ATP: Drive Clutch (Drive Flow in Winston) - Car Subscription Service

[Wakelaw2006]

I'm close to the end of a car lease and have been debating what to get next. I am ADD with cars, which is why I lease them. A link to driveclutch.com recently showed up in my Facebook or Instagram feed and I am now really intrigued. As far as I can tell, it only exists in Atlanta and Winston-Salem so far (very random - driveclutch in Atlanta, driveflow in Winston - I assume there is a Don Flow connection in some form or another).

The concept is basically pay a flat fee per month (plus an activation type fee to become a member) and then you get a car delivered to you based on what you want the car for - "daily commuter," "special date night," "family road trip," etc. You put in parameters like number of seats you need, prefer convertible, etc. Then, as many time as you want per month, you can have someone bring you a new car. They deliver the cars to you, so no need to go out to who knows where.

There are two price levels. The cars included in the cheaper one are:

Sedans: Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C Class, Lexus IS, Jaguar XE...
SUVs: Toyota 4Runner, BMW X3, Audi Q5, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Mercedes GLC, Ford Explorer, Honda Pilot...
Trucks: Ford F150, Chevrolet Silverado...
Coupes / Convertibles: Ford Mustang, Audi TT, BMW 2 series, Chevy Camaro, Lexus RC200t…

The cars included in the more expensive one are:
Sedans: Audi A6, BMW 5 Series, Lexus GS 350, Mercedes E350, Jaguar XF...
SUVs: Audi Q7, BMW X5, Lexus GX 460, Mercedes GLE, Porsche Macan, GMC Yukon, Chevy Suburban...
Trucks: Ford F150, Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra...
Coupes / Convertibles: Audi S5, BMW 4 series, Chevrolet Corvette, Mercedes SLC, Porsche Cayman...

The flat fee includes insurance - $0 deductible, $1,000,000 liability, $300,000 uninsured motorist coverage. I would obviously want to check and confirm, but I think my umbrella policy would also cover any excess liabilities.

Anyone heard of this (or anything similar)? I'm trying to come up with a reason not to try it out for at least a month and I haven't come up with a good one yet. To give a little perspective, I currently drive a Lexus IS convertible and was looking at the Mercedes C Class coupe, Infiniti Q60, and Lexus RC for my next car.

www.driveclutch.com
www.driveflow.com

So, Pit - give me your thoughts.

 

[Louis Gossett Jr]

It seems like the most Atlanta thing possible, the perfect market. I don't see how that is even remotely close to a good deal, at all and that's factoring in insurance covered.

 

[BillBrasky]

$850 a month for the basic plan, in Winston? Yikes that's a rip off.

 

[smallbigtall]

It's probably not a bad deal if you lease your cars anyway. Flow has a BMW X3 lease advertised right now at $529/month for 36 months. Not sure how the trims would compare. The extra $331/month you'd spend on the Drive Flow subscription is in lieu of insurance rates, registrations, property taxes, depreciation, oil changes, repairs, deductibles, getting it washed/detailed, etc.

At the very least it seems like a good way to take a prolonged test drive with a bunch of cars you're thinking about choosing between anyway. Try it out for a month apiece, then go buy or lease the one you liked best to shave a few hundo off your monthly payment without wondering about the one that got away.

 

[Wuffey]

It's probably not a bad deal if you lease your cars anyway. Flow has a BMW X3 lease advertised right now at $529/month for 36 months. Not sure how the trims would compare. The extra $331/month you'd spend on the Drive Flow subscription is in lieu of insurance rates, registrations, property taxes, depreciation, oil changes, repairs, deductibles, getting it washed/detailed, etc.

At the very least it seems like a good way to take a prolonged test drive with a bunch of cars you're thinking about choosing between anyway. Try it out for a month apiece, then go buy or lease the one you liked best to shave a few hundo off your monthly payment without wondering about the one that got away.

I tried to do the math on these types of services and best I could tell you are paying between $100-$200 per month for the variety benefit over a lease that includes maintenance. Seemed reasonable to me. The one thing I never got an answer to is if there are mileage limits or other usage type charges.

 

[Wakelaw2006]

It's probably not a bad deal if you lease your cars anyway. Flow has a BMW X3 lease advertised right now at $529/month for 36 months. Not sure how the trims would compare. The extra $331/month you'd spend on the Drive Flow subscription is in lieu of insurance rates, registrations, property taxes, depreciation, oil changes, repairs, deductibles, getting it washed/detailed, etc.

At the very least it seems like a good way to take a prolonged test drive with a bunch of cars you're thinking about choosing between anyway. Try it out for a month apiece, then go buy or lease the one you liked best to shave a few hundo off your monthly payment without wondering about the one that got away.

This was basically my thought. I never thought it would be cheaper than leasing one car, but it would be within a couple hundred bucks for a comparable car plus insurance and maintenance. A couple hundred for the extended test drive and ability to use an SUV or pickup a couple times for stuff around the house seems totally worth it for a month or two.

 

[Deaconblue]

The "lead time" for getting a vehicle might be an issue I'd also check. How far ahead do you need to order the vehicle? That is, if you order a vehicle this afternoon, when will it be in front of your house?

 

[YankeeInAtlanta]

The service theoretically saves you from having to own more than one vehicle per person.

Is it month to month or do you have to sign up for a longer term contract?


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