Mike FriedmanSilvercar Rental Car has been around for a few years but, because of geographic restrictions, I hadn’t had a chance to use it. I was finally able to do so and was quite pleased. Here’s the review.
Silvercar – What Is It?
Disrupter – Silvercar Rental Car
The word “disruptor” is overused, but I’ll use it anyway. Silvercar is a rental car agency disruptor. Like taxis, until a few years ago, the rental industry hadn’t changed in decades, controlled by a few key competitors who had a handle not only on pricing but on the ridiculous rules that often accompany contracts.
Silvercar Eliminates The “Pain Points”
Silvercar Rental Car is looking to change how you rent a car by eliminating many of the annoying bumps along the way. Every car is an Audi A4 (Audi was an early investor and now owns the company in its entirety.), and mine was a recent year, either 2017 or 2018. They’ve got tons of interior features, connect to your phone, have free Sirius XM radio and eliminate the exorbitant fueling charges, charging you gas station rates plus $5 if you don’t return it full.
Free Premium Upgrades
Got kids? Want music? Like the internet? Perfect, since all the upgrades are free. A Silvercar Rental Car includes:
- Peg Perego car seats (Apparently, those are good.)
- Surf and ski racks from Thule (Apparently, it’s also good.)
- Sirius XM Satellite Radio
- In-car 4G LTE Wi-Fi
- Apple Car Play/Android Auto
- GPS Navigation
Pick Up And Drop Off
Getting the car is just as easy. Once you reserve the car, everything is done on your phone. You let them know when you arrive through the app and they pick you up at the designated spot. They took me to the local outlet and I was on my way. No ridiculous forms to fill out, no trying to sell me excess insurance, free bottles of water.
Returning the car was simple. Since the Phoenix site was located a couple of miles from the airport, they paid for a Lyft to take us to the terminal. Couldn’t have been simpler.
Since the car was new, it drove well and had all the bells and whistles that you could ask for. Trunk space was adequate, as was the interior. Having an in-dashboard GPS system was also extremely useful, since I didn’t have to constantly be looking at a phone.
The website and app are, thankfully, easy to use and have all the information that you need. The address of the drop-off location is programmed into the GPS.
Huge Rental Car Insurance Benefit
Chase Sapphire Preferred: $750 Credit Card Bonus to Sign up,
Big Rewards after That
And The Disadvantages?…
Luxury car, great service, easy rental, couldn’t be perfect, could it? It isn’t, but most of the problems aren’t big ones.
- At this point, they only have 26 locations, including Las Vegas. Those locations are obviously in most of the big cities, but they’re not available elsewhere.
- Their rate is above-market. It’s a premium product, and they advertise it as such. They’re probably going to be right around the high end, or slightly above, what you would see from a list of the traditional car agencies.
- You get any car you want, as long as you want a Silver Audi A4 or Audi Q5. The controls are, at times, idiosyncratic.
The New Premium Rewards Program
Recently, Silvercar announced a loyalty program. The thing that I like most about this program is its generosity. Number two on the list, though, is that it’s easy. You’ll earn one point per dollar spent, although extras like fuel and taxes don’t count.
When it’s time to spend the points, simply book the car like you normally would. The site will offer you the option to use either points or cash. If you want to use points, you can mix the two, as long as points cover at least 50% of the base price.
The value of a point fluctuates a bit, but my test reservations have shown them to be worth 10-12 cents each.
Points don’t expire, as long as you have activity every 24 months. Any activity will then reset the clock.
First Time User? – Silvercar Rental Car
If you’re a first-time user, enter referral code WLMTSFOR in the account section and we each get a $25 Visa Gift Card. We thank you in advance.
The Bottom Line
Overall, I was very happy with the experience. Service was great, the car was fantastic and I was in and out easily. Silvercar Rental Car will never have the impact on its industry that Uber did on the taxi industry, given the lack of local monopolies and limited locations, but it’s still good for the industry and even better for consumers.
