1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: All right, throwaway everything you know about renting a car, 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: because Silvercar does it differently. 3 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:10,719 Speaker 2: What's going on. I'm Richtemiro. 4 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: This is Rich on Tech Daily and joining me today 5 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:16,599 Speaker 1: is Courtney Lol. She is with Silvercar and you're here 6 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:19,440 Speaker 1: to tell us all about how Silvercar is different when 7 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: it comes to the car rental process and also what 8 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: you get. 9 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 3: Yeah. 10 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 4: Absolutely, I mean when's the last time that you said 11 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 4: I can't wait to rent a car? 12 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 2: Probably never, pretty much never. But here's the thing. 13 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: So my thing about rental cars, number one is that 14 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: they never have a sunroof. Yeah, every Silver car has 15 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:34,959 Speaker 1: a sunroof. 16 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean every the thing about silver cars. We 17 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,160 Speaker 4: really set out to solve the two biggest pain points 18 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 4: for the industry, which is never knowing what you're gonna 19 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 4: get and what we call the hassle. With Silver Car, 20 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:47,800 Speaker 4: we really take all the headache out of that and 21 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,200 Speaker 4: make it fun so you get an Audi every time 22 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 4: those Audis have silver have sun roofs. You also don't 23 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 4: have to wait in line or fill out paperwork and 24 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 4: do that same process that you go through with all 25 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 4: of the Trudition car players because we are delivering it 26 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 4: all via a mobile app. 27 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: Okay, So you sign up on the mobile app, you 28 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: rent it from the mobile app, then when you get 29 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: to the location, you just scan a QR code on 30 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:12,960 Speaker 1: the front of the car. 31 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 4: Exactly and you wait for that to unlock. Your trunk 32 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 4: pops open, and away you go. 33 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 2: So tell me who is Silvercar for. 34 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,680 Speaker 4: So, Silvercar is really for anyone who enjoys a great 35 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 4: travel experience. So, whether you're going for business, you want 36 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 4: to make sure that number one time is valuable to you. 37 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 4: You want to go from the plane to the car 38 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 4: to you're meeting quickly, or you're going on a family 39 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 4: trip or a girls' weekend or a guys weekend, and 40 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 4: you want to have a really cool car to be 41 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 4: able to do that. 42 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 3: Silvercar is that for you? 43 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 4: I think we like to say Sobercar is car rental 44 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 4: for the modern traveler. 45 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: And I feel like most of your users are very 46 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: deliberate in seeking this brand out right now right. It's 47 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: not like you just go to like a aggregator and 48 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: get a Hurtz or whatever the other companies are out there. 49 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: These are people that sort of hear about it and 50 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: want to use the service, right. 51 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely, And you know there's no there's no value 52 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 4: you can really put on word of mouth. We really 53 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,679 Speaker 4: do rely a lot on our customers to tell other 54 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 4: people about their experience because that's what we we leave 55 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 4: with experience. So whether you found out from a friend 56 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 4: or you saw it on a you know, ad on Facebook, 57 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 4: it definitely something that you seek out. But once you've 58 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 4: found it, I will say, you very rarely ever go back. 59 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: Okay, so let's talk about the cars. Audi purchased the 60 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: company in twenty seventeen. So this was a startup Yep, 61 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: that just did silver Audi's to start with, and then 62 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: Audi was like, hey, this seems like a good business, 63 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: let's just buy them since we're using our cars anyway. 64 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 2: Yep, that happens. And what did that mean for the company? 65 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it's been really big things. So since 66 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:54,519 Speaker 4: the acquisition, which was completed in late twenty seventeen, we've 67 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 4: opened eight new locations. 68 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 3: We used to only. 69 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 4: Have Audi A four's, which are their sedans. We've in 70 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 4: January we released the Q five SUV, which really opens 71 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 4: up a world of new opportunities and options for people 72 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:10,360 Speaker 4: with families or those that want. 73 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 3: To go off roading. 74 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 4: And you know, it's really just meant a lot more 75 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 4: growth and a lot more offerings. We like I said, 76 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 4: we're opening about a new location every month and show 77 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 4: no signs of stopping there. 78 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: And the cars are all kind of fully loaded, right, 79 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: I mean, tell me some of the things you get 80 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: Wi Fi, GPS, GPS. 81 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:30,519 Speaker 3: Serious radio. 82 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 4: And then in certain locations, so for example, if you're 83 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 4: going to Denver or Salt Lake City and you want 84 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 4: to go on a ski trip, we offer ski rocks 85 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 4: for no extra cost, or San Diego we have surf 86 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 4: racks for no extra cost. 87 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 3: So we offer you a lot of that. 88 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 4: Usable technology, but also the things that you need to 89 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 4: just make it a more epic trip. 90 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: Also, baby seats, like car seat rentals, you now have 91 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: like included basically. 92 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 4: So we actually so we offer car seats at no 93 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 4: extra charge. And this mother we actually announced a new 94 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 4: partnership with Italian car seat maker Peg Parago. 95 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 3: It's a really high end luxury car seat. 96 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 4: We did a study that showed that around seventy percent 97 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 4: of people are not comfortable with the car seats that 98 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 4: they get from normal car seat providers, a normal rental providers, 99 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 4: and they're charged twenty five dollars a day to do that, 100 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 4: so we wanted to offer something that again improves the experience, 101 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 4: and we don't want to charge you for it. 102 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: And it's all I see the theme, the luxury theme, 103 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:30,479 Speaker 1: kind of the well premium theme. 104 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:31,600 Speaker 2: I guess is really what it is. 105 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: Absolutely okay, So you said why FI get the navigation 106 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: the satellite radio. I thought this was interesting too because 107 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:41,039 Speaker 1: two things I recently tested A ride in this thing, 108 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:43,839 Speaker 1: took it up to San Francisco for the week weekend 109 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: maybe I think it was, and I didn't. I forgot, 110 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: actually forgot to fill it up on the way back. Ye, 111 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:50,800 Speaker 1: So I was like, oh gosh, how much am I 112 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: going to be hit with? And the fuel charge was 113 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 1: actually very reasonable, So tell me about that part of it. 114 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:59,479 Speaker 4: Yeah, So we don't hit you with that terrible nine 115 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 4: dollars per gallon charge that you'll get at a lot 116 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 4: of the other location of the other competitors. We have 117 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 4: fair fuel pricing, so we just charge you for the 118 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,160 Speaker 4: price at the pump. So if you're in a hurry 119 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:10,919 Speaker 4: and you need to drop off the car, you don't 120 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 4: have to worry about two weeks later getting a two 121 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 4: hundred dollars bill for half. 122 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 3: Of a tank of gas. 123 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 2: It was like I think five dollars for the fill 124 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 2: up or some Yeah, we. 125 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 3: Had charge you a five dollar convenience piecee for. 126 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 2: This thing, and it was it was committed. 127 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: And then the other thing is that I went through 128 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: a toll, which I have sworn off with other car 129 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,839 Speaker 1: rental companies because I did a toll one time in 130 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: New Jersey and it was like a five dollars toll 131 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:31,839 Speaker 1: became like thirty dollars. 132 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 3: Absolutely. 133 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 4: I mean, those are the things that we find that 134 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 4: competitors really nickel and dime you on. We just like 135 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:40,719 Speaker 4: to lead always, as I said, with customer experience and 136 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:42,480 Speaker 4: what's the fair thing to do, what's the right thing 137 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 4: to do. And so you only get charged the tolls 138 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 4: that you go through, and the amount of those tolls 139 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 4: you don't have to charge get charged extra for a 140 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 4: transponder or any of that stuff. 141 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 2: That's surprising, though. 142 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: I will say you probably could have charged me an 143 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 1: extra buck to five dollars for that convenience and I 144 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:57,159 Speaker 1: would have been fine with it, right, But I. 145 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:58,720 Speaker 2: Only got the four dollars charge. I was like, this 146 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:00,480 Speaker 2: is pretty good, and I bet. 147 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:02,479 Speaker 3: You'll rent from Silvercar again, right. 148 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: Probably the goal tell me about the prices for Silver Car, 149 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 1: So what is it for an A four, What is 150 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 1: it for a Q five. 151 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 4: Yeah, So while we do talk about being a premium 152 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 4: car rental company, we're really pleased with the fact that 153 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 4: we can offer very competitive prices. So A four's are 154 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:19,279 Speaker 4: going to start at about fifty nine dollars a day. 155 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 4: Q five, which is the suv, is going to start 156 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 4: at about seventy nine dollars a day, which if you 157 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 4: look at you know, all the things that you get 158 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 4: and not that nickel diming. It really is comparable to 159 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 4: kind of that mid sized car class at a lot 160 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 4: of the competitors. 161 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 2: And where are you? Where Where is Silvercar located? 162 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 4: So we are in twenty three locations. Those are really 163 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 4: some of the biggest airport markets in the country. So 164 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 4: you think about all up and down the coast of California, 165 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 4: New York, Miami, we just opened up a Dulles location. 166 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,679 Speaker 4: We're in Texas and Chicago. The easiest way to figure 167 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:53,600 Speaker 4: that out though, is once you download the app or 168 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 4: go on the website, it shows you all of our 169 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 4: locations as well as some that are coming soon. 170 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 2: And the name is Silver You actually only rent Silver. 171 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 3: Cars, so you literally always know what you're. 172 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 2: Going to get, and what was that? 173 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: So that was the founders, I guess they just thought 174 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: that was neat that they did that, Like you're getting 175 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: the same car every time, no matter where you rent, 176 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: which is kind of nice as a if you're a 177 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: frequent business traveler, it's kind of nice to like, I mean, 178 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: they stay in the same hotel, get the same car. 179 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 3: You kind of like like that familiarity. Yeah, exactly, absolutely. 180 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 4: And you know, one of the interesting things was when 181 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 4: we looked at silver, it was something that appealed to 182 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 4: both genders, and it was something that gave you sort 183 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 4: of a premium feel more so than. 184 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 3: A bright red car or a black car or a 185 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 3: blue car. 186 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 4: So we did a lot of research into why we 187 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 4: chose silver, but ultimately, yeah, there's that familiarity and you 188 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 4: always know what you're gonna. 189 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 2: Get and who is your customer. 190 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 4: So we like to say our customer is the modern traveler. 191 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 4: So we've got families for leisure as well as business travelers. 192 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 4: I think one of the interesting things when you almost 193 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 4: look at what we call utilization, how many cars are 194 00:07:56,360 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 4: out we have utilism, the amount of utilization for the 195 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 4: weekday and the weekend, and then you kind of think 196 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 4: about that in terms of business versus leisure travel. So really, 197 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:10,280 Speaker 4: no matter what your need is, there's a Silver Car 198 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 4: for you. 199 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: Now. I remember at one point back in the day 200 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: when I rented from Silver Car, they picked me up 201 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: like curb side. Can you tell me kind of at 202 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: the different locations how you get to this, because it's 203 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: not always in the rental car facility per se exactly. 204 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 4: So one of the things that we jokingly say internally 205 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 4: is once you've been to one airport, you've been to 206 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 4: one airport. So they're all a little bit different in 207 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,319 Speaker 4: what their requirements are. But so some of our locations 208 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,839 Speaker 4: like Austin or John Wayne, which we recently opened in 209 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:40,079 Speaker 4: we pick you up. 210 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:41,079 Speaker 3: Kurb side in an AUTI. 211 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 4: Others, when you open me app, it'll show that you 212 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 4: go to a shuttle and that drops you off with 213 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 4: the location. The nice thing is is that you're able 214 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 4: on the website to take a look at what that 215 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 4: process is beforehand. You're also able to see it on 216 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:56,280 Speaker 4: the app. And most importantly, we have a concierge who's 217 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 4: in touch with you from the time you land until 218 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,079 Speaker 4: the time you get to your car never on your own. 219 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: All right, Silvercar, Courtney, Lol, thanks so much for joining me. 220 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: How can folks learn more about Silvercar? 221 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,199 Speaker 4: Just go to silvercar dot com and then that'll take 222 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 4: you to all the different locations that you need and 223 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:13,319 Speaker 4: the way to download the app. 224 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: All right, there you have it, Silvercar. I've done this 225 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: several times. It is quite the experience. In a world 226 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 1: where travel can definitely be stressful and rental cars are 227 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: generally known to be not the best cars in the world. 228 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: Silvercar really does feel like you're kind of taking a 229 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 1: premium car on the road. It's a nice aspect of 230 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: your business trip or your vacation, whatever you're using it for. 231 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,199 Speaker 2: So check it out. Thanks so much for listening. 232 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,040 Speaker 1: If you like the podcast, go ahead and leave a 233 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: review in Apple Podcasts. That way more people discover it. 234 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:44,960 Speaker 1: I'm Rich Damiro. You want links to everything to talk 235 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 1: about here. 236 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 2: Just go to Rich on tech dot tv. I'll talk 237 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 2: to you real soon.