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JST · 11-17-2016, 01:59 PM

I finally had a chance to try out Silvercar car rental on my recent trip to SFO.

If you've not heard of it, Silvercar's gimmicks are twofold: 1) a very app driven user interface that in theory reduces wait times, and 2) they only rent silver Audi A4s.

I have to say, I liked the experience a lot. They are located off-airport, which means you have to take a shuttle van from the rental counter to a somewhat dodgy warehouse district, but the process was as easy as advertised. There were no lines; you only have to interact with staff the first time you rent (they scan your DL). After that, you can use the app and a QR code to unlock the car.

The car itself was also nice. A silver A4 may be the closest thing Germany makes to a Camry, but it's several dozen rungs up from what you get at a "normal" car rental place. The cars were clean and well-maintained and much more pleasant to bomb around in than most alternatives.

Pricing was reasonable. It was $50/day base rate, with protection/insurance going up from there. That's certainly within the bounds of what I pay at other places, and can be submitted for expense reimbursement without embarrassment (unlike the Mercedes GL450 I had to rent once that was like $200/day).

Silvercar's coverage is still pretty limited, but I'd take a look and see if they operate where you're headed, and give them a shot.

11-17-2016, 01:59 PM	#20
JST 195 Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 24,607	Silvercar I finally had a chance to try out Silvercar car rental on my recent trip to SFO. If you've not heard of it, Silvercar's gimmicks are twofold: 1) a very app driven user interface that in theory reduces wait times, and 2) they only rent silver Audi A4s. I have to say, I liked the experience a lot. They are located off-airport, which means you have to take a shuttle van from the rental counter to a somewhat dodgy warehouse district, but the process was as easy as advertised. There were no lines; you only have to interact with staff the first time you rent (they scan your DL). After that, you can use the app and a QR code to unlock the car. The car itself was also nice. A silver A4 may be the closest thing Germany makes to a Camry, but it's several dozen rungs up from what you get at a "normal" car rental place. The cars were clean and well-maintained and much more pleasant to bomb around in than most alternatives. Pricing was reasonable. It was $50/day base rate, with protection/insurance going up from there. That's certainly within the bounds of what I pay at other places, and can be submitted for expense reimbursement without embarrassment (unlike the Mercedes GL450 I had to rent once that was like $200/day). Silvercar's coverage is still pretty limited, but I'd take a look and see if they operate where you're headed, and give them a shot.