A number of cities all around the world have set up rideshare programs. Using these programs, people who live in certain cities can use a community automobile for a few hours each day or week. Even though many large cities offer hundreds of cars to residents, these cars are often hard to get. Now, there’s another way to use someone’s car when you want to go to the grocery store or just need a car for a few short hours.

GetAround is a new website that allows current car owners to rent out their vehicles when not in use. The idea here is that sharing a car will help cut down on auto emissions, and car owners can also earn some cash in exchange for allowing someone to borrow a car. If you need a car (or have a car to rent) here’s how GetAround works.

Renting a Car with GetAround

Current, GetAround is in beta, so the car selection offered is somewhat limited. But, let’s say that you live in Portland, Oregon, and you want to rent a BMW for a few hours. Right now, on the GetAround site, there’s a 2002 BMW in Portland that can be rented for $12 per hour. If you were to click on that vehicle, you would be brought to a page that asks you to enter a “start date and time” and “end date and time.” Once this information has been entered, you can then request to rent the car per hour or per day (daily prices are also listed).

As soon as a request has been sent, the owner of the car will let you know if the car is available during the period that you have requested. In a lot of ways, GetAround functions like AirBnB or any other apartment rental site, only users of this site will be renting a car instead of an apartment. GetAround covers all insurance issues and accidentals (read the fine print), and the whole thing seems legit – so legit that lots of car owners have signed up to use this site already (in beta areas). You might find, when check out GetAround, that the service is not available in your area yet, but this is bound to change.

Reasons to Use this Site

Aside from reducing your environmental impact, GetAround is a great way to make some extra cash. If you don’t use your car all day long, but someone else wants to use it, why not make money on loaning out your car? Of course, this site will only work if you aren’t nervous about letting other people use your car, but there’s very little risk involved here, it seems. This site will also give you the opportunity to pretend like you own a very nice car – right now, there’s a Roadster in Portland that’s up for rent.

If you want to rent out your vehicle or if you need a vehicle, GetAround seems like the place to do it. For both car owners and car renters, GetAround makes a lot of sense. Already, this site has gained a lot of popularity in test areas, and it’s sure to spread to a location near you sometime soon (keep checking the site).