A great option for people without a vehicle, or who don’t want to use their vehicle but still want to earn money with rideshare driving, is HyreCar. HyreCar is a service that brings owners of vehicles onto one platform to rent out their cars to drivers like you. Today, we’re going to walk through how to use the HyreCar driver website and app(s) so you can get on the road and earning money faster.

Quick links:

• Click here to sign up for Hyrecar
• Click here to compare all the different ways you can rent a car to drive for Uber, Lyft, etc.

How to Use the HyreCar Driver Website

The HyreCar website is fairly easy to navigate but it also has a lot of information, so 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, including 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, however, you can always choose to extend your rental at a time during the rental period and pay a new amount for the extended number of days. I had a gentleman rent my car through HyreCar and he extended for 3 to 7 days at a time. As he earned with Uber and Lyft, he bought more time with the vehicle. From there you complete the process for renting the 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 premade articles made to answer any questions you might have.

The HyreCar Driver App

At the time of writing this article, HyreCar does not have an app available for use. I spoke with a representative who said they are still working out the bugs. At this time, the website is the best way to rent a car. No timeline was given for when to expect the app to be available.

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] 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.” So, the claims app is to be used only by the owner of the vehicle.

Read next:

• Click here to sign up for Hyrecar
• Click here to compare all the different ways you can rent a car to drive for Uber, Lyft, etc.

HyreCar Alternatives & Competitors

There are a lot of services out there that pair with or complement the rideshare services jobs out there. Four of them are HyreCar, Turo, Fair and Lyft Express. I’m going to break them all down, describe their services and then do a compare and contrast of the four services.

Quick links:

• Click here to sign up for Hyrecar
• Click here to compare all the different ways you can rent a car to drive for Uber, Lyft, etc.

HyreCar

HyreCar is a website that allows people who have cars to make them available to rent by rideshare drivers. It’s available in most large cities across the U.S. It’s free to sign up on both ends of the spectrum (as car owners and as drivers) but as a driver you do need to take a background check before you’re able to rent a car, and you pay for that background check.

The car owners decide how much they want people to pay to rent their car out per week. There’s also a transaction fee and an insurance fee, so that you are covered by HyreCar’s insurance while driving the rented vehicle. The prices in Minneapolis/St. Paul where I drive, varies from about $30 to $50 per day. HyreCar specifically boasts the cars are all approved and ready to drive for Uber and/or Lyft.

Click here to sign up for Hyrecar

Hyrecar vs Turo

On Turo’s website, the first thing you see is the message “Way better than a rental car. Book unforgettable cars from local hosts around the world.” This brings to mind that Turo is a worldwide company, allowing you to rent cars abroad as well. Turo seems to have a wide array of cars available as well. They range from the Volkswagen Jetta to a Porsche or Tesla and the price per day costs for those vehicles range from $30 to $128 per day accordingly.

Turo’s website doesn’t seem to push the idea that these are for rental for the purposes of rideshare driving. On their timeline showing how the operation works, they state “Go explore! In the city or the woods, for a few days or a few weeks, rain or shine, grab your shades and go create something to write home about,” which makes it sound like they are using their service as a way to replace the average, everyday car rental business and putting a twist on it.

Click here to sign up for Turo

Hyrecar vs Fair

Fair is available for U.S. drivers only to lease cars. It developed to take place of the Xchange Leasing program that Uber used to offer to drivers, and Fair is an official partner of Uber. However, they do have an option to rent cars in general, and not just for the purposes of rideshare driving.

They are available in many large cities across the United States, just not yet in my location (Minneapolis/St. Paul). It appears to be for more long-term use without a long-term contract if using for the purposes of driving for Uber. Fair cars are available through car dealerships near you and it is organized to have the car dropped off to you or you can pick it up at the location indicated.

Each car has an upfront fee to help keep monthly payments lower. It is based on the value of the vehicle you’re interested in leasing. On their app, you see estimated monthly payments for each available vehicle so you can compare and see which one will work best for your situation. The monthly payments also include basic maintenance and you can add insurance for an extra fee.

Click here to sign up for Fair

Hyrecar vs Lyft Express Drive

Renting through Lyft Express Drive is obviously linked directly with Lyft. You are required to give a minimum of 20 rides every seven days. With that though, you are given unlimited miles and they specify you’re allowed to use this vehicle for personal use as well. Instead of being charged separately, Lyft takes the cost of the car out of your earnings.

It appears that these are open contracts where you can return the vehicle anytime you want after seven days. It is currently available in several large cities across the United States. The vehicles available to choose from are with Avis Budget Group, Flexdrive and Hertz. They too require a starter fee which is non-refundable as well as a refundable security deposit. The payments include maintenance and insurance.

Click here to sign up to drive for Lyft and then get a car using Lyft Express Drive

How Do They Compare?

Clearly some of these companies are geared more toward long-term leasing versus a rental option for when your car is in the shop and you need something in the meantime. If you want the car to be “yours” where you take car of the vehicle’s maintenance and care, then you’ll want to lean more toward Fair or Lyft Express.

If you want to just test the waters of Uber and/or Lyft, a short-term option like HyreCar or Turo might be beneficial to you. Just keep in mind, you would be renting someone else’s vehicle if you’re doing HyreCar, so in away that’s added pressure to take care of the vehicle and there might be more chance of the owner claiming you damaged their vehicle in some way even if you didn’t.

HyreCar and Turo allow you to choose more easily the price range you want to stick to on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. As Jay Cradeur points out in his RSG article about Fair, Uber lets you work off your payments on a weekly basis, so you might not owe anything on weeks that you drive 70 trips or more, saving you more money in the long run. In some service areas, this may be a lofty goal, but in others, that number is easily reached, making it a great option.

The best thing to do, in my opinion is compare your options available in your area. I am limited to only a few options here in Minneapolis/St. Paul and already own my vehicle. So, if I have to put my car in the shop for a week, it is easy for me to rent a car with HyreCar or Turo to make sure I still earn money during that time period. If Fair and Lyft Express where available in my area, I would greatly consider them when I get to the point of getting rid of my current vehicle.

Read next:

• Click here to sign up for Hyrecar
• Click here to compare all the different ways you can rent a car to drive for Uber, Lyft, etc.