Confused Between Renting and Buying An Electric Scooter?

[Mandy Rudd]

I know it's an e-bike forum, but I still want to know if I should rent or buy an electric scooter. I live in Chicago, and there are two brands of rental scooters, BIRD & LIME, available on most streets of the city. I need an e-scooter for commuting from home to the office, which is only three miles away.
I only need it for commuting, because I am frustrated to drive my car in traffic, especially in peak hours. So, I choose to ride an electric scooter, but renting or buying is a bit of a confusion for me. I also read some of the comparison articles between renting and buying an electric scooter. These are a few of them I found on Google:

Renting VS Owning An Electric Scooter - Shell RIDE

shellride.com

Should You Buy or Rent An Electric Scooter? | Escooter Info

Have you ever wondered whether it’s best to own or rent an electric scooter? Nowadays, electric scooters are everywhere in our cities. They are popular

escooterinfo.com

Electric Scooter: Is It Better to Buy or Rent?

Electric scooters for adults have now become the talk of the town due to their impressive features. People are now incorporating this latest mode of transport into their daily lives since it offers better convenience, durability, and portability. Therefore, many people are now wondering...

varlascooter.com

While reading those articles, I found they all have balanced answers, so I really wanted to know your viewpoint on this. I don't want to spend my money on a scooter, which I regret later on. Any advice will be helpful for you.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I cannot answer your questions Mandy. I found renting the LIME e-scooters pretty expensive but I mostly rent from them on my European business trips.

 

[PCeBiker]

Just go rent one and try it.

Then rent it again when it's raining or snowing and try it again.

 

[harryS]

EDIT. I looked at the wrong pricing. It's 44 cents a minute! That's $20 a day. That's tourist pricing, Ugh! 50 days of renting and you can buy a scooter.

Three mile ride. At 12 mile per hour, let's call it 25 minutes because of stop lights, The rate is $1.00 initially and 18 cents/minute, so that's $5.50 twice a day, Make it $55/week, So you ride in good weather, 26 weeks x $55 is $1430. I'm sure you could buy a scooter for less, but now you have to bring into the workplace, charge it, and worry about it breaking,

CTA bus is $2.25 a day isnt it?

Why don't rent one first, pay the $11 and see if it is even feasible to find a scooter convenient to your door at home and work when you need one? You probably won't be riding them much in the next 12 weeks anyway,

 

[Mandy Rudd]

Three mile ride. At 12 mile per hour, let's call it 25 minutes because of stop lights, The rate is $1.00 initially and 18 cents/minute, so that's $5.50 twice a day, Make it $55/week, So you ride in good weather, 26 weeks x $55 is $1430. I'm sure you could buy a scooter for less, but now you have to bring into the workplace, charge it, and worry about it breaking,

CTA bus is $2.25 a day isnt it?

Why don't rent one first, pay the $11 and see if it is even feasible to find a scooter convenient to your door at home and work when you need one? You probably won't be riding them much in the next 12 weeks anyway,

Thanks Harry for the detailed answers. It seems renting is the right option for me.

 

[Mandy Rudd]

Just go rent one and try it.

View attachment 186669


Then rent it again when it's raining or snowing and try it again.

Sure, I definitely do that. Thanks

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Three mile ride. At 12 mile per hour, let's call it 25 minutes because of stop lights, The rate is $1.00 initially and 18 cents/minute, so that's $5.50 twice a day, Make it $55/week, So you ride in good weather, 26 weeks x $55 is $1430. I'm sure you could buy a scooter for less, but now you have to bring into the workplace, charge it, and worry about it breaking,

CTA bus is $2.25 a day isnt it?

Why don't rent one first, pay the $11 and see if it is even feasible to find a scooter convenient to your door at home and work when you need one? You probably won't be riding them much in the next 12 weeks anyway,

Harry, just curious. Doesn't not Lime offer special plans for heavy users of their e-scooters?

 

[PCeBiker]

Why don't rent one first, pay the $11 and see if it is even feasible to find a scooter convenient to your door at home and work when you need one? You probably won't be riding them much in the next 12 weeks anyway,

That's what I'm thinking.
Just rent one and try it to see what you think of it.
Personally, I wouldn't want to be standing, even if it is only for 3 miles.

Scooters are generally kinda twitchy and unstable. Hitting a pot hole can send you flying, and that would really suck if your wearing a suit and you're on your way to work.

 

[harryS]

Harry, just curious. Doesn't not Lime offer special plans for heavy users of their e-scooter

I only looked at the Chicago Divvy page. I also messed up and had the wrong pricing. In case you didn't see my edit, it's around $20 a day to rent. Maybe less if you run all the stops signs and lights,

Cheaper to buy if you want to stay alive.

 

[sc00ter]

I've never signed up for rental scooters but I have a friend who did. We have Limes locally and whats kinda nice about them is you can ride it one handed! The steering angle is so slack and easy. And our fleet has recently got those with the little seat built in. It was my friend who couldn't believe how twitchy the Apollo Ghost was, and he walked down the street, rented a Lime and brought it by for comparison. Oh, and we also have Lime ebikes as well.

My friend who has all the rental accounts is a Merchant Marine, actually restocks Navy ships at sea. He's rented/ridden every brand in almost every country he's been to. He did tell me most major cities, no matter what country, tend to be slightly higher per minute/mile depending how they bill. For him its a cost for a bit of freedom away from the ship. He also has very expensive folding bicycle he brings if he'll be in a port for an extended period of time, but he'll rent the escooters if its a high crime area at night so his floding bike wont get stolen.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I only looked at the Chicago Divvy page. I also messed up and had the wrong pricing. In case you didn't see my edit, it's around $20 a day to rent. Maybe less if you run all the stops signs and lights,

Cheaper to buy if you want to stay alive.

I don't know. Used to rent Lime e-bikes in London at extorsional price until I discovered the company offered more reasonable long-term plans.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I've learned there is a Lime Prime subscription and Ride Pass (which can be monthly) to reduce the rental cost of e-scooters. It can be found in the Lime App for a given location. Getting the Lime App and checking the offers is free.