# Experience with renting cars from Lyft/Uber through Hertz or other programs?



## johanabooyah (Feb 6, 2019)

Hi, I'm a reporter with the LA Times. I've covered Uber/Lyft for about 5 years -- 1st at BuzzFeed then at Recode now at the LA Times. So there is a chance I've spoken to some of you at one point or another. I'm shifting back to covering more of the labor issues & in covering the driver strike in LA came across people who were struggling to cover their rental payments for cars they rented through Lyft Express Drive. I'm curious about others' experience with this on both Uber and Lyft -- is it worth it, how much are you paying, what are the benefits, etc.

At this point it's a general inquiry but it struck me that there are some homeless drivers who rented a car through the companies just to get back on their feet & sometimes have to sleep in their cars bc of how costly it is.

Please feel free to reach out to me in this thread or through DM. Thank you.

Article on the strike:
https://www.latimes.com/business/te...-driver-strike-la-pay-cut-20190323-story.html


----------



## Jefferson DDBY (Jul 27, 2018)

I have to get to bed but I’ll leave this placeholder to remind me to leave feedback tomorrow.


----------



## UberXBoston (Aug 13, 2014)

I can’t imagine getting enough rides to cover a Lyft rental. There just aren’t enough rides.


----------



## ABC123DEF (Jun 9, 2015)

Uber = the only full-time "job" you take to actually LOSE money and your sanity.


----------



## Aerodrifting (Aug 13, 2017)

Try LA forum, You will get a lot more views and responses there. There are many posts about Hertz/Fair rental before, You might have to dig them using the search function.


----------



## occupant (Jul 7, 2015)

Sleeping in a rental car sounds luxurious compared to sleeping on concrete. What do you need to cover, 85 rides? And that pays the rental? So your costs for the week as a homeless person running Lyft are...food, gas, truck stop or gym showers, laundry, and vacuuming/washing? Sounds legit decent compared to holding a cardboard sign and having people throw stuff at you from their cars.

Kinda wish Uber/Lyft was around in 2003-2004 it would've been a better start for me than the courier work I ended up doing to get off the street. But sleeping in a $200 minivan wasn't bad at first... (it did suck when the heater core blew out one overnight, at least I didn't overheat the thing or die of coolant fumes).


----------



## NOXDriver (Aug 12, 2018)

johanabooyah said:


> came across people who were struggling to cover their rental payments for cars they rented through Lyft Express Drive


So you found some people who are bad at business and think its a story? Just call them the bad decision makers that they are and that they should get a job that has benefits and a decent wage.

Or are you just gonna get on the social justice wagon an demand that Uber pay more simply because people want more pay for less work?


----------



## Uber1010 (Mar 25, 2019)

NOXDriver said:


> So you found some people who are bad at business and think its a story? Just call them the bad decision makers that they are and that they should get a job that has benefits and a decent wage.
> 
> Or are you just gonna get on the social justice wagon an demand that Uber pay more simply because people want more pay for less work?


I will be happy to assist you with you knowledge. why driver's whant more money ...it is very simple because the state the city and town where they work are belong to the this driver's ..Uber Lyft went much to far with the interest from 20%they went up to 60% and little by little are draning out all the money from the transportation industry in specific state and those money supposed to be invested in our streets bridge. ... Not to invest in flying cars in South Arabia with our money


----------



## uberdriverfornow (Jan 10, 2016)

occupant said:


> Sleeping in a rental car sounds luxurious compared to sleeping on concrete. What do you need to cover, 85 rides? And that pays the rental? So your costs for the week as a homeless person running Lyft are...food, gas, truck stop or gym showers, laundry, and vacuuming/washing? Sounds legit decent compared to holding a cardboard sign and having people throw stuff at you from their cars.
> 
> Kinda wish Uber/Lyft was around in 2003-2004 it would've been a better start for me than the courier work I ended up doing to get off the street. But sleeping in a $200 minivan wasn't bad at first... (it did suck when the heater core blew out one overnight, at least I didn't overheat the thing or die of coolant fumes).


it used to be that you could get the Lyft rental for free but they changed that a couple years ago which is when I stopped express drive

now even if you the max you still pay $80 a week or so

its just not worth it since you dont get as many rides on lyft ad uber


----------



## occupant (Jul 7, 2015)

uberdriverfornow said:


> it used to be that you could get the Lyft rental for free but they changed that a couple years ago which is when I stopped express drive
> 
> now even if you the max you still pay $80 a week or so
> 
> its just not worth it since you dont get as many rides on lyft ad uber


$80 a week is a lot cheaper than other rentals. $80 a week is less than a lot of buy here pay here places. The one that advertises heaviest near me is called "Great City Cars" I call it Great Sh*tty Cars. $300 down $95 a week for 15 months. You're literally paying $6475 over time for a $600-$1000 car. And it's not like they're reconditioned. They don't even vacuum and take trash out. I test drove a van from them once (again I say...ONCE) and there were collections bills in the glovebox, burger wrappers on the floor, and kids toys stuck in the seat tracks so I couldn't move the seat back far enough until I cleared that mess out.

So $80 a week for a new-ish car to do just Lyft is OK. Cheapest things I see on Fair are $130 a week for rideshare. You can never own those either, but the deposit is higher, more like $500-$1000 depending on the car.

If I end up moving out to Vegas or DFW or somewhere warm, I'll look into both options.


----------



## UberXBoston (Aug 13, 2014)

Renting through Uber sucks. They give you old dirty cars. The staff is rude. They don’t explain how anything works and then treat you like you are stupid when you don’t know. They force you to show up every 28 days so they can “inspect” the car for five seconds. They literally just walk around the vehicle.

They expect the driver to take it to a garage for maintenance. Don’t waste your money. Just buy a car.


----------



## occupant (Jul 7, 2015)

UberXBoston said:


> Renting through Uber *IN BOSTON* sucks. They give you old dirty cars. The staff is rude. They don't explain how anything works and then treat you like you are stupid when you don't know. They force you to show up every 28 days so they can "inspect" the car for five seconds. They literally just walk around the vehicle.
> 
> They expect the driver to take it to a garage for maintenance. Don't waste your money. Just buy a car.


fixed that for you


----------

