HyreCar Review 2022

One of the biggest requirements holding a lot of new and prospective rideshare and delivery drivers back is an eligible vehicle. Below, senior rsg contributors christian perea and paula gibbins review a popular new rental service called hyrecar.

These days there are lots of different options for drivers in need of a rideshare eligible vehicle. But figuring out which one makes the most sense for your personal situation can be a daunting task.

If you want to sign up to be a rideshare or delivery driver for the gig economy, click here to see gig job openings.

Hyrecar Review

Previously, we’ve assessed uber’s xchange renting program (which does not exist anymore) and lyft’s express drive program, yet today we will discuss perhaps of the most famous privately owned business leasing vehicles to rideshare drivers called hyrecar.

We’ve gotten a ton of inquiries from drivers about hyrecar so we did some examination, conversed with the organization and talked with drivers who have utilized the help to assemble this hyrecar survey.

This is the very thing you want to be aware of hyrecar:

What is HyreCar?

HyreCar is a commercial center explicitly intended for rideshare drivers that permits drivers to lease a vehicle to drive with Uber, Lyft or some other on-request organization like Postmates, Doordash, Instacart, Grubhub, and so on.

Confidential vehicle proprietors list their vehicles for lease on the site and likely tenants/rideshare drivers can figure out the postings and lease a vehicle. The majority of the vehicles have previously been reviewed and endorsed for rideshare stages and HyreCar gives protection as well.

With hyrecar, you can rent a car to drive for uber if you don’t have an eligible vehicle or you can even rent out your own car to those who want to drive for uber and make some money that way.

Renters can often get on the road in under 24 hours and, since it’s a marketplace, there are a ton of different cars to pick from: we found everything from a bare-bones hyundai to mercedes e-classes. But during our hyrecar review, we found that most listings were for economy cars best suited for gas mileage and rideshare.

Keep in mind that hyrecar is a marketplace similar to airbnb so the company itself doesn’t own any cars. Instead, they connect car owners with rideshare drivers in need of a vehicle.

Is HyreCar Legit?

For a stage like this to work, there must be protections to guarantee that postings are genuine, protection is sufficient, and that things are dealt with well for drivers and vehicle proprietors. There must be trust.

Hyrecar’s stock is made up altogether of individual vehicle proprietors and the majority of those vehicles have proactively been examined by uber/lyft before they are leased on their site. This is significant for rideshare drivers since you would rather not invest energy getting a vehicle examined on the off chance that you’re simply going to involve it for a couple of days all at once.

In the event that the vehicle you need hasn’t been endorsed for uber/lyft yet however, you’ll have to take it to a uber review parcel or your own specialist and afterward get the examination desk work added to your profile (uber typically supports new vehicles inside a couple of hours)

Hyrecar will actually call the owner of every new listing to make sure it is not a scam or a false listing. I tested this by posting a listing for a ford fiesta using fake information and a fake photo from the internet. They called me the next day to verify that i wasn’t making things up. Apparently, they wouldn’t let me rent out my fake listing because my safety form was a picture of chewbacca

HyreCar Insurance 

Previously, hyrecar shared the following information on its insurance for renters:

Hyrecar’s insurance policy is pretty similar to a standard rideshare insurance policy although the deductible may be a bit higher than what you’re used to. And remember, if you get into an accident while you’re on a trip or en route to a passenger, you would go through the tncs for coverage (uber has a $1,000 deductible and lyft has a $2,500 deductible).

Hyrecar’s insurance was generated specifically for rideshare drivers. If you do not pay with a credit card, you will be assessed a $200 refundable deposit. If you choose to pay with a credit card, you will not be assessed this deposit.

Background check: if you are new to hyrecar, there is a background check that you need to pass before you can rent a car. It can take some time but you only have to do it once. There’s also a fee but it’s refundable if you don’t pass the check.

Is HyreCar A Good Deal?

During our hyrecar review we found that prices vary, but here’s an example of a typical deal in los angeles:

You can get a 2020 toyota corolla for $280 a week plus $13/day for insurance and a 10% transaction fee. This comes out to about $375/week or roughly $1,500/month.

That’s an adjusted total of $50/day to rent a car and drive for uber and/or lyft.

There is a lot of diversity in the vehicles available on hyrecar though, so pricing will definitely vary based on whether the vehicle can drive select, xl, the age of the vehicle, gas mileage, etc.

$1,500/month is steep but this lease could still make sense for people without a lot of other options.

If you don’t have the credit to finance a vehicle on your own or be approved for a loan
Hyrecar is in dozens of markets across the us so if you live in a smaller market, this could be your best and only option
If you want a short term flexible solution compared to other longer term leases
If you want to try driving any variety of new vehicles such as select or xl before purchasing your own vehicle

How to Use the HyreCar Driver Website

The hyrecar website is fairly easy to navigate, but it also has a lot of information, which it can be intimidating. Whether you’re a driver or car owner, the website is the same, but it is broken into sections with individualized information for each.

You’ll want to start on the how it works page for a basic breakdown of what becoming a hyrecar driver looks like. It’s laid out in a timeline fashion showing what order you need to get things done in so that you can get on the road as quickly and painlessly as possible. The left side of the page is specific to drivers and the right is for car owners. There are some steps that a car owner needs to take before you do your step to move forward in the process. So, while you’re focusing mainly on the driver’s side of the timeline, keep an eye out for the owner side to make sure you’re not getting ahead of yourself.

If after reading through the “how it works” page, it sounds like something you’re interested in trying out, the next step would be to sign up for a hyrecar account, as you can’t do much of anything else on the website without it.

Once you sign into your account and choose the option “rent a car” while logging in, you’ll be brought to a page that looks similar to this:

From this page, you’re able to scroll through the cars that are currently available to rent through hyrecar. You can click on each available car to learn more information about it including how much it would cost if you wanted to rent it, plus the insurance and transaction fees. It also will show a brief description of the car as written by the owner.

The cost of renting a car will vary and is chosen solely by the owner of the vehicle. There’s no minimum or maximum an owner can charge for their vehicle to be rented. Be sure it fits into your budget, especially if you’re planning on renting long-term.

While you’re within the car profile, you are able to select the number of days you’d like to rent it for at a time. Keep in mind, the total that you’ll see is due in full before you’re able to rent the car. Do not fear, you can always choose to extend your rental at any time during the rental period and pay a new amount for the extended number of days. From there you complete the process for renting the vehicle.

Application for renting out a vehicle:

If you have questions about anything, the easiest way to get answers is to scroll to the bottom of the page you’re on and click on the support link or the help button depending on where you are on the website. The help button will bring up a search bar for you to start a search for whatever you’re questioning. Similarly, the support link will bring you to a search page that will link you to their pre-made articles to answer any questions you might have.

Once you’re approved for renting the vehicle and passed your background check, the next step is picking up the vehicle. You’ll need to organize with the owner of the vehicle the time and place for the exchange.

Then the car is yours for the duration of the rental period. If you rented it for 3 days, you’ll have 3 days exactly to get the car back to the owner. During that 3-day period, if you decide this is pretty awesome and you want to keep renting the vehicle, you can extend the lease for the number of days you’re willing/able to pay for up front as long as the owner is willing to allow you to do so.

HyreCar Claims App

Let’s say someone rear ends the car when you’re renting it. What now? First, review this damage claim policy that hyrecar has posted on their website. The long and the short of it is, if anything were to happen during the rental period such as an accident, you as the driver would be responsible for it. When you rent a car, you pay for hyrecar’s insurance policy which covers quite a bit, but keep in mind, it does not cover:

Scratches, dents, punctures, window cracks, or dings under 6 inches in length (these are considered normal wear and tear)

• Tire damage
• Loss of income, vehicle downtime, or storage fees
• An alternative rental vehicle during an ongoing claims investigation or during a repair
• Failure of a vehicle’s engine or mechanical components (this is regular maintenance)
• Interior stains, tears, or rips
• Lost car keys

Damage that occurs outside of the active rental time
According to a support representative, “as a driver, if you get into a big or little fender bender, you have to return the car [to the owner] because we don’t want anything else to happen to it. When you confirm drop off, [the hyrecar website] is going to ask you a couple of questions… ‘is the car in the same condition it was picked up’ and you hit no, then it auto generates a claim.”

He went on to say that “if you are the owner, then you can simply log into the mobile app and create a claim to send to us.” the claims app is to be used only by the owner of the vehicle.

HyreCar Strengths

Hyrecar allows drivers to test multiple platforms without restricting them to either uber or lyft; this means they can explore more facets of the rideshare industry before committing themselves long-term.

Fixed Costs

Costs for things like wear and tear are built into the price of renting the car. So it makes those costs more fixed than if you use your own car and have to bear the brunt of extra maintenance, miles, and depreciation of the vehicle. This also makes adding up your costs a lot simpler. At the end of each week, you will know exactly how much you made and exactly how much you spent.

No Strings Attached

One of the trade-offs for a higher weekly payment with hyrecar is that it is extremely flexible. In theory, you can easily get in and out of the rental agreement within a day if you do not like driving or simply want to take a break. This means you only pay for a vehicle when you need it and stop when you don’t.

Hyrecar allows you to rent a car for as little as a couple days and there are no fees to return a car.

Also, with hyrecar, you can actually drive a different vehicle each week until you find your favorite one.

Customer Service

Hyrecar has a phone number to call (try it here! 888-688-6769) and a human answers the phone. In my experience, they were very friendly, responsive to my questions, and knowledgeable in guiding me through the signup process.

One rsg reader (the wanderer) signed up for hyrecar when his car was in the shop and he was equally impressed with their customer service and told us “they were very helpful and knowledgeable.”

Best Use-Cases of HyreCar

I think hyrecar’s best strength is its flexibility, since there are a lot of situations for rideshare drivers where they may only need a car for a few days, weeks or months. Here are some of the best use-cases according to our hyrecar review:

Uberselect or uberxl test: investing in a car that is eligible for uberselect or uberxl is a big decision with heavy financial ramifications. So it’s smart to see if you can get enough business on those platforms in your city before committing to a more expensive select/xl vehicle.

Hyrecar is the only platform we’ve found with select/xl eligible vehicles. It would also be a good test to rent an uberxl eligible vehicle on hyrecar for a week if a big game, event, or convention came to your market.

Car in shop/broken: if your car is in the shop or gets into an accident, you can use hyrecar to get back into a car and get on the road. This goes a long way since a lot of drivers don’t realize that when you get into an accident, you will be temporarily deactivated from uber/lyft until your car is fixed. So, if you normally rely on your uber/lyft income, hyrecar would be one of your best options to make money while your car is being repaired.

Testing the waters: rideshare driving isn’t a great fit for everyone so this could be a great way for new drivers to rent a car and test the waters without having to commit to purchasing a car. And the best part about testing the waters with hyrecar is that you can also test out different cars for a few days at a time; giving you a good idea of whether or not you like any particular make or model of car.

Drawbacks of Using HyreCar

We discovered a few pretty clear downsides to utilizing hyrecar. They include:

Presumably not the most ideal long haul arrangement: most month to month rentals on hyrecar go for around $1,200 per month. Add in $10 per day for protection, in addition to the 10% expense and you rapidly get above $1,500 every month for a rideshare vehicle. That is significantly more than other renting choices and you’ll truly possess to drive full energy for basically up to 14 days consistently before you equal the initial investment on the rental.

Some will wind up utilizing HyreCar on the grounds that they got denied for different choices, yet my recommendation is to give your best for get a vehicle that costs less assuming that you anticipate driving with a rental vehicle for in excess of a couple of months all at once.

Mileage Restricts: Every vehicle on HyreCar has a day to day mileage limit set by the proprietor of the vehicle, yet luckily, these mile limits appear to be high; somewhere in the range of 150 and 300 miles per day. In any case, to drive however much as could be expected to purchase your own vehicle (and try not to lease one for more than $1,000 per month) then those mileage cutoff points might dial you back in going “full scale”.

Getting In/Out of Vehicles: Since every vehicle is claimed by an individual, you really want to organize get/drop-off of the vehicle. A few proprietors might offer free conveyance of the vehicle yet in any case you want to sort out a practical method for getting to/from your vehicle. You will need to make a point to set this up for yourself such that will limit margin time.

HyreCar Choices and Contenders
There are a ton of administrations out there that pair with or supplement the rideshare administrations occupations out there. Three of them are HyreCar, Turo, and Lyft Express.

Hyrecar vs Turo

On Turo’s site, the main thing you see is the message “Way better than a rental vehicle. Book remarkable vehicles from nearby has all over the planet.” This infers that Turo is an overall organization, permitting you to lease vehicles abroad too. Turo appears to have a wide cluster of vehicles accessible too. They range from the Volkswagen Jetta to a Porsche or Tesla and the cost each day costs for those vehicles range from $30 to $128 each day as needs be.

Turo’s site doesn’t appear to push the possibility that these are for rental for the reasons for rideshare driving. On their course of events showing how the activity functions, they state “Go investigate! In the city or the forest, for a couple of days or half a month, regardless, snatch your shades and go make something to think of home about,” which makes it sound like they are involving their administration as a method for supplanting the normal, regular vehicle rental business and putting a curve on it.