LA Firm Helps Drivers Earn Extra Cash By Renting Out Their Cars
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — If you have fond recollections of the days when you had to ask your parents to borrow the car, you may be able to turn those memories into some cold hard cash for your wallet.
Relay Rides is a new car leasing service making its debut in the greater Los Angeles area that allows you to rent out your vehicle on the days when you aren't using it.
Founder Shelby Clark told KNX 1070 the company has taken care of all the logistics from insurance liability to mechanical condition.
"RelayRides provides a million-dollar insurance policy that covers the reservation, so you keep your policies whenever you drive and then as soon as somebody rents your car, then we step in," said Clark.
While car-sharing itself is not exactly a pioneering idea, the peer-to-peer business model is relatively new and one that has faced multiple hurdles in the past, Clark said.
But after a year-and-a-half of figuring out how to deal with all the insurance loopholes, he said the company finally got it right, resulting in what he said has been "hundreds of people making thousands of dollars a year" by letting complete strangers take their car for a spin.
Rates start as low as $5.00 per hour and $25 per day for more conventional vehicles and as high as $20.00 per hour or $100 per day for luxury rides like a 2006 Porsche Carrera.
And despite the shared concept of offering customers the ability to rent cars, Clark said that's where the similarities with other firms in an already-crowded marketplace come to a complete stop.
"Our cars are located right where you live because they're owned by your neighbors, so as opposed to having to go to a central location or even the airport, the car should be within walking distance from you," he said.
