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Trip Troubleshooting

Our Member Services team is always happy to help for issues related to trips at 612.343.2277. If you'd like to try and troubleshoot yourself instead, here are some common things that you might be able to solve on your own!

Car Issues

  • Is there a warning light on the dashboard, a flat tire, or major damage to the car? Contact our Member Services team at 612.343.2277 for assistance. For your safety and the safety of others, report any car issues immediately to our team.

  • Were you in a crash or collision? Contact our Member Services team at 612.343.2277 as soon as it is safe to do so. You will need to collect some info from the other party and get our team's confirmation that the car is safe to drive. Do not continue your trip until you get confirmation from our team that you are allowed to drive. See more details on crashes on our Insurance and Crash Report page.

  • Are you in an electric car that doesn't have enough charge for your trip? For Evies, you can see the approximate miles available before reserving and can filter for higher range cars in the app, so pick a car with a range that'll work for your trip. It may take a few minutes of driving for the efficiency gauge to adjust to the driving conditions.

    If you're in an electric HOURCAR, your trip will allocate automatically to the car with the highest range available. If this is not enough range, check out our road trip tips or contact our Member Services team at 612.343.2277 for help charging or finding another car.

  • Is the car messy or smelly? If there's a small amount of mess that you'd be able to clean up yourself, take a picture on your Cleanliness Report and email us that you cleaned it up, and we'll give you $2 in drive credit as a thank you! If the mess is more than you can handle or if there are any smells, contact our Member Services team at 612.343.2277 or at info@hourcar.org so we can get it cleaned up quickly.

  • Is the designated HOURCAR spot taken? If someone is parked in the designated HOURCAR spot at the end of your trip, try and park as close to the spot as you can. If you were unable to find a spot nearby or if you're in an electric HOURCAR, please call our Member Services team at 612.343.2277 with a description of where it is located so we can make sure the next member can find the car. See our Evie Parking Info for Evie parking guidelines.

Trip Start Issues

Are you at the car and can't get it to unlock to start your trip? See if any of these tips help, or call our Member Services team at 612.343.2277.

  • Are you unable to find the car? Look around nearby to see if it's parked somewhere else a bit farther away. For HOURCARs, sometimes the designated hub space is taken by someone parked incorrectly, and the last person had to park a few spots away. For Evies, sometimes GPS drift means that the car is down the street or around the block from where the app shows.

  • Are you at the right vehicle? Check your app to make sure the license plate of the car matches the one you're trying to start. It's easy to get the wrong car, especially if there are multiple cars nearby!

  • Is the Start Trip button not doing anything? The car may be having connection issues. If you hold up a card with an RFID chip to the cardreader on the windshield, sometimes this physical signal will help the car wake up and connect to your app. Cards with RFID include Metro Transit GoTo Cards or credit and debit cards with tap to pay capabilities. Hold the card against the card reader until all three lights flash at the same time.

    • Please note: this will not bill your card for anything, it is just using the RFID signal to "jolt" the technology awake.

  • Is the charger stuck in the charge port? Make sure your trip is started, or check out our Charging Troubleshooting for more things to try.

  • If you're using a GoTo card instead of the app, is the card linked to your account? If you don't have access to a smartphone, you can access a trip via a linked GoTo card. If you have not registered this card to your account, or if you got a new card and have not updated us, your card won't have the authority to start your trip.

Car Will Not Start

Are you in the car but still having troubles getting it to turn on and drive? See if any of these tips help, or call our Member Services team at 612.343.2277.

  • Is the trip active and resumed? Check the app to make sure the trip is active. If the app shows an option to "Resume Trip" or "Start Trip", press that option and try again.

    • In keyless cars, if you don't pause a trip, autolock pauses the trip to secure the car.

  • Is there a "Key Not Detected" error message? This message appears on some cars when a trip is not started or is in pause. Check to make sure your trip is active.

  • Are you starting the car correctly? On keyless vehicles, you'll need to press the brake at the same time as the power button. See Vehicle Information for specifics on the car you're driving.

    • On our upcoming Chevy Equinox, there's no power button and you just have to press the brake to start.

  • Is the key not turning in the ignition? This sounds like an ignition lock, which is an anti-theft feature of cars that prevents the wheel from turning without a key in the ignition. To unlock the wheel, keep your foot on the brake then turn the steering wheel all the way until it stops and hold it there while while trying to turn the key. This should release the steering wheel and allow the key to turn.

  • Is the parking brake on? If the car is running but won't go anywhere, or is making beeping noises, the parking brake may be engaged. This will be either a lever in the center console or a small pedal near your left foot - see Vehicle Information for specifics on how to find the brake in the car you're using.

Trip End Issues

Are you at the end of your trip and the car won't lock or end? See if any of these tips help, or call our Member Services team at 612.343.2277.

  • Is your trip un-paused? Check to be sure your trip is active and un-paused, as it cannot end when in a paused state.

    • In keyless cars, if you don't pause a trip, autolock pauses the trip to secure the car.

  • Is the fuel card plugged into the glovebox? The gas card or charge card should be solidly pushed into a slot in the cardholder in the glovebox. Even if you didn't use it, they can sometimes get bumped during your trip, so check to make sure it's solidly pushed into the slot.

  • On vehicles with physical keys, is the key plugged in to the keyholder? This is a small port near the blue light on the cardholder. The blue light will turn off when the key is correctly plugged in. Make sure you're plugging in the metal end on the keychain that looks like an audio jack.

  • Are you in an approved area to end? For HOURCAR, you must be returned to the same hub where you started and parked in the designated space. For Evie Carshare, you must be inside the Home Area and not in any Forbidden Areas. The light on the dash will be green in an Evie if you're in the Home Area, or you can see your location on the app.

  • Is the key stuck in the ignition? Make sure that the car is in park and that the key is turned all the way off and not partially turned. Even if you think you've done this, it doesn't hurt to turn the car back on, shift gears around and back to park, then turn it off and try again, making sure you don't turn the key back towards the "on" position.

Roadside Assistance

Roadside assistance is included with your HOURCAR and Evie membership. This starts with calling Member Services at 612.343.2277 if you are experiencing any problems; we have 24/7 phone coverage for trip-related issues. The included roadside assistance can offer a few different solutions, depending on the situation at hand:

  • If it is a quick solution and you are in either Minneapolis or Saint Paul, you might meet one of our dedicated fleet staff, who can perform items like jump starts and battery diagnoses, lost and found pickup, and small repairs.
    • It may also be an option to end your trip and have our staff visit later, so you can carry on with your day. Our Member Services team will be able to advise on this.
  • Outside of the metro area, our Member Services team may call you a local tow.
  • Other solutions may apply, related to your specific experience.
  • We will always be sure to communicate with you and help keep you safe, so please be sure to reach out as soon as you realize you need help!