HyreCar: The Uber and Lyft Rental Car Solution Provider

It is obvious that with all new technologies come emerging supplementary technologies as well as business models. So too with ridesharing, and now rideshare drivers seeking a quick solution to replace their car. Either due to an accident and it is in repairs, or just because they don't have access to a car, drivers can now access a gig platform that provides a p2p car hire solution.

HyreCar is actually ingenious and should have emerged in either Uber or Lyft as a solution of car sharing across driver. However, this proves that great ideas come from great people and there are a lot of great people out there.

What is HyreCar?

HyreCar is a p2p (peer to peer) car-sharing concept. HyreCar is an app platform that allows private car owners, that have a car that meets Uber and Lyft's requirements to rent out their car to an Uber or Lyft driver for ridesharing purposes.

The app provides a virtual warehouse of cars of different makes and models to be rented out directly from the car owner, with no hassles or middlemen. It enables a driver to choose from a long-term hire to a short one, such as filling in the gas when your car is in the shop for maintenance, or for long-term rides when you just don't want to own or buy a car.

HyreCar provides every car you can think of since it is populated by people just like you. People that own a car, but in their case, don't want to drive. They are willing to let you drive their car for a price. It's actually quite ingenious since it allows people that want to buy a more expensive car the chance to rent the car out and pay off the installments. This means that you can set up "partnerships" where one person takes on the risk of buying a car, and you perform the risk containment by driving it for them.

Now let's take a look at the process

HyreCar Basics

The process is simple, you go into the HyreCar app, register and then choose from their extensive list of vehicles that are also registered on the site from their car owner customers. You don't have to be a registered Uber or Lyft driver; you can also be an applicant seeking a car for the application process.

The prices of renting from this platform are set by the car owners, so you will find a lot of diversity in price across identical models and makes. The online competition is between car owners seeking income for a car they own and are willing to let a stranger drive it for them.

Prices can vary from $20 a day to $45, $200 a week to $300 and $600 a month to $1,100. You will find models that fit the UberX category all the way up to models that fit the UberLux and Black categories.

Take into account that the driver's insurance is already included in the price, and it is full rideshare coverage. This is something the site requires from all its car owners.

Some cars come with a mileage cap, others don't, and some cars are also time-limited, while others are not. You have to look at all the options when picking the vehicle that suits your specific needs. Just factor in your daily earnings, or expected earnings, and calculate the viability of renting each car you look at from this point of view.

Searching for a car on HyreCar app

Start off by going to HyreCar.com and press the orange search button. This will lead you to the registration page; you have to register to see the list of cars.

Once you enter your basic data, that's name, email address, phone number, and password; you will be directed to their car listing page. The car listing page will start off by the location you are at. However, you can change the location to suit your needs.

You get a list of cars on the right, boxes of car photos with a daily price, the name of the car owner, and their icon or photo. On the right of the screen, you will see the car location on an interactive map.

For instance, in Chicago, most of all the Honda civics that were shown there were being rented out for $49 a day.

Click on the car of your choice, and you get all the details including a map location, a calculation for the time you want to rent as well as the mileage cap. You also get a list of reviews as well as the number of times the car was rented out.

Once you find the car you want, you need to choose the number of days you want to rent it. Take note that cars have to be rented for a minimum of 2 days. You can also get discounts for longer rental periods.

Press the "book now" button.

The Book Now Process

You have decided to book a car, just take note that sometimes bookings are not confirmed by the owner, so you might consider booking more than one option just to be sure you get a car. Don't worry about the overbooking issue, you get the first car confirmed, and the rest is erased by the system.

For First Time Users:

Once you have pressed the Book Now button, you will be taken to an information screen that will ask you for your information. This is part of the first-time application process; once you complete this, you will be taken to a credit card page. However, for first-timers, you go through this process.

In this screen, you will be asked to provide your driving license details and a photo of the license. Your SSN and your full address. You will also be asked for a profile picture and to confirm that you are a registered Uber or Lyft driver and are renting the car for that purpose.

For Standard Users:

You will now be asked to provide your credit or debit card details. If you use a debit card, make sure you have at least $200 available, since HyreCar will take this as collateral against the order. This will be fully refunded once your rental period is over. Credit card owners are not charged an upfront amount since the card will be used to cover any damages that might occur during the ride.

First-time users will go through a background check just to make sure you are not a convicted felon or someone with a very bad driving past. The first-time check takes a few hours, but once it's complete, it will not be done again. The first-time user will have to wait a few hours.

After you receive notification that your request has been approved, you will be sent three important documents; these include the car registration, the 19-point inspection that is mandatory for all rideshare cars and your rideshare insurance policy. You will receive the insurance policy 24 hours before the designated pick-up date.

Picking up the car

Once you have received all the documentation, you will need to contact the car owner a day before picking up to verify where the pickup location will be. Once you meet with the car owner, perform that same checks you would undergo with a rental service. Walk around the car and take photos of it, ad note any damages, scratches and whatever upsets you, so there will be no confusion when you return the car. Taking photos is not mandatory, but it is the best way to protect yourself and acts as proof of any doubts after the fact.

Extending and Returning the Car

In most cases, you will return the car on time, to assure an exact drop off location and time, you make this process when you pick up the car and before you drive off.

Together with the car owner you decide together the drop off location and time and press "confirm drop-off" button. This will make sure there are no "late fees" since there will be no confusion with the drop off process.

If you want to extend the lease, and hope that the car has not been rented out immediately after your return, you must press the "extend" button in the app. Press it and hope that the car is confirmed for an extension. In most cases it is, and your insurance is extended automatically with this.

Conclusions

I expect that this service will grow exponentially and there are many such service providers out there. P2P rental is not new, however, P2P rideshare rental is. This new service fills in a niche that many drivers sometimes need when facing situations that they are car-less.

This is a great concept and I think it will work well. The fact that it is basically a fleet car for hire to an Uber or Lyft driver is obvious. What we have here is someone that has just made fleet ownership a thing of the past, and converted fleets into a P2P business as well. Brilliant.

There are a lot of new ideas and replays of old ones. Car rental gigs are not new, the concept of a rideshare car rental gig is unique and I like the idea. Although the pricing would have to be really conservative to make anyone give up a free day when the car is not available. Just driving around without making a profit is not business its dumb. I only state this, because there are rental scammers out there that will claim the car came back damaged. It has happened, one case was this guy in LA that used to replace the fender with a scratched and broken one, and then make false claims, the guy was raking in thousands a month until he was caught out by a cop that rented his car, when the cop was charged for the fender damage he decided to check out the guy. He watched and recorded the guy over a week, and had him trapped with three counts of insurance fraud.
So be careful who you rent from and don’t rely on photos, make sure that you record the car when you return it, with you and the car in the shot, and the date and place of return, and walk away from the car, filming it as it is when delivered.

Beware of Hyrecar. Here is my experience.
On 5/19/18, I rented my car from a driver through Hyrecar. The car was rented and paid for, including an initial extension for 8 days. After that, the driver asked to extend longer, and I negotiated to have Hyrecar lower the rate for him to extend.

By 6/6/18, the driver had not paid for the extension or returned the car, which was 9 days overdue, so I contacted Hyrecar for help in the situation. They said they would contact the driver and get payment.

On 6/12, he still had not paid, and I asked for help. They sent me this, “At this point, I would recommend for you to have the vehicle returned. Once the vehicle is in your possession, we can send the driver an invoice and bill him for the past due to balance. Please provide me with an update regarding the vehicle’s return as soon as one is available.”

On 6/13, the car was returned, and I notified them. It was nearly 17 days late. On 6/14, I received this in the email, “Jared, per your request we looked into the mileage, and he owes you $33.50 for the miles.”

On 6/19, they emailed the driver an invoice for $939, saying, “If we do not hear from [the driver] by the close of business on the date mentioned above [6/ 20 at 5:00 PM], Hyrecar will send the invoice to Fair Claims for arbitration.” I asked for an update on 6/20 and 6/22.

They responded on 6/22 in an email stating, The driver "has not responded and the deadline has passed. We will be sending this case over to Fair Claims. We went ahead and initiated a deposit of $48.50 to your account for the gas and mileage. Please allow 3-5 business days for this to appear on your account.” I have yet to receive that payment, as of 7/24/18.

On 6/26, they claimed that the rental agreement was between the driver and me and they are not responsible. The email says, “Per the rental agreement, the renters are fully responsible for all days vehicle is rented, any tickets and tolls as well as excess mileage. While we do offer courtesy reimbursements for any losses, you (the vehicle owner) may incur. Unfortunately, we are unable to cover the day’s vehicle is returned late. It looks like the driver was late 17 days and owes $505.75 according to our records. As a courtesy, we are happy to offer $200 to minimize your losses. Please respond within 24 hours for us to process this settlement.” However, on the email from 6/22, it says they will take him to Fair Claims, but here they are offering me $200 settlement to forego my full payment of $505.75, which I assume does not include the $48.50 they said they were sending me on 6/22.

I told them I would not accept the settlement, sending the following email: “You’re saying, you allowed someone to take my car at a particular rate they were to pay, which amounts to $550, and they are refusing to pay, so I’m just screwed. Take $200 or leave it? No. I will settle at you paying the amount owed and then you can go after them since you put them into my car. This arrangement is made in good faith for you to place car owners with people who will pay. If you cannot pay car owners what they are owed, your company is a fraud. Pay me what is owed. Go after them for your part and then I will quietly no longer use your service.”

They did not respond until 7/3/18 when James A. Customer Success Manager responded to tell me that they can use the $200 deposit to take him to Fair Claims, which in the 6/22 email they said they were already doing without mentioning the deposit. In the meantime, I contacted the driver, and he told me that he had paid them $600 on 6/29.

I sent emails back to James on 7/3 and 7/10 without a response. I called several times and was told he would give me a callback. I emailed and called again on the 7/17, 7/20, and 7/24.

The final email I sent of 7/24 expressed that I want to be paid the $554.25 ($48.50 and $505.75) their records indicate I am owed and that I will not settle for $200, especially since I spoke with the driver who said he made a payment on 6/29. I gave them 24 hours, and then I would make a fuss. I’ve now posted here, Yelp, contacted the CA AG, BBB, a lawyer, and several news agencies.