Common New Lyft Driver Questions – Lyft Car Leases, Payments & Account Issues
Does Lyft Lease Cars To Its Drivers?
It does, through Avis, Hertz and Flexdrive. Known as the Lyft Express Drive Program, it provides Lyft drivers with rental vehicles on a week-to-week basis. Priced at around $200 a week (prices may vary by market), the Express Drive Program also covers insurance, unlimited miles, and routine vehicle maintenance.
Provided you meet all the other driver qualifications for Lyft, you can apply to Express Drive through the Lyft website.
You’ll need to provide a $250 deposit, which you’ll receive back when you return the vehicle. Additionally, while you can renew your vehicle lease weekly through your app, you’ll need to visit the rental lot at least once a month to renew the lease as an extended rental.
You are also required to complete at least 20 rides per week – and here’s where things get really interesting.
If you complete enough fares in a week and maintain a 90% or higher acceptance rate, you become eligible for Lyft’s Rental Rewards Program. This can reduce or even eliminate the weekly rental fee for your vehicle.
Note that with Rental Rewards, you do not qualify for any of Lyft’s other earnings milestones or bonuses.
The biggest drawback of Lyft’s Express Drive Program, aside from the cost, is that due to high demand it can often be difficult to secure a rental vehicle.
Additionally, Hertz and Flexdrive each have different requirements and a different rental process – you need to be 25 or older to rent from Hertz, and must sign a paper agreement; Flexdrive allows you to rent at 21 or older and access the agreement within the app.
However, the addition of many car in the Avis rental fleet over the next few months should alleviate some of the supply issues in the Lyft Express Drive program.
Finally, it may be obvious to some, but you generally cannot use your Lyft rental to drive for Uber.
Can Lyft Help Me Buy A Car?
Unfortunately, no. At the time of writing, Lyft does not offer any means of purchasing a vehicle through its platform.
It only allows you to lease/rent cars, as described above – this means that, depending on where you live, it may be more cost-effective to simply purchase your own vehicle.
What Is Lyft Amp?
A Bluetooth-enabled, LED device that magnetically attaches to a vehicle’s dashboard, Lyft Amp serves a few purposes. First, it’s intended as a replacement for the front emblem of a Lyft driver’s vehicle – the front side of the screen displays the Lyft logo.
Second, it allows drivers to further enhance the experience of their passengers.
Let’s say a passenger is leaving the bar at one in the morning and isn’t sure which Lyft is theirs. If their driver has Lyft Amp, they can open their app and cause the driver’s amp to display one of a range of different colors – a feature known as ‘beaconing.’
Lyft Amp can also display one of several different personalized messages to riders within a vehicle, can serve as a clock, can provide ETA details to passengers, will announce who’s being picked up next in Lyft Line, and flashes when a driver receives a new ride request.
Does Lyft Accept Two Door Cars?
Unfortunately, no. To use Lyft, you must have a four-door vehicle. The platform does not make any exceptions to this rule.
Does Lyft Reimburse For Toll Roads?
Yes and no. If your Lyft route will pass through a toll bridge, tunnel, or turnpike, the cost is automatically added to the passenger’s fare.
This means that although you will still need to pay tolls at each of these locations, you’ll receive that money back from the passenger once their ride is paid for.
Currently, Lyft’s tolls are calculated based on the pricing of each individual city’s electronic toll collection system. This means that if you pay with cash, you may actually end up overpaying. As such, it’s recommended that you keep a debit or credit card on you at all times – just in case.
How Do Lyft Drivers Get Paid?
Lyft drivers can get paid in one of two ways.
Lyft Weekly Pay
The first option is through a weekly deposit into their checking account, which can be set up through the Driver Dashboard.
You’ll need to have your bank routing number, transit number, and account number available.
You will also need your tax information. For most drivers, this consists of your full name, current address, and social security number.
Some drivers, however, may have a registered corporation/LLC – in this case, you’ll need your business name, business address, and EIN or ITIN.
The Lyft work week starts on Monday morning and ends late Sunday evening. Payments are generally delivered to drivers on Wednesday.
Lyft Express Pay
The second option is known as Express Pay. In the Lyft Driver App, navigate to Payment Info under Settings. Note that you will need to have added at least one debit card to your Lyft account, and you will need to have reached at least $50 in ride earnings. Tap on the card you want to use for Express Pay, and then tap “Get Paid.” – it’s as simple as that.
Remember that some banks may delay your Express Pay transactions – call your bank and ask them if they support immediate transfers or push to debit transfers.
Do Lyft Drivers Get Paid Daily?
As noted above, Express Pay allows you to be paid immediately after completing a trip. Otherwise, you are paid on a week-to-week basis.
How Do I Get Lyft Amp?
To be eligible for Lyft Amp, you must first reach Gold or Platinum Accelerate Reward Status – a fancy way of saying ‘complete a certain number of rides.’ This varies by city, but it’s usually somewhere around 250-300.
Once you’ve done this, and provided you’re in a city where Amp is available, Lyft will send you an invite with instructions on how to receive the device.
If you’re curious as to whether or not you qualify, you can check your status under the Amp tab in your Lyft Driver App.
Once you’ve received your invitation, you’ll need to confirm your shipping address with Lyft. At that point, all you need to do is wait. Your Amp should be delivered to you within two to three weeks.
How Does Destination Mode Work In Lyft?
Destination Mode is a unique feature available to Lyft Drivers which allows you to specify a destination for yourself after completing a trip. You can also set a time by which you would like to arrive at your destination.
Until you reach that destination, you will only be matched with passengers along your route, who are traveling in the same direction as you. To enable Destination Mode, simply tap the filter icons in the top right corner of your Lyft Driver App, select “Add Destination Mode,” and configure your destination.
You can disable Destination Mode by tapping the “x” next to your destination’s address. Destination Mode will automatically turn off once you reach your destination. Note that Destination Mode rides do not count towards certain Lyft bonuses such as Average Hourly Guarantees or Power Driver.
Where Do I See My Lyft Reviews?
You can view your Lyft Driver rating by tapping on your profile picture in the Lyft Driver app. To see actual reviews and comments, you’ll need to open up the email associated with your Lyft account and check your weekly summary. Note that as with tips, reviews are anonymized.
How Do I Update My Lyft Driver Profile?
The process for updating your driver profile on Lyft is basically the same as the process for updating your passenger profile.
First thing’s first, if you signed up to Lyft with a Facebook account, good news – it’ll automatically populate your profile with your most recent photo. If you wish to change this for any reason, simply do the following:
- While in the Lyft Driver app, tap on your profile photo in the top left corner.
- Tap “View Profile” then “Edit Profile.”
It’s pretty self-explanatory from here – you can edit your “About Me” section, update your profile photo, and so on. Note that certain details, like your phone number, email address, and login data must be changed through the “Settings” tab.
How Do I Turn Off Lyft Line?
Unfortunately, there’s no way to opt out of Lyft Line requests. If you’d rather not pick up passengers using Lyft Line, the only thing you can do is ignore or reject them. However, if you’re drive a vehicle that qualifies for Lyft Lux, you can switch off requests from regular Lyft and Lyft Line.
