# Lyft to offer bank accounts, exclusive auto repair shops to entice drivers



## mrpjfresh (Aug 16, 2016)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/26/tech/lyft-car-repair-bank-account/index.html
*Lyft's latest driver perks: bank accounts, car repairs*
By Matt McFarland, CNN Business
Updated 9:16 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2019









Lyft continues to look for new ways to lure drivers to its platform.

The ride-sharing company said Tuesday it will open its own repair shops nationwide, offering deep discounts on things like flat tire fixes, brake work and oil changes, and provide free bank accounts in a bid to attract and retain drivers.

Lyft announced the perks before its initial public offering, which is expected to come as early as Friday. The San Francisco-based tech company, which lost $911 million in 2018, must convince investors it can turn a profit.

Lyft believes it can make its auto service centers *more efficient* than existing repair shops with modern manufacturing techniques. Many repairs don't require vehicles to be in a garage stall and a raised on a lift. Instead, McNeil described an assembly line system he likened to a NASCAR pit stop, staffed by technicians who are Lyft employees.

"That car can pull in, four people can attack those tires, get them off at the same time and get them replaced. What can take a half hour can take less than 10 minutes," said McNeil, who previously worked at Tesla, which opened its own repair centers during his tenure.

(Continued at the link)


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## Lee239 (Mar 24, 2017)

So now Lyft if going to have to hire more employees and lease or buy garage space for this nonsense. It seems they are trying to lose more money. Walmart offers $20 oil changes. For $30 they will check all the fluids and lights, and air pressure and vacuum the car. and I don't want to be driven by people who can't keep a bank account and have to look to Lyft for that.


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## jaxbeachrides (May 27, 2015)

What a joke. $70 for an oil change tire rotation and car wash. I can do all 3 in 30 minutes with synthetic oil for $20. By hand.

I'm sure they want a bank account to hold the money they pay you too. What they will quickly learn is that theres never any left.

They even thought you were going to pay 70 for an oil change. The insanity of thinking you would drive 10 hours to pay for an oil change. Sounds about right.


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## Taksomotor (Mar 19, 2019)

They should do it free for full timers, those who put at least 40 hrs a week driving for them. They should give discounts to part timers, maybe based on their current level. Plus they can start using it for promotions, like drive 100 trips, in a month, get 50% off oil change, etc... A lot of possibilities. Not a bad idea.


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## Iann (Oct 17, 2017)

Looks like a straight up chop shop out of GTA.

I wonder about the quality of the training the workers will go through if any at all.


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## FormerTaxiDriver♧ (Apr 5, 2018)

mrpjfresh said:


> https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/26/tech/lyft-car-repair-bank-account/index.html
> *Lyft's latest driver perks: bank accounts, car repairs*
> By Matt McFarland, CNN Business
> Updated 9:16 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2019
> ...


Lyft is LYING!


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## Trafficat (Dec 19, 2016)

I'll be the outlier here and hope that Lyft makes it work. I hate getting service on my car. It seems like it always takes 90 minutes to do the simplest things. My oil changes technically cost $35, but since they take 90 minutes, they actually have a much higher opportunity cost considering the rides I can't take while I wait.


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## Wonkytonk (Jan 28, 2018)

No thanks, I don't need for them to decide my rotors need to be replaced because they reckon so and that I can't go back online until after I've proven the work has been done where the proving is exponentially easier if I have the work down at their repair center. 

The thought of them abusing me even more and thinking of me as a profit center now for routine vehicle maintenance I find offensive.

What are the odds once they get them going that they won't require vehicle inspections to drive on the platform.

Not that that's a completely bad thing but it just opens the door for even more abuse of drivers, and frankly I don't trust either company as far as I can throw 'em, and I've got a bad back from hours behind the wheel, so, you know, not very far, actually not at all.


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## MoreTips (Feb 13, 2017)

Wonkytonk said:


> No thanks, I don't need for them to decide my rotors need to be replaced because they reckon so and that I can't go back online until after I've proven the work has been done where the proving is exponentially easier if I have the work down at their repair center.
> 
> The thought of them abusing me even more and thinking of me as a profit center now for routine vehicle maintenance I find offensive.
> 
> ...


Bingo, my thoughts exactly.


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## 1.5xorbust (Nov 22, 2017)

I’d rather have my mother work on my car than Lyft.


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## 25rides7daysaweek (Nov 20, 2017)

mrpjfresh said:


> https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/26/tech/lyft-car-repair-bank-account/index.html
> *Lyft's latest driver perks: bank accounts, car repairs*
> By Matt McFarland, CNN Business
> Updated 9:16 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2019
> ...


This is probably groundwork for facilities like that to service driverless cars. I personally think a winged monkey will fly out of my butt before that ever happens.....


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## FormerTaxiDriver♧ (Apr 5, 2018)

25rides7daysaweek said:


> This is probably groundwork for facilities like that to service driverless cars. I personally think a winged monkey will fly out of my butt before that ever happens.....


@Rakos member wants his butt done


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## VanGuy (Feb 15, 2019)

Wouldn't it make more sense for independent contractor shops? Guys getting paid the lowest dollar per car to roll through their butcher shops/car repair centers.


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## amazinghl (Oct 31, 2018)

Lyft should review why it isn't making money and fix that instead of more expanding.


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## Fozzie (Aug 11, 2018)

Gimmicky service centers aren't going to help retain drivers. Treating drivers with respect and paying them an honest wage will. 

Who else thinks that these plans will be "reassessed and rolled back" like the 6 Uber destination filters right after IPO? 

As far as those "bank accounts," I really fear that they'll put in a system where all pay must be direct deposited there. "Transfers out to your own financial institutions may incur additional fees."


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## #professoruber (Feb 19, 2018)

Hmmmm......I wonder how many drivers will fall for the dangling carrot!

$50 - Full synthetic oil change every 10,000 miles
$0 - Tire rotations
$15 - Per month car wash

Lyft and Uber need to stop spending money to entice drivers. Simply raising the driver rates would fix majority of their issues.


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## 25rides7daysaweek (Nov 20, 2017)

FormerTaxiDriver♧ said:


> @Rakos member wants his butt done


I was going to preemptively apologize to him and ask that he please not crawl in there. Not only because it would be uncomfortable but also increasing the chances he sprout wings and take flight ?


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## JLaw1719 (Apr 11, 2017)

Wonkytonk said:


> No thanks, I don't need for them to decide my rotors need to be replaced because they reckon so and that I can't go back online until after I've proven the work has been done where the proving is exponentially easier if I have the work down at their repair center.
> 
> The thought of them abusing me even more and thinking of me as a profit center now for routine vehicle maintenance I find offensive.
> 
> ...


Excellent post and the first thing that popped into my mind when reading about this idea. It's why I also go to my mechanic for the inspection and never to the Hub for the free Uber one.

It's also just another way to try and generate goodwill among investors ahead of the IPO.


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## libingbing (Apr 17, 2017)

jaxbeachrides said:


> What a joke. $70 for an oil change tire rotation and car wash. I can do all 3 in 30 minutes with synthetic oil for $20. By hand.
> 
> I'm sure they want a bank account to hold the money they pay you too. What they will quickly learn is that theres never any left.
> 
> They even thought you were going to pay 70 for an oil change. The insanity of thinking you would drive 10 hours to pay for an oil change. Sounds about right.


High Five! Pennzoil Full Synthetic 5 Quarts after $10 rebate (Penzoil.com) is $12 purchased from Walmart online. Oil filter only costs me $4 for my 4 cylinder car.


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## Derpdederpdederp (Mar 23, 2017)

mrpjfresh said:


> https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/26/tech/lyft-car-repair-bank-account/index.html
> *Lyft's latest driver perks: bank accounts, car repairs*
> By Matt McFarland, CNN Business
> Updated 9:16 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2019
> ...


In Columbus, they partnered with NTB which is the SHADIEST auto repair place here


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## Atavar (Aug 11, 2018)

I have a bank account.
I doubt they are going to put a service center within 400 miles of me in central Minnesota. 
None of this does me any good.


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## mbd (Aug 27, 2018)

Labor charges 95$/hr
Tire rotation is free most places, if you buy tires from them ( you pay little extra at the onset)

Icahn bought pep boys for about 1 billiOn... they can just buy out Icahn who invested in Lyft, and pep boys has close to 1000 locations around the country


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## Tnasty (Mar 23, 2016)

They will try anything with all this trickery and money spent on service centers it amazes me they just don't wanna share.These centers will be for driverless cars not us.


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## mbd (Aug 27, 2018)

Driverless electric cars- That 70$ oil change really makes sense on those electric cars ?


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## Tnasty (Mar 23, 2016)

They will need a framework of shops for them ,and I'm pretty sure they will do more than oil.


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## jaxbeachrides (May 27, 2015)

I think its for now more about inspections and easy money. Obviously noone is stupid enough to pay 70 for an oil change unless you own a european car that shouldnt be used for uber anyways.

They'll send new drivers to get their car "inspected", at which point to be "hired" you'll need "this, this and this".

I just cant get past lyft thinking they have enough team spirit to think drivers will recycle underpaid earnings back through the company. They could have offered me oil changes for $1 and I still wouldn't have done it.


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## jocker12 (May 11, 2017)

mrpjfresh said:


> McNeil described an assembly line system he likened to a NASCAR pit stop, staffed by technicians who are Lyft employees.


This shows how disconnected from reality McNeil is. NASCAR (and many other car racing championships) has the most knowledgeable and highly skilled car mechanics, operating advanced (mostly unique) pieces of machinery, computer software and car performance analysis tools. All these, including the mechanics skills, are meant to extract the best performance in the shortest amount of time. This is the reason car racing is very, very expensive sport to fund and succeed to.

Compared to car racing, any Lyft low skilled mechanics car shops is a pure joke.

The tragedy behind Lyft COO's Jon McNeil moronic opinion about NASCAR pit stops, is that many of the ignorant drivers, potential investors or members of the clueless public would think he is a brilliant pioneer, innovator and irreplaceable entrepreneur.


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## dauction (Sep 26, 2017)

#professoruber said:


> Hmmmm......I wonder how many drivers will fall for the dangling carrot!
> 
> $50 - Full synthetic oil change every 10,000 miles
> $0 - Tire rotations
> ...


If it's Unlimited car Car washes..count me in .. I pay $0 now (which is fine..I use it almost daily)


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## theMezz (Sep 29, 2018)

I'd rather have better insurance from them


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## jenijazz (Dec 27, 2018)

Sounds like a better deal than JiffyLube. This makes more sense than the debit card.


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## B - uberlyftdriver (Jun 6, 2017)

this is not enticing at all, i wish they would stop offering things i can get or do myself 

just more of nothing


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

Well.. here's where the service centers will work,

Let's imagine this the way i foresee it.

At or just above cost services in _one shop per market_.

With a stupid long waiting list to get work done (Go with me on this theory)

Then they aren't losing any money on this little project and they can *advertise* that they have these services available *for all their drivers*, then when only 2% of the drivers can actually get serviced there... What are they losing?

It's an advertise-able perk that won't cost them a dime (if they have half a brain-cell) and will get more idiots to sign up.

Mr. John Smith signs up and drives... then 2 weeks later when he's due for an oil change he signs in to the "super easy to use" portal to schedule an oil change, The first reservation? _5 months later!_

5 months later when he's gone (a statistical probability IMHO)

The reality..

Unless they are stupid enough to think they are going to operate taxi like shops with very very efficient shops? This is a DELUSION that only a true believer in Scruber/gryft could think would ever work.

Taxi shops only work with super high efficiency because They have a team of mechanics working on 2-3 models and 4-5 model years total, without anyone getting billed and with hourly mechanics maintaining company vehicles the efficiency skyrockets.

With Gryft you have 1000 Makes/models of cars from literally every single maker on the market. Anyone ever try to get a dodge serviced at a ford garage?

They will constantly be ordering out for parts and they will never be able to reach any sort of efficiency that the taxi companies can manage.

I mean... how much more efficient would a Toyota garage be if ALL they had was 2013-2017 Camrys and a handfull of 2013-2017 Siennas. That's a tiny fraction of the makes/models a Toyota garage carries, compared to a garage that has to have parts on hand for every make/model? Yeah those garages are cheap but slow. Cheap because they don't pay royalty but slow because they are not experienced enough in any make/model to be able to do it fast, combined with a below quality parts warehouse because they can't afford to keep anything stocked.

Unless they are just doing a drain and fill quick lube service, In which case i wouldn't trust the idiots gryft would hire to get the job done.

So...

At best I think it's just a marketing scheme, at worst it's a delusion, Also the "inspection scam" that theory also holds water. But i'm not going to claim ownership of that theory.


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## UberTrent9 (Dec 11, 2018)

Derpdederpdederp said:


> In Columbus, they partnered with NTB which is the SHADIEST auto repair place here


Ironic


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