Update (7/22/16): It looks like Breeze is no longer accepting new applications and they are transitioning to a software company…RIP Breeze.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive list of all the leasing/rental options available for rideshare drivers, please check out our new Uber and Lyft Vehicle Marketplace page.
Try HyreCar Instead of Breeze: Even though you can’t get a Breeze Lease anymore, There are still options. I recommend checking out HyreCar. It’s a platform where drivers rent rideshare cars from private owners. They are actually a lot easier to return than a Breeze lease used to be. You can rent a HyreCar for as little as a few days or as long as several months. Plus, they have more options than the Toyota Prius.
Breeze is a flexible leasing company that positions itself towards those who need a vehicle to enter the on-demand economy. Breeze seeks to put those who otherwise could not enter this market due to a lack of a car, bad credit, or no credit history into a brand new/used Toyota Prius. All you need to do is pay them $250 to get started and $195 a week every single week that you have the car afterwards.
Click here to see all the ways you can rent a car to drive for Uber and Lyft
Wait…what?
1.) Almost $200 a week is a hell of a lot of money for a Prius!
2.) Uber already has a leasing program!
Those were the first two things that came to my mind and I’m sure many of you thought the same thing. So let’s take a look at why Breeze exists and figure out who it might make sense for.
Features of the Lease
The Breeze lease allows for:
- 600 miles a week (31,200 miles per year).
- Any mile over the 600/week will cause a charge of $0.15/mile.
- You can return the car with just two weeks’ notice. No questions asked.
Good Option for New Drivers
Breeze can be a good option for those who do not want all of the fuss of getting into an auto-loan or buying a car outright. So if you want to get your feet wet in the on-demand economy, then Breeze may offer the opportunity to enter AND leave the sharing economy. Lots of people discover that they don’t like dealing with drunk people and/or delivering their burritos.
I think this is important for many who get started because all too often I see people go out and buy a brand new car after driving for a few weeks without realizing the long term costs or issues of being an on-demand worker. They later find that this is not the setup for them and are left holding an auto-loan for a car that they are now underwater on.
Breeze was the first company to offer a lease that allowed for someone to return their car within two weeks. They did it at a time when Uber’s partnership with Santander was putting people into financial positions that were downright nasty. For that, I really commend Breeze.
Click here to see all the ways you can rent a car to drive for Uber and Lyft
Emergency
If you already have a car of your own and are driving for Uber or Lyft, you might be surprised by the insane $2,500 Lyft collision deductible (or even Uber’s $1,000 deductible) if you get into an accident.
As soon as you get into an accident on the Uber/Lyft platform, your account will be deactivated until repairs are complete. So if you don’t have the deductible and need to get back on the road, you may need to lease a Breeze car for 3-6 months to pay for that deductible.
In this case, Breeze may really protect your ability to earn income if your previous car was totaled. The claims process and saving for that deductible can take several weeks to months depending on the circumstances of the accident.
Or you could always just post your request on Gofundme.com and plaster the link all over your local Facebook lounge..(if you really want to see a sad place, lookup “Lyft” on Gofundme).
Convenience
This case may be very specific to San Francisco, but it can apply to any dense city. In San Francisco, owning a car particularly sucks.
Here is what Jonah Price, a Lyft Driver from SF has to say about Breeze;
I now have credit for the first time. I get credit card applications in the mail. When I first got started, I had no credit. I couldn’t get a loan from any bank for an auto or business loan. Breeze took care of it all.
I stay with Breeze because I want to be done driving when I’m done driving. I don’t want to maintain a car, for my personal transportation I take Lyft’s anyways. I don’t want to pay for car insurance and gas all over the place when I am done driving for Lyft. SO giving the car back in two weeks is everything for me.”
Obviously I suggest analyzing the long term costs of owning a car over leasing. This may not be the case if you live in a city like Los Angeles or in a place where it is necessary to have a car. I know that I can see the value in not having to deal with owning a car in San Francisco though. For Jonah, the value in the lease is in the freedom to return the car.
Long Term Driver? GTFO of your Lease!
Although most of the people I talked to admitted that their Breeze membership had been key in getting them started in rideshare, most also admitted that the weekly payment was so high that it made it difficult to get into a new car. The recurring theme being “Thanks for the car and job, but now I am kind of stuck.”
I would have to work 65+ hours a week (in SF!) to get ahead with this lease, after insurance and maintenance I am paying close to $1,000 a month for this car. The numbers advertised (for earnings) are unrealistic” – Wade Varner.
” Breeze was an excellent way to get started with a job that I found that I loved doing..(however) I need to save and get another car. Switching to a car that I own would save me at least $500 a month. I have been driving The Jeffrey Challenge (aka long hours) to save enough to put a large down payment on a Prius” – Fallon Magnus
If you are going to use Breeze, you need to find a way to get out of the lease as soon as possible. Although these programs may offer a good stepping stone for those who need to get started, the long term costs of holding up a $200/week car payment are pretty intense. I would rather make my $200 car payment once a month.
Make a financial plan to get out of the lease within 3-6 months.
Aside from rent and a trip to the ER, saving for a car is now your first-in-line expense. Be consistent in contributing to a “buy a car” fund. I would try to put $500 a week in it.
As soon as you can buy any other car, I suggest doing so. If you can qualify for that loan, go for it ASAP. You don’t want to pay $200 a week for your car. You want to pay closer to $200 a month.
If I were in the position where I needed to lease a car to get started I would drive as long as I needed to get into another car. Preferably a 2008 Prius or minivan that would generate more revenue at a tremendously lower cost. Check out a little guide I wrote to finding the right rideshare vehicle.
Remember, at the end of that lease you have to pay a balloon payment to keep the car. Whereas at the end of the life of your car that you own, you get to sell it and apply its value towards a new vehicle. That’s the benefit of having an asset over an expense.
The Catch-22: Mileage Fees
In order to get ahead and save for the vehicle that you ACTUALLY want, you are going to have to drive a lot. This means driving more than 600 miles a week. But here is the catch-22: if you drive more than that 600 miles per week, you are billed 15 cents for each additional mile. To be fair to Breeze, this is roughly what the depreciation costs of the vehicle are on a per mileage basis.
So now your glorious plan to drive like a madman and save to get a new car means that you will have to be paranoid about mileage as well. Since Breeze pays you directly after Lyft and Uber pay them, you can be sure they will take their cut for those mileage fees before you ever see the money.
A typical full-time driver in LA will put between 800-1500 miles on their car each week. That $0.15 now becomes a pretty big deal. SF drivers may have it a little easier by driving between 500-800 miles in a typical week of full time driving. Try to find local drivers in your area and see how many miles they’re putting on their cars.
At $1/mile (LA rates) it is difficult to actually make any money. The added cost of 15 cents per mile can create a perpetual relationship with the Breeze lease where drivers spend 2*($0.15/mile) when they are dead-heading on long distance runs. And don’t forget about Uber or Lyft’s 20% commission.
If you start at $1/mile and take 20% off for commission, you’re at 80 cents per mile. Deadheading without a passenger leads to a cost between .15 and .30 per mile. So now your long distance ride earned somewhere between $0.50 and $0.65 per mile! (taxes, gas, and maintenance not included).
I have heard several complaints from users who have had issues with Breeze being inconsistent in when they will charge for the mileage overages and drivers often find out that one week they are not billed while the next week they are. Of course when the billing does occur, it tends to be around the first of the month, which is when rent is due.
So if you are a driver who wants to get out of the lease, then you need to keep track of the total income you generate per mile that you drive your car. Doing lots of long distance hauls will quickly rack up the overages. I suggest driving in areas where you will get short-medium distance trips with a high percentage of utilization to minimize total mileage.
Uber To Challenge Breeze
Uber’s infamous leasing partnership with Santander recently ended and they just launched a new leasing program. We’ll be taking a close look at that program and comparing it to Breeze, but from the initial terms, it looks like Uber’s new program could seriously challenge Breeze. Competition is always a good thing though and if anything, it will force Breeze to make their terms a bit more attractive for drivers.
Update (7/22/16): It looks like Breeze is no longer accepting new applications and they are transitioning to a software company…RIP Breeze.
HyreCar Instead of Breeze: Even though you can’t get a Breeze Lease anymore, There are still options. I recommend checking out HyreCar. It’s a platform where drivers rent rideshare cars from private owners. They are actually a lot easier to return than a Breeze lease used to be. You can rent a HyreCar for as little as a few days. Check them out here.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive list of all the leasing/rental options available for rideshare drivers, please check out our new Uber and Lyft Vehicle Marketplace page.
