Well, isn’t this a coincidence? Yesterday, we posted a story about the experience that Jen and her friend had with their Zipcar rental car with a faulty electrical system, which broke down three times and nearly left them stranded on the mean streets of Hartford, Conn. (Really. They’re pretty mean.) A few hours later, we heard from Matt, who apparently had a similar experience four days later. With the same exact car.

Yes, Matt rented that very same Mazda 3 from the same lot in Sunnyside, Queens on August 12th, and has a screenshot from his account to prove it. The car most decidedly ran out of zip during his rental. He writes:

This is crazy, but the story posted about Jen’s experience with Zipcar sounds familiar, because I had the same problems with the same exact same car four days after her experience. The Mazda 3 “McCory” I reserved stalled three separate times on the highway. I had to pull over, dangerously, in high speed traffic each time and attempt to restart the car. Luckily for me, the car restarted with each stall and I never had to contact Zipcar for towing service. Apparently, “The e-mail says they’re offering him/her a refund of the difference because they had to switch him/her to a different car” meant Zipcar refunded someone her money to not fix the problem, because, well, I had the same problem. That’s pretty disconcerting, especially considering the previous July 22nd report as well. Zipcar doesn’t seem too interested in upkeep, eh?

I’ve attached an image of my bill from Zipcar to prove the car was rented four days after Jen had the vehicle.

Fleet maintenance is a tricky thing, especially with a system like Zipcar’s. However, having your car stall in 75+ MPH traffic on the highway is a scary experience we wouldn’t wish on anyone even once.

Update: Zipcar has responded to Jen’s complaints. We don’t know if they’ve reached out to Matt.

PREVIOUSLY: Zipcar Ceases To Zip For Temporarily Stranded Customer

(Photo: NCinDC)

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