r/lyftdrivers

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.

A few days ago, I picked up a passenger through an insurance-paid ride. She got in wearing a mask, and almost immediately asked me to roll down the windows.
She said the smell of the Febreze I had sprayed in the car was really strong and overwhelming. I told her, “Yeah, sure, no problem,” and rolled the windows down.
Later during the ride, she asked me, “Why do you spray this stuff? You know this stuff causes cancer.”
My question for other drivers is: How would you have responded?
Would you have just said, “Oh, I’m sorry about that,” and left it at that? Or would you have told her that she was wrong about Febreze causing cancer and potentially gotten into an argument about it?
Personally, I just apologized about the smell. I wasn’t trying to argue with her, especially because I’m always worried about passengers reporting me or giving me a low rating. I don’t want something stupid like that turning into a complaint against me.
That brings me to my second question: Can Lyft actually deactivate a driver for something like this? Obviously, I’m talking about a situation where the driver isn’t threatening or insulting the passenger, but maybe responds in a snobby or argumentative way, like, “No, you’re wrong. It doesn’t cause cancer.”
What would you guys have done in this situation?

- I’ve been driving since leaving my job in June and waiting for a job call for an apprenticeship. I drive 6 days a week and try to hit $200 every day. I’m in Phoenix.

- I used to value my Acceptance Rate (AR) and keep it above 90 at all times, but now that Shop Points are 2 instead of 3, what’s the point? My AR is now around 55/60 but was as low as 28 two weeks ago.

- I like talking with my passengers. My rating’s never been under 5.0. I spray Bath and Body Works room scent to keep my car smelling clean and vacuum my car every day… You would be surprised how keeping a nice smelling car consistently gets great compliments (& tips).

- I avoid rides that have first names ALL IN CAPS. I value my tip potential. You know what I’m talking about. Sorry to all hospital, auto service and delayed airline passengers…

- I generally avoid rides that are $6 or less. I LOVE any rides above $25, and have done a couple of PHX-TUS rides. The best.

- I’m 100% sure Lyft is intentionally lowering base fares to drivers to weed them out and lead to driverless cars. I don’t see Lyft having human drivers 5 years from now. Waymos already popping up everywhere in PHX. Just a matter of time.

- The only instances I’ve unmatched myself from riders have been if they smell like they just smoked the green stuff before getting in my car. The smell takes at least a full day to completely wear off…. If they won’t respect my car’s cleanliness, I refuse to drive them again.

New driver here with a couple of questions. I have a forward facing dash cam that also records interior audio. I don’t have a dash cam recording inside the vehicle as of yet. I got an email today introducing what I believe is a new feature in the app to use the camera in the phone to record video inside the cabin. Is this video available for me to review or only to send in if there is a security issue? The recordings are deleted after seven days. What happens if a complaint is filed after the footage is deleted?

I know I would be better off purchasing a dash cam but this is just a part time gig for me at the moment. My wife just got laid off but that is another story. I’m just wondering if this new feature is worth using until I can afford a decent dash cam.

I was on my way to pick up this passenger, the pay was $20, and it updated to another passenger. The pay was cut down to $10, then for no reason that passenger canceled... WTF LYFT?!?!?!

Might get this van at a dealership near me. Its a really good price and in decent shape. Under 60k miles and its a 2021. Interior is nice, leather.

So im sick of using my regular vehicle for this. Its great on gas but its a smaller car. Its also paid off

I was thinking of getting a van or maybe an SUV to get some XL runs. Are they worth it in a place like San Antonio?

The van would be within my budget and im not making a car payment at all right now. Seeing the prices for XL makes me want to buy it.

What do you think?

Today I had passengers put in the wrong destination. We arrived at the destination they entered, they realized it was wrong, and the actual place they needed to go was about a mile away.

I figured, whatever, I’ll do them a solid. I had them update the destination in the app instead of ending the ride and making them request another one.

Lyft gave me ONE FUCKING DOLLAR for the extra mile.

That’s when I learned the lesson. I thought I was helping the passengers out, and Lyft turned around and shafted me directly in the booty hole for being accommodating.

So now I know: if we arrive at the destination you entered and you tell me, “Oh, this is the wrong place,” the ride is over. You can request another ride to wherever you actually meant to go. I’m not adding mileage onto an existing ride for scraps when a new trip would at least have its own minimum fare.

Just putting this out there so other drivers know how Lyft handles this before you learn it the expensive way like I did.

The amount of people ordering rideshare transportation with very small children and not bringing a child seat is terrifying. I had to report two young women today, one with a 1 year old and the second with a 10 month old (she wanted to sit the baby in her lap). I refuse to be held responsible for your child's wellbeing because you refuse to be a safe caregiver. They get so mad too and argue about it, saying "other drivers do it". Well then order a new Lyft because it's highly illegal and dangerous.