Uber’s Fair Rental Program Is Shutting Down. What’s Your Options?

It’s true, the Fair Car Rental program for Uber Drivers is shutting down.

The Fair rental car program with Uber is officially over. If you’re a driver looking for a vehicle to use with Uber or Lyft, does this mean you’re out of luck? Not necessarily. Senior RSG contributor Jay Cradeur breaks down what happened with Fair and what other options are available to drivers looking for a rideshare vehicle.

Back in 2016, I determined that I would be a full-time driver. After reviewing RSG’s Vehicle Marketplace, I realized it made more sense to lease a car rather than buy a car.

Leasing (at that time through XChange) worked perfectly for me: I could drive 100, 1000, or 2,500 miles in a week and my weekly lease payment would remain at $147 per week. Unfortunately, this leasing program did not last.

When it was time for a new car, I decided to try out the new Fair for Uber Car Rental Program.

This program was a bit different. Instead of signing a three-year lease, I rented the car on a week by week basis.  The price was approximately $200 per week, which included insurance so it seemed like a good deal.

However, as we noted in our article about Fair running out of cars, something was going on behind the scenes. And then we found out: Fair as a rental car option for Uber drivers is no more.

Disappointed at the Fair news? Don’t worry, drivers still have several other leasing/rental options, including:

Fair Ceases Operations

Unfortunately, much like XChange Leasing, this program also did not last long. The weekly Fair Car Rental program is over.

fair rental program ends

In researching this article, it appears that rising insurance rates have increased the weekly price of a car so much that most drivers would not use the service.

Insurance companies are learning that rideshare drivers are a far greater risk than a normal driver due simply to the extremely high number of miles we put on the car on a weekly basis.

What Are Your Options?

According to Fair, Uber and Lyft drivers can still rent cars on a monthly basis.  However, when I went to the Uber website, Fair is no longer listed as an option. Here is what I found instead:

As you can see, Fair is not listed as an option in the San Francisco market.

Next, I went to the Fair website and was surprised to see that Fair is still advertising a weekly rental option for rideshare drivers:

A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated

This is a mistake.  It would seem that when big changes are being made at Fair, the web developer is the last one to hear about it.

More Options for Rideshare Drivers

While Uber provides some car rental options, we at The Rideshare Guy have put together a complete marketplace of 12 available options:

We have done the research for you so that you can go to one place and review all the available options.

If you live in San Francisco or Seattle, check out Gig car share first!

One of our top options is HyreCar. We recently updated our review of HyreCar, or if you’re ready to get started with HyreCar, you can sign up here.

If you are already familiar with HyreCar and want to get started, here is our HyreCar Getting Started link.

Important Factors For Selecting A Car

There are two things to keep in mind when evaluating your car options:

Part-time vs Full time

Will you be driving a few hours a week, or will you be a true road warrior logging 40 plus hours per week?

If you will be driving part-time, then the high price of a car rental can be prohibitive.  It would be better to purchase a car because you don’t need to worry about putting a ton of miles on your car and increasing depreciation.

On the other hand, if you are going to be a full-time driver, then a car lease or rental makes sense because you want to be able to drive without worrying about the impact depreciation will have on your vehicle.

How Long Will You Be Driving? 

If you plan on driving for just a few weeks or months, then a car rental makes sense. Get in and then get out. You won’t have any long term commitments.

However, if you plan on driving for a year, then you will want to consider a longer-term arrangement. Usually, when you can commit to a longer-term agreement, you can get a better price on your vehicle expense.

Uber’s Response to the News

Uber understandably wants to make sure that drivers can get on the road and drive for Uber. An Uber spokesperson said:

“Connecting drivers to options for vehicle access so they can earn with Uber remains a top priority. We’re thankful for Fair’s collaboration, and their contributions to our vehicle rental program. We’re  continuing to invest in rental partnerships, and building more flexibility beyond hourly, weekly, and monthly options available today.”

Uber still currently maintains partnerships with:

  • Hertz
  • Avis
  • ZipCar
  • Getaround

In addition, on Friday (February 7), Uber emailed and texted impacted Fair drivers about the changes and to provide them more information about other rental options. According to an Uber spokesperson, their support team is prepared for inquiries from impacted drivers (but hopefully our information above has helped you find a suitable alternative!).

Key Takeaways

The Fair for Uber Car Rental Progam as we have known it is over. It was a sweet program while it lasted.

I used the program for a two-month transition from a full-time driver to a part-time driver.  Ultimately, I purchased my 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid and now drive on the weekends.

But fear not drivers, there are still plenty of options which you can find on our Vehicle Marketplace. Check it out and evaluate your options.

Drivers, do you rent, lease or own your rideshare vehicle?

-Jay @ RSG

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