For those of you who don’t have a car but want a convenient way to hire one for short periods of time perhaps to buy a lot of groceries, attend a meeting or go to that new restaurant in the ‘burbs you’ve been reading about on Unilocal,Flexicar is a great carsharing option. They also have decent daily rates and over 100 cars all around inner Melbourne. I joined online under a university student plan, only paid $ 17.50 for annual damage cover(a spring special), and within one working week, I received my Flexicard in the mail. I also listed my friend(who was already a member) as the person who referred me and we both received $ 30 driving credit to use within that month. Since I was hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, I used my driving credit for essentially a free 3 hour trip to pick up a friend, go to Costco to buy a big turkey, ham, etc. and to have a cheap lunch of course. I booked Bill(they name their cars), a Toyota Corolla Hatch that is parked literally 5 minutes away from my flat. The online booking process was simple — I found the car parked closest to me, saw when it was available, and reserved it. Then, I just had to swipe my Flexicard across the card reader on the windshield to open the door and then swipe again at the end of the session to lock up — pretty cool. No fuss and rates include fuel, insurance, and on-road costs. Though I love to drive, I don’t need to use a car on a daily basis here because I can use trains and trams to get around. But on occasion, when I do need a car, Flexicar has been a delight to use so far.