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GoCar Rentals
Rating Details »
Neighborhood: Fisherman's Wharf
2715 Hyde Street
Fisherman's Wharf Location
(between Beach St & North Point St)
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 441-5695
2715 Hyde Street
Fisherman's Wharf Location
(between Beach St & North Point St)
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 441-5695
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
57 reviews for GoCar Rentals
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One of the Business' Favorite Reviews What's This?
Holy Crapitos!!! I want a Go Car of my own! That was the best sight-seeing, tourist activity I have ever experienced. Of course we got off-track a few times but it was no problem getting back on tour. The staff was super cool. The cars are a little slow going up some hills, but otherwise we had a great time. I definately recommend the longer tour. BEEP BEEP!
oh FYI--the guards at Ft. Mason don't like you doing the parking lot 500.
BOO!!!
TOOOOO MUCH FUN...
I was thinking about lowering by one star and that's only because the cart was only 50cc. But I guess any stronger and you would need a special license to drive it. Anyhow, this was a great little addition to our already great time. We got great views of the GG bridge, beaches, GG park (really nice), and the city from a whole new perspective at a great deal. Make sure you ask the guy which cart is the fastest though, and yeah okay I might be pushing 200 lbs, but my family is big boned.
Great way to waste a couple hours!
I saw some pictures of a friend's and decided I would try this too! I booked reservations online for the three hour tour (I guess in retrospect it was a little expensive, but I don't mind spending the money for the experience and fun) around SF.
Finding the store is pretty easy with the huge banners and signs out front. They have you sign a million forms (including ones if you decide to purchase their insurance) and then they show you a cool informational video on how to operate your car. We didn't have any troubles with the car-- of course, we didn't go uphill or anything-- played it relatively safe! And although I didn't drive, my boyfriend said it was fairly easy to navigate.
So the cool things about the car: the GPS navigation system (each voice has its own personality apparently), the motorcycle parking= front space next to handicaps, and people looking and waving when you drive by. Definitely an attention getter (although I felt ridiculous wearing the helmet, but yes, safety first).
Not so cool things: the GPS not being able to recalculate, the scenic tour which takes wayyy longer than three hours, and my butt hurting due to the vibration of the car (I'm 5'5, 115 lb, dunno if that helps). We ended up ditching half of the tour to make sure we got back in time, and we didn't stop or linger at all the destinations. I guess I'm just saying the tour and the time frame they provide for it isn't realistic.
All in all, a pretty cool experience! SF is one of those magical cities that has so much amazing stuff to see, and GoCar isn't a bad way to do it!
An afternoon spent with this tiny little yellow three wheeled machine will instantly make you fall back in love with this city. The fact that you can take this self guided tour on your own pace is key. The GPS guided tour will offer suggestions of places of interest and clue you in on little known facts (did you know that Alcatraz is the most commonly visited attraction in the U.S.?!). However, if you're feeling daring go off on your own path and take the car for a little adventure of your own around the city beeping at all the locals who stare at you while you drive by in your ridiculously enormous helmet. Just beware...don't get yourself stuck on an extra steep hill, you may have to call for back up!
I enjoyed myself tremendously and would recommend this to anyone just visiting SF or if you've lived here your whole life!
We should have known better when a man came back to return the car said the best thing about riding one of these suckers is surviving. So we took the gocar for a ride and it died on us after two blocks. Sitting in a tiny go car with red helmets on can be quite dorky but luckily they came with a new car within 5 minutes. Apparently these things break down fairly often. The navigation sucked.
Anyway, the brakes on these things are horrible and the engine is loud and your butt will hurt. So if you got a huge sense of adventure and a death wish.. I highly recommend it. So 3 stars for the adventure... Probably wouldn't rent these the next time I'm in SF.. too many damn hills for sucky brakes going down and not enough juice in the tiny engine going up.
I took my 14 year old nephew from NJ on a Go Car Tour and we were both bored and uncomfortable. The cars vibrate and after an hour or so our backs and bums and feet were sore. Plus the leg room was uncomfortable. There are many more ways to see the City that are way more comfortable.
The Mr. SF guide was very interesting and I learned things about my City I didn't know. I plan to find a book by Mr. SF to learn more about SF.
Staff sucks. Tour is great. Bring a jacket.
Overall, I recommend it because it's fun.
We often take things for granted. Have you lived in NorCal for most of your life and never rode on a cable car, or muni, visited Alcatraz, seen the Lincoln Memorial, or Japanese Garden? GoCar tours (go for the Urban Park one) give you the opportunity to explore the best that SF has to offer and MORE.
A few of my friends decided to try something new and what a way to celebrate a birthday by spending time with your friends riding these cool yellow mobiles? I don't know about you, but sometimes I get jealous seeing toddlers in their remote controlled cars in Santana Row and think to myself, "Damn, that would be a whole lot of fun!" Well, GoCars can make that dream become a reality!
I say, be spontaneous, do yourself a favor and kidnap a friend and rent a GoCar! As corny as this sounds, I found out the true beauty of San Francisco and have already planned to share the same experience and many laughter for my friends in less than three weeks!
For those of you visiting San Francisco, this is definitely one of the most unique ways of seeing the city. For natives like me, it's a fun, kitchy thing to do when you have out of town guests.
Prices are reasonable (try to get a deal on Goldstar...2nd hr was free) and the man who was running this location was very helpful. We had gone down to the location near Fisherman's Wharf and even though we'd been told they never run out of cars, they were out. Lucky for us we called the Hyde St location and were able to rent 3 cars. We had a blast and would definitely do it again!
How can you not like romping around san francisco in a go cart? I don't like tours but this was fun. Bring a jacket cause it gets a little nippy and wear sneakers cause the go cart needs help for those crazy hills.
Quite possibly the most awesome thing I've done in the city (and I've been to Bi-Rite!). Despite the somewhat-hefty price tag, the money is definitely worth it.
My coworkers and I went on the 2-hour adventure: a spectacular tour of San Francisco's highlights. Among them were Fisherman's Wharf, Fort Mason, Golden Gate Park, Palace of Fine Arts, the Marina shops, Pac Heights, Nob Hill, Alamo Square and Union Square. Probably the coolest part of the tour was going down Lombard with gorgeous views of Coit Tower straight ahead.
There are also a few wide/open straightaways with light traffic--a perfect opportunity to race your buddies in these cool go-kart-like vehicles. Unsafe? Probably. Balls-bustingly fun? Hells yeah.
I highly recommend checking this out.
I went on Sept 5th, 2009 and I can definitely say that I could have skip this experience entirely. First off, the GPS speaker in our car didn't even work. We followed the route and nothing. We left the radio on AUX and it took us 15 minutes to realized it was non functional since we weren't sure when the thing was supposed to engage. By that time, we weren't going to eat into our $60 per hour by driving back and blowing all our time so we tried to make the most of it.
We spent most of our time looking at the map and that was NOT an enjoyable experience at all. I came back to the place and told them and the girl just said "Oh, next time call us". She didn't offer to give us a discount (the 15% labor day one even would have been something). It was just a plain bad experience. Thank goodness we had the Duckboat Tour right afterwards. That at least lifted our spirits.
I'd recommend you all save your money and take either the Duckboat tour or the Segway tour.
Fun yet so expensive and rude service that I'd never recommend anyone to go. Waste of money and spirit, and please make sure you argue about the time you go and come back.
If you do want it, book it through goldstar events, so much cheaper.
Here's my summary: fun for about an hour, and then you realize the engine is too loud and your butt hurts.
I did the Mr. SF tour - thought the insider's guide would be useful to fill in the corners of my SF knowledge. Not so. The tour itself was pretty lame and I didn't learn a thing. Mr. SF needs a serious update, and I can totally do without the philosophical commentary on the meaning of city life.
But being in a go cart on a sunny day in SF rocks the house. I'd say it's definitely worth an hour.
So me and my friends though this would be fun to try out. We reserved two cars for saturday, but when we got there at our designated time, they only had one car for us, and it seemed they were swamped with walk-ins. So we had to wait for cars, and they said they had run out of gas, so they were running to get more as well. This wasn't so bad since we weren't in a hurry.
After about 20 minutes of waiting, we got oriented and seated in our cars and off we went. First thing to notice, the cars are underpowered. Second thing, braking isn't very responsive. So, without much power and two grown ups in the seats, trying to catch the gap in traffic at a stopsign takes planning ahead! Be careful.
The route was good, although my passenger probably remembers it better than me, as I was focusing on not getting run over by other cars. The cars are loud and the seats are not comfortable. Add that to the brisk San Francisco air, and you'll feel like heading in after about an hour, which is just about enough time to take a quick tour of SF.
The great thing is you get lots of looks, and if you're not shy, just honk and wave, because no one will recognize you under your helmet and with your sunglasses ;)
Everything went well, booking online was easy, the tour experience was great! My 3 star is for the rude guy at the go-car counter. Everyone seems easy going except this guy, at the end of the tour when we drove in we made the HUGE mistake of almost driving the car into the main entrance (instead of the Go-Car return entrance) fair enough we didn't read the sign.. but his behaviour and telling us off for not remembering the instructions which were apparently at the end of the video did not justify it. When we were settling our account he was struggling to find my booking in his system, (since I booked it - and I paid - and I signed as the driver I gave him my name) but it was under my boyfriends name because his signed insurance form was stapled at the front of all the forms. My boyfriend was standing right beside me, he could have just asked...
A very friendly employee with a Scottish accent ended up helping us. We all have 'bad days' but there is no need to be so rude to everyone around you!
I have too much funny when I do this. Wind blow in my hair and I yell out "I have...a tiny little fear!" I go fast and up hills. I see bridge of gold. I go to forest and beep at pretty girls. They nice. They want a funny ride.
** In all seriousness, these GPS navigated motorcycles/gokarts are lots of fun. My friend and I traveled in one while her other friend from Italy (he really does speak like that) drove behind us and his car spoke to him in Italian.
We did it for 3 hrs and I got lots of pretty pictures. But someone should've told me that San Francisco is cold...
My mother had been complaining that she hadn't done anything all summer and has been wanting to go to the city again. I think the last time she was in the city was approximately 6 years ago. Anyway, as an early birthday present I rented one of these little yellow things and we opted for the "Parks" tour.
First, we really enjoyed ourselves. It was a lot of fun to drive that little yellow go-cart looking thing around the city.
Okay, making the reservation was really easy; however I was disappointed that even though we were a little late they gave us a broken car. The trunk was useless which completely prevented us from freely enjoying the day and being able to lock our purses or any other purchases for the day.
REALLY, GO CAR you should have given us a perfectly working order car or at least discounted the rental!
So broken trunk aside, driving is really easy even if scary at first. They liken the experience to driving a motorcycle with your clutch on one side and gas on the other. I had a little trouble getting it to go at first. The guys kept saying go - go - go. Okay, not so easy when you are on a hill and have to look out for traffic on a 2 way street trying to make a left!
Oh yea, and the warning about the street car tracks doesn't help! So after a push off, a slight scream, and plenty of giggles I got the thing going and followed the guided tour. We even had time for detours such as Fort Point, China Beach, and Twin Peaks. Overall we reserved 3 hours but took 4. You just pay the extra hour when you return the car.
A few warnings:
-It doesn't exactly turn on a dime but you do get used to it pretty quickly.
-Also, wear gloves or dress warmly just in case. Mom and I froze our tushes off due to the overcast day!
-Oh and considering you are sitting so low to the ground and are in direct level with regular sized vehicles exhaust pipes a N95 mask might be in order. I don't even want to think how polluted my lungs must have been after wards!
-Remember this thing doesn't go in reverse so park smartly!
-Be prepared for random people to either yell obscenities at you or tell you that you look really cool and your make-up is perfect.
IT WAS FREAKIN AWESOME! Some friends came to visit from SD so we took them to do the touristy things (i.e. - Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, etc) and suddenly had the brilliant idea of renting one of the GoCars. We had seen them all the around the city and were intrigued. It was awesome. SO MUCH FUN!
It lost a star because the "voice guided tour" worked but only sometimes - we'd find ourselves on the right path (according to the map), however got no directions on which way to turn on some of the streets. What's the deal with that?
But all in all it was a blast. Next time I think we're going to do the long tour.
What's the best way to spend the New Year on a nice, sunny morning/afternoon with the bestest roommate ever?... Renting a GoCar and get into trouble all around San Francisco, off course!
GoCar is a GPS guided car that's available to rent near Fisherman's Wharf. Forget the guide books and forget the maps because you don't need 'em, but don't forget your camera because there are some amazing views to see while driving around the city.
Our route started along Fisherman's Wharf up to Ghiraldelli Square. Then down to Marina Boulevard, to under the Golden Gate Bridge. Then up Presidio (all along the coastline), down to Ocean Beach to Golden Gate Park. We headed back by entering the Presidio gate from Arguello Boulevard.
$84.09 (discounted rate) was worth all the FUN we had driving around for about 3 hours. Even though the GPS didn't work, we didn't mind because we weren't tourist and was more interested in speeding down the hills than hearing the history of the Golden Gate Bridge and stuff.
Definitely great way to spend a day exploring the city for all ages :-)!
They're like target practice for my bitchin' Saturn Station Wagon...the red rocket!
Whomever decided to put blazingly loud radios in these lil' buggy cars should be punched in the face repeatedly for being a tool. The sound is TERRIBLE...like you're hearing it through a tin can attached to a string.
The two big drunk frat boys that were cruising around the Embarcadero were amusing enough...but they were blaring that Nelly song "It's Gettin' Hot In Herre" at the highest level of ear-bleeding noise they could get on that shrinky-dink with wheels.
Then Usher's "YEAH" song started, and all Hell broke loose.
The one boy with the "Amateur Gynecologist" t-shirt looked at his friend sporting the "Got Beer?" t-shirt and began screaming the lyrics at the top of their lungs, which was basically ..."YEEE-AH, YE-AH, YE-AH! THAT'S TIGHT, DUDE!" over and over again.
One star off, GoCar Rentals...be responsible with your lil' circus clown cars. REMOVE THE FRIGGIN' STEREO.
Awesomeness in a little yellow pill.
Took familiy who were visiting on a go car tour becuase, well, how else can you see all the sights in under two hours!
We had a total blast except for when my GPS stopped working. Thank god I live here!
I will say that the staff at Go car is a little slow. I mean, I litterally could watch the wheels in this guys head grind to a hault when I said I made my reservation online.
For all you San Francisco geeks, this is the dorkiest thing you could ever do. But it's okay - embrace it, live it, love it. Because this could possibly be the most fun you can have in San Francisco.
For my sister's birthday, we took out these GoCars in the spirit of reclaiming our earlier days of being the geeks/nerds/dorks of the past and being proud of it. For on this day we were little kids, again, and we were running around the town that we had always associated with being sophisticated, chic and cool. For us, there was nothing cool about this, it was all about having fun.
We ran up and down the hills of the City. And the funny part (at least I thought so) was that none of our three cars that we rented had the same amount of power in it. Each had it's own sort of personality and none of them worked in the exact same way. This meant that some of us had to get out and push, some of us had to run along side the car, some of us had to work harder to catch up with the others (in fact one of us had a complete stranger help push them up the hill!) but in no way did it diminish the ridiculousness of the experience. Maybe it wasn't the most perfect working car but we dealt with it and all in all, we still had a great time.
I feel so strongly about this, that I created a blog dedicated to fun things to do in the city. It's called http://sfcforall.blogs.... Here is the review for this amazing fun time.
As far as fun goes, you may consider a dance party fun. Or even a swim in the pool. But when it comes to ultimate extreme fun, I've found nothing in SF that compares with the Go-Car.
Yes, I do mean those annoying little yellow go-cart things that asshole tourists drive around with the loud GPS speakers weaving in and out of traffic. You know how many times in life you see people having too much fun and think, "What a group of douchebags". Well, those times usually mean you're jealous of the fun and have no idea what a great time you can have being a douchebag.
The Go-Cars seem really expensive at first. They start at $49.00 for the first hour, $39.00 for the second, etc. for up to 5 hours. After 5 hours, you keep the car as long as you want at no extra charge. So really, you can't spend more than $150.00 unless you fuck up the car (and even then, I don't think there's actually much of a risk) or bring it in late. There is a $300.00 deposit, so bring a credit card.
The joys are endless. You can turn off the annoying GPS if you know your way around. You can drive it wherever it will go. Avoid hills as it can't go up anything too steep without momentum. The car goes 35mph and faster down hills.
We went off-roading, did wheelies in the parking lot of McDonalds and various gas-stations, went up on curbs, and got some two wheel flip action on. Basically, the best time of my life. The kicker was that they have functioning radios so you can blast the Bay Area Hyphy jams and ghost-ride the Go-Car.
And because you're so ready for everyone to hate you anyway, you'll be extremely surprised at how many people love it. We had all kinds of folks smiling, waving, hootin' and hollerin'. More than I would have ever imagined.
I haven't yelped in a few days, people, probably because I snorted up some yelpcoke I went YELPCRAZY and cranked out 90 reviews in 2 weeks. Needless to say, Samantha P. returns after a brutal recovery with something considerably yelp-worthy.
Who goes GoCarting and why? GoCarting is for crazy mofos that enjoy doing random things that seem dorky and fun.
These GoCars are just so cool. They are the kind of thing that either really pisses people off, or makes people smile and wave at you for the sole reason that you are placed in an amusing vehicle. Despite how dangerous these things really are, it was great to see that for once people weren't smiling and waving because I'm driving with no pants on.
The GoCar GPS girl gave my friend and I a fun tour of the city. Although I was born and raised here, I learned many trivial facts and discovered a number of beautiful spots. Sometimes, however, I had to question the content of the tour, especially when the GPS girl was saying "The fisherman's wharf is where fisherman come and fish." Considering that you have to be 21 to ride the exciting GoCar, I find it hard to believe that someone needed to be told that information. Perhaps GoCar's main consumer is one with brain damage. Whatever, I still had a blast. Does that make me retarded?
One other note about the GoCar, beside the loyal service, is the fact that the Car only elevates less than a foot from the pavement. Driving around in such a vehicle led to some undeniable ass soreness. In the end, I felt like I had just experienced a long day of skiing and ended up eating a humongous bowl of chips and some damn good chilly.
My girlfriend and I had a great time driving around the city in our pimped out Go-Car. It was a present for her birthday.
There was a slight problem with audio on the tour but the management and staff were extremely courteous and helpful in resolving the problem.
Many thanks Go-Car!
I took a friend (who also lives in SF) for a day cruise in a GoCar for her birthday. We had SOO much fun. We laughed until we cried, we learned fun SF facts and overall had super great day. It is expensive - but I would do it again in a heartbeat.
GOCAR warnings-
1) when you make a reservation you get a confirmation email - with a different price quoted. You are not charged that price (which is more than listed on http://sfgocar.com) For some reason the company that runs the reservations uses a different pricing model that http://sfgocar.com. You will be charged the price quoted by sfgocar - but pay close attention and make sure you do not get ripped off.
2) They are low to the ground and have limited leg room. At 5'5" & 5'7" there was not much extra space - if you are any taller - beware - I can't imagine you would last very longer in the car comfortably,
3) Don't trust their time estimates - if you do not stop at every vista point you can go more places and really get more time in the car -aka- more bang for your buck
4) If you get off the GPS path - DO NOT try to get back on the path with short cuts up steep hills - ex- Divisadero. They are not powerful enough to make it up the hills and you will have to push it up the hill. TRUST ME. Just don't do it.
5) Check the timing when you get back - if you come in close to your expected time and they charge you for the next hour - bargain - you can get the price down if you are within 15 minutes.
As a Bay Area native...I was slightly embarassed at how excited I felt when we went for our GoCar tour. I'd mentioned it to my Dad in passing once, and in true Father fashion he thought it'd be fun for us to do it, so he gifted it to me for my birthday. When we finally got around to booking, it was almost time for my next birthday. We rented two cars for us all, and got the 3-4 hour Mr. SF tour.
A great way to see some slightly more obscure parts of SF...we never knew there was a pet cemetary under one of the Golden Gate approach bridges in the Presidio area...the little tour takes you right by it. On our journey, we also drove through the Castro, around Haight, got lost for a little while in the Tenderloin, and almost ran out of gas near Union Square.
I was all set to jump in the car and drive until the guy running the place mentioned that a lot of people tend to hit cars and the replacement bumper charge runs like $500. I promptly handed the keys to my husband and said 'It's all yours, sweetie!'. Figure if one is one of us is going to get the $500 charge, and never be able to live it down, better him than me. Lucky for us, he's a great driver so we didn't have any issues. Thanks for freaking me out for nothing, sullen GoCar guy.
Speaking of service, the place is kind of hit or miss with it. We had to wait about 5 minutes at the desk while the guy worked on his computer before he even acknowledged us. Then he had us pick out some seriously grungy helmets and told us they were out of hair covering protectors...awesome.
Also, they don't give you any sort of phone # or anything to call in case anything happens, a fact that became apparent to me as we drove by an electric tour car (similar to ours but ours was gas), and saw a couple laborously pushing it up a hill.
Word to the wise, the little voice stops talking to you if you get off the route. Woops. How to get back on? Consult the map they give you and figure it out. If you are close to running out of gas or feel like your car is on the fritz, stop at the Union Square GoCar and they will help you out. We parked ours to get some coffee and when we came back out, it wouldn't start. We had to put it on the curb to raise it a bit to get the gas to flow down and start again. What a little adventure. I think that the 3-4 hour tour was just a wee bit too long, around hour 3 I was seriously antsy...plus we are not new to SF so at this point we felt kind of over it.
All of this though does not negate what an awesome and fun experience this was. Whoever mentioned it was a bonding experience hit it right on the money. We'll always have these quirky little cars in our memories.
Oh one more note...the little carts are seriously jostly and amazingly tiny...you will probably have to stop to use the bathroom at least once, and don't be surprised if you find yourself next to a Mini Cooper thinking 'wow that sucker is big'.
GoCar was on their way to a 5 star review until we dropped the car off.
Everything started out great. We reserved our time on Goldstar Events, making the 2 hour trip $44, instead of $88! We started out our trip through Fisherman's Wharf, but our GPS, Judy, never talked. We took our car and Judy back up the hill, had her fixed, and were on our way again, checked the clock 12:48.
Make sure you bring layers because while it was nice in Fisherman's Wharf it was freezing by the bridge and ocean (good thing I knew this ahead of time by experience in my 3 years living here). We took our time putting around Golden Gate Park, the Haight, the Marina. Had a blast. Loved all the attention we got with Judy, especially from the guys.
We knew we were going to be a little bit late, pulled in at 2:55 (7 minutes late). Little did we know there was a 15 minute window, so we pleasantly surprised we wouldn't have to pay. Wrong.
The guy, who I assume to be the owner, as I believe he was the same one in the safety video, told us we were 1/2 hour late, with the 15 minute window would be charged for 15 min. We explained we had to bring the car back to get the GPS fixed, and our time should have been restarted. He told us it had been restarted and continued to argue with us. He finally agreed to charge us for 7 minutes. Give me a break. We were in no way trying to get out of paying. We knew we were late, but also knew when we started (any smart person would look to see when they had to be back) and knew we were within the 15 minutes. We finally paid the money and angrily left. Not an example of customer service at all. We shouldn't have had to pay anything, especially since we were inconvenienced bringing our car back to get the GPS fixed. Pure greed. Was $7 worth this review? Methinks not.
What a great way to see the city. Super nice staff. Great instruction before the rental, and the cars were fun. A little underpowered for hilly SF, but we made it up everything (eventually).
The GPS tour was a great way to hear about the city, albeit not obtrusively. People stare and point and smile when you're in a GO Car. It's almost like they're having as much fun as you.
How do you entertain a 16-year old here in the city without doing the typical cheesy, tourist trap stuff? Rent a GoCar for two hours.
The first time my little sister came to stay with me in San Francisco, we gave GoCar a try. I have to admit, at first even I felt a little ridiculous. Here we were in our little, yellow, three-wheeled vehicle wearing our "Dumb and Dumber" helmets.
Once we pulled out into the traffic and turned on our GPS computer-navigated tour guide, we couldn't stop giggling. We had the time of our lives honking at pedestrians and passing cars. GoCar gave us a bonding experience that we still laugh about to this day. There aren't many activities you can do in life that will give you a such a positive bonding experience with a 16-year old.
The tour guide itself was so-so. It kept us from getting lost and it was interesting to learn that Goden Gate Park is actually 22% bigger than Central Park. But other than that, we enjoyed our two hours together causing a ruckus on the streets of San Francisco. Money well spent and times we will NEVER forget.
I would recommend trying it at least once. Don't forget your camera!!
I'm sure you have a quality product, but my complaint is that you've armed an army of tourists with go-karts and that your directions involve them stopping outside my window. I nearly know the script by heart that plays when your GPS powered cars whine their way down my street. "Alamo sq is an uninterrupted row of victorian houses..... turn right".
they do look like fun though...
This is an awesome option to see the city. It gives you a whole new perspective of San Francisco. while driving around, the GPS voice guides you with information about the areas you are in. Little hidden or unknown facts are part of the tour, not just "this is china town." It was a great tour, but there is the option of going off the tour. If you do this, careful, you may end up having to push the vehicle up hill. But even still, I would do this again in a heartbeat.
The cars are fun to drive on flat streets and down hill. They can handle small hills, but nothing strenuous, we chose to go up Lombard and my friend had to push. A lot of tourist are curious, so if you stop, prepare to have your picture taken. As much as Fisherman's Wharf is a pain, it was a delight to see little kid's faces light up as we weaved in and out of traffic. The brakes aren't the greatest on hills, so make sure your wheels are pointed towards the curb if you park. The rates on line are better. So if this is something you are interested in, reserve it at the good rate. After five hours they don't charge an hourly rate.
Also, make sure you know what time they close, you want to make sure you are back in time. And bring a sweater/jacket/gloves.
This is probably one of the coolest tourist thing you can do around the city.... if you stick to the tour routes. I wasn't planning on wearing my trendy helmet, but I was quite surprised by the speed of this thing when my 245lb++ fatso partner made a sharp turn. I thought that I would get flung out and die since the seat beats were not very secure and I'm just a 100lbs Asian girl.
We decided to not stick to the tour at first, so we used their trusty paper map that was attached to the car and got stuck on a hill. At that time, I had to push the car and my fatso partner up the hill in heavy traffic and face the risk of getting run over by a car. So we went back on route and turned up the volume of the GPS. Other than that, it was smooth sailing for the rest of the experience.
-1 star for not being able to go up hills
+1 star for the dude at the go-car counter
Very Important thing to know, There is a sign posted outside that says "$25 all day". That does not mean $25 to drive the GO Kart's all day, it is to park your car in their lot all day. The rates for the GO Karts are:
Rental Price
1st hour $44
2nd hour $34
Each additional hour $24
After 5 hours No further charge
The guys that work here are all very friendly, nice and helpful. The females are all very mean, nasty and cold. Avoid communicating with the females if possible. They really don't seem to care about you.
Got guests in town or want to play tourist one weekend? GoCar is THE way to go.
This past Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day and I wanted to be out and about in the sunshine. My boyfriend suggested we give GoCar a try since we always see these little vehicles roaming the city streets. It was the best idea and the best way to explore the city -- even though I already live here.
The GoCars are small enough to fit in tight parking spots, fast enough to get around the city, and safe enough to not worry about hanging on for dear life. And the best part is the GPS automated tour guide that comes along for the ride.
There are suggested routes you can follow and if you do, a friendly female voice tells you some history behind the things you see. She also offers optional side trips, letting you know exactly where to turn, and how long the detours might take. Or you can ignore her suggestions and follow your own plan. She'll chime in with some interesting facts whenever you're back on the tour route. It's pretty cool not worrying about getting lost or knowing the significance behind the buildings. And the automated recording is not cheesy or over-the-top (well, maybe a little).
If you are a tourist or a local looking for exploration, I recommend starting early and investing in a whole day GoCar rental. In all, it should cost $100+. That may seem steep, but for a private tour of SF? I think its well worth it.
I hung out with one of my friends in San Francisco today. We walked from the Ferry Building towards Pier 39 with no definite plan for the day. We saw a cool, yellow go-cart driving down the street. I remembered that I had always wanted to try them, so we did!
What a blast! For those of you new to San Francisco, they offer a wonderful GPS guided tour. Just for fun we took most of the tour and learned a few things that we didn't even know about our wonderful city by the bay. As we cruised around, numerous tourists stopped and stared and some even took photos of us riding in our go-cart. Whenever we saw other yellow go-carts on the road we, honked in unison and enthusiastically waved hello to one another. It instilled a warm feeling of camaraderie with the other folks out enjoying their day via go-cart. I felt like we were tourists for the day and experienced a renewed love and appreciation for the beauty of San Francisco. Be careful not to take your car on too steep of an incline or someone will have to get out and push. Take the time to stop periodically and take in the scenery. The exhaust fumes can be a bit much, so the breaks will help you avoid getting a headache. I have lived in the bay area for over 20 years. This day reminded me not to take it for granted. Even if you live in San Francisco, go rent a go-cart and see the sights! You will not regret it. 2 hours for $81. Nuff said!
"2-seated scooters for people that can't ride." These are two-seater dune-buggy like cars that you can rent by the hour. They're good for joy riding but perhaps not so much for sight-seeing. They're controlled by handle-bars like you'd find on a scooter/motorcycle so no steering-wheels. They're also supposed to be equipped with a GPS locator and programmed tour guide recordings to guide you through SF. However.... this is what I found:
Performance: 50cc motors... my top speed on my Go Car on a level surface: 25mph. Uphill even slower: 15-20mph max speed. With two people, there are some hills the Go Car can't handle. Imagine driving up a hill in SF with an angry 2 ton SUV behind you.
Appearance: they look to be zippy and fun and you get a lot of stares from tourists wondering if you're having a grand ole time.
Maintenance/Safety: my Go Car's GPS was broken and/or the speakers weren't working. My side view mirror was broken. The engines were extremely loud. But the place will still charge you full price, even for a broken Go Car without the full amenities its supposed to come with. You have to wear a helmet so when the cable car does squash you, your head will stay intact.
Final Note: I saw some other Go Car like rental cars out there and they seemed (1) Faster and (2) Cleaner so i might check them out next time. There were several moments, where I wondered if I would make it back alive. The size and speed of these vehicles makes safety a constant issue. But otherwise, I had a good time just joy-riding these things through Crissy Field and the Marina.
Bad management is all I have to say. The manager told us that it was our fault for not designating what tour we wanted to go on before we left the garage when the safety video specifically said "when you're on A tour route the GPS will know, and when you're not it will be silent"....and not to mention we've never been in one of these before and this is what they do every day. Seems logical someone would have asked us what tour we wanted to be on so they could program it properly. The kids that got us situated were European students needing to make money for the Summer (and I'm all for that) but they're a little apathetic, and to place the blame on the customer who didn't know they had to designate one of the 3 predetermined tour routs that are all given to you in each vehicle and say "we're not mind readers we can't be held responsible" is infuriating.
-It's over priced!
-They don't have enough power to go up medium inclined hills (runners were passing us in the Presidio)
-the parts of the tour we did hear have little or no information (I just moved here 6 months ago and I know more than the audio tour guide we had)
-they're dirty vehicles that need to be cleaned more often
-and the staff is totally rude!
There are several other companies that offer this service, I would go with them.
It's fun to have people point and stare at you when you drive down the streets, but not when you're paying $30-$45 an hour and getting nothing back in return.
I would have had a better time spending $1.50 and riding around town on a Muni bus for 3 hours and probably would have gotten more out of it too!
-It's over priced!
-They don't have enough power to go up medium inclined hills (runners were passing us in the Presidio)
-the parts of the tour we did hear have little or no information (I just moved here 6 months ago and i know more than the audio tour guide we had)
-they're dirty vehicles that need to be cleaned more often
-and the staff is totally rude!
There are several other companies that offer this service, I would go with them.
It's fun to have people point and stare at you when you drive down the streets, but not when you're paying $30-$45 an hour and getting nothing back in return.
I would have had a better time spending $1.50 and riding around town on a Muni bus for 3 hours and probably would have gotten more out of it too!
forget the party bus
forget the limos
forget the town cars
the best vehicles to host celebrity friends in the city are: go cars!!
but then again, the WenDiva likes to ice it out w/ F*** Me Boots in Go Cars, while sipping on homemade margaritas. Hey, how else could you make a go car experience look hot?
