I used Car Next Door in Melbourne recently for the first time, and the whole experience was great. The car was in reasonably good condition, easy to find, and easy to get in and drive. The owner had graciously placed an auxiliary cable so I could play tunes from my phone while driving. I needed to extend my rental, which was easy to do via the web app. Overall, totally an amazing service. Super convenient for when I need a car, occasionally. read more

Absolutely risky service for the person renting the vehicle. This service aims at fleecing every cent of money from customers. First of all, the service is not cheap as it sounds. First of all the biggest problem is that the service has no dedicated parking spot, so once you have picked up the vehicle returning it and praying to god that the vehicle doesn't get a parking ticket becomes customers responsibility that can last for many days after the vehicle is returned and you think you are not exposed to any more risks. Secondly, while this service offers no dedicated parking spots, and if any fine is accrued to the vehicle even after 5 days of returning the vehicle, in addition to transferring the fine to you, they will deduct an additional 'inconvenience' fee from your credit card shamelessly. They call it "It's covered in our T&Cs". Ofcourse, the service doesn't has respect for customers. The vehicles are in bad conditions, usually not clean. If vehicle tyre is flat, it doesn't matter to them because your booking has already started, and you can't get out of deal without losing your money. They don't have on-ground people to speak to, and you are supposed to read all their help files to find the account number for their roadside assistance service. I booked a vehicle, had to call NRMA on the morning of the trip, and the vehicle was not road worthy, with NRMA person telling to drive extremely carefully as the tyres were completely treaded off. The flat tyre was so bad in condition that NRMA kept it in spares without mending it, and taking this vehicle has been the highest level of risk I have put my family into. But unfortunately their T&Cs don't cover that. This service has no respect for customers. read more

Deducted additional costs from my credit card without my permission. They claimed I left a flat battery which I did not, customer "support" did not address my questions in the attempt to prove I was not at fault. Despite saying they would not deduct my credit card "unless I responded within 3 days" they did anyway. Terrible experience. read more

Went through the entire application process, provided every bit of information they asked for. Perfect driving record, perfect credit. No issues. Full license. I meet every single one of the eligibility criteria they provide. The only issue may be that I'm a permanent resident with an American driver's license. Customer service and the site both confirm that does not affect eligibility. They denied my application with no explanation. Customer service says they will not provide any explanation whatsoever. I've never been denied from renting a car in my life and they did not provide a single reason, which they say is due to "security purposes". Not only that, but I am not even allowed to apply again. I have no idea whether it's because I made a spelling mistake in the application, my card didn't go through or some other arbitrary mistake on their part or mine. I downloaded the app while I was waiting for approval (as I was instructed to do via the website) and since I used two devices - my phone and computer - they sent me an email saying there was unusual "detected activity on your Car Next Door account" and gave me the phone's IP address. That could have been the reason my application was rejected. Who knows? Terrible customer experience. read more

Someone borrowed my car and was caught speeding twice in about 10 minutes. I have to pay the fines, which are over $700. CarNextDoor won't help. Customer service is awful. Very slow response times and it's always someone different so no one takes any responsbility read more

Scripted chat screen is all the customer service available. They have no interest in resolving disputes and cancel trip regularly. They also charge hidden fees months later read more

100% Not good and they keep asking me I'd details when I send it to them they said up to 3 hours and after 3 Hours they said your application Not approved, thanks God just wanted rent car not buying from this people, very bad experience not good at all . read more

I used this service and comparing with any other car rental/ car sharing service around the world that is been the worst experience ever. Booking a car it's easy, the point is... those cars have not dedicated car park or anything like that, those are just parked on the street in a public car park. As we know in Sydney the public car park are just timed (2 hours in this case), so I returned the car on the same day at the same street and I close the renting. 8 days after, just before I suppose to get my 500$ deposit back they just email me and inform myself about that car received a fine the morning after, then I asked to have a look at this fine, and when I saw the picture of it was write the date of the fine, so the fine is been done 2 days after I left the car and they pretended my to be responsible for it (two days after) like whatever should happen in that time is mine responsibility, fortunately the next renter was two days after, if was one month after I don't wanna even think about it. So they charged me 257$ for the fine plus fees for their to contact me about it. Already it was way more expensive than the usual 105$ for 12 hours. After you leave the car you have to stay aware until somebody rent it again Definitely I don't suggest this service to anyone I rented cars for many years and I never had problems like that read more

Shocking, so many hidden charges and they charge you every month which is completely unclear when you sign up. They suspended my login for no reason so I couldn't cancel, and nobody answers the call when you call the number advised. AVOID! So much cheaper to rent a car where they are fair, transparent and legitimate or use GoGet. read more

See the reviews on google which are much more mixed and negative, these reviews are suspiciously different... Tried to register my car; perfect condition with less than 90,000 on it, automatic transmission. "Owners supplement" required to be opened, ticked and signed before you lend out your car. However it doesn't open. The link is broken. So I email them and ask for an owners supplement - get a response from CND saying they don't know what that is?!!! Then I got a cold call from the Phillipinnes not identifying who they are are and asking to speak to me and mispronouncing my name. I assumed it was a call centre and ask them to take me off their mailing list and hung up. I got an email advising that it was CND. I sent them an email strongly suggesting they identify themselves when they ring from an over seas call centre and that they needed to send me the owner's supplement. I get an email back saying that I will get a phone call "from that department" - owners supplement still not sent to me. I get a phone call from a mobile number whilst I'm on another call. It's CND as I discover as I try to return the call day and night. It defaults to a voicemail and message tells you not to call their main switchboard number unless there is an emergency?! This is during and after business hours. Eventually after leaving multiple ignored messages on their mobile number, I ring the main switchboard number and it's a standard switchboard, no need to not call if it's an emergency! I get an email declining my car - absolutely no information provided. The bulk of their customer support is in the Phillipines. She starts "making notes" and assuming what I'm calling about, when I haven't elaborated. This is a sign of the lack of communication precision and reverting to a script - she didn't really listen and just defaulted. I asked her to put me through to Sydney and eventually she did. I have had extremely bad experiences with Philippino call centres in the past and I am extremely reluctant to deal with companies that use them, due to the fact that they are removed several steps from operations and fudge and cover up their lack of information. I have found the same with American, Indian, British and South African call centres dealing with Australian customers, too. I'm now waiting to get more information from them Addit - "we have declined but it's a secret why". Companies that have secrets and refuse to tell you why they make decisions that they do and that move operations overseas to cut every cost they can - will implode. I predict they will respond with a robotic "it's our policy not to disclose reasons for our decisions etc etc" read more

beware of using carnextdoor. I hired a car and when i unfolded/pulled down the sun visor, it just fell off. I told tem about this and they sent me a bill of $1600. When I asked what exactly this 1600 is for, they refused to give me a breakdown. You could lose big money . read more

Stay away from Car Next Door , I was a regular user until I dropped a car off one Saturday afternoon and took photos of car after I finished , the photos didn't upload correctly but I was not made aware until the Monday , I had the date and time on my phone of when photos were taking and emailed them on the Monday , someone had smashed the side mirror between the Sat morning and Tues etc , so they charged me for it which I refuse to pay , I even spoke to the owner of the car and sent home photos , the staff are located in Manilla and are so rude and have no idea what they are doing , a person called Joey should never ever be allowed to have a job it's embarrassing, now instead of using this terrible company I go elsewhere , stay away because if something goes wrong and it's not your fault and you have all the proof does not matter they are vultures and do not care read more

Don't put your car on the platform. CND customer service is terrible if something goes wrong. They are trying to charge me for the non-return of a lock box they installed and cannot be removed by anyone else. read more

They rented me a van with major issues. When I looked later at reviews for the vehicle, the same issues had been reported before, but they were still offering it to rent. Customer support was rude, unhelpful and very slow. read more

warning : do not use these people few days ago had rental for the first time from car next door. firstly the vehicle was very poor...steering was dangerous...didn't even have a radio secondly they rented the vehicle to somebody else for the same time as our return time...without telling us and even though we picked up vehicle an hour late (missed bus connection) finally they have some very tricky clauses in their T&C. you need to read everything very closely - it's gives them the right to levy all sorts of penalties without warning. when i complained i was told a supervisor would call me...still waiting the final cost means it would have been cheaper to go to avis ! i would never rent from them again and would urge anybody thinking about it to think again ! read more

Disgraceful, outright theft Buyer beware, or in this case, borrower beware. I was overcharged $85, for excess reduction, which I never selected. I was later told by customer service that "the computer doesn't make mistakes". What an appalling thing to say to customers especially when I wasn't able to be shown the fact that I requested this service. Absolutely Disgrceful service. Never again. This is not car next door, its theft next door read more

I have been using CND (think auto equivalent of AirBnB) for 6 months and find it really convenient. The fact that the vehicles are owned by local people means that they tend to be well looked after, they are where they should be and in good running order. There is a good range of different types. I usually book a Golf convertible but they also have 4WDs, vans etc. The daily rates are very good value - usually $30 - $35 plus a per km charge for fuel, competitive compared to rental car prices. Highly recommended if they're operating in your area. read more

Awful customer service. My vehicle still not repaired one month after borrower crashed it. Rent out your pride and joy, someone crashes it and take the risk it will never be seen again with no insurance pay out. Called and emailed them numerous times, talk about dragging their feet and stalling on getting the repair done. Think Twice Folks! read more

I have used their services not long ago and i am completely satisfied with them The staff was very polite and friendly. Most important the car was in excellent condition. read more

This is a very dodgy business. They tried to rip me off by charging me for a damage which was already charged to another customer (I found this out when I got in touch with the owner of the van). Then they turned around and said the charge was for my previous hire (which was 4 months prior and finalized as a clean sheet after they requested before and after photos)... I kept all the correspondence and I sure am reporting them to the ombudsman. They suck so hard! KEEP AWAY! read more

I used car next door twice, on the first occasion it was great, no problems what so ever. After the second trip away camping we were discussing when to get the car next and where to go. Two weeks later I am on holiday and receive an email of Fiona explaining that there was some damage on the vehicle and asked for the photos. So because I had lost my phone in bali which contained the photos I did all I could to help, calling my room mate so he could check my laptop to see if the photos were on iCloud. After a few days he got back to me, he sent the photos to a friend i had met in bali and then i sent them off to car next door. They then came back with some garbage saying that the photos had no time and date and the lighting in the picture suggested a different time. I asked them to check the GPS which would match the "lighting" on the picture. They did this and could clearly see that i was correct. So they then came back saying they wanted to see the pictures from the first trip 2 months ago knowing I wouldn't have them! I mean who would keep them after 2 months, after already receiving the deposit back. Anyway long story short is that the owner of the vehicle was on holiday when I dropped the vehicle off so he was not there to inspect for damage. So during that two weeks of the car being parked on the street where instructed to park someone has clearly bumped into it, perhaps one of the many vehicles and machinery going into the building site next door. I explained over and over again but Fiona who couldn't really care less sent me an email with a picture of the damage and a cost of $860. It looked like the car had been hit by a large truck, the damage was huge and not something I myself and the 4 other people would have missed!! So as my holiday continues to be spoilt by emailing and worries of being falsly charged for damage that I 100% did not cause I receive an email saying I am responsible and must pay. Basically they saw the opportuinity to rip me off rather than accept the fact that an accident had happened in the 2 weeks the car was lay dormant. Would not recommend to a single person!!! read more

BEWARE OF USING THIS ORGANISATION My very first booking was cancelled 40 mins before rental commencement. I wasn't called by received an automated email saying the booking was cancelled. When I called CarNextDoor to find out what had happened, I was told that the vehicle needed a new starter motor. This is not something that is ascertained on a whim and therefore the organisation would have been aware of the issue. I had to ask myself whether there was an alternative and the unsympathetic employee offered a vehicle that I had already discounted on the basis that it had received bad reviews by other users, due to poor communication. Customer service was unapologetic and unsympathetic. I lost a great deal of money on the basis that the vehicle had been prebooked for a house move. After my complaint, CarNextDoor offered a measly $10 credit. NO THANKS! To add insult to injury, the $250 holding deposit they take for first time users, was deducted from my account and will not be refunded for 5 days. Terrible service, made worse by a very poor attempt at resolving the issue. I will never use this organisation again. read more

I've only once used Car Next Door, but it was a terrific experience. In the lead-up I missed a phone call regarding the car I'd booked, and one of the customer service staff left a very long and detailed message to let me know that there were mechanical issues with that particular vehicle - they had to cancel my booking but gave me a credit towards my next one. There were heaps of cars available in my neighbourhood so it wasn't a hassle to book a different one. The actual process of picking up the car and dropping it off was very straightforward due to all the information (including video walk-throughs) on their website, and also through their mobile site. We had to stop for fuel at one point on our journey and due to a miscommunication my passenger didn't realise there was a fuel card we were meant to use and instead paid upfront. As per the instructions on the website I emailed through the invoice and was reimbursed the same day - I couldn't believe how fast it was! Plus, after I left feedback via a survey I received a personalised email thanking me and specifically addressing the various points I'd mentioned (mostly to do with the car search function on the website). Overall Car Next Door provides five star customer service, and I really like the fact that they bring existing neighbourhood cars together with people who need to use a vehicle temporarily rather than adding more cars to the roads and already stretched parking spots. read more

Whilst the idea itself is a great one, I ended up paying more. I rented a van for 4 hours. Ended up costing me almost $110! Your traditional car rental places would have kms included but CAR NEXT DOOR DOES NOT! So becareful! read more

The good bits. The concept is great, the rates are competitive and there's usually an available car in my area. Here's why I don't think Car Next Door is so great. - Getting in and out of cars. The process of getting in and out of the car, in my opinion, is a fail. You have to take pictures of each side of the car, generate a code on your phone (after logging in to a very slow 'web app'), put the code in to a box hanging from the window, get the key out and open the car, then put the key box in the car. You then have to do the same when you park. - Compulsory pictures. You have to take pictures of the car, twice, per rental period. It's not something you want to do when you have limited time to use the car and it's near impossible sometimes. I don't take pictures of the side of the car which faces the road, it's too dangerous. The front and back can be difficult to take pictures of in metro parking areas as people can park really close together. There's also when it rains! - Parking. There is no designated parking, like with GoGet and Hertz 24/7, so returning a car and parking can be a nightmare in metro areas trying to find a park. I once had to park 3 streets from where a car was meant to be parked, as there were no parks. I subsequently received an email from the company chastising me on parking procedures... annoying. - Damage/Liability. Unlike with competitors, if there's a new scratch on the car and you can't prove you didn't do it, you pay. Competitors would consider this general wear and tear. I have twice been accused of causing damage to a car, note the damage was quite latterly a small scratch and secondly a small dint. The first instance disappeared, they stopped replying to me and the problem went away. The second time I was held responsible for repairs despite me not causing it. It most probably happened while the car was parked on the street... - Cars. It's rare I get the same car each time. It's not such a big thing but the variables each time make things not feel so convenient, enjoyable. Eg. Figuring out gears, where the signals are, wipers, lights etc, the cars aren't not always clean (competitors cars are), you sometimes have other peoples stuff in the car, they're always in a different spot. The issue of getting in and out of a car could be changed/improved to compete successfully with competitors. The problem with taking pictures and unreasonable liability is most probably there to stay, it is a peer-to-peer share service after all. It's also more convenient to have the same car each time, which isn't guaranteed of course. I've now experienced, Car Next Door, GoGet and Hertz 24/7. I would never use Car Next Door again, it's too messy and risky and a little more on the inconvenient side when it should be the opposite. GoGet is a little overpriced, Hertz is the best on both price, product and service - which is what you want from short term car hire! read more

Great system, great community concept and the team is working hard to create a product that benefits the wider community. It's important to remember that these are people's cars and not cars from a hire company so they won't be as clean as something from one of the Thriftys or Avis' of the world. Much cheaper and the money goes back into the community rather than these large multinationals. A start-up company that is receptive to feedback and is continuously improving the services offered. read more

I used CarNextDoor three times and each time I was left out of pocket, angry and disappointed. I would not recommend this to anyone. The problems are: 1. Cars were not parked where they were supposed to be parked and I wasted time trying to find the car. 2. Once you finish with the car, there are often no parks to return the car. This is a major problem and contrasts with e.g., GoGet (which I am using now, which always has dedicated parking spots). I wasted ages trying to find a park to return the car, as there are no dedicated parking spots, and hence was penalised by a late return. Moreover, as there were absolutely no parking spaces left in the area, I had to take the only park I could find and CarNextDoor charged me a $200 parking fine! 3. The so-called FRED key devices are faulty. Upon finishing with the car, I returned the key back into the FRED key holder, only to be later told that the key was returned broken and I was charged $330! I clearly did not return a broken key. The problem is that if you were the last user, the car owner can blame you for things like this. 4. If there are ever any problems with a car hire, the staff are NEVER available to answer calls, leaving you in the lurch. Overall, this is a terrible business and I would not recommend it to anyone! You will end up paying MUCH more money with CarNextDoor vs other providers, so do not risk it! read more

I joined Car Next Door five years ago because I liked the idea of not having my car sitting idle on the street and making it more environmentally friendly. In the first year or two everything went smoothly. The customer service was prompt and helpful and members who borrowed the car returned it with petrol and in good shape. In the last couple of years things have gone from bad to worse. As an owner who lends my car, the customer service has been delayed, unhelpful and at times rude. The members on the whole who borrow return the car late, or not at all, the car is left with smashed chips on the floor and dash, seats askew, items missing from the car and coffee split everywhere as a norm. When the borrower gets tickets it is up to the owner to sort out the running around to get the tickets put in the borrower's name. For me the final straw was this last borrower who didn't show up for the first due return, and then wanted to borrow longer, and then still did not return at the agreed time. In all of this as the owner I was left feeling as if I was in the wrong for not being more obliging to the borrower. Not as service I will ever recommend again, and will go out of my way to recommend against it. Do yourself a favour and don't rent or lend your car on this platform. read more