Car Next Door


Car Next Door is an Australian company that facilitates peer-to-peer car rental, a system by which individuals may rent privately owned vehicles on an hourly or daily basis to other registered users of the service. Peer-to-peer car rental is an example of ″collaborative consumption″, where skills and assets are shared or traded between neighbours for sustainability and economic benefit. It currently operates in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Gold Coast and most recently it launched in Perth and has announced plans to expand to other Australian cities and airports.

How it works

The company addresses the lack of trust and lack of ease that would otherwise discourage people from sharing their cars with others, by:
Car owners receive income depending on the sharing plan they choose but it varies between 50% to 75% of the time-based fee and 75% of the km fee. They can book their car for free and at other times, the car must be available for roughly 50% of the weekdays and 50% of the weekends, or a penalty may be charged to the owner. Owners do not choose who can use their vehicle beyond selecting whether a driver is 21 or older, 25 or older etc., though they can request that a driver is banned. The site manages toll fees and charges these back to the owner each month. Drivers purchase fuel themselves but get reimbursed via receipt upload and this is charged back to the owner each month. The borrower pays for distance based on a distance charge. Monthly administration costs are also charged each month. All these costs are then deducted from any earnings each month, with any positive remaining balance being transferred to the car owner's bank account.