[compnerd]

How would they prevent a group of car thieves from using prepaid Master or Visa cards with fake names? Couldn't a thief just book a rental car for an hour, find the location, unlock the car with the iphone app, then take off with the car because the key will be inside? Let me know if I am missing something?

[jacobian]

Right now it looks like they're requiring Facebook accounts to rent cars, and so they can (presumably) use the Facebook social graph as a rough proxy for trustability. Personally I sorta hate that policy (I've not got a Facebook account...) but it's a fairly good idea, I think.

And, of course many, many said similar things about AirBnB -- "couldn't a thief just book a room for the night and then make off with the TV?" -- and that's proven not to be much of an issue in practice.

[compnerd]

Doesn't AirBnB require the host to be present during check-in and key exchanges? I assume a person would be more tempted to steal something if the owner never sees them in person.

[jdunck]

Thanks for contributing here, Jacob. As you know, I'm a fan, and it's great to see some debate here. I'm not paying much attention to HN these days due to time constraints.

[TheSkeptic]

You don't even need to steal the car. You could simply take the the most valuable parts. Some parts can be taken without the owner knowing. Example: air bags. If you rented your car out, you would never know that your air bag was missing until you actually needed it.

[jaxn]

Wouldn't that hold true for regular rental cars too? I have never heard of this being a problem with rentals.

Maybe TheSkeptic (brand new account) is a competitor?

[jacobian]

Maybe TheSkeptic (brand new account) is a competitor?

Ugh, that's a shitty attitude. I think one of the good things about HN is that people here usually give each other the benefit of the doubt and assume good intentions. Lobbing accusations of bias around are a good way to kill that friendly tone. Unless you've got actual proof of bias perhaps you could keep your accusations to yourself next time?

[jaxn]

I think it is a fair question. Brand new account, only posting in this one thread, with pretty flimsy criticisms, and a screen name specifically indicating a negative bias. I did look into it before posting.

I think it is also pretty shitty to use throwaway accounts without disclosure and a reason.

[jcampbell1]

A big Auth-hold transaction can mitigate this problem. An Auth-hold of $501 will prevent prepaid cards from being used. It also forces debit card users to have $501 available in their checking account. This should be enough to stop amateur thieves.

Professional thieves are a different matter. Traditional rental agencies have cameras at the rental counter, and get a copy of a driver's license. Building LoJack into the carkit won't work because it is too easy to block a GPS signal with tin foil. The only realistic way to stop professional thieves is to get driver's license numbers and review driving records for all members (which is what ZipCar does).