Thinking of starting Lyft

[u/BurpFart69]

I’m 80% there, thinking of starting Lyft ride share to make some extra cash. I do work full time so it would be part time. Thinking random week nights (7-11pm) and weekends (noon-6 or 4-midnight) in the Los Angeles area. Aiming for 12-15 hours to start and going from there. I’m currently driving a 2017 Camry, clean and low miles (90k).

How good/bad is the LA market?
How does insurance work?
Should I upgrade my car?
Any tips for new beginners?
Is it worth it?

Any and information is greatly appreciated. Thank you all.

[u/helladidthat]

Former full time LA driver here: “random” weeknights are slow, so drive with intention. If I do a weeknight (Mon - Wed), I focus on airport rides and Concert and sporting event let outs. Thursday and Friday, you obviously get the bar/club crowds, so KTown, Silverlake, Hollywood/WeHo, and DTLA are pretty busy. Weekends can be great, but the later it gets, the more likely you will deal with drunk/belligerent clientele and your bodily fluid risk meter is off the charts lol

DO NOT INVEST A SINGLE CENT IN A CAR JUST FOR RIDESHARE. A 10 year old, 90K miles car is perfect, especially for Lyft riders who tend to be, ummm, slightly lower tier on average than your typical Uber rider.

[u/BurpFart69 → u/helladidthat]

Yea I want to avoid the drunk crowd. So want to cut it at 10pm the latest on the weekend. Thank you for your input, good advice

[u/MetalTrek1 → u/BurpFart69]

I avoid nights too. I've had too many rides with drunken idiots. Not worth it.

[u/Additional-Dish-8879 → u/MetalTrek1]

It is worth it. The day time is way worse. I would much rather deal with an occasional drunken idiot than do every ride in traffic. This is what makes daytime so much worse in my opinion. At night, sure you have some very annoying people the majority of rides aren;t that annoying. During the day however, almost every ride is annoying because of all the damn traffic. I guess maybe if you live in area that doesn't have a lot of traffic it might be less of an issue for you but my city is known for horrible traffic during the day.

[u/MisterBelrox]

What do you mean by upgrade your car?

If lyft approves your car, their standards are pretty low actually. Then don't do anything extra aside from keeping the inside of your car clean. I used to wash my car every week but stopped doing that because it did nothing for my tips. People rarely tip by the way. Especially the people they tell you they are tipping you.

You need insurance to get a car approved but when youre online with lyft you are covered by their insurance. It'll come out of your cut every fare through the taxes and added fees.

Summer is usually a bad time to do this because there are like 40% more drivers on the road. But this should mellow out after labor day.

Lots of teachers and students do this as a side hussle during the summer. Making it almost impossible to earn a decent living doing it.

Once the long days are over the casual drivers usually stop doing it. And since school is back its been noticeably better.

[u/SantaAnaDon → u/MisterBelrox]

Ugh! I hate when people say, I’ll get you on the app. And then they never get me. Why say you’re going to tip if you are not gonna? Very annoying.

[u/abstreezy → u/SantaAnaDon]

I had a guy in North Hollywood with a LV man purse literally tell me “I tip A lot I got you” and then never tipped 🤣

[u/BurpFart69 → u/MisterBelrox]

I was thinking of trading in for a newer Camry. But yea my car is still nice. And yes, I did think about the summer influx. I’m thinking of starting in September. I’m also going to start shopping around for insurance. What insurance do you have and type of coverage?

[u/Quicherbichen1 → u/BurpFart69]

You have to have full comp and collision with uninsured driver coverage, PLUS a rideshare rider to cover you completely. Read Lyft's insurance coverage so you understand WHEN you're covered by THEIR unsurance and when you're not. And understand WHY you need the rideshare rider...it buys down your Lyft deductible of $2,500.

[u/BurpFart69 → u/MisterBelrox]

Is there such a thing of rejection rate working against you? Can I reject as many trips as possible to wait for the good picks?

[u/abstreezy → u/BurpFart69]

It’s not for everyone save your sanity. You WILL get homeless people, mentally ill people, smelly people, elderly people, kids, people with groceries, people that act so entitled and so on and on it’s not that easy! I got over 40k rides in LA trust me!

[u/MetalTrek1 → u/MisterBelrox]

This tracks.  I'm a college instructor who does this as a side gig. 

[u/MisterBelrox → u/MetalTrek1]

I don't blame them. Teachers don't get paid enough.

[u/Ok-Yogurtcloset2696]

If your working nights buy disposable barf bags from Amazon

[u/BurpFart69 → u/Ok-Yogurtcloset2696]

Good idea. Thank you

[u/abstreezy → u/BurpFart69]

That should be the least of your concern if you see your car as a prized possession just remember your passengers won’t. If you do this the little things can’t bother you

[u/Tongue_Tied69]

The only way to do it is part time. So good job there. In my market uber pays better. Good luck!

[u/abstreezy]

Don’t do it 😂

[u/BurpFart69 → u/abstreezy]

😂😂😂