[ClarksonCote]

I found some threads on this but haven't seen recent chatter on it.

I'm interested in driving for Lyft a bit, mostly just to see what it's like. Lyft just came to my area, but they won't let me sign up with the Volt because it only fits 4 people total instead of 5. That seems utterly ridiculous to me.

I guess I could drive with Uber instead but Lyft has negotiated some additional stuff here and seems to be taking off more here, in general.

Has anyone had success signing their Gen 1 Volt up for Lyft, and if so, how did you go about it?

 

[longflare]

uBer has the same requirement for 5 seats.
I thought it crazy too.
Thought half the idea of their booking system was to match cars with passengers, (one of the criteria being number of), but no.
When I went through the process of joining as a driver, they made me jump through all their hoops for 2 months before telling me that the car wasn't suitable.
Pretty good way to alienate an otherwise evangelistic supporter. Now I'm working against them with information like this.

 

[freshcut]

My experience with Uber and Lyft is that for every area they're in, the requirements are all pretty much the same in that the vehicle must seat 5 persons minimum. I have seen a couple of cities that allow 4 total persons (Volt eligible) but those are very rare. Having talked to various people who drive for both services locally, none have seemed to indicate they ever really get calls for more than 2-3 passengers and most of the time it's only 1 person. This really is a shame because it seems the Volt would make a good Uber/Lyft car.

 

[llninja]

Given the cost of new cars and the depreciation that clobbers you when you pile on the miles, are Uber/lyft drivers making an ROI taking into account the additional insurance costs (or the risk of using your personal insurance for commercial driving and not getting adequate coverage), destroying the value of their car, time spent driving, wear and tear/maintenance, etc?

 

[freshcut]

I know Uber and Lyft have minimum requirements for insurance. And if I recall, they're quite minimal, basically state minimum. However, as soon as you take a call, your covered under their policy, and once you actually pick up the fare, the policy balloons to $1M coverage I believe. However, the miles can certainly add up. They do seem to pay well though. Certainly far better than I expected. A co-workers fiance drives for Uber and had a fare going from Bakersfield to Anaheim (about 150 miles one way). His pay ended up being about $130. If course that's a long drive, but even pocketing half of that, and putting the other half in a savings account for future repairs/depreciation/expenses. I think if one were disciplined enough to do that with all fares, the money made more than makes up for any expenses or losses. And since you're "self-employed" much can be written off.

 

[llninja]

I know Uber and Lyft have minimum requirements for insurance. And if I recall, they're quite minimal, basically state minimum. However, as soon as you take a call, your covered under their policy, and once you actually pick up the fare, the policy balloons to $1M coverage I believe. However, the miles can certainly add up. They do seem to pay well though. Certainly far better than I expected. A co-workers fiance drives for Uber and had a fare going from Bakersfield to Anaheim (about 150 miles one way). His pay ended up being about $130. If course that's a long drive, but even pocketing half of that, and putting the other half in a savings account for future repairs/depreciation/expenses. I think if one were disciplined enough to do that with all fares, the money made more than makes up for any expenses or losses. And since you're "self-employed" much can be written off.

150 miles one way means about 2.5 hours out, 2.5 hours back, wear and tear on the car, fuel, really eats into the profit. If you look at the IRS standard mileage rate of 53.5 cents per mile, driving 150 miles there and back is about $160, if you were getting reimbursed by a company or tech government. Hopefully they were able to double dip and take some fares to work their way back home rather than just drive back.

 

[NM Volt]

I use a 12 on Lyft. Uber was so weird... they never told me no.. just ignored me until I gave up.
90% of rides are 1 person. I have had to tell people with 4 adults to call another car.. can't do it. Really with that many and luggage for them from the airport they should use the Lyft XL which is a bigger vehicle that can handle them.
I'm retired and do it for busy work. I'd starve if I depended on it for an income. But, I do use a separate bank account for it. If I'm lucky enough to get lots of blue collar people, tips are good. Rich upper class people don't tip. I learned that years ago delivering pizza.

 

[1LeeMartin1]

I found some threads on this but haven't seen recent chatter on it.

I'm interested in driving for Lyft a bit, mostly just to see what it's like. Lyft just came to my area, but they won't let me sign up with the Volt because it only fits 4 people total instead of 5. That seems utterly ridiculous to me.

I guess I could drive with Uber instead but Lyft has negotiated some additional stuff here and seems to be taking off more here, in general.

Has anyone had success signing their Gen 1 Volt up for Lyft, and if so, how did you go about it?

I know that UBER does NOT accept a 2017 volt so not sure about Lyft??

 

[freshcut]

I know that UBER does NOT accept a 2017 volt so not sure about Lyft??

Did they give a reason? According to what I've read, the Gen2 should absolutely qualify as it has the missing 5th seat belt that the Gen 1 lacked.

 

[2015 volt]

just remember,you have to comply with the state law if you drive a taxi
both lyft and uber are basically a taxi service
state law mandates that you have to have vinyl upholstery,so if a fair get's sick or throw's up in your vwhicle, it can be cleaned up
if you have leather interior, you can be passed, cloth interior, no

 

[ClarksonCote]

I know that UBER does NOT accept a 2017 volt so not sure about Lyft??

Did they give a reason? According to what I've read, the Gen2 should absolutely qualify as it has the missing 5th seat belt that the Gen 1 lacked.

Yes, I'm curious about this too. 2017 Volt should qualify given their current (but silly) guidelines

 

[ClarksonCote]

I use a 12 on Lyft. Uber was so weird... they never told me no.. just ignored me until I gave up.
90% of rides are 1 person. I have had to tell people with 4 adults to call another car.. can't do it. Really with that many and luggage for them from the airport they should use the Lyft XL which is a bigger vehicle that can handle them.
I'm retired and do it for busy work. I'd starve if I depended on it for an income. But, I do use a separate bank account for it. If I'm lucky enough to get lots of blue collar people, tips are good. Rich upper class people don't tip. I learned that years ago delivering pizza.

How did you get permission to use the 2012 Volt?

 

[NM Volt]

How did you get permission to use the 2012 Volt?

....Lied...

 

[freshcut]

How so? I always assumed that the seat number was part of the inspection process. I know there are SOME areas that don't require a 5th seat, but my area and as far as I know all of CA requires the fifth seatbelt. I would love to be able to drive since I know it's rare that you get a call for 4 passengers (less than 2% I understand). But because of their dumb rule excluding the Volt (intentional???) I can't.

 

[DanielF44]

I live near Chicago. Uber allows (or used to allow) the Volt.

I think I did about 100 rides. Bottom line, it's not worth it. You're simply cashing in the value of your car by depreciating it, and fairly quickly.

At the same time, you're earning about $5 a hour.

Consider the risks involved. For one, the risk of having an accident. Also, your auto insurance company most likely doesn't allow it. If they find out you're driving for $$$$, you're screwed. They'll dump you, immediately. Good luck finding reasonable insurance rates after that. They track everything.

I tried pretty hard to only drive while on battery power, which we all know is about 1/5 the cost of gas, but IMO it's still not worth it.

I have a coworker that lives about 10 miles from Wrigley Field. He has a minivan and picks up fans after the games. He actually can make ok money IF there is a "surge" rate. (A minivan holds more passengers as well, so more $$$).

If you don't mine drunks, you can get paid 2 or 3 times the normal rate when the bars let out, depending on where you live. (Of course there are other events to take advantage of as well) Personally, I can stand drunk [email protected]#$%#s. One guy asked me to "tell him a story". I wanted to pull over right there and kick him out. Most ppl are fine of course, just temporarily short a car, or too many DUIs. Plenty of weirdos too, and I live a nice suburb. Oh by the way, drunk ppl puke.... a LOT. Especially in a moving car. I never had the displeasure, I didn't drive after dark.

Just my opinion.