Lyft Express Drive: The Lyft Rental Car Option
Driving for Lyft is a part time or full time driving job . One of the most common questions is: can I drive for Lyft without a car? While there are some driver requirements and background check requirements that apply to every applicant, you do not need a car and own a personal vehicle to drive for Uber and Lyft.
If you are reading this article you already know that in certain cases leasing a car is better than buying one.
Often the lease is cheaper than a loan, you can get a prettier car and since you will use the car for business purposes, a lease will offer you more tax write-offs than a loan. That’s because the IRS allows you to deduct both the depreciation and the financing costs that are part of each monthly payment.
Driving with Lyft, you cannot borrow your neighbours' cars. So, why not lease it! You can get a car through Lyft and in particular with the Lyft rental program.
The Lyft Express Drive program helps you rent a vehicle, so you can start driving and making money as a rideshare driver in select cities. In this complete guide you will learn everything you need to know about the Lyft driver car rental including the availability, requirements, costs and how to gain access to qualified vehicles.
Lyft is not a rental car company. However, you can rent or lease a vehicle through their rental car partners:
You don't have to lease a car for one year and you do not even need to have a 3 month car lease. Lyft car lease provides weekly rental with no long term rental commitment. This means that the express rent a car allows you to borrow a car to make money and return it after 7 days or keep renting it.
You will not get a car for free. So, you should start by asking yourself what car is right for me? Driving with ride sharing companies and other on demand services, you are responsible for gas expenses. You should always track your mileage, know all the fuel-efficient driving techniques and use gas cash back apps. Hybrid cars are best suits for rideshare services.
The rental vehicles include good standing car types. In particular flexdrive car solutions include a wide range of type of cars including:
The Flexdrive app stock includes sedans and compact vehicles, full-size and compact SUVs. Luxury cars are often available at some flexdrive locations.
⚠️ You need to schedule an appointment to pick up your vehicle.
Lyft imposes unique restrictions on drivers who rent cars through its Express rental program:
💡 Example: Your express rental include 350 personal miles. You’ll be charged $25 for 50 extra miles you drive over the limit.
However, if you give a certain number of Lyft rides, some or all of your rental costs can be covered by rental rewards. We suggest you read accurately the car lease terms, in this case the Lyft Flexdrive rental agreement.
Additionally, working with Lyft you should always know how the driver pay works and all the tips to increase your earnings.
Here is a complete list of all the requirements to lease a vehicle with Lyft:
In addition to the basic requirements, drivers must also be clear of a set of violations that will disqualify them from being a Lyft driver and pass a background check .
Related Article: How to practice driving and become a better driver
You do not need a reservation and you do not need to schedule a vehicle inspection! However, the Hertz Lyft program requires a refundable security deposit. The amount of the deposit is on average $200 but can vary depending on your market and DMV check.
By using the Hertz Lyft rental option, the security deposit will be blocked. They do not actually take out all that money, however this reduces the amount available in your account.
The car rental deposit may be paid with a credit or debit card. The card must be in the renter's name. Prepaid or stored value cards are not accepted to qualify for rental.
Is leasing a car worth it? Buying a car is naturally more expensive since you have to pay the entire purchase price of the vehicle. Here is a list with the main benefits of the Lyft rental program.
Get a car any time and return it when you want.
Insurance and all preventive and routine maintenance are always included in your rental rate.
The Lyft car program allows you to drive with Lyft with no cap on miles for Lyft and extra miles for personal use.
The program is currently available in the major cities of US including:
If you want to learn more about the Lyft rental cost, it is important that you know that the Lyft car rental cost starts at $219 a week and rises as high as $479 a week in New York, depending on the plan and the car types you will choose.
Of course your weekly payments will not include tickets, taxes, and other fees like late returns.
To find better deals, we always suggest you compare different gig car rates.
Since you can drive for Lyft with no car, you can also apply for lyft and get your bonus drive. The application process will be the same and we suggest you take a look at our tutorial.
Is the bonus drive legit? Yes. If you use a Lyft promo code, you will get your guarantee for completing a certain number of rides in a set frame of time.
If you are new to the Lyft platform, do not forget to sign up with our promo code. The express application is the same. So, you will get the new driver promotion (offer and/or code subject to Lyft terms). Follow our step by step tutorial:
Every vehicle comes with insurance, The coverage may be different depending on the rental partners and the local regulations and/or state laws.
Lyft's insurance coverage applies while you are online. We suggest you take a look at our infographic. Please read the rental agreement carefully as it contains important information regarding your legal right.
Basically there are three different coverages:
Lyft maintains the following auto insurance on your behalf in case of a covered accident:
If you are involved in an accident while driving with Express Drive, follow these steps:
Related Article: Why is My Car Insurance So High?
The rideshare rental marketplace is growing fast. Express drive is only one of the options and sometimes not the cheapest one. Recently new rideshare rent apps and dealerships became competitive players. In addition, as we said if you are also an Uber driver, you will not be allowed to drive a car rented via Lyft driver car rental.
We suggest you take a look at our complete guide to rideshare rental services.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Lyft partners have access to direct financial aid available to individuals who have lost income including loans or emergency cash advances that may be forgivable.
In general it is not that complicated for rideshare drivers, even if non-U.S. citizens, to get loans to buy a car and use your Lyft income to make loan payments.
Nope! You cannot use a normal rental car for Lyft. You have to lease your car through a rideshare rental. Indeed the car you use to make money with Lyft should always meet the vehicle requirements and should have passed the 19 point vehicle inspection.
Getting started with Lyft is free. If you rent the car you need the money to pay the deposit. Keep in mind that as self employed there are some hidden costs including:
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If you don't have a car or your car doesn't qualify, just sign up to drive with Lyft and you'll get access to flexible and affordable leasing options available, but Lyft will not give you a car.
While you can lease from Lyft a car, you cannot get any help to buy a car to drive for the rideshare company.
Yep! You may qualify for a certain mortgage based on your earnings history, credit score and down payment. Keep in mind that as a gig worker, you're really the one in the best position to determine how much of a mortgage payment you can keep up with on a monthly basis.
Making money driving for a rideshare company like Lyft is a great opportunity to earn extra cash in your spare time. If you do not own a car, you can rent a car to do Lyft. Lyft provides a car to lease for you via their rental car program. Finally if you do not find vehicles available or you want to rent a car for Uber and Lyft, feel free to check other rideshare rental options.
