Get Paid to Drive: A Guide on How to Make Money with Your Car

Did you know that there are nearly 1.5 billion cars in the world today?

At the same time, there are also approximately 7.7 billion people living on this planet. After a simple calculation, we can deduce that one in every 5 people has a car!

These are interesting facts and one cannot help but wonder – is there a way you can make money with your car? Luckily, the answer is yes. There are numerous ways you can do this with little to no effort.

Although it’s hard to get rich just by using your vehicle, different business models allow you to gain a decent income by doing various activities using your car such as transporting people or goods or renting it.

If you’re interested in earning a side income, keep reading and find out how to make money with your car the easy way.

Make Money With Your Car – How Does It Work?

Using your vehicle as a “workhorse” is not a bad idea, especially if you travel from place to place a lot.

Let’s say that you have a spacious car and while you come back from work, you can also pick up some cargo for a company and drop it in a place close to your house.

There is also the possibility to shuttle people here and there and make a side income.

Your car is a collection of resources that can be put to good use in someone else’s service. If you are diligent and use your vehicle a lot, you can make more than just gas money with your precious automobile.

Top Ways To Make Money With Your Car

Now it’s time to get into the specifics of how to make money with your car so you can capitalize on the option you like the most.

1. Use Services Like Uber

Uber is one of the most well-known companies in the world nowadays. It all started in 2009 in San Francisco when the ingenious founders wanted to find a way to get from place A to B quicker and easier than by just calling a cab.

In a nutshell, Uber helps drivers all around the world transport passengers to various locations. You can look for an Uber driver using a smartphone app, pay for the ride within the app and choose your preferred driver.

The driver receives a message that he has been selected, picks up his client and transports him to his destination.

You can be an Uber driver and make more than just coffee money from this. Transporting people here and there is safe, easy, quick and you don’t have to worry about the financial aspects because these are taken care of by the Uber app.

Lyft is a similar service accompanied by a smartphone app, so you can use both simultaneously.

2. Rent Your Vehicle

In addition to driving people around, the Lyft app also lets you rent your vehicle to other people.

This is another great way to make money with your car without even using it. If you own a vehicle, you register yourself in an app such as Lyft or Turo. People can choose your car for rental and pay a small fee for the service.

They pick up the vehicle from you, use it for as long as they need it and return it back when they’re done.

This is a safe and convenient way to make some money. Keep in mind that the service is covered by insurance policies, so if something bad happens to your vehicle, you’ll be compensated.

Most people rent their vehicles to others during weekends when they are not using them for work-related travels.

3. Transport Cargo

If you have a spacious vehicle, then transporting valuable goods is another great way to make money with your car.

There are numerous apps like Doordash which put you in contact with companies that require transportation services. You use these apps to choose your preferred companies and get assigned a task.

For example, you can be assigned to deliver groceries to various places. You can also transport medical goods, furniture items, materials, beverages, foods, you name it.

As long as you have a vehicle that can handle a heavy load and you’re capable of physical work, this job can help you make consistent income over the next years.

Obviously, you need to fill out some forms mentioning that you’re responsible for the safety of the cargo, etc, but if you’re an experienced and confident driver, you have not to worry about.

One popular option for this is Roadie.

4. Use Your Car for Advertising

A car with an advertisement on top. make money with car.

If you have a vehicle which is easily visible in traffic, you have another ace up your sleeve.

Advertising is what runs commerce and businesses worldwide. And what’s a better place to advertise than in the middle of the road where hundreds of eyes (from drivers and pedestrians) look around?

Simply put, you can use your vehicle to advertise different types of products and services. The process is simple – you show up to places where they can wrap your car with advertising material, get paid a fee for your service and drive around town to promote these products and services.

You’ll be making money without even knowing it and the wrapping material doesn’t damage your vehicle in any way. When the advertising campaign is over, you simply take off the wrap and use your vehicle normally.

This particular business model is ideal for people who have large vehicles such as SUVs, vans, pick-up trucks, etc, because they have a lot of space for ads to be visible.

Here are options for advertising with your car:

5. Specialize In Corporate Or Airport Shuttle Services

If you have a more attractive, elegant, or well-equipped vehicle then you can also take advantage of shuttle services for the corporate industry.

The idea is similar to using Uber, but you specialize yourself to transport high-class corporate clients to their preferred destinations. Similarly, you can also specialize in just airport transportation for clients around town.

These business models can bring you a lot of money.

First of all, your nice vehicle is more likely to get selected by corporate people who prefer premium automobiles.

Secondly, transporting clients to and back from the airport entitles you to a larger payment since these locations are usually far away from the center of the city.

You can even charge extra for transporting people to the airport during rush hours too.

6. Offer Pet Grooming Services

Do you like working with pets? If the answer is yes then why not transform your car into a mobile pet grooming vehicle?

This idea is a little bit out of the ordinary but it works! Instead of having clients come to the vet or other places for grooming their dog, you come to their house and save them time.

You need a slightly larger vehicle to offer a pet grooming service because you need to accommodate a bathtub inside and multiple pet-related accessories.

You’ll eventually have to make a small investment and modify your car accordingly.

But when you’re done, you start promoting your mobile pet grooming services and have clients call you. After receiving an order, you visit the client at his house and perform grooming services on-site.

You probably see how this can transform into a small, family-operated business and best of all, you do what you like – taking care of pets.

Clients will also be happy about not having to travel to a grooming place, so everybody wins.

7. Help People Move Around

Having a larger vehicle such as a van or a truck can be enormously beneficial. It opens the door to multiple business opportunities which can bring a steady income your way.

These large automobiles usually consume a lot of fuel and one of the best ways to offset that is to help people move things around for cash.

Especially if you live in a large city, there are a lot of people who need to move or relocate to another place.

There are smartphone apps you can use to find these people and give them a helping hand. You travel to their place, assist them in loading their stuff in your truck and travel to their preferred destination.

Even better, some people specialized in this business idea and come up with packing materials such as boxes and bubble wrap at an affordable price.

They also have teams who help clients move heavy stuff into the truck, so the client gets more for his money.

Task Rabbit is a good place to start.

What’s Your Favorite Method?

These are some of the best methods when it comes to how to make money with your car. What’s your favorite?

Do you want to be an Uber driver? Do you want to expand your small business and start grooming pets or delivering goods? Now you know that you have many options. 

If this article inspired you, check out our other articles on finances and how to increase your income. For example, would you like to know how to make money while you sleep?