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@corleyh Yeah I'm really curious about these economics. Entry level plan is $800/month ($9600/year) which for those cars—BMW 3 Series, Audi A4, Mustang GT—is about 50% of their average Edmunds for 2012 versions with <50k miles. Doesn't really make sense to pay for a new car every 2 years. But maybe they're always refreshing the fleet with current-year cars? Even then their entry-level cars MSRP at ~$35k, which is only 4 years of ownership.
Some pretty great unit economics for them though ;) Especially since you still have to pay for fuel.
@thetylerhayes @corleyh Their pricing page does say that the cost includes insurance and maintenance too. That's huge, on top of the value of the car. If I lived in a big city with Uber or public transportation, I'd be in on this.
@corleyh First, thank you! We’re honored and excited to be included in Product Hunt.
We are still very early in this journey. Right now we’re just in Atlanta. We are focused on refining our technology and working with the automotive industry to create a model that can scale. Our goal is to help the automotive industry transition from “ownership" to “access” just as Spotify has done for music, Apple has just done for cell phones, etc.
One point of correction - most of our members use Clutch as their primary vehicle. We're not really competing with car rental.
You are right that flexibility is a huge part of our offering. We've found that our members get a lot of value out of the ability to move between cars. They actually seem to be getting more done and doing more - which is really cool.
All the benefits that come with any subscription are relevant for us: no money down, pay as you use, no risk, everything managed for you. The term car-as-a-service is accurate - although the jargon would confuse most of our members.
As for pricing, bear in mind that we deliver the vehicles to our member's location so there is manpower involved as well. I'll let Laura, our marketing lead, comment on everything that is in the bundle.
@thetylerhayes @johnrmeese Our pricing covers all of the unexpected costs of car ownership, including insurance, taxes, maintenance, and fees along with the ability to have clean cars delivered right to you that fit your vehicle needs at the time.
@corleyh you are spot on- our target market values flexibility, convenience, and no hassles.
This is pretty cool - but does seem expensive (although I'm in the UK so have no great feel for how much cars cost in the US). However, I'd like to see some more use-cases on the home page - lots of examples of why / when you would change your car. The more reasons there are to change (flip in their terminology) the more reason to do this over standard lease. For example: Winter coming - Flip to a 4x4; Summer coming - Flip to a convertible; Moving house - Flip to a truck; Friends wedding - Flip to luxury car; Daily use - Flip to electric / hybrid.
Whilst the simple pricing is good, I could also see a price plan which was basic but allowed a month of luxury cars every year built in (I see they allow this through a daily charge).
@ichillidesign great feedback on our website! You can find more use cases here: http://www.driveclutch.com/membe...
I'll be in the market for a car really soon and I think I'll give this a try. I'm almost 100% sure I'm going to give it a go. The no maintenance is a huge bonus. Plus the ability to get a truck when I need one.
Atlanta, from my experience, is the perfect market to test this in. The need for car ownership is really high there. I could see this working well in Denver, too, as a spot where winter car use is pretty different than non-winter for many city-dwellers. Really cool concept.
Great idea! I've been researching ownership for about six months and people give no thought to how much they pay to own and operate a car. In fact the average cost to own and operate a car in the US is a coffee cup per month less than Clutch's entry level package. And the entry level includes some pretty nice vehicles. In fact the A4 they offer costs about 56K over 5 years according to Edmunds. That is MORE than what it would cost to have Clutch for 5 years. That doesn't include gas, but even after gas, you would pay a very small amount for the flexibility of having the right kind of car when you need it.
This is something that people, if they recognize how much they are paying for their car, would find to be a great solution. The problem with the current model however, is that the one cost that it doesn't cover is the one cost people are irrationally aware of and sensitive to, gas. Wonder if they would ever offer a Leaf or Tesla to help out with that.
Great idea though.
I would be interested in something like this if it allowed me to swap my daily driver EV for a longer range EV for road trips. I doubt though there is enough of a market with a need like that though.
@corleyh economics for the company to sustain is they key. Target audience is car enthusiast , travelers short trips, .. For the base plan on face of it looks expensive, also which cars, what year models they provide, will it have upgrades etc would be nice to see .
Hypothetically, with your economic model, what kind of car could be rented for $100 per month?
@bradenhamm will let @adamcarley comment, but based on what I can tell...there does not appear to be a $100 option b/c it is essential a version of car ownership / leasing and then some.
@corleyh that's why I said, "hypothetically". At a base of $800, the cars are very nice. But what kind of car could I get for $100, hypothetically. Would it be a total piece of junk? Or something just a few years older than your typical rental?
@bradenhamm People don't realize how much they spend on their cars. This service covers insurance, all repairs and maintenance. And it's not just the money, but the time an inconvenience of doing those things.
@bradenhamm @corleyh There is no car you can get for $100/mo. No oil changes ever, no mechanics ever, no recalls ever, no buying new tires ever, no unexpected repairs ever, no getting a ride to pick up your car at the mechanic, or drop it off. No asking your buddy for a ride because your car is in the shop. None of that. Ever. The average cost of ownership of a car is about $24/day. That's after all the expenses I just listed. This service comes out to about $28/day. So you are paying a little for variability. It's a great idea.
I don't get it - why don't you just intermediate with lease swaps and bring the cost way down with the same flexibility? are you simply accounting for variable mileage? the markup on a lease appears to be around 40 percent!
One thing that comes to mind - this could be pushed into business as a perk for executive employees. I could definitely see a job posting with this in the benefits (attractive salary, healthcare, pension, Clutch Premium etc..). Promoting it in that channel would make it well known and desirable..
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