Selling your car before moving to New York is a right of passage for many Americans. Out with the trappings of Middle America, and onto an exciting world of packed subway cars, fighting for taxis, or, if you’re really unlucky, crosstown buses. But what if owning a car in the city wasn't such a pain?
“We wanted to figure out how to create a vehicle support system for the future car.” Spencer Richardson, CEO and co-founder at DropCar said. “We thought it was time for the logistics of car ownership to keep up with today’s needs.”
DropCar is rethinking what it means to own a car in one of the most car-unfriendly places in America. The problem, of course, is that the logistics of owning a vehicle in New York City — especially Manhattan — is a nightmare. Car owners must battle alternate side parking laws or pay astronomical rates at local garages. The city is changing too, with garages being redeveloped into office towers or apartment buildings. And that's just parking. Gas stations just flat out don't exist in Manhattan anymore, and when's the last time you saw a mechanic?
DropCar has an interesting solution. Basically, the company wants to transfer the burden of car ownership away from the overpacked streets of Manhattan, and onto excess infrastructure in the outskirts and have an army of valets act as couriers.
It works like this. The company has two packages. The ‘Will’ package allows users to pay $15 an hour to have someone sit in your car for short periods of time. If you have a meeting in Midtown, you can simply hit a button on your phone, and a valet (presumably not actually named Will) will arrive, and take care of your car for the duration of your meeting. You get major style points for having on-demand valet service and you don’t have to find a garage. Besides, good luck finding a garage for less than $15 an hour anyway.
Where the company’s offerings really get interesting is with longer term logistics. DropCar’s ‘Steve’ package takes care of your car on a month-to-month basis. When you’re not using your car, one of their valets will park it in a secure, outer borough lot. Whenever you need it, hit a button and they’ll bring it to wherever you are. The service costs $349 a month. For reference, the garage by my house has a special for $575 a month — and that excludes SUVs ($775/month), and whatever an ‘exotic vehicle’ is ($1075/month).
Not that DropCar really needed to sweeten the deal, but while they’re watching your car, they’ll take care of all the other headaches associated with car ownership. Need gas? They’ll fill you up. Need a tune-up? They’ll take it to the mechanic.
“A lot of people are focused on the software and the navigation, but at the end of the day, cars are still going to get a flat tire, need maintenance, and need a place to park.”
DropCar just launched this July, but has been growing quickly through word-of-mouth. While they wouldn’t give us an exact number of employees, they did say they were fast approaching 150.
Some of that growth has come from partnerships with high-end dealerships that throw in the service as part of a car sale or lease, but the majority is still consumer facing. It’s not too hard to see a future where high-end residential developments throw it in with new leases or even a future where you’ll never be forced the indignity of setting foot into a rental car office.
For now, though, DropCar is focusing on perfecting their service in the New York market before expanding to other cities.
