[shifu]

Rental Platform Zoomcar Nabs $11M To Launch In More Indian Cities
Source: Techcruch

The new capital, which brings its total raised so far to $22 million, will be used by Zoomcar to add 7,000 new cars to its fleet, which currently numbers 1,500, and launch in 15 more cities. The company already has 250 pickup spots in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Chennai, and Hyderabad.

[a*ed]

ZoomCar have added the Fortuner now in Bangalore. Available at Koramangala 80feet road.

[audioholic]

Quite surprised to see the kind of premium the car is demanding. Not sure if they decide the rates depending upon investment prices or the demand the car has got.

[Aditya]

ZoomCar has announced that it will launch a doorstep pickup and drop service in select cities. This service will be started by the end of the year.

Link to Team-BHP News Article

[Rajeevraj]

This is a welcome move. If they enable this pick and drop independent of the car and customer location, it will really be helpful. In a lot of cases I have noticed that the car of choice has not been available in the locations closest to me, but is available in a far off location where it is not feasible for me to go pick up.

They could have a restriction that a car from x location can be picked and dropped within y km radius from that location. Still saves the trouble of going and picking and also avoids the hassle of parking your own vehicle in their premises.

Hope Bangalore is in their 'Select City' list.

[The Observer]

I would like to pen down and share my experience driving on a recent trip to Masinagudi, with the XUV 500 from Zoom cars being my ride.

The plan: 7 of us ( colleagues), all from Bangalore, wanted a break from work and spend a few days in a forest side Resort not so far from home but not too close to home either. Decided Masinagudi as an ideal place, finalized the dates and booked a decent resort.

The ride: Since we all wanted to be in one car - Innova was my first choice , since none of us had our own Innova or could get one from our friends - we decided to rent a self drive car, checked out Zoom cars, Carsonrent, Bangalore self drive cars. Bangalore self drive cars when emailed said they
were sold out on that date ( this was 5 weeks in advance) . Cars on rent had the Innova at 10.6k + fuel charges with a credit card block of 50,000 ! and Zoom Cars having their XUV for 13.3 k ( for 72 hours with 720 km free).
I was wary of the 3rd row seat space issue especially highlighted in the team BHP review , but with no Innovas available and the carsonrent blocking 50 k and zoom car having a very clear and transparent process, went ahead and booked the XUV 500 with Zoom paying the 13.3 k plus the 5k deposit amounting to 18.3 k via my credit card ( had to create my citrus account to complete the booking)

The pick up : I had booked the pick up from Novotel hotel @ Bellandur for 9 pm on 9th July and i received a prompt message at 8.15 pm on 9th July saying the car was ready for pick up, i reached Novotel basement by 8.30 pm and met one Mr. Sandeep from Zoom who was happy to explain everything and help with getting the basics about the car, where the papers were kept, how to operate various controls any known issues ( to which he told me the car was recently serviced and i have to get used to the "half-clutch" experience). The car was reasonably clean i would not say very clean as there were one or 2 pieces of food crumbs left in the rear door pockets of the car ( but saw that after i had taken the car) , seats and floor were very
clean, no bad odors. Fuel gauge showed full and there was no tablet inside,i had unchecked the same during the checklist.The exterior also was washed and wiped and there was a small dent on the front right corner of the bonnet.
I completed the online checklist via the app ( yes we get good signal at the basement of Novotel),took a very short TD and shook hands with Mr. Sandeep and left.

The XUV 500 experience : My usual ride is the humble Wagon R and getting onto the XUV was a sea change ! Was quite nervous getting used to this beast, my wife sitting next to me was noticing my nervousness and trying to calm me down, while i was getting used to the half clutch release and the way the car lungs forwards as i released the clutch. Within a few minutes i got out and reached a restaurant where i parked with relative ease and treated myself to a good dinner. Taking the car home from the restaurant
was easier and felt a lot calmer now, reached home, parked and switched off the beast, had to leave early next morning at 5.

Had a decent amount of sleep ( 10.30 - 4 am) and left home at 5.10 am picking up my colleagues ( 6 in all) from various points in the city, now the fact that there is no boot space with all 3 rows up is something i knew but it really hit when i took on the 5th passenger , we had 5 bags the 3rd row was full with our bags and we had to pick 2 more. Must say when the last 2 boarded and had to sit in the 3rd seat i was pretty unsure about how it would work out and to my pleasant surprise they both felt quite comfortable
in the 3rd row of seats !!, also the bags were adjusted in the second row space between the legs and the front row seats ( second row has superb leg space), whew! ,heaved a sigh of relief as all passengers were comfortable and luggage had been taken care of, we managed to hit the Mysore road by 7.15 am

Everyone seemed very comfortable with the space available and the ride quality.Overtaking was a breeze, the intermittent barriers on the Mysore road were a bit of a turn off but its there for a reason and appreciate that, hope they soon build the by pass bridges for all the towns in between so interruptions are eliminated.Had breakfast at Shivalli restaurant - simple but tasty meal and will rate the place high. Reached Mysore and took the ORR and exited near the Zoo, to head towards Nanjangud.

The stretch from Mysore - Nanjangud - Gundlupet was bad, filled with bad patches of roads and some parts of the roads were under construction. Though the XUV swallowed the bad roads with ease , this slowed us down quite a bit. From Gundlupet till Masinagudi the roads were good and taking the Cheetah through the forest roads was like déjà vu. We spotted deer, Gray Langurs, peacocks and elephants. Stopped for a check at the TN check post and reached our resort by 1.30 pm greeted by a slight drizzle.

Lunched and settled in to our resort. Not a tiring drive. Stayed indoors for the evening and we were up early next morning to drive to Doddabetta and Pykara. While I got ready first and went to check on the XUV , our resort managed chipped in to inquire about our plans and route. He claimed that as recently as a couple of weeks ago a zoom car – Scorpio - caught fire on its way up to Ooty and burnt completely. Thankfully, the passengers managed to get out to safety. This information scared me a bit. The manager gave me friendly advice to ascend only in second gear and not to throttle the Cheetah too much. Took a heavy sigh, thanked him and as the others were ready, we got in, buckled ourselves up and fired the XUV. All through the drive up I was ultra cautious about the revving, ensuring I do not take her beyond 2000 , which meant we ascended slowly and steadily. I must say the XUV is very capable. Once while passing the 12th Hair pin, we could smell some clutch burning smell - promptly stopped, opened the bonnet and checked - it was absolutely fine. We then realized that what we had smelt was the clutch burning smell of a Bolero which had just passed us at the U –turn. Soon passed by a stretch that bore the black burnt marks - guessed this was where the Zoom Scorpio burnt. By noon we reached Ooty and turned towards Doddabetta peak. The rise was quite pleasant till the place where they collect the entry toll/fee, but after that we had quite a lot of traffic and upon nearing the parking lot - it was chaos! With vehicles ( TTs, mini buses and Innovas) behind us , side by side and opposite us, parking was an ordeal till we found a narrow space between 2 TT's.

Cool breeze greeted us at the peak, thoroughly enjoyed the fresh air, took loads of snaps at all the view points, the place is well maintained.
From there we left to Pykara lake ( towards Gudalur) and reached there quite comfortably. Ooty, in general, has good roads. Just as we stepped out of parking at Pykara, it started pouring. Half wet we still decided to go for the boating. Pykara is a beautiful lake and I love going there every time I visit Ooty. Took the 8 seater boat and man, it was icy cold. The view was breathtaking, though we could not spot any animals. We finished our boat ride in less than 20 minutes. We climbed the stairs up ( which felt unusually tough) and had some snacks surrounded by some naughty monkeys.
Left Pykara and had good roads till Gudalur. It was nearing six pm and we wanted to enter the Mudhumalai range before 6 - which we eventually accomplished with 15 minutes to spare.

Now the roads had become non-existent. Moon craters greeted us and we had to cross mini lakes. There were a few loaded trucks also coming from the opposite direction. Overall a very bumpy ride even for the XUV and we were thankful that we took the XUV – in a smaller car, this would have been quite an ordeal.

Reached Theppekaadu and turned to Masinagudi and in about 20-30 minutes reached our resort. We had completed a circle, starting from Masinagudi climbing to Ooty ->Doddabetta and then climbing down to Pykara and reaching Masinagudi via Gudalur. Relished a good dinner and spent some time chit chatting till midnight. Slept and woke up refreshed but thanks to our lazy selves we left the resort only by 11 am Sunday to begin our way back to Bangalore.

We spent the return journey deciding where we should travel to next. We managed to get out of Mysore by 2 pm but rode all the way to the Empire hotel in Maddur before we stopped for lunch. This was a good decision, nice big place and good food. We expected some heavy traffic and we were right. Wasted a good deal of time getting "unblocked" at Channapatna and Ramanagara. Overall we were able to cruise through the free stretches of the Mysore Bangalore road at around 90 - 100. Dropped each of my colleagues at various ends of the city and managed to rush back to the Cheetah's den below Novotel by 8.20 pm - 40 minutes before schedule. I was again greeted by the ever smiling Sandeep, a quick check and we were done.
Whew we actually munched 693 km of our free 720 km. Noticed a scraped Zoom Figo and asked what happened. Sandeep said that a customer met with an accident and I asked so now what happens. Does the customer have to pay up? He replied that the 5000 deposit would not be refunded and the rest claimed from insurance - did not bother to get into details and left as i was tired.

Got back home by 9, had a refreshing bath and hit the bed (of course after watching Djokovic win the Wimbledon finals - what a match) with pleasant memories. So will i Zoom Car again - definitely yes, and I forgot to mention the Rs. 500.00 top up of diesel I put in at Maddur (just in case) - got refunded back into my account in 3 days flat! I got INR 5500.00 refunded in totoal

Will I recommend the XUV500 Zoom car - Of course yes!

Now busy planning my next trip

Some pics i took along the way.

[audioholic]

Took a Zoomcar again, this time a figo from pune to shirdi and back and this time it was uneventful. Covered 490kms in a span of 24hrs. The car had covered 40k kms and was pretty decent except for worn out rear tyres which squealed every time I tried braking hard. That made me drive rather slowly throughout since there was no panic braking option. The car is pretty driveable at city speeds but on the highway it feels quite strained as speeds increased.

As usual the refund process was flawless. I dropped the car at 4:30PM to the airport pickup point and I got a message about the refund by the time I reached Bangalore and switched on my phone at 8PM.

Great going! Will be doing more trips and a fortuner booking is coming up

[hserus]

If tyres / brake / clutch are worn out during your PDI of the vehicle just refuse to accept it would be ideal. Highways aren't the best place to have braking issues, especially on the last 30 km to shirdi which goes through several small villages.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by hserus

If tyres / brake / clutch are worn out during your PDI of the vehicle just refuse to accept it would be ideal. Highways aren't the best place to have braking issues, especially on the last 30 km to shirdi which goes through several small villages.

We took the car at 6:30PM. The Tyres weren't bald and had reasonable tread left in them. But they had no grip. If they were bald, I wouldn't have accepted the car. As I left the city, the braking was very sensitive and crisp which was reassuring. However once midway between Pune and Ahmednagar, I had to brake in anticipation of a car attempting to cross the road. I hit the brakes marginally hard not very, yet I could hear the rear tyre(s) screeching. That's when I realized it wasn't safe at 90-100 so reduced speed. Stopped for dinner at Ahmednagar and reduced the Tyre pressure of the rear tyres. Later I didn't face issues. Luckily as night approached traffic became nil and the roads were excellent.

And being used to the ABS in my car, I will not be opting for a non ABS Zoomcar again. Moreover how can we make out if the Tyres are gone when they have sufficient tread in them?

[vinit.merchant]

Just realised that they removed the offer of 20% discount on advance booking, though the same day discount continues.

Just when I was thinking of utilising the advance booking option, it got removed!

[ankan.m.blr]

What is the process of making payment and security deposit to zoom? Do they accept cash or Online transfer from HDFC/ICICI netbanking ? Also, what is the refund process of the deposit? In a post, I noticed its made through Citrus account, can anyone please provide details.

[Eddy]

Cash is not acceptable. I used a credit card.

Zoomcar will refund the balance to your Citrus account. You can transfer from Citrus to a bank of your choice. The process takes 3-5 business days.

PS: Please ensure that your citrus and zoomcar accounts use the same email and mobile number.

[Chetan_Rao]

Question about the Citrus account thingy.

I created one during a recent Zoom booking, but don't have a bank/credit card account linked to it, as I don't intend to use it for anything else except the Zoom booking/refund process.

I'm assuming Zoom will put my refund back in the Citrus account, and I'll need to add a bank/CC account's details to move the money? Am I getting it right or backwards entirely?

[Eddy]

Yes, Zoom will load what is called Citrus Cash in your Citrus wallet. You will need to enter the bank details to "withdraw" this cash and put in that bank account. Nothing more than that.

[ankan.m.blr]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Yes, Zoom will load what is called Citrus Cash in your Citrus wallet. You will need to enter the bank details to "withdraw" this cash and put in that bank account. Nothing more than that.

Does Citrus charge any amount for this money transfer?