GetGo Car Sharing Review - Promo Code: SGFM8OFF

GetGo car sharing review - We recently rented a car from GetGo, Singapore's fastest growing car sharing service with one of the most advanced vehicle fleets among all the car sharing companies. There are no membership fees, and vehicles are located at thousands of locations islandwide so that you can enjoy the convenience of car ownership, without the actual financial burden of owning a car. GetGo cars are pretty diversified, with different types of cars available for different types of use, and in that way, is one of the more flexible car sharing players in the market. Aside from your regular petrol powered options such as a Toyota Sienta, Ssangyong Tivoli, Honda Shuttle, and Mazda 3, GetGo also makes it a point to regularly update its fleet with the latest electric vehicles, such as the Hyundai Kona Electric, and more recently, the MG ZS, which we took for our trip around Singapore. Getting started with the service is hassle free, as you get instant approval via Singpass application through the GetGo App, which you also use when you need to do things like unlock the car. If you are new to GetGo and wish to try out the service, you can key in PROMO CODE: SGFM8OFF when making your very first booking through the app to enjoy 88% off your booking fee (capped at $8). Keep in mind that you should be at least 19 years or older, with at least a year of driving experience, or be a minimum of 25 years old if you do not have driving experience. With that out of the way, let's get on with our review.

Finding & Booking the Car

GetGo car sharing review - As I was looking to book a GetGo car for a local tour day trip around the west of Singapore, I knew in advance what date I was going to head out. So I registered for an account, and submitted my driver's details via the recommended Singpass method, and got instantly approved. So far so good - as all the other car sharing services I have tried have taken an awful long time to clear this process (some as long as 7-10 days) - no wonder they aren't the fastest growing car sharing service around and GetGo is.

After registering, I was able to browse through the entire Singapore map and all the GetGo car locations were clearly marked out with a blue marker, which also shows exactly what car is parked at that particular location. I had previously been told about the MG ZS Electric being added to the fleet, and I knew where it was located - so I typed in the address to check if it was available on my preferred date and time.

After establishing that the car was available, I keyed in my preferred date and time, and set a booking duration for 5 hours, and confirmed the booking. At this point, I was made aware of what my total booking fees were - and what the mileage charge was, which would be calculated at the end of my actual trip. You'll need a credit card to complete this booking. Once completed, the booking shows up under your list of active bookings - a simple but reassuring step that all was in order. At this juncture, the entire process of using the GetGo App had been pretty smooth, and I must say that the app is sleek and easy to use.

Collecting the Car & Getting Started

GetGo car sharing review - On the day of the local tour, my team and I headed to the carpark where the MG ZS was to collect the car. The are clear instructions on the app that show you exactly which floor and lot number the car is located in. We followed the instructions and found the car without any issues. We were a little bit early, as we had wanted to maximise the full use of the car, and so used the time to inspect the car for any damages. If we had found any, we would then have reported it prior to taking the car, so as to ensure that we would not be confused for the culprits. Being a car sharing service, cosmetic damage on the various cars are not uncommon, and so we wanted to be careful about this. However, being a new car in the fleet at the time, there was no damage to be found, and the car looked pretty spanking new.

When the time arrived for us to start our trip, I pulled out my phone, opened up the booking, and attempted to sync my phone to the car. I'm not entirely sure how close you have to be exactly, but to be extra sure, I put my phone against the side of the car. Ironically, it took awhile for my phone to sync properly with the car - but that could be the fact that I was using an Iphone 11, which brings me to my next point. Before heading out to claim your booking, be sure to update your GetGo app to the latest version while you are still within reach of wifi, or you might find yourselves having to do all of that via data. In any case, after I got my phone synced up (after about 2-3 attempts), I proceeded to unlock the car using my phone, and got in.

Being a new car, once again, it was quite expected that the car would be fresh and new on the inside, but nonetheless, kudos to the operations team for cleaning the car up. The car was ever so slightly dusty, but had no visible dirt or debris across the floor mats or seats. Needless to say, this was a good start to the experience. After adjusting the seats, steering, and mirrors to my preferred positions, I moved off.

Charges & Things to Note

GetGo car sharing review - GetGo cars all have season parking at their respective home lots. Take note that GetGo is an A to A car sharing service, which means that you need to return the car to the same home lot. This is unlike Blue SG's A to B car sharing service, which you leave at your destination once you are done. Pros and cons for each in my opinion, but you should use whichever suits your travels needs better.

You should also know that GetGo cars do not come with a cashcard, and so it is necessary for you to bring your own cashcard to facilitate the payment of parking and ERP charges where applicable. For me though, all the places I was visiting that day had free parking, and as you know, ERP gantries have not really come back in full swing at the time of this review yet, so essentially, no ERP.

The last thing you should know is that GetGo's car sharing rates are not uniform across the day. The hours of the day are split into peak and non-peak periods, so be sure to check out exactly what the rates are for the type of car and time of day you are booking the car for use. You should also note that there is a different mileage charge for different types of vehicles, with electric cars currently boasting the lowest mileage charges of the fleet at just $0.25 per km.

Verdict

GetGo car sharing review - For reference, before starting each leg of the journey, we checked out what the cost would be like to take a Grab instead, and compared the total cost of Grab against the total cost of the trip with GetGo. Our trip featured 4 travel legs between 4 locations (including the home carpark) - if you wish to find out exactly how our trip went and what the cost comparison is, please proceed to watch our full video review.

If you are too lazy to watch, then here it is - GetGo is marginally cheaper than Grab based on the trip that we undertook. Do note that this differs greatly depending on the number of legs involved, the distance travelled, and most importantly, how much you incur for parking. However, as a general rule of thumb, I would say that GetGo's car sharing service works best if you:

1) are going somewhere super ulu

2) are going to places that have free parking

3) have things you need to bring for the trip, but not necessarily use at each leg of the trip

4) have more than 2 different locations to go to during your trip

5) you don't spend an excessive amount of time at each location

So if we were to distill that down into possible good and bad use cases for GetGo:

Good Uses:

- running errands to pick up many different items from many different locations across a limited time span

- fast game grocery shopping

- festive season visiting

- going out late at night

- excursions to more ulu parts of Singapore that feature free parking

- using the car for activities that involve the transportation of gear (photography, filming, drone flying, etc...)

- if the trip demands a certain level of flexibility and comfort (date nights, first date, 3rd date, 50th date, etc...)

- when you are heading out with kids

- when you are heading out with old people

Bad Uses:

- taking the car to go for one meeting in the CBD

- using the car to go for a 4 hour brunch in Orchard

- using the car to go to your friends house to play mahjong overnight

- using the car to get to your 9am to 5pm desk job

If you are interested to try out the GetGo Car Sharing service, be sure to download the app, and use PROMO CODE: SGFM8OFF to enjoy 88% off your first booking (capped at $8).