And then there is that thing called "liability." REH
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mike Spencer Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 1:50 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Futurework] Car-Sharing Companies Link Owners With Renters - NYTimes.com >http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/technology/car-sharing-companies-link >-owners-with-renters.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha26 > > RelayRides says an owner of a midsize, late-model sedan who rents out > a car for 10 hours a week could expect to clear about $3,000 a year. Yeah? What does "clear" mean here? Total cost of ownership divided by operating hours -- 500 hrs in this estimate -- or miles driven is what? If this were a good deal, the biz guy would own the cars and keep *all* the gravy. Another case of externalizing internal diseconomies, only here it's a business carefully constructed to corral up some diseconomies and sell them to the unsuspecting car owner who happily buys them at a (probable) loss. Calculating TCoO for a cross-marque sample of late-model cars is a tedious accounting and statistical project for a university course so I don't have the numbers but I *was* in the auto trade for some years and I don't really think my observation is gratuitously cynical. -- Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada .~. /V\ [email protected] /( )\ http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/ ^^-^^ _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2113/4823 - Release Date: 02/21/12 _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
