Overview

The article discusses how to use Careco cars with Whim. In this article you can find information on the following:

• Using Careco shared cars
• Verifying the driving license
• Booking Careco car with Whim
  • Picking up the car
  • Ending the ride
• Questions and answers

Using Careco shared cars

With Whim, you can book and pay for Careco shared cars in Japan. Currently, only pay-as-you-go rides are available.

To find out the service areas of Careco shared car stations, please refer to Careco’s website (Japanese) for the available areas for the stations.

Before accessing the Careco shared cars through Whim, all customers must first verify their driving licenses. It may take 1-2 days to verify the license.

Please note that at the moment Careco is available to the Whim users with a Japanese driver’s license. 

Verifying the driving license

• Choose “Rental cars” from the Whim Home view

(Fig.1) Whim home view

• Rental date and time selector screen will open. Click on Verify drivers license.  

(Fig.2) Rental date and time selector

• Scroll down to “Verify drivers license”. By clicking “Continue”, you have accepted Careco´s terms and conditions.

(Fig.3) Start Verification                                (Fig.4) Verification

• You will then be directed to do the license authentication. Please have your driver's license ready and start the authentication process.

(Fig.5) Start Authentication

• Follow the instructions on the App and fill in the required information and also driver's license information

(Fig. 6 ) Required details

(Fig. 7) Drivers license details

• Take a selfie of yourself and also take photos of the driving license´s front and backside.

(Fig. 8 ) Photo authentication view  

• You will receive a notification that the licence will take between 1-2 business days to be verified. Until your data has been verified, you will not be able to book a car. During this time, you are also able to re-enter your document details if you need to change something.
• Once you are verified, you will receive an automatic notification and an email. Then you are ready to use Careco.

(Fig. 9) Registration request sent                 (Fig.10)  Information being processed

 

Booking Careco car with Whim

Once the license has been verified, an approval email and notification will be sent to you.  You can now proceed to book a car. To book a car with Whim, go to the Whim app’s home screen, tap on the “Rental Car” icon.

 

(Fig. 11) Choose Rental Cars from the Home View.

The Car Rental View will open up. You can edit pick-up and drop-off dates and times on the date and time picker.

Fig. 12. Find car, Edit time and date               Fig. 13. Service provider list

Once your pick-up and drop-off times and dates have been set, Whim will show you all available cars by rental office location. Tap specific cars listed to view more details of the rental car you wish to book.

 (Fig.14)  Cars by rental office location

Once you have chosen a car that suits you, proceed to “Select”. Confirm the payment to reserve your rental car.

(Fig.15) Select this car                                   (Fig.16) Confirm payment and booking

Your booking has been made! You can view your upcoming bookings under the “Active Tickets” section in the Home View. Swipe up to see more booking details. You can also edit or cancel the booking from this view.

(Fig.17 ) Booking confirmed.                         (Fig.18) Cancel booking

• Under the “Active Tickets” tap a booking to open up a detailed view of the booking. 

(Fig.19) Booked Car in Active Tickets section.

If you wish to cancel your booking, open up the detailed booking view by tapping the booking under the “Active Tickets” section in the Home View. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and choose “Cancel booking”. Once your booking has been canceled, you will see a confirmation at the top of the app’s screen and the payment for the booking will be refunded to you within a couple of banking days.

(Fig.20) Cancel booking 

Picking up the car

• Tap on the car booking from the home view to see your booking details (incl. the parking lot no., license plate no. and car model) and unlock the car with Whim by “swiping to unlock”. 
• You can either review the instructions on your screen before unlocking or after unlocking, such as starting the car, returning the car, refueling/recharging, car wash, damage inspection, calling customer care, etc. 
• Before starting the car you are required to perform a damage inspection of the car. Please walk around the car and mark potential damages, scratches, etc. in the physical booklet that can be found in the car’s glove compartment. 
• Only the person who made the booking via Whim can drive the car. 
• Turn the key in the center console/glove compartment. Take it out and insert the car key into the ignition to start the car. 

Ending the Ride

• If you want to end your ride, press “End ride” on the app. Please make sure that the key in the center console/glove compartment (depending on the car) is turned to the “off” position, that all windows and doors are closed and that all lights are turned off. 
• After confirming to end the ride, you can see the details of your ride such as; travel distance, usage time, late return fees, cancellation fees. 
• You will be charged the price of the ride at the end of the reservation in Whim. 
• Should you incur additional fees, e.g. cleaning or damage fees, these will be settled and charged by the 10th day of the next month. This is when you will receive the final price, which Whim will notify you about. 

Questions and Answers

• How will I know what the final price of the rental is?
• What do I do if the car is running low on fuel?
• Can someone else drive the car?
• Do I need to pay for parking the car?
• What is the minimum and maximum time to reserve a Careco car?
• How do I end the ride? 
• Do I get any notifications that the rental is about to end?
• I arrived at the car early. Can I start my reservation before the official start time? 
• How is the time fee calculated?
• What happens if I exceed the reservation time?

How will I know what the final price of the rental is?

You will be charged the price of the ride at the end of the reservation in Whim. Changes to your invoice may happen until the 10th of the next month (due to potential extra charges such as additional fees and potential cleaning fees, damage fees, etc. Whim will notify you about these. 

What do I do if the car is running low on fuel?

Refueling is included in the rental price. Therefore, if the remaining amount of gasoline falls below 1/2, please cooperate with refueling using the card found in the car manual.

Can someone else drive the car?

Unfortunately, this is not possible. Only the person who made the booking via Whim may drive the car. 

Please keep in mind that at the moment Careco is only available to Whim users with a Japanese driver’s license. 

Do I need to pay for parking the car?

Yes, you need to pay parking fees when pausing your ride. The user is responsible for paying for any parking fees if they decide to stop somewhere. 

What are the minimum and maximum times to reserve a Careco car?

The minimum reservation time is 30 minutes and the maximum is 72 hours. Any time which is less than the billing unit (every 10 minutes) is rounded up.

How do I end the ride? 

You can only end the ride via the app while you are at the station. If you are trying to tap “End Ride” in the app without turning off the ignition, the car key in the ignition will speak to you: “Turn off the engine before ending the reservation”. Then turn the other key in the center console to be able to press “End ride” in the app.

In the case that the key in the center console is not turned to the off position, the window/trunk is left open, the engine is on, or the headlights/brakes are on, the app won’t let you end the ride. 

Do I get any notifications that the rental is about to end?

Yes. 15 minutes before the reservation end time, the car will start to beep to remind you that the rental time is about to end in 15 minutes.

I arrived at the car early. Can I start my reservation before the official start time? 

If the car that you booked is available already before the start time that you originally set in Whim, you can unlock the car already then (e.g. 10 minutes earlier). The end time of your reservation will automatically adjust (e.g. 10 minutes earlier). 

How is the time fee calculated?

If the reservation time is less than 6 hours, you will be billed a time fee according to the usage time from "Reservation start time to use end time".

If the reservation time exceeds 6 hours, you will be billed for the reservation time from “reservation start time to reservation end time”.  

What happens if I exceed the reservation time?

If you realize during your ride that you will not be able to return the car by the reservation end time, you can extend the reservation in Whim.

If you do not extend your reservation and keep the car longer without permission, you will be charged an overage fee (double the normal charge). Please note that the overage charge will also be applied if you can’t extend the reservation due to the next reservation.

If the reservation is extended for more than 6 hours, a distance charge will be charged according to the distance traveled from the start of use. For details, see " Click here for detailed calculation method" in " Monthly charge amount system ".