How To Make Your Car Pay For Its Way

Buying a car is likely to be the second-largest purchase of most people’s lives, preceded only by their home as an expense. Add to that the cost of interest, maintenance, insurance, fuel, upgrades, and depreciation, and the investment easily tops tens of thousands of dollars.

Rent your car

No matter how much a new car owner enjoys their purchase, most cars sit idle and unused 96.5% of the time. Car Next Door is an app-based service that enables people to rent their vehicles to private individuals. Renters also use a smartphone app to choose a car, van, or truck. Car Next Door claims rental fees are as much as 50% less than a traditional rental. Renters also benefit from included fuel and insurance on a by-the-day or by-the-hour rental.

For the environmentally conscious, companies such as Car Next Door promote a reduction in carbon footprint by sharing cars across multiple users, which means fewer people are buying cars resulting in less manufacturing. According to Car Next Door, each shared car takes up to ten other vehicles off the road.

Drive people

HyreCar, Lyft, and Uber are companies that contract car owners to provide ride-sharing services, much like a taxi. Drivers can use their car or a car provided by the ride-sharing company. The owner-driver earns an hourly rate plus all or a portion of the tips. Car owners do not have to be on call 24/7, using the app they provide the ride-sharing company with the hours they are available.

Owner-drivers in large metropolitan areas able to provide services on Friday and Saturday nights can earn quite a lot because the base fee plus a charge per minute and mile is higher for these days. The amount paid fluctuates with demand—the more demand, the higher the pay.

Deliver stuff

Menulog, DoorDash, and Deliveroo are food delivery services that use private owner-operators to deliver the goods. As an example, DoorDash pays the driver a base for each order ranging from $2 – $10, depending upon the estimated time it will take to make the delivery, the distance, and the order’s desirability. That means longer-distance deliveries that are less popular and expected to take more time have a higher base pay. DoorDash also has promotions that equal more income, such as peak pay. Drivers also earn tips.

Wrap your car

Wrappli is a company that prints advertisements on a special plastic that is applied to a vehicle using heat. It’s a bit like a huge, printed sheet of shrink-wrap. Wrappli pays Aussie drivers up to $600 a month to place advertisements on their cars. For those listing their vehicle with a car-sharing service, this is a way to earn even more cash.

Help people move

People with strong backs and a van or truck should consider getting in the moving business. Helping people move belongings or households is an excellent way to earn extra income. In essence, the renter is getting manual labor and transportation, so this type of service rates a higher hourly rate.

Run errands

Some food-delivery services also provide errand services, such as picking up dry cleaning or prescriptions, shopping for items, or picking up an order already placed and then delivering the order. Instacart is focused on just this but hasn’t yet made it to the Australian market. Starting a private service, an owner-driver can earn $10 to $25, plus tips.

Summing it up

Taking out a loan to purchase a car is a long-term responsibility and one that must be met even in times of crisis such as a redundancy or change in jobs. Using the vehicle to increase one’s income is a great way to take the worry out of a new car purchase.

Whether choosing to drive or letting someone else drive, your vehicle will be accumulating higher than normal wear and tear, which will reduce its trade-in value. Be sure to choose a service or combine services so that the car is earning enough to compensate for this loss of value. It’s never too late to make your car pay its way.