Like every parent of three school-age children, Honza Dolinek needs to drive his kids to school, take them to training or go on a family trip from time to time. At first they used Honza's company car, but he returned it eight years ago when he changed job. So he undertook detailed research, considering and trying out different models of family mobility. Carsharing came out victorious. The family voted to use the Autonapůl fleet.
We want a car within reach, but without the hassle of running it.
At the time Honza was returning the company car, he and his family were living on the outskirts of one of Prague's city districts. As they began to think about how they would handle family travel in the future, they asked themselves some purely practical questions.
"We didn't want to invest a lot of money in a new car. We hesitated a lot with the used ones, because neither I nor anyone in our neighborhood can judge the real condition of a second-hand car. We all know that the whole business around Czech car dealerships is often the target of humour, which is probably based on the real experiences of many cheated buyers. And then you have the multi-costs, which must always be taken into account with used cars. In short, cars have never been my hobby and I can't estimate to what extent the service interventions offered are necessary, whether the prices are fair or whether there is a better or cheaper solution for a possible problem with the car," says Honza Dolínek, listing the reasons why they decided not to buy their own car.
And he mentions other items they didn't want to deal with at all during family mobility:
- parking fees,
- car insurance,
- highway vignettes,
- seasonal tyre changes or
- bigger things like MOT.
They wanted a product that wouldn't add to their worries, but instead would only offer them a car when they really needed it. In a 100% "get in and go" state of mind. Car as a service.
Living in Prague without a car is cool
Carefree, easy access to cars and fair dealing were the main requirements for Honza's family.
"When we looked around for options, Autonapůl seemed to be the best one. According to the calculations, carsharing is better than owning your own car for up to 10,000 kilometres a year, and that's exactly our case. So car sharing worked out well for us, even in the arithmetic of money. Autonapůl buys new cars and regularly renews its fleet, which is great. Plus, they are looked after by a professional who also arranges regular check-ups at authorised garages. It's a nice community or family project, no cold car rental agency, and that's really great," Honza Dolínek sums up his impressions and experience.
Those Prague residents who live directly in the car-sharing zone, for example in Pankrác or Palmovka, will almost always find a shared car in front of their house or within a few minutes' walk. So if you have a family of five and you don't drive tens of kilometers outside your city every day, Honza considers personal car ownership a whim, not an efficient need.
The Dolíneks' sharing was complicated by a change of residence, but they remained loyal to Autonapůl anyway
When the three children reached school age, the family decided to move to a smaller town outside the capital, where they found a suitable school for their children. It was a bit of a complication for carsharing, but not insurmountable.
"Living and sharing in Prague is advantageous, especially if your car is near the metro and you live or work near it. Basically, it doesn't matter where you pick up or return the car. We have withdrawn from sharing for a while because the drop-off zones have moved too far away, but we still remain carsharers. In fact, I was still using the carpool at work. At home we bought an Opel Zafira with the name Barney, which was used in the Brno fleet. Which is another community element of Autonapůl, where each car carries a specific name instead of an anonymous number. Moreover, I was sure that the car was in good condition because I knew how the cooperative takes care of our shared cars," Honze Dolínek praises.
According to Honza, some Autonapůl users may find it confusing that there are different brands of cars in the fleet. He once had to deal with a similar case himself.
"Once I was stopped by a police patrol because I didn't have my lights on. I was driving a shared Kia for the first time, where the lights are controlled differently than in Škodas. When I was stopped, I honestly admitted that it was my first time in this shared car, and because it was daytime, I didn't even notice the headlights were off. So we agreed that they would work it out by agreement and in return I would explain to them what carsharing was and how it worked. So a win-win situation, as they say," smiles Honza Dolínek.
The Autonapůl seemed too easy to be true. But the snag hasn't occurred to this day
In the seven years of using the Prague Autonapůl fleet, Honza and his family have discovered all the advantages offered by differently sized cars. Sometimes they used a small city car as a shopping bag, while other times they appreciate a car for seven people or a van for transporting furniture, for example. Sharing makes it absolutely easy to access them whenever they need to.
"In my opinion, Autonapůl was a pioneer in Prague and broke the way for all other carsharing companies. At first we didn't even want to believe that everything was really easy. The proverbial Czech skeptical nature warned us that there would be a 'but'. And in seven years, there hasn't been any, which is great," Honza praises himself.
When the children were small, parents were a little worried about what would happen the moment night fevers or other health problems came. How do we get to the emergency if there's no car in front of their house?
"Fortunately, that situation never arose. My wife says, somewhat exaggeratingly, that after the return of the company car our children stopped being sick. The fact is that probably every parent experiences a similar fear. However, it is nothing that we could not solve in case of emergency, for example, by taking a night taxi. On the other hand, we think it's great that children are getting used to a shared world from a young age, which we parents believe will play a much bigger role in their lives than it did in our generation. Life has taught us that ownership is the only way. It isn't and it certainly won't be the truth," says Honza about his family's experience.
They sold their own car, fully returned to Autonapůl
In the end, the Dolíneks discovered that it is really not worth owning a car, even if they live outside Prague. After three years, they sold Barney and started carsharing again with gusto.
"Covid and its economic impact has shown many families, like ours, that we all need to think about the back door. In a situation where work or family income may be uncertain, you are logically thinking about the spending. Then you consider whether you really need to pay for car repairs, however necessary, when you only use the car briefly on weekends. You consider whether such an expense is useful and right. We have decided that it is not. We sold the car and were quite relieved," says Honza Dolínek, describing the reasons for selling his car.
Honza also sees it as sympathetic how the level of service is growing hand in hand with the increase in the number of users. He has never observed a situation where he had to actively apply for a new feature, they came quite organically.
"I definitely recommend trying Autonapůl. Even if it's just to serve as a backup car for the family, to be used only when your car is unavailable or you need to transport more people or cargo. And I would also recommend that cities actively look for ways to connect public transportation with carsharing and bike sharing. It's a great way to relieve people from overcrowding the streets with individual transport," urges Honza Dolínek.