HiGear was a luxury car sharing company based in California. The peer-to-peer style business model was simple enough: People who owned exotic cars and wished to rent them out would do so, allowing others to enjoy them while generating the money it takes to pay for them and maintain them. The luxury company has made the difficult decision to close its car doors for good following a slew of car thefts. As a luxury rental company, we at Imagine Lifestyles feel for them!

HiGear website

In total, four exotic cars belonging to HiGear members were stolen, amounting to around $300,000. Reports say that it is possible that the owners of the stolen cars could have handed the keys over to the thieves personally, adding insult to injury!

Apparently, a ring of professional car thieves provided stolen credit cards and identifying information in order to obtain the keys to the pricey cars, and then simply never returned them. HiGear and other luxury rental companies do run checks in efforts to identify renters, but unfortunately things like this can happen in the absence of additional security.

Luxury car sharing can end badly

The luxury rental car company has opted to close rather than implement additional securities to prevent thefts, such as immobilizers or the iPhone-based door accessing system. HiGear’s old-fashioned system functioned by renters making reservations, and simply meeting the owners at a public place to pick up the keys. The owners were always urged to verify the driver’s license of the driver to ensure it was the same individual that made the reservation.

Police have recovered some of the vehicles, but it is still a sad story that a company sprawling from the Bay Area to LA with over 5,000 members and 300 exotic vehicles has decided to close!

Every luxury car owner or renter’s nightmare!

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Post by Imagine Lifestyles Luxury Rentals