Motoring costs are phenomenally expensive these days....particularly in somewhere like the UK where, as of writing, petrol was 1 pound 20 pence per litre on average! In addition road tax is an around of 260 pounds per car (depending on the engine size). This doesn't take into account the high costs of cars themselves or the depreciation.

Hiring cars in the UK is an expensive option; you cannot just look at the daily rental of your car because by the time you drive it away you could well have an additional 30 or more pounds added to your bill:- extra insurance, collision waiver damage, additional driver costs and insuring your excess. Excesses are around 200 pounds, so if someone were to scratch your hire car while it was parked and ''do a runner" the hirer would have to pay the excess, which could then make the cost of your hire car a very expensive outlay indeed.

But, there is another clever option:-

Ex-pats in the UK are saving nearly £1,400 a year by signing up to City Car Club instead of owning a car. Ex-pats who stay in the UK on short-term visas have realised that owning a car is far too expensive and have chosen to rent cars by the hour from City Car Club instead.

According to RAC figures the pay-as-you-drive club saves foreign motorists £1,400 a year (USD$2,800) when compared to car ownership in the UK, especially if their annual mileage is less than 6,000 miles.

Members get the use of a car whenever they need one but without the hassle or cost of purchase, insurance, tax, maintenance and parking permits. And in London, the congestion charge is completely free if you use one of the club’s many hybrid cars.

City Car Club’s CEO James Finlayson said: “Our car club is perfect for expats who are in the UK for a short space of time.
“It’s not worth the hassle or expense of buying a car but you can have access to one of our cars 24/7 for less than £5-an-hour including insurance and even a free petrol allowance.”
And he added: “We are getting more and more foreign members joining up at the moment and we are having to put more cars in to keep up with demand.”

All the club’s cars are new, so you can drive around in style but avoid crippling depreciation costs that hit those owning a car for a short space of time.

City Car Club has 300 cars that are locally parked across London, Brighton, Edinburgh, Bristol, Bath, Portsmouth and Edinburgh so you are likely to find one very close to where you live. Membership gives you access to any car in any city so it is a cost effective way of travelling intercity. Catch a train from one city to another and you can pick up a car at the other end.

To find your nearest car, go to the website www.citycarclub.co.uk. Once you’ve found your local car you can book it on the site, over the telephone on 0845 330 1234, or even at the car at a moment’s notice. Cars are parked in designated parking bays and once booked, members gain access with their smart enabled, personal membership card (totally keyless access). Their PIN is entered onto the onboard computer and then just drive away. Journeys made are itemised on a monthly statement.

And being a member of a car club is good for the environment as well. Each City Car replaces seven privately owned cars on average and generally our members cut down on unnecessary car journeys by 35% after they join.

Across our 300 strong fleet based all around cities around the UK we save 2000 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year, the equivalent of 930 flights to America.
So it rather neatly offsets your return flight back to home.

For more information email:
Natalie@austinobrien.co.uk

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