Ways your car can help pay for itself
When you start the process of applying for finance on a car, and browsing trusted second-hand car dealers for a vehicle that will suit your everyday needs, you don’t always realise the effect of the financial commitment before you.
The fact that you’re looking for a car through a pre-owned dealer already means that you’re thinking cleverly about what will be the most affordable option for you.
Monthly car instalments of a couple grand can take a toll on your monthly budget but, if you need the car, you don’t exactly have a choice.
Except, there are a few ways your car can help pay for itself. Depending on the size of your car and what your daily schedule and responsibilities are like, not all of these options will be applicable to you. But these are all side-hustles you can consider that can contribute towards your car loan repayments.
Sign up to be a car service
Uber, UberEats, Mr D and the like are all self-courier or transport services that people can sign up with and start making money from.
Use your spare time and four-wheels to drive people around or bring them their deliveries. You can set your own hours, choose which jobs you want to do and you have the opportunity to make tips. As an Uber driver, for example, you can make around R80 and R120 an hour (depending on the season) and all you need is a vehicle model not older than 2013 with four doors. A car description you’ll readily find for an affordable price at a second-hand car dealer.
Uber is a great option if you’re a people’s person, but if you’d prefer to skip the small talk and get the job done, you can consider using your car and driving skills to be a courier.
Obviously, the more hours you set aside for driving people and orders around, the more money you’ll be able to make in a day. But even if you were only to offer your car service over the weekends, your car can easily start knocking off the interest on its loan.
Be a car of advertisements
If you don’t have hours in the evenings or weekends to run a car service, you can be paid to turn your car into an advertisement. We see them every now and then driving through the streets, on the highway or parked outside of schools and cafés. And they always turn our heads and grab our attention (which is the point).
Advertising a business on a car is a type of automobile advertising that some companies are happy to invest in. It’s no coincidence that you’ve seen more than one artificial grass-covered car out on the roads. It draws attention to the brand and all you have to do is allow a company to brand your car.
They will pay you to have their logos and brand plastered on your vehicle so that, when you drive around, you’re advertising for them in your area and wherever you go. It might not what your car looked like rolling out of the car dealership, but the money you’re being paid for it can ease that financial burden.
Rent out your car
If you have a relatively regular driving schedule with a few days off in between where you maybe work from home, commute with someone else or use your partner’s car over the weekend, you can consider renting out your car for some extra cash.
Another sign-up, set your car’s availability and approve which people can and can’t rent your vehicle through a service provider like RentMyRide. It’s a popular car-rental service as the rates for renters are significantly lower than those of traditional rental cars. And if you’re a South African travelling within South Africa, you shouldn’t have to pay the “tourist” rates to get around your own country.
Renters benefit with an affordable car, while you profit from this rental business.
Start carpooling
It’s not always about making money, but saving money that can also go towards paying off your car. If you need to travel from the outskirts into town for work every day and you don’t mind holding conversations with people, then you should start carpooling with other people.
Find people in your area that drive to the same area you work in (or the general direction) and start a lift club where people pitch in for fuel and wear-and-tear for a month or week or per trip. You can choose how you want the terms of the agreement to be. And if you’re a stay-at-home parent, you can do the same thing with the children from school.
Not only will you cover some of your own transport and car costs, but you’ll be helping out the environment by making sure there are fewer cars and emissions on the road. The best vehicle option for carpooling would be a large, possibly seven-seater, SUV with enough space to comfortably fit a group of people and their luggage for the day.