Can I Rent a Car for Uber Eats
Best Uber Car Rental & Lyft Car Rental Options
There aren't a lot of requirements to become an Uber or Lyft driver, but one thing that holds a lot of people back is an eligible vehicle.
If you want to learn about the most popular choices for rideshare and delivery rentals, you've come to the right place. At The Rideshare Guy, we've been covering the gig industry since the very beginning.
We've done extensive research to complete our list below of the top companies to rent a car to drive for rideshare and delivery.
Here's our top 3 choices:
- Hyrecar
- Rideshare Carz (Dallas–Fort Worth)
- Lyft Express Drive
Uber and Lyft Car Requirements
In most cities, Uber requires a 15 year old or new car with four doors in order to drive on UberX while Lyft requires a vehicles to be 2001 or new (in some cities) or 2010 or newer (type your city into Lyft's search bar to find which year your city requires).
- Uber driver requirements
- Lyft driver requirements
But for those without an eligible vehicle or even a vehicle at all, there are a whole host of options available for an Uber car rental: everything from buying and leasing programs to daily and hourly rentals. As Uber and Lyft have exploded in popularity, so have these vehicle start-ups, and many of them are specifically tailored to a rideshare driver's needs.
Want to keep up the car you have? Check out our top tips for car maintenance.
They're not even just limited to Uber and Lyft anymore. Some of the rideshare rental options below extend to cover package and food delivery companies like Postmates, DoorDash, Grubhub, Amazon Flex, Instacart, and more. If you need a car lease/rental for an on demand or gig economy job, you're in the right place.
Quick Start
- If your'e ready to get started, HyreCar is the best option for renting a car to drive for Uber, Lyft, Doordash, and most other gig jobs.
- Learn more by reading out Hyrecar review or click here to sign up for Hyrecar so you can start driving ASAP
- Use HyreCar coupon code FREEBGC for a free background check (offer and/or code subject to change)
Bonus offer: Never pay full price for gas again. Click here to learn how .
Here are the most popular rideshare rental options for Uber car rentals and Lyft car rentals, starting with the best options.
1) HyreCar
Wanna know the best part about renting a car from Hyrecar? You can use it to work for any rideshare or delivery company! That includes Uber, Uber Eats, Lyft, Postmates, Doordash, Instacart, or any other food delivery service.
Hyrecar is the best rideshare rental option to drive for Uber and Lyft.
No contracts, no sign up fees, and no waiting.
HyreCar is a vehicle rental market specifically designed for Uber driver car rentals, Lyft driver car rentals, and delivery driver car rentals. It's actually pretty cool because you can filter by price, model, and location to find what fits your needs best. You can rent a rideshare vehicle for as little as 2 days, and it is a great way to test the waters for Uber and Lyft if you want to give it a try without the hassle of car shopping.
HyreCar is a unique rideshare rental option because if you already have a car, you can rent it out on their platform. This means if you want to take a few days or a week off as an Uber driver, you can still put your car to work for you without leaving your house.
They have designed the Uber car rental process to be as quick and easy as possible for drivers to get on the road in as little as 24 hours. A good strategy with HyreCar is that you can rent an UberXL or Uber Select when a big event comes to town. This allows flexibility in operating different Uber products. It is also very useful for when your car is in the shop.
You can sign up for Hyrecar here using our link to get the best deal – Use Hyrecar promo code FREEBGC for a free background check (offer and/or code subject to change)
If you want to learn more, read our Hyrecar review here.
2) RideShare Carz
Our Favorite Pick for Dallas – Fort Worth Drivers
For Dallas/Ft. Worth drivers, check out Rideshare Carz to rent a car and drive for Uber, Lyft, or any delivery platform.
There's a minimum of a two day rental, making Rideshare Carz a great option for a long term rental or for those who need a temporary rental while their car is in the shop.
Best of all? All cars come with rideshare insurance! In addition to rideshare or delivery driving, you can also use the vehicle for personal use (which is rare among rental options for rideshare drivers).
The fact that all cars come with rideshare insurance, in-house maintenance, and tolls, makes this one a winner if you're in the Dallas area.
3) Lyft Express Drive
Lyft has a popular rideshare rental program and it costs between $185 – $235 a week. Uniquely, Lyft offers a "Rental Rewards" program that greatly reduces the cost to rent the vehicle each week (sometimes making it free). So basically this program incentivizes you to do a lot of rides on Lyft, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
If you're a new driver, you'll need to apply to drive with Lyft here and then you can get a car through the Lyft Express Drive Program. If you're an existing driver, you can check the "vehicles" tab of your dashboard within the Lyft Driver app and scroll to the bottom to reserve a car for Express Drive. You can read more about Lyft Express Drive here and read about the experience of actually finding/renting a car here.
How much is the deposit for Lyft Express Drive?
Lyft requires a refundable security deposit for new applicants and existing drivers and, like other rideshare rental companies, the deposit is around $250. However, Lyft does not provide any concrete numbers because they say your deposit depends on "your driving record report and other data."
Where is Lyft Express Drive available?
Lyft Express Drive is available in:
- Atlanta, GA (Flexdrive, Hertz)
- Austin, TX (Flexdrive)
- Baltimore, MD (Flexdrive, Hertz)
- Boston, MA (Flexdrive, Hertz)
- Charlotte, NC (Flexdrive)
- Chicago, IL (Hertz)
- Cincinnati, OH (Flexdrive)
- Dallas, TX (Flexdrive)
- Denver, CO (Flexdrive)
- Detroit, MI (Flexdrive)
- Fort Worth, TX (Flexdrive)
- Houston, TX (Flexdrive)
- Los Angeles, CA (Flexdrive)
- Las Vegas, NV (Hertz)
- Milwaukee, WI (Flexdrive)
- Nashville, TN (Hertz)
- New Orleans, LA (Hertz)
- Oakland, CA (Flexdrive)
- Orange County, CA (Hertz)
- Philadelphia, PA (Flexdrive)
- Phoenix, AZ (Flexdrive)
- Pittsburgh, PA (Flexdrive)
- Portland, OR (Flexdrive)
- Providence, RI (Flexdrive)
- Raleigh Durham, NC (Hertz)
- Richmond, VA (Hertz)
- Salt Lake City, UT (Hertz)
- San Antonio, TX (Flexdrive)
- San Diego, CA (Flexdrive)
- San Francisco, CA (Flexdrive)
- Seattle, WA (Flexdrive)
- Tacoma, WA (Flexdrive)
- Virginia Beach / Hampton Roads / Norfolk, VA (Flexdrive)
- Washington, D.C. (Flexdrive)
4) Rideshare Rental
Rideshare Rental is a company that will help you rent an Uber and Lyft-approved car to get on the road quickly. You'll still need to sign up to drive for Uber and Lyft, but Rideshare Rental will help get you into a professionally cleaned, ready to go vehicle.
Rideshare Rental renters will pay a deposit of $150 once they sign their agreement to rent a vehicle, plus any additional fees.
Rideshare Rental is available in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle, Chicago, North Haven, New Jersey, Connecticut, Miami.
Learn more here and use code harr275 for the best deal.
5) KINTO Share
Formerly known as Launch Mobility, formerly known as Animo (third time's a charm hopefully!).
With KINTO Share, drivers can rent an Uber car rental hourly or weekly to drive for Uber, Lyft and delivery companies. Simply sign up, use "The Rideshare Guy" as the referral code, wait to get approved (within days), and then use your phone as a key to pick up a car at one of their several locations. What makes this service unique is that you pay for only the time and mileage you use.
Pricing with KINTO Share is demand-sensitive. Kinto Share charged $5.50 an hour for unlimited miles, and a weekly rental with Kinto Share is $215/week with unlimited miles. If you want the flexibility and low start-up cost of an hourly rental (plus a company that includes gas!) KINTO Share may be an excellent option if it's available in your city.
KINTO Share is best for part-time drivers since this is a pay-as-you-go model. Full-time drivers will get a better deal with an unlimited mileage program, like HyreCar or Lyft Express.
KINTO Share is currently available in Southern California, Vegas, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City.
Read our review of KINTO Share here.
Never pay full price for gas again. Click here to learn how .
6) Getaround
Getaround is an Uber-only car rental that's available throughout most of California, plus:
- Colorado (Aurora, Boulder, Commerce City and Denver)
- Florida (Hallandale, Hollywood, Miami, Miami Beach and North Miami Beach)
- Georgia (Atlanta, Decatur)
- Illinois (Chicago, Des Plaines, Evanston)
- Much of Massachusetts
- New Jersey
- New York (Astoria, Brooklyn, New York, Sunnyside and Teaneck)
- Portland, OR
- Philadelphia, PA
- Virginia (Alexandria and Arlington)
- Washington (Bellevue, Seattle)
- Washington, DC
Getaround is Uber's preferred partner in the Uber Vehicle Solutions app. With Getaround, you to rent a car by the hour. It's a great way to get a vehicle to drive for Uber without the commitment or cost of owning a car. There's no minimum or maximum amount of time required to rent.
After the first 14 hours are up, drivers will be charged $4 per hour (starting) to use the Getaround car. Also, Getaround's $1 or 3% booking fees are reimbursed for Uber drivers. You can find out more and get a $20 credit here: Uber + Getaround
7) Hertz Car Rental
Hertz has a partnership with Uber and offers weekly rideshare rentals for as little as $214/week plus tax. The Hertz Uber car rental includes unlimited mileage, maintenance, and insurance. You must be an already approved Uber driver in order to qualify for the rental. Once you are a driver, rentals can be reserved a day in advance and must be renewed each week for up to 4 weeks. Here are additional details:
- $200 refundable security deposit
- Credit check, but a 'lower credit requirement'
Hertz Uber car rental is only available in select cities, specifically (as of January 2021): Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Houston, LA, Las Vegas, Miami/FLL, Nashville, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Seattle.
You can find more information on the Uber-Hertz Rental Partnership or sign up here.
8) Private Fleet Owner
Another option that rideshare drivers have is working for a private fleet owner. Fleet owners allow you to rent a vehicle on a per week basis, and they cover all of the maintenance and associated costs. All you're responsible for is the weekly rental payment and gas.
Rideshare rentals from Private Fleet Owners are very prevalent in New York where UberX drivers are required to have commercial insurance and TLC licensing (only UberX market like this). In other cities, many UberSelect and UberBlack drivers will rent their vehicles through a fleet owner. You can learn more about what it's like to drive for a fleet owner here.
9) Turo
Turo is an online vehicle rental marketplace (similar to Airbnb) that connects car owners looking to rent out their personal vehicles with consumers looking to rent cars. So how does this benefit Uber drivers?
- List your car on Turo:One of the best ways to leverage your vehicle is to rent it out on Turo's marketplace since then you can effectively earn passive income without having to drive.
- Rent a car from Turo: As an Uber driver, you can't use one of these vehicles to drive for Uber/Lyft but you can use it if for your personal needs if your car is in the shop getting repairs for example. We've heard from some drivers that they use it for delivery services but according to Turo's TOS, this is not technically allowed.
Please click here to sign up with Turo.
10) GIG Car Share
GIG Car Share offers inexpensive rentals to those who are 18 years old and up, plus allows drivers to drive for delivery companies like DoorDash and Postmates. Pricing varies, but usually it is 44 cents a minute up to one hour, with a $2.50 minimum. For longer trips, GIG charges a flat rate of just $15.99 an hour. GIG Car Share is currently available in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, and Seattle.
Read our full GIG Car Share review.
11) Avis Car Rental
The Avis + Uber car rental partnership is an excellent option for Uber driversbecause it's available to so many drivers around the US. You can rent a car through Avis to drive for Uber in these locations: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis – St. Paul, Nashville, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, DC.
With your Avis rental, for $214 a week, you will get:
- Liability insurance coverage
- Basic maintenance
You must be 25 years old to rent with Avis and have a valid credit card. A soft credit check is required only if you use a debit card.
Learn more about the Uber + Avis rental program.
12) DriveItAway
DriveItAway partners only with licensed local car dealers all over the country that list vehicles on their platform to allow anyone/everyone to buy a vehicle, beginning in rental, regardless of credit, with an easy, transparent, turn-key in app way, accruing the rental payments towards the down payment for future purchase.
There is no contract or obligation to buy your rental vehicle, but if you do, your rental fees go to build your own down payment.
You use your vehicle to work for any ride share or delivery company, or just use it for your own purposes, no requirements, no obligations, no sign-up fees. If you are approved to drive ride share, we don't even require any other background or DMV check, so no additional fees on that front as well.
Learn more about DriveItAway here.
13) UCars
UCars is a car rental company that started in 2014. They have locations in both Phoenix, Arizona and Dallas, Texas.
All of their cars are hybrids, which allows drivers to hold on to more of their money.
Their main goal is to help drivers get out on the road and make money as quickly as possible. Some drivers have been using them for years due to the savings in maintenance and gas, which offsets the rental fees.
Learn more about UCars here.
14) Sally
If you live in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, or San Francisco, check out Sally. You can rent a Tesla, Niro, Camry, RAV4 or Sienna (as of 11/2021) to drive with Uber or Lyft. The rental also covers insurance, maintenance, and 24/7 support.
Check out my interview with Nick Williams of Sally, where we chat about what it's like being a fleet owner and more: What it's Like to Operate a Fleet of Tesla Taxis and Rideshare EVs
Learn more about Sally here.
Outside the United States
Looking for car rental programs outside the United States? Splend has you covered in the United Kingdom and Australia! Splend not only rents out cars to Uber drivers but also has a rent to own program for drivers as well.
If you live in the UK or Australia, check out Splend here!
No Longer In Service (R.I.P.)
The following rideshare rental companies are no longer in business but we've kept them here for informational purposes only.
Fair – Uber Car Rental (No Longer in Service)
Fair acquired Uber's Xchange Leasing portfolio and partnered with Uber to offer rideshare vehicles to Uber drivers, and now they're the go-to option for those looking to get a car to drive for Uber.
Fair expects to expand to the rest of the U.S. by the end of the year. They're official partners with Uber and, if it's available in your area, you can actually use the Uber Driver app to start your application with Fair.
Alternatively, you can also download their app from the Google Play Store or iOS App Store and sign in with your Uber account to find a car. They also have cars available for non-rideshare drivers, so make sure you sign in using the Uber option of the app.
According to the company, "Fair is trying to revolutionize the way people get access to cars by offering a way to get a car with no long-term contract."
You can read our Fair app review here.
Uber Xchange Leasing (No Longer in Service)
Uber's XChange Leasing program started in 2015 and was designed to get drivers into cars, on the road, and making money faster than traditional methods. The program leased cars to drivers who otherwise wouldn't qualify for a loan on their own. Unfortunately, Uber shuttered this program in 2017. You can read more about the reasons why Uber ended the XChange Leasing program, but for drivers who currently have an XChange lease,Uber will continue to support you as normal going forward.
Uber + Enterprise (No Longer in Service)
In 2015, Uber also partnered with Enterprise Rent-a-Car, where drivers had access to a discounted rental car for which they would pay weekly. Unfortunately, in 2017 it looks like this program is ending as well.
Evercar (No longer in service)
Evercar ceased operations on 10/10/2016. Evercar was one of the best rental options. It let you rent by the hour, the vehicles were already setup to drive for Uber, Lyft, and other on-demand apps. Gas, maintenance, car-washes, and insurance were included. Their company vision was also really big on EV's and hybrids, so if you are into that sort of thing, they were a good option.
Rates varied between $5/hr for Nissan Leaf in LA, $7/hr for a Prius in LA, or $8/hr for a Prius in SF.
Evercar was a good option for those who want to test the waters of rideshare or drive without committing to a car lease. It was also a great option for those who want to drive-part time because you didn't have to do a minimum number of rides to waive a rental fee. There was no credit check, but there was a $25 background check fee that went towards your first rental if you passed.
Maven Gig (No longer in service)
Maven Gig is no longer in business.
GM offered rideshare drivers a product called Maven Gig. With Maven, drivers got access to new Chevrolet models including the Cruze, Malibu, Impala, Trax, and Bolt EV. They charged a weekly rate depending on the car model you chose, and you got access to:
- Unlimited miles
- Maintenance included
- Insurance (minus the deductible)
- OnStar roadside assistance
With the Maven program, you're eligible to drive for Uber and Lyft, delivery services like Postmates and DoorDash, and package delivery like Amazon Flex.
From drivers we've spoken to, this program was pretty popular and it was tough to get a car, so you had to be patient and persistent if this program was available in your city.
WaiveCar (No longer in service)
WaiveCars electric rideshare rental vehicles were free for at least the first two hours of driving because advertisers had pay to have their ads displayed on the vehicles. If you need more time, you had to pay $5.99 per hour.
Sign up to drive for Uber, Doordash, Instacart, etc.
If you'd like to become a rideshare or delivery driver check out our list of the best gig jobs including Uber Eats, Lyft, Postmates, and DoorDash.
👉 Click here to read about the best gig jobs in general
👉 Click here to learn about the best food delivery apps to work for
Vehicle Inspections for Uber and Lyft Car Rentals
You'll need to get an inspection from a mechanic before you get on the road, but finding the right one (and getting in quickly) can be a hassle. Rideshare Mechanic is one option that provides fast, convenient rideshare inspections. Click here to check them out.
You can also check out the following mechanics for rideshare drivers: RepairPal review and RepairSmith review
Gas and Insurance for Rideshare Rentals
Once you have your car and are ready to drive for Uber and Lyft, head to our rideshare insurance article to find out what the best insurance options are for rideshare drivers.
And if you're looking to save money on gas, then check out the best gas apps here. The best gas app is GetUpside. We recommend downloading the GetUpside app to save money on every gallon of gas you buy.
If you're looking for other ways to make money fast, see 25 more ways in our how to make a quick $100 article.
Electric Vehicle Options for Rideshare Drivers
Interested in an electric vehicle for rideshare driving? We have a list of the best EVs for Uber and Lyft drivers here. Our top recommendations?
- Ford CMax or Fusion Energi
- Pacifica PHEV
- Nissan Leaf
- Tesla Model S
- Chevy Bolt EV
Worried about battery life or the ability to charge your electric vehicle while driving? We interviewed one electric vehicle rideshare driver about his experience – it might surprise you! Read more about what it's like driving an electric car for Uber and Lyft here.
Drivers, what do you think about all of the available leasing/rental options? What's your experience been like?
Can I Rent a Car for Uber Eats
Source: https://therideshareguy.com/uber-car-rental/