[Axe77]

Overcomplicated solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.

I’d rather rent 12 different cars on 12 occasions if I wanted to rather than co own a single car with 11 other people.

Rentals have gotten reasonably sophisticated and there is no way you would want to lock yourself down into owning a single specific vehicle with 11 others. High chance you or someone else may not get the vehicle when they need it.

I’m not even getting into the intricacies and complications of who’s the registered owner and related liabilities and consequences.

I have seen a much simpler version of this where 2 - 3 friends co-share and own a “second” or “third” motorcycle (with usually very niche intended usage) but that can only happen amongst a few chaps at best and who have a great understanding amongst each other. Can’t see the above format really working out.

[SmartCat]

It starts to make some sense if all fractional owners are in the same apartment complex. You get to "see" your car everyday:



Since there is a whatsapp group for all owners, they can let other owners know beforehand that they might need the car on a particular day or weekend.

[RedTerrano]

For me, my car is MINE!
I don't like anyone else touching it.
Hell I don't even avail of valet parking for the same reason.
I would rather spend some time finding a good parking spot and walk back. In case I have ladies or other pax with me, they do get a choice to accompany me on the parking spot adventure, or I drop them at the main entrance before I scoot off to find the spot.

Sharing with 11 others?
No way!

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

For me, my car is MINE!
I don't like anyone else touching it.
Hell I don't even avail of valet parking for the same reason.
I would rather spend some time finding a good parking spot and walk back. In case I have ladies or other pax with me, they do get a choice to accompany me in the parking spot adventure, or I drop them at the main entrance before I scoot off to find the spot.
Sharing with 11 others?
No way!

Exactly my thoughts and what I do too. I won't even let a valet touch my car let alone drive it to the parking spot. I don't know how I will be able to sleep at night, if I enroll in this program and buy a luxury car, knowing that one of the co-owners is using the car, who doesn't give two hoots about door dings or fingernail scratches. Washing the car is even more scarier - what if one of the co-owners decides to rub the mud off the body with some cotton cloth?

I think this is a good way to become enemies with some of your close neighbors.

[lsjey]

Just curious! What happens when one of the 12 owners crashes the car and totals it? How will the other 11 owners react?

If one of the 12 owners is a really bad driver and abuses the car, then what? Who will arbitrate? How will a owner know that the previous owner has not done anything wrong with the vehicle like hit and run etc?

Regards,
lsjey

[ajayc123]

Maybe we should have the founder to join TBHP to defend his business model on this thread. Possibly, he is seeing something that we are missing out. The guy seems to be well educated, and this is not his first startup.

Or, the very least go through the thread and pivot his approach in view of this feedback.

[fhdowntheline]

I have a noob question. In whose name is the car registered ? In whose name is the car insured ? If that is Prorata, then how come these 12 people are "owners" in the real sense? Arent they just glorified lessees?

[Unfazed]

Always wanted to have experience new cars but alas not possible to have more tha 2 cars at a time. Like a pool of 5/6 cars within 3 families . Imagine you have a pool to drive Suv , Sedan, offroader, EV and MPV at the same time.

Seems like a non starter from word go with 12 people on board for the same car. Upkeep and maintenance will be a big challenge. Like minded 2/3 guys haring a car for a fixed time seems like a good idea but 12 people is too much to handle.

[octane_100]

A business model which is not straight forward, intuitive and easy to understand is not a good business, period. The idea is too convoluted. The idea probably started as a car club and then the founding team decided they don't want (can't) to buy such expensive cars and decided to look for greater fool (12 of them). Not every business can be turned in to asset light mode and I just don't see any merit.

A car club is much nicer idea where the club owns the car. It can also be more sustainable (but slow to grow) as a business. But heck, who wants profit?! Everyone's out to get scale.

[prakma]

I certainly have wished in the past of being able to drive premium cars just for experience and driving pleasure knowing that I cannot afford to own one but did not find any rental option for premium cars. Contrary to the majority opinion here, I think this model can work if the usecase for the group to come together and purchase is not because you "need" a car, but precisely that you do not need additional car but want some driving fun on no particular date.

Whether a group of 12 people is the ideal size or maybe just 3-4 close friends is a matter of understanding the market which I would guess is what Proratacar folks are testing.


I hope such a service succeeds in our market because I certainly wish some such option to be around so that I use my budget personal car(s) for commute/travel etc and then a set of upcoming days to look forward to when it is my turn to drive a (shared) premium car.

[kiredd1005]

Hypothetically, this makes sense only if the co-owners are very good friends/acquaintances, have exact same taste etc.

But in the real world, since money is involved, individual egos will be the deciding factor in determining the longevity of this business idea. There will always be some clashes wrt scheduling, handling of the car, maintenance etc.

[superbad]

Let's say a car costs Rs 10 lakh. So I pay Rs 80000 over a period of say 5 years just to own a car cumulatively for 5 months?
Kaun he ye log ... Kaha se aata he yeh ...

[Roadistan]

Originally Posted by CarNerd

Parotta Car? First tell them to keep a name that's easy to pronounce. So 12 members will put their money to own 1 car? Who will own the car? Imagine 12 names printed on RC Card! And if something goes wrong, they will all run after the company like this 👇

You have nailed it bro specially with the photograph which depicts the true emotions of all the 12 owners.

[yashg]

Crazy idea. Time sharing barely works for hospitality industry (Club Mahindra). It works well for private jets because planning a flight is easier than planning a road trip.
It will eventually evolve to a paid membership version of self drive cars. Instead of investing own capital, the company is collecting money for the cars from members. Interest free loan. Idea makes sense from company’s point of view.

Halving said that, there was another crazy idea where you could rent out a room in your house to a stranger for a night. Or where you could give a ride to a stranger in your car fir a fee. Today, AirBnB and Uber are multi billion dollar businesses. So you never know.

[bhansali_hardik]

Well I have seen these guys doing aggressive marketing in my society and guess what? They have managed to sell this to 60+ people in the first month of their campaign! They have got 3Thars and a couple of luxury vehicles sold already! There are always a set of people who get catered in every type of market and this seems to be a new market! All the questions in this forum have been asked by me to these people and none of their answers were convincing! Classic jargon and shenanigans at end of every conversation. “AI powered booking management” for even distribution of booking days! And what not. However, I kind of understand how they are making this click, there are lot folks who are in cities for few years/are uncertain about the length of their stay. 1.5 lakhs for a thar seems ok to people with the crazy salary everyone has picked up during the pandemic. The society gets added revenue to let them advertise +company will pay the society parking charges. Everyone wants a piece of cake.
However, the operational challenges in our driving conditions are far more complex for this to work smoothly is what I truly believe! But we’ll see if this makes it big.