Popcar Closure: Why GoGet is your best option in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra
Popcar has announced that it is winding down its carshare operations across Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Byron, with an expected last day of trading on the 30th of September 2026. If you're one of the many members who've relied on Popcar for grocery trips, weekend getaways or moving house, you're probably already wondering where to go next.
The good news is that there is another option. GoGet has been doing exactly this - professional, owned-and-operated carshare - for over two decades in Australia. Even better, you can get up to $50 off your first trip before the 31st of October. Find out how here.
Why Is Popcar Closing?
Popcar have cited vehicle, insurance and operating costs as having made it difficult to sustain the business at its current scale. It's a familiar story for many Australian households too, many of whom will have noticed the increased cost of running a car or second car over the past few years.
Why GoGet Is Where Popcar Members Should Look
We've actually been at this a lot longer than most people realise. GoGet launched Newtown CarShare all the way back in 2003, when Bruce Jeffreys and Nic Lowe offered three shared cars to twelve founding members in Sydney's inner west. The idea was a simple one. Most cars sit unused most of the time, so why not share them and make it easy enough that people would give up owning a car or second car?
That idea grew. GoGet expanded into Melbourne in 2004, rebranded nationally as GoGet in 2005 once it outgrew its Newtown roots, and has kept growing and building ever since. 23 years, 8 million-plus trips and 200,000-plus members later, we're Australia's oldest and largest professional carshare operator, with a fleet of more than 3,000 cars and vans across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra.
GoGet works in a very similar way to Popcar. Popcar, like GoGet, ran an owned fleet rather than a peer-to-peer model, so its members are used to consistent, professionally maintained cars, not a stranger's private vehicle. That's what GoGet offers too, just with a bigger network of cars and vans in local neighbourhoods.
What You Get With GoGet
Network: 3,000+ vehicles across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. Hatchbacks through to vans, available 24/7, every day of the year.
Pricing: No upfront deposit, no booking fees, no weekend surcharges. Maintenance, rego, insurance and fuel are all included.
Fleet: Every GoGet vehicle is professionally maintained and backed by 24/7 roadside assistance. Our team is available to help 24/7/365.
Flexibility: Hourly or daily bookings, with free cancellation right up until the last minute if your plans change.
Experience: Two decades in, we've had time to work out what carshare members want, and to build a business that can absorb changes in the external environment.
Value: Cars start from $69/day, fuel and 80km included.
Making the Switch From Popcar
Signing up with GoGet is quick and easy. The sign-up process takes just 5 minutes and most people will be instantly activated. We’re also giving Popcar members who join GoGet $50 off their first trip. Find out more about that here.
If you want to see how it all fits together first, check out how GoGet works, or search for cars near you.
Bottom Line
We know that losing a carshare service that you’ve relied on for years is genuinely disruptive, especially when it's been a part of your daily life. The grocery trips, the school pickups, the weekend getaways.
What GoGet can help with is continuity. A carshare service that's been running since 2003, owns and maintains every car in its fleet, and is growing. We’ve recently launched GoGet vehicles in Canberra and will be adding more vehicles over the coming months. If you're a Popcar member wondering what's next, we'd love to have you.
