Sick of Uber and don’t want to own a car? There’s a subscription for that

(Source: Getty)

Soon, it seems like we’ll own nothing at all: you can now rent everything from storage and camera equipment to wedding dresses and parking spaces.

At the heart of it all is convenience: instead of buying something you won’t need for life, you simply own it for as long as you need it.

And if a car seems like too much commitment, you can now get a monthly subscription for one with the launch of ‘Carly’, a flexible car subscription service.

Rolling out in Sydney first and coming soon to other capital cities, subscribers can pick and choose their car – which is delivered to you – and switch cars every month.

Insurance, service, registration, maintenance and roadside assistance is all covered under the subscription that starts at $115 a week.

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The service means your commitment to having and using a vehicle only needs to stretch as far as a month at a time, with the capacity to start and pause the subscription at any point.

Carly was designed for the younger generation in mind and removing the commitment to a long-term expense or debt, said spokesperson Chris Noone.

And with the banking Royal Commission causing banking watchdogs to crack down harder on lenders, it’ll become harder to obtain a car loan.

“A car loan or lease locks you into a car for about three years, but who can expect their life and car needs to stay the same for three years? You’ll likely change jobs, go on an extended holiday, need extra cash or start a family,” Noone said.

What’s the catch?

After fuel, rego and insurance is factored in, a car costs somewhere between $3,160 and $3,710 a year depending how swish your car is, according to figures from Finder.com.au.

The cheapest Carly subscription is $115 a week, which comes to $5,980 a year – nearly twice as expensive as how much a car typically costs per year.

But if you’re someone who catches an Uber five times a week, with the average ride at $30, the subscription could be worth it.

Note: A previous version of this article stated that the cheapest Carly subscription was priced at $119. The figures were correct at the time of writing, and have since been updated to reflect Carly’s price changes.

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