When it comes to standards and quality assurance of Uber Carshare and traditional rentals, both service options offer a lot. But, there are a few things you should be aware of.
Uber Carshare’ rents’ and offers all types of vehicles. Traditional luxury rentals provide almost all new and well-maintained cars.
You probably have high standard expectations for the car you want to rent, either through Uber Carshare or traditional luxury rentals. If you do, know that both car rental companies and Uber try to make sure they have high-quality vehicles. However, the reality can be far from that in some circumstances, and if that’s the case, you have every right not to pay if you are not satisfied with what you have been offered.
Read this article further to understand the standards and quality assurance between Uber Carshare and traditional rentals. You will learn a lot about their safety standards, interior and exterior maintenance, and amenities or features. Lastly, you will read about user feedback regarding experiences with quality standards.
Let’s start rolling…
Comparing The Quality Of Vehicle Selection
When it comes to vehicle selection, Uber Carshare tries to offer more; however, these standards largely depend on the vehicles on the platform. The company’s strategy is about car owners sharing their rides for a price, so you have many options, especially in regular cars. You are less likely to find a luxury car on this platform. If you are lucky, you can find the most expensive vehicles if you look for in the correct time at the correct location. But, that’s rare.
On the other hand, traditional car rental companies make sure they have only high-quality vehicles in their fleets. In other words, generally, you are sure to find high-quality cars when using their services. Therefore, traditional car rental is not about luck. Quality is what they offer.
Your tastes may be too rich for what Uber Carshare has to offer in certain locations. In this situation, look for a traditional car rental company and find the highest quality rides.
Uber Carshare may have better prices, but with them, you may not find what you are looking for in terms of quality. Even when you compare the cost breakdown between Uber Carshare and traditional rentals, traditional rentals win in most cases.
How Big Are Uber Carshare and Car Rental Companies Fleets?
With Uber Carshare, there’s no limit to how many cars you can rent. Anyone can enrol their vehicle in the program to cash in profits. In other words, Uber Carshare is limitless and expanding, so you have something available even when the other platforms are busy.
Car rental companies have a limited number of cars in their fleets, depending on the location of the car rental and the company. But if you decide to rent from SIXT or Hertz, which are huge car rental company names, fleets are wider, especially if you are after a regular car, as opposed to a luxury car. To put it simply, go for the big names if you insist on finding a regular ride.
If you have a big dream of riding a luxury car or supercar, stick with luxury rent-a-car companies such as Rent A Prestige.
The good news is that car rental companies’ fleets are usually new. With Uber Carshare, you are likely to come across many older vehicles that car owners decide to rent out. While some of these cars can be ‘lemons’, older doesn’t necessarily mean lower quality or inferior standards.
Safety Standards
Uber Carshare doesn’t take much responsibility regarding safety if you don’t check your ride before driving it. Moreover, you must be informed about their safety features before selecting a vehicle. What you should know is that each Uber Carshare vehicle should follow the basic safety standards. However, the day-to-day compliance is 100% up to the car owner, but not Uber. If the owner of the car you happen to rent is ‘irresponsible’, unfortunately, you, the renter, will be the victim.
Traditional car rental companies never offer cars that don’t respect safety standards. Their vehicles are usually equipped with the latest technology that offers the driver and passengers complete safety. From my experience, it’s safer to rent from them than to use Uber Carshare. 100%!
It’s not that Uber Carshare rides aren’t safe. It’s just that you don’t know who’s been driving the car before you. And, how serious the owner of the car is about safety. The previous driver may have done something that damaged the safety features of the vehicle, a case in which you put yourself at risk.
Uber Carshare And Traditional Car Companies Vehicle Safety Features
Uber Carshare and traditional car companies’ rentals can have many safety features. These are determined by the manufacturer when the car came out of the production line, and other factors. If you are the type of person who’s afraid behind the wheel, choose a vehicle that has many safety features.
Remember, these days, rental cars are using interesting features to monitor driver behaviour using artificial intelligence.
The most common safety features are seat belts, airbags, and lane assist. But if you want much more than this, you can check what the Uber Carshare app or the website car rental companies offer. See the table below to find out about the safety features both services usually provide.
| Uber Carshare | Car Rental Companies |
| Anti-lock braking system | Backup camera |
| Blind spot monitor | Pedestrian detection |
| Collision avoidance system | Parking sensors |
| Engine Immobilisation | Anti-lock braking system |
| Driver speed monitoring | Blind spot monitor |
| Parking sensors | |
| 360-degree cameras |
Interior And Exterior Maintenance
Both Uber Carshare and traditional luxury car rental companies make sure the vehicles in their fleets are well maintained. To put it simply, the cars should work flawlessly, be clean both inside and outside, and run smoothly. This way, customers can enjoy pleasurable rides without complaining.
However, when renting a vehicle through Uber Carshare, you can come across a ride the owner didn’t keep well. As opposed to this, luxury car rental companies run interior and exterior maintenance checks on their cars routinely. To clarify, you will never have maintenance problems with a luxury rental.
Another interesting thing about luxury car rental companies is that they run preventive interior and exterior maintenance on their cars. They check for problems to prevent “running” repairs. When performing preventive maintenance, they fix or replace a car’s parts and components before affecting the car’s function. That’s a beauty for the safety!
Maintenance Records And Vehicle Performance
Uber Carshare vehicle owners must upload their service records to the Uber platform. This way, the company checks if the car can perform according to what any customer would expect. Vehicle performance tracking is very important when renting out other people’s vehicles.
As far as maintenance records and vehicle performance go at car rental companies, things are different. In this situation, the companies keep maintenance records in order. Therefore, with car rental companies, vehicle performance is guaranteed.
You can find performant cars no matter if you rent through Uber Carshare or a traditional car rental company. But note that you may not find the fastest or most advanced vehicles if you are in a suburban or country area.
For instance, you won’t find a Lamborghini, Ferrari or a Mercedes S-Class rental if you are not in a city.
Amenities And Features
When choosing your Uber Carshare ride, you can filter by vehicle type, seat number, or transmission type. The amenities you can choose from are child seats, pet-friendly vehicles, or air conditioning. The Uber Carshare app and website make it easier for you to select what you want.
Traditional luxury car rental companies have the same approach. Note that adding features and amenities could increase the price of your rental. If you want something very special and can’t find it, you can request it via email or phone.
With Uber Carshare, what you see is what you get. You can’t make a separate request for a ride that has more special features or amenities. This is only possible with traditional car rental companies, as they always struggle to beat the competition by offering more. At least there will be humans you can talk to.
What Are The Most Common Amenities And Features Of Rentals
You can look for more amenities and features on Uber Carshare and car rental company vehicles. But most vehicles have some of these already in place, as they should be, regardless of whether you own or rent a car. Hence, there are common features and amenities for all rentals.
It doesn’t matter if you use Uber Carshare or a car rental company service; your rental should have basic features. There are also some common amenities in rentals, but don’t expect to be too impressed. Let’s see what each service offers when it comes to these aspects.
For instance, both Uber Carshare and car rental companies offer vehicles with air conditioning and entertainment systems. You also won’t find an Uber Carshare or traditional rental without stability and traction control systems. The same goes for airbags and anti-lock braking. Again, those features are modern-day basics. Nothing fancy!
Eco-Friendly Initiatives
In more than 200 cities in the world, Uber is trying its best to offer sustainable products as an overall vision. The company runs Uber Green for low to zero-emission vehicles, and Comfort Electric is Uber’s program for premium electric rides. Uber Planet offers EVs where these are not available.
When it comes to traditional car rental services, companies are struggling to add more green-powered cars to their fleets. They also focus on technology that creates fewer emissions and more efficiency. But let’s see which technologies Uber Carshare and car rental companies offer.
| Uber Carshare | Traditional Car Rental Companies |
| Hybrid or electric vehicles | Eco-friendly tires |
| Recycled and sustainable materials | Hybrid and electric cars |
| Eco-friendly manufacturing materials | Solar-powered vehicles |
Quality Assurance For Long-Term vs. Short-Term Rentals
Quality assurance for long-term rentals at Uber Carshare and car rental companies is always in place. But note that when you rent long-term, no one checks the vehicle for you. The rental is in your hands, so according to how you drive and maintain it, you have lower or superior quality.
With short-term rentals, things are different. You get the car after it’s been back to its owner or the car rental company you contacted. In other words, quality assurance is in place because car rental service companies don’t send out vehicles that don’t go through quality checkups.
If you rent long-term, you are the only one in control of your rental. Therefore, you should take better care of it if you want your rides to be pleasurable and free from incidents. Renting short-term means fewer worries and cares about the vehicle’s working conditions and quality. However, short-term rentals are more expensive than long-term rentals.
User Feedback And Experience With Quality Assurance
Uber Carshare is a service trying to offer outstanding quality assurance and the promptest customer support service. However, the reality is far from that. People who rented Uber Carshare rides have only many things to say about how this company ensures quality. From what I have asked around, these opinions are shared offline too.
For instance, see these Product Reviews, which resulted in a 1.2 stars.
As far as quality assurance opinions on car rental companies go, things are different. The competition in this industry is fierce, so many people have different things to say. However, I haven’t heard anyone complaining about the quality of vehicles or services at a car rental company. Especially when it comes to luxury car rentals.
There are few to no negative reviews online on quality assurance at car rental companies. People seem to be happy with how vehicles they rent through these services work and ride.
Without question, I can say traditional car rental companies have more positive reviews than Uber Carshare when it comes to these aspects.
Conclusion – Standards And Quality Assurance Of Uber Carshare vs. Traditional Rentals
Hopefully, you have learned a lot from this article about the standards and quality assurance between Uber Carshare and traditional rentals. If you did, then you can make a smarter decision regarding which service to use. After all, renting a vehicle is not about taste and preferences all the time, but also about quality standards and your safety.
Between what quality Uber Carshare and car rental companies offer in vehicles, I would go for the second option. Car rental companies have higher standards and quality policies in place when compared to private car owners who rent through the Uber Carshare platform. If you don’t want any trouble on the road, rent short-term via a traditional rental and enjoy.