This is a SCAM ! Updated membership without my knowledge Extra charges on my account without my consent and dirty smelly cars not available in location

I rented a ZipCar for 3 hours so I could move some plants I planned to purchase from Yonkers, NY to my apartment in Manhattan, NY. I drove the ZipCar up to Lowe's, bought ~$600 worth of plants, and when trying to load the plants back in the car, the ZipCar would not start. The ignition didn't work. I spent 40 minutes troubleshooting with ZipCar in the heat, they couldn't start the car remotely, and told me that they'd need to tow the car away, but that I could not accompany the vehicle. I told them that was fine as long as they reimbursed me for the expensive Uber/Lyft I would need to call to drive back the 16 miles with $600 of plants in the trunk. That Lyft ride cost me $120!!!! And ZipCar refunded me $32 and refuses to refund me the difference. I am furious. I told them repeatedly that this is 100% their fault because their car broke down on me while I was paying for it. They left me completely stranded 16 miles from home with hundreds of pounds of cargo. Aside from all the wasted time and heat and stress of the day, the ride home was very expensive. This is totally irresponsible business practice and I would never recommend using ZipCar to anyone. I have already filed complaints with the BBB and the NY Attorney General. Shady company that cannot ensure the safety or reliability of its products to its customers. It could have been way worse so everyone beware.

do NOT use this service! first of all, i forgot my medication after returning the rental and was told id have to wait 3 to 5 BUSINESS DAYS for someone to contact me about retrieving it! MEDICATION THAT I NEED! Secondly those closed my account and couldn’t provide a coherent explanation! i’d only had the membership for one day! do not waste your time with this farce of a company. every customer service rep is outsourced which cause a language barrier & communication goes down the tubes! STAY AWAY!