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Mint Undercuts Zipcar in NYC, Brings Smarts to the Masses

May 7, 2009 at 10:34 AM | by BS | 1 Comment

Now that car sharing giant Zipcar has merged with Flexcar and partnered with ridesharing site Zimride, it's looking pretty dominant on the short-term rental scene. There are still a couple of regional upstarts out there however, and one very affordable, very cute New York service has caught our eye.

Mint, which has a fleet of cars in Manhattan and just expanded with a couple of rides in Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope, appears to be positioning itself as the BoltBus to Zipcar's Megabus. What we mean by that is it's an underdog with a bit of a sleek touch—they've got everything from Smart Cars to Mercedes C300s—that reels you in with almost unbelievably low starter prices.

Much like Bolt's $1 bargains, Mint grabs your attention with the low, low price of $2 an hour—and that includes gas. As you might expect, the $2 cars are extremely limited: only economy cars, and only from 8am to 5pm on Monday to Thursday. All other times, rates are $9 and up, similar to Zipcar but with that broader range of quirky auto options.

Even given the limitations, that still seems like a pretty sweet deal if you're gonna play hooky from work and head to the beach. As long as you don't hit traffic and get back into town before the evening rush hour, you could conceivably get out to Jones Beach and back for around $14. That's cheaper than taking the Long Island Railroad!

Have you taken a Mint yet? We're plotting our summer day trips already, so let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Related Stories:
· Mint [Official Site]
· Zipcar Partners With Zimride, Creates Ridesharing Awesomeness [Jaunted]
· Rental car coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Mint]

1 Comment

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Return to » Mint Undercuts Zipcar in NYC, Brings Smarts to the Masses

  1. miriam

    Jaunted Member

    Carsharing

    Great to see an article on how carsharing is growing in New York and in the U.S. Just one correction--there are actually 14 independent carshare companies around the U.S. and Canada ranging in size from 5 to 400 cars in their fleet. To find one in your city, go to http://carsharing.net/where.html
    May 11, 2009 at 9:50 AM
    #Permalink

Return to » Mint Undercuts Zipcar in NYC, Brings Smarts to the Masses

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