It would be awesome to call a random car any time you want, but I hate to think of the mess some people would leave in it once they were done with it.
In almost two years of being a ZipCar client, I've never had any issues. Yes, the occasional coke can or candy wrapper left behind, but never a mess that I thought to be unreasonable.
If it turns out to be a bigger problem, install a camera that takes a shot when you take possession of the car, and when you relinquish it. Charge the renters credit card for messiness.
Such a system would be good to have anyway as part of a dashcam. One facing forward, and a fish-eye facing the rear window and also capturing the interior of the car. I am hoping that car insurance companies will start offering discounts for cars with installed dashcams.
A tangent of a tangent now, this would be great (though creepy) for public restrooms. Given that there's a physical method, like positioning on the door, that prohibits it from seeing anything while the stall door is closed or locked, I think it would cut down on the seriously depraved messes people leave behind when they know they can get away with it.
It's terrible to think that people invent cars, then make them driverless, then make them come pick you up from anywhere when you whistle (or press a button on your phone) but the bottleneck that we can't solve is inconsiderate assholes leaving fish and chip rubbish in the back seat.
- reputation systems
- computer vision / cameras / contract law
- price discrimination based on the required state of the vehicle (i.e., premium pricing for a guarantee that a vehicle has been cleaned)
But yeah, I do think we agree :)