There’s a lot of full-time drivers making a living off all the riding sharing apps that have popped up in the past few years. It’s a legitimate business with a lot of room to grow, which means being a professional rideshare driver is likely to get a lot more competitive.
But if you start early and invest in the right car, you can boost your ride sharing sales tremendously and stay ahead of the competition. There’s a simple logic to investing in a better car. The barrier to entry in ridesharing are really low and you can’t control the platform, so your car is the only edge you have.
It’s easy to find a list of the best cars for ride sharing but you need to understand what these lists are based on. In other words, what sort of car should you invest in for better returns?
Here are some of the factors that make a car a better fit:
Price
Let’s start with the elephant in the room. The price of a car is probably the biggest factor that determines how profitable your ride sharing venture is likely to be.
You don’t want to go for the lowest priced car, because that puts your car in the cheapest bracket of Uber and Lyft drivers. That means you get paid less.
To turn a profit and generate more business, you need to balance the price of the car with the price paid for that category. Try getting into premium brackets for better pay.
But don’t forget to consider insurance as well as the cost of the car. A more expensive car comes with more expensive insurance premiums. Luckily, you can compare car insurance rates to find the best deal so you can keep margins low and profits high.
Age
Uber doesn’t accept cars bought before 2000, while Lyft requires the car be bought after 2004. The platforms want newer cars in better condition for obvious reasons. So, if you decide to pick up a used car, you should keep this important detail in mind.
Looks
Aesthetics are important in every business, and it’s easy to see why riders would want to pick a car that looks better. Going for a brand new model that catches attention on the street, you’ll surely do better with your ride sharing business.
Gas Milage
Of course, gas milage plays a key role in how much you earn when you’re driving around all day. Many of the better looking sports cars are all gas guzzlers, so you’ll have to account for how much they cost to run and whether that is compensated by the higher paid category they put you in.
On the other hand, you can stay in the luxury category and cut gas costs by buying a hybrid.
Space
This is a key issue for ride sharing cars that no one pays attention to. Riders usually know which cars offer more space and tend to pick those rides, over tightly packed cars where they have to rub shoulders with absolute strangers.
All these factors are from general research and intuition.
Ride sharing simply hasn’t been around long enough for more in depth data to study what customers truly prefer.
But it’s easy to see why some of these factors may make the ride safer, more comfortable and less expensive (for you).
John says
There’s more thought that goes into driving for Uber then I thought! Thanks for the pointers!