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Well, this sounds like another low for Zoomcar. 'Nickel and dime' strategy at work. I would expect them to charge if the car was excessively dirty when being returned (like taken off-road). Otherwise, the fleet maintenance guys are supposed to do the general cleaning of the cars when returned. And 500 bucks for exterior cleaning after every trip? Where are they getting their cars washed? 3M ?

From what I have seen, they themselves wash it at the location itself.
Rented thrice from their Pune airport location. They had a big sintex water tank at the location. Washing and cleaning is part of the job of zoomcar staffers at location.

For 500 bucks max, the roadside pressure washer centers do a thorough exterior and interior cleaning. And that's for customers like us. If zoomcar ties up with these, they can extract a pretty attractive rates, considering how frequently their cars will pay them a visit.
Honestly, charging 2k is ridiculous.

1500 bucks would get one a full fledged upholstery cleaning at a specialist outlet.

Zoomcar cleaning? To quote our resident detailing humorist @Secretariat, the only cleaning implements Zomcar's fleet sees is a dirty rag manufactured in 1629 and black liquid of indeterminate origin.

I'm planning on dropping Zoomcar an email for a clarification. Not that I expect a sensible, rational response. Just to amuse myself.

We *so* need a strong consumer protection law!

Is this applicable to all rentals? Since when?

This is probably an industry first!

In the US, rental companies charge you for cleaning *only* when you've been stupid enough to completely trash the interiors or you've been smoking.

Exterior cleaning is never charged.

Oh, it is a state-of-the-art process where they have a pool of water and a rag which they use continuously days together.

I had called zoomcar customer care for a missing fuel bill repayment. They processed that as well. I brought up this question about the cleaning charges and the guy clarified this was for interior cleaning.
I did not ask further, you may still want to amuse yourself :uncontrol

I have used Zoomcar from Chandigarh Airport before (Honda Jazz). I had taken it to Himachal Pradesh (Baddi and Kala Amb) on a business tour. The experience was great. The car was in excellent condition, except the AC cooling which was was a bit low. Pick up and drop was easy at the airport.

I am planing to a trip to Spiti Valley in July. I have booked Zoomcar's Endeavour for that trip. Are you aware if any special permit (like inner line permit) is required to take a rented car to Spiti Valley?

So let me get this straight.

I pick up a car from Zoomcar, which is already not very clean (forget spotless). Then I use it for an outstation trip for 3 days. And on returning it back, because of the intiial condition + usage, they charge me 500 Rs for a cleanup? Which is probably a guy running an old rag over half the car half heartedly!

Am I missing something? Rented Zoomcar's thrice (Delhi, Gurgaon and Bangalore) and nowhere did they have a cleaning facility. Where is my 500 going?

Contrary to this, rented a car for 2 days in Philly last month. Car came out of the washing facility before I was handed over the keys. The insides were clean but smelt like someone smoked in there for the first 30 minutes of the drive. (Noticed it only after I left the compound because of all the freshner sprayed right after cleaning) Mentioned this to the guy at the return facility and he profusely apologized and gave me a 25% discount on my entire bill.

This is customer service!

This happened every time I take the Zoom Car.

If you find your car dirty, make it a point to call the concerned individual at the site and ask him to appraise the cleanliness of the car.

If the car is clean, then it becomes our responsibility to maintain it that way.

Else If the car is dirty, I generally warn him not to shower the cleaning fee on me [ and they always obliged me]

The small fly in the 'appraisal' is they have otherworldly standards of 'clean'.

I couldn't even see the instrument cluster, the rear seat had vomit spots and hitting the co-passenger seat with my palm kicked up a dust cloud enough to choke someone to death, but the on-site chap was nonplussed when I complained the car isn't clean. 'Just finished cleaning Saar!'.

Means the on site chaps probably wipe with a dirty wet cloth and pocket the 500/- cleaning fee.

Anyone who has rented the Scorpios, the ones which they provide in Delhi / Chandigarh, are they 4WD or 2WD ?

I had rented Scorpio in Pune for a trip to Mahabaleshwar. It was 2WD. Even the ones that I have spotted on roads in NCR are 2WD. They usually have S4 models.

PEDL rental spot at HSR lyt, Bangalore near Sony showroom.

Looks like they've added the Hyundai Grand i10 to their Chennai fleet.

Looks like zoomcar is starting with one-way rentals. Found this today on their site.





I see that I can only book one-way to Mysore. So, maybe they are testing this new option.
This would be a great for weekend travelers to Mysore. Drive to Mysore and drop off. Can take a another car and come back to Bangalore. No need to keep the car whole weekend.