Lyft Launches Express Drive Car Rental with GM
Last year, Lyft announced that they would be allowing drivers to rent cars to drive on Lyft through Hertz. After about 5 months, the program only exists in two cities: Denver and Las Vegas. When the program was announced, it would offer a multitude of rental periods, from days, weeks or month long periods. However, it website says it only offers week long rentals. It still offers a lot of flexibility for drivers, but it is unfortunately only offered in two cities. Here are the weekly rates:
- Denver: $139 a week
- Las Vegas: $119 a week
On top of this, Lyft is offering a bonus in Denver to cover the cost of the rental if you complete 65 trips.
Uber also announced a similar plan just a month after Lyft that they would be partnering with Enterprise to offer weekly rentals. The weekly rate is $210, significantly higher than Lyft’s rates. Their program current exists in six cities: Denver, New Jersey, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Boston.
This latest announcement comes on the heels of Lyft and GM’s partnership with self driving cars. Lyft announced that they would be offering short term car rentals to drivers and depending on the number of trips per week, the rental may be free, similar Lyft’s program with Hertz. The cost is week to week, but this program has limited availability. The car will need to be swapped every 8 weeks for maintenance. Here are some other tidbits:
- When using a rental, Lyft’s Rental Rewards Program can help reduce your weekly costs. This program includes mileage and rental reimbursement rewards. Drivers would not be eligible for Power Driver Bonus or any kind of average hourly guarantees.
- Express Pay is not available when driving a rental car.
- Lyft now allows for multiple cars on the platform so you can switch cars when you like. However, when you do so, you will still not be eligible for Power Drivers Bonus or Average hourly guarantees.
Below is the announcement:
Lyft and GM have partnered to provide affordable access to rentals like the Chevrolet Equinox. It starts with a Lyft-exclusive weekly rental rate, and the cost goes down as your rides go up.
- $0/week* – Give 65+ rides a week
- $99/week – Give 40 rides a week
- $99/week + 20¢/mile – Give less than 40 rides a week
To sweeten the deal, insurance and maintenance are always included. Plus, for 20¢/mile, you can use the car for personal use during your rental period.
Personal Miles?
From the details of the two programs, Lyft’s rental cost does not include personal miles while Uber’s rental rates do. If you only use the car for driving on Lyft or Uber, Lyft’s rental rate is much more attractive, considering the bonus for driving a set number of trips a week. Keep in mind that if you get into an accident while not in driver mode, it will be the rental car coverage that applies. In most cases, you will be responsible for any damage on the rental car, unless you either have rental car coverage as part of your personal automobile insurance, or that there is rental car coverage with your credit card (most credit cards offer it through Visa or Mastercard).
Summary
For full time drivers that do not have the capital or financial means to get their own car, renting a car can be a good short term option to save enough money to purchase a car. It may not make much sense for part time drivers who drive less than 65 rides a week (~25 hours a week). If you drive more than 65 trips a week, the rental is free. However, personal miles on Lyft is still charged at 20 cents a mile.
Note that if you give 40 rides a week, the rental fee is $99 but personal miles are free according to the announcement. $99 buys you 495 miles for the week, but I rarely find myself driving 500 personal miles a week.
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