Choosing The Right Ride-Sharing Service For Your Car

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There may only be two major ride-sharing services in most cities, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to figure them out as a prospective driver. Both Uber and Lyft offer enough different tiers of services to make your head spin, and it sometimes isn’t entirely clear which types of rides you’re eligible to offer with your vehicle. That’s why we’ve put together an infographic to help you make sense of things:


In both cases, Lyft and Uber’s different ride types are based primarily on capacity, luxury, and type of vehicle. They actually have a lot more in common than you might expect. To drive for either, your vehicle must meet the following minimum requirements:

  • Not older than 15 years. Note that there is some variation in this depending on what city you’re in.
  • Your vehicle must have four doors, and must be able to safely transport a minimum of four passengers, in addition to the driver.
  • Your vehicle must be in good condition, with no major cosmetic damage or missing parts. In Uber’s case, it also needs to be void of commercial branding, and cannot resemble a taxi.
  • For Uber & Lyft, your vehicle’s title cannot have been salvaged, reconstructed, or rebuilt at any point in the past.

Each tier of the two ride-sharing services also has its own requirements. The highest tier for Lyft is Lyft Lux Black XL, open only to certain brands of SUV capable of comfortably seating up to 6 passengers. Uber has a similar service, UberBlack SUV, with similar requirements.

The infographic, shown below, goes through all of these tiers in a bit more detail.

Food delivery services such as DoorDash – a great way to supplement your income as an Uber or Lyft driver – are a bit of an outlier. They have no real requirements for your vehicle. As long as it’s road-safe and runs properly, it qualifies. You can even use a motorcycle or scooter, and in some markets, you can bike or deliver on foot.

As a driver, it can be a bit confusing sifting through all the different tiers offered by ride-sharing services such as Lyft and Uber. We hope this infographic helped you better understand them, and we look forward to seeing you on the road.