Have you ever wondered what would be the best choice for Lyft and Uber drivers when it comes to buying or renting a vehicle for driving? Which car rental company is best suited for renting a car? Though for some, the option of buying a vehicle becomes obtuse when they don’t have enough finance while for others, renting a vehicle seems more profitable because they don’t have to worry about certain issues.
But before we think about this, let us first concentrate on the elephant in the room. The basic necessity Lyft or Uber drivers have to complete in order to work for Lyft or Uber is to pass background screening. Accessing of the vehicle is an aspect you can worry about after that. This means, even if you don’t have a car yet, you need to register for Uber or Lyft first. While registration, you’ll also be able to know which vehicles are qualified in your area.
HOW LYFT AND UBER DRIVERS CAN GET QUALIFYING VEHICLES?
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Now, as we’ve successfully figured out the elephant, let’s now move over to the four options that drivers have for obtaining a vehicle:Owning a qualified vehicle.
1) You can make use of a vehicle that you already own (OWNING A VEHICLE):
If you compare this idea with the others, we can safely guess you would realize that this is the best solution. This is because your car payment and vehicle depreciation will always be less than the rental or lease amount. Also, you must keep in mind that given the Uber rates, owning a second car isn’t a good financial decision. Especially when the first car is qualified.
Exception:
If you want to drive for UberBLACK or UberLUX service, you need a vehicle that has both commercial and registration insurance.
Decreasing income:
Over the last few years, the rideshare business hasn’t been able to maintain its flourishing roots in the market. The Uber drivers are facing the problem of less earnings compared to previous years.
Depreciation:
Depreciation is an expense that is often overlooked by most of the car owners. It’s irrecoverable in nature and is treated as a loss.
For example: You purchased a brand new Hyundai Sonata Hybrid for $26,000. Now, you drove the car for 50,000 miles over the course of two years. After two years you’ll come to the realization that even though your car looks brand new, its worth has reduced to $12,000. This means, you suffered a loss of $14,000, which is equal to $134 per week.
Now, assume that your car payment is $420 and monthly payment is $250. Which roughly calculates to around $600 per month or $160 per week. Leasing the car for rideshare purposes would add $300 per week to the cost. And now, if you add the weekly depreciation cost of $134 to your rounded figure of $160 then it comes to around $290 per week. This signifies that nearly more than half of your monthly rental fee covers the depreciation cost of the car.
Unlike owning a car where you’ve to pay the depreciation costs at the point where you want to sell the car, in case of leasing, depreciation cost is paid weekly.
2) BUYING A CAR:
Option of buying a car is also available. However, prefer buying a car that is a used hybrid or compact that is, purchasing a used one.
Now, consider the earlier example but with a slight variation. This time, instead of owning the car, you’re buying this car – Sonata which has aged two years and have run 50,000 miles. Let’s say you bought it at $12,000 too.
Now, you’ve used the car for 2 years where it has run again 50,000 miles. If you sell this car, it will be worth of $8,400 and the depreciation would be $3,600. This is quite less compared to the deprecation cost of $14,000.
This $3,600 will be then $35 per week and therefore, purchasing the used car gives in savings.
3) LEASING A VEHICLE:
Acquiring a qualified vehicle for driving without going over the cost problem, sounds like a great idea. Leasing a car helps you to achieve this motive with zero efforts.
Through lease, vehicle maintenance and depreciation cost are covered but paid up front, which thereby, gives the freedom to the drivers to make one price every month. The most important benefit of leasing is that once he contract is complete, you don’t have to purchase the vehicle.
The two ways of leasing a car are mentioned below:
Standard dealership car lease:
In other words it mean a lease from a dealership or private party wherein you just have to ask for a car to lease from them. The basic problem of leasing the car from a dealership is that the consumer leases don’t allow the usage of car for commercial purposes. Therefore, it may not be fit for Uber drivers.
Rideshare program lease:
Search on the internet for rideshare leasing companies in your city. For example: New York have a lot of rideshare leasing companies. But before doing that, always keep in mind that leasing is actually purchasing a brand new car at sticker price.
Leasing v/s purchasing:
The difference between the two is that leasing is beneficial when you’ve to work full time. If in case you don’t then, purchasing is better. Because the leasing fee would then be always higher than the earnings.
4) RENTING A CAR:
Partner with car rental companies to rent a car. With the help of Lyft Express Drive Program, rent a car for driving for Lyft. For peer to peer service, Uber drivers can rent a car through HyreCar.
Uber and Lyft rental programs:
TLC companies such as Uber and Lyft have now entered into a partnership with car rental companies. In this order, drivers can now have weekly rental cars i.e. they’ve to pay a weekly fee to rent a newer model car.
To know more about the Uber and Lyft rental programs, click here.
Advantages to this car rental programs:
- Insurance and unlimited mileage are included.
- It doesn’t matter if you’ve no credit or bad credit, you can easily get the approval.
Dis-advantages to this car rental programs:
- The weekly cost is very high.
- The availability of the rental program in most cities is very less.
How to rent a car for Uber on Craigslist?
Lyft and Uber drivers can rent a car on Craigslist. As the car is already registered on Uber, there’s only one thing that the fleet owner has to do i.e. listing the Lyft or Uber driver on the vehicle insurance policy. The basic motive of any fleet owner is to hire drivers for the vehicles they own. The process of renting a car on Craigslist is:
- Find out your local Craigslist for Uber rental cars.
- Get in touch with the fleet owner and review the leasing agreement that is being offered.
- The fleet owner will then subsequently adjoin your name in the vehicle insurance policy and Uber partner account.
- If in case your name isn’t added then, you might need to have your background screening test done.
Like other rental companies which have partnered with Uber, Craigslist also gives a new way of experiencing driving for Uber without actually owning the vehicle.
WHAT TYPES OF CARS QUALIFY FOR LYFT AND UBER DRIVERS?
The primitive thing that you need to keep in mind before you start accessing a vehicle for Lyft or Uber is the type of cars that are acceptable by both the TLC companies. In general, Uber requires vehicles to have the following:
- FEATURES: The vehicle should have 4 doors and seat belts for 4 passengers.
- MECHANICAL INSPECTION: The car should pass the mechanical inspection and have an excellent cosmetic shape.
- MODEL YEAR OF THE CAR: Many cities require cars to be at least 10 years or newer.
To know more about Lyft vehicle requirements and Uber vehicle requirements, click on the link above.
HOW TO APPLY FOR UBER AND LYFT WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE A CAR?
There are special application provisions that give you the opportunity to let Uber or Lyft know that you don’t have a vehicle.
Click here and we’ll help you. Also, you’ll be able to know whether Uber will accept your application without any information about the vehicle on the registration form. Furthermore, we can help you to notify Lyft that you’re going to need a vehicle. It means they’re going to provide you with the allowance to proceed with the process of background check.
GOOD QUALITY AUTO LOANS IF IN CASE YOU DECIDE TO BUY A CAR
If in case you decide to buy a car for Uber driving then, it’s always wise to have good auto loans options in hand.
Advantages:
Since you’re the owner of the car, you have the decision making power in your hands. Therefore, it would be your choice if you want to sell the car or you can use it the way you like to.
Disadvantages:
You might have to pay a lot when it comes to car payment if in case the vehicle is costly and Uber isn’t very profitable.
We provide with a wide range of insurances to protect you and your family from any unexpected circumstances. Along with it, we give you the amplified knowledge of these.
