Getting a DoorDash car rental is an interesting strategy you could use to do DoorDash. By renting a car, you can avoid all the wear and tear (and maintenance) that comes with using your own vehicle. Â
But is it worth getting a DoorDash car rental to do DoorDash? The short answer is that it depends. It’ll really depend on what you can make doing DoorDash and the costs with the rental. If you can get a good price on a car rental, it can very well be worth it. Most of the time, however, it probably isn’t unless you’re willing to work long hours on DoorDash.Â
In this post, we’ll look at how a DoorDash car rental works and consider whether it’s worth renting a car to do DoorDash.
DoorDash Car Rental OptionsÂ
At the outset, you have to ask yourself whether you are even allowed to rent a car to do DoorDash. The answer isn’t exactly clear, but in practice, you can do your deliveries using a rental car.Â
That’s because unlike Uber or Lyft, which require you to register a specific car and usually pass some inspections, DoorDash doesn’t require registering a specific car. If you’re delivering in a car, the only thing you have to do, other than pass a background check, is to provide DoorDash with proof of your car insurance. So long as you have insurance, you can do your deliveries in any car you want, including a rental car.Â
This makes sense when you think about it. Uber and Lyft both require you to transport passengers, so they have an interest in making sure cars meet their standards. And for safety reasons, it makes sense that your car has to be tied to your account so that customers know they are getting into the right vehicle. By contrast, with DoorDash (or other food delivery apps like Uber Eats or Grubhub), you’re only delivering food and customers aren’t having any interaction with your vehicle.
So what are your options for a DoorDash car rental? Here are a few for you to consider:Â
1. Traditional Car Rental
Getting a regular car rental from a car rental company is the most obvious way to rent a car to do DoorDash. However, there are things you need to consider. Most importantly, many car rental companies do not allow you to use the rental for commercial purposes. If you were to have an accident and the car rental company found out, you could have issues.Â
However, DoorDash does have an official partnership with Hertz, where you can rent a car from them to do DoorDash. Here’s the Hertz website, which provides more information about this partnership. If you’re looking to rent a car to do DoorDash, I’d recommend starting here first to see if the rates make sense for you.
2. Hyrecar
Another option is Hyrecar, which is a car-sharing service similar to Turo, except it’s only for renting cars for doing gig economy work.Â
Hyrecar often has more competitive rates compared to traditional car rental companies, so it’s worth checking to see if they operate in your area and have good rental options. When you rent with Hyrecar, you are renting a car from an individual, so it’s a different experience compared to renting a car from a large car rental company.Â
When you rent with Hyrecar, you’ll get insurance from them, which you can submit to DoorDash to satisfy the insurance requirement.
If you have a spare car or want to earn extra income from your car, you could also try renting it out on Hyrecar. I know some people do this with fleets of cars, allowing them to earn income from the cars they own.
Is Getting A Rental Car For DoorDash Worth It?Â
If you’re doing DoorDash part-time or as a side hustle, getting a rental car likely won’t be worth it. The only time I’d recommend a rental car is if you are doing DoorDash (and other gig economy apps) full-time. Since the cost of a rental car is fairly high, you’ll need to work steady hours to cover your costs and make a profit.Â
Like anything, when you’re doing DoorDash, you need to think like a business. That means looking at your expenses, seeing how much revenue you can generate, and figuring out if the profit is enough for you.
If a rental car costs $300 per week, you’ll need to think of that as your baseline expense. Then factor in how much gas you’ll use each week. After you’ve figured out those two numbers, you can figure out how much you’ll need to earn each week to make it worthwhile. What that number is will depend on your situation.
The big benefit of using a car rental is that you won’t put wear and tear on your own car. Most people dramatically underestimate the cost of operating their car (studies show people tend to underestimate the cost of operating their car by 50%). Using a rental car helps you get a clearer picture of what you’re spending each week since you have fixed rental costs that you can visualize, as well as gas costs that you can see.Â
When I think of it this way, I’d probably opt for a rental car if I was making enough money from DoorDash (for example, check out my post:Â How To Make $500 A Week With DoorDash).
Another Option – Renting Bikes (Or Ebikes) To Do DoorDashÂ
Perhaps an even better option – and the option I tend to use when I’m renting vehicles to do DoorDash – is to opt to rent a bike. Back before the explosion of ebikes, I used to do most of my deliveries using my city’s bikeshare system. The system cost me $65 per year and gave me unlimited free rides. I could do deliveries all day without worrying about bike maintenance and at $65 per year, I was paying just $9 per month (the bikeshare system ran from April to November). I was more than able to pay for my bikeshare membership and earn a large profit too.Â
When I’m visiting other cities, I often like to do deliveries as a way of exploring a new city. It’s a way I get paid to travel. And to do deliveries, I’ll always rent a bike from the city bikeshare system. I visit Chicago a lot and always check out a Divvy bike and do deliveries there. A day pass usually costs about $15, which makes it easy for me to earn my money back.Â
Bikeshares have gotten even better over the past few years with the addition of ebikes to the fleets. Most of these ebikes charge a per-minute rate. In Minneapolis, where I live, I pay 18 cents per minute to ride an ebike. That means I can ride for an hour for $10.80. During peak hours, I can earn $30 or $40 per hour doing deliveries, so even after subtracting my ebike costs, I can still earn a strong profit.Â
It’s just food for thought. If you need to rent a vehicle, I think renting a bike or an ebike is the better way to do it, particularly if you live in a city.
Final ThoughtsÂ
Using a rental car to do DoorDash is a viable strategy. It’ll help you avoid putting wear and tear on your own car, which helps with maintenance and depreciation. At the same time, using a rental is a useful way to actually see how much your car costs. Most people simply don’t know how much it costs to operate their car and don’t take that into account when determining their profits from DoorDash.Â
For most people, a rental will only be worthwhile if you’re doing DoorDash as a full-time gig, rather than as a side hustle. If I were doing DoorDash full-time and using a car, I might very well use a rental.Â
I hope that information helps as you make your decision about whether to use a rental car or not.Â
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:
- GEN3 Outcross Bike – The GEN3 Outcross is a solid, affordable fat tire ebike that does a good job of doing what I need it to do. It works great for city riding, giving me a smooth ride in all conditions. It’s works really well as a winter ebike since the fat tires give it good traction over snow and ice. Check out my GEN3 Outcross Review.
- Himiway Escape Bike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Bike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks, $100 cash reward, 1 stock of Tesla or Google) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 3 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (24 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 24 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- GO2Bank ($100) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $100 referral bonus.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- US Bank Business ($750) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- SoFi Money ($275) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $250 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Fifth Third Bank ($225) – This offer is limited to customers in the following states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and South Carolina. If you don’t live in one of those states, you won’t be able to open an account online but you can still open an account in-branch if you happen to be visiting a city that has a branch. This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, especially since there are plenty of data points showing what will trigger the direct deposit requirement. In addition, you can open the Fifth Third Momentum Checking bank account, which comes with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. Read my guide on this bonus here.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($100) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- Netspend ($40 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $40 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $40 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link.Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($20) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($35) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $35 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $750 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- DCU. Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a savings account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000.
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
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