When I made the decision to buy my car from my sister, my experience of Uber's ride-sharing service was limited to weekend trips to and from the city. Everyone's heard of Uber, and while I liked using it, I never thought I would be a driver. That was until I started looking for ways to put more towards my car loan.
Finding my financing
As a writer and personal finance expert for finder.com.au, I knew finding the right loan wasn't going to be my biggest problem. I used a personal loan calculator with each of the lenders I compared to make sure the repayments were going to be affordable.
I compared both fixed and variable rate options, and kept their restrictions in mind as I wanted to be able to make additional repayments and to pay off the loan early if I wanted to. The car I was purchasing, while relatively new, was used, which meant it wasn't eligible for some secured car loans.
After comparing my options for a few weeks, with the luxury of an easy sale from my sister, I settled on an unsecured variable rate personal loan that came with no penalties for additional or early repayments. While I could afford repayments over a two-year term, I opted for a three-year term, wanting to give my budget a bit of breathing room.
But despite that, I wanted to pay the loan off as quickly as possible. How could I beat the loan term clock and repay my loan ahead of time?
The decision to sign up with Uber
People are always looking for ways to make additional repayments to their loan, and now I was one of them. Making your lunch and bringing it into work every day, while good for some, wasn't going to give me the kind of lump sum payments I wanted. So I looked elsewhere, and then I remembered the Uber driver sign-up ads.
"Be your own boss"
"Work your own hours"
Sounds like a dodgy Internet ad, doesn't it? But the lure of Uber was real, and I wondered if this was a viable option to help clock up however many hours I wanted and put what I earned towards my loan. With my editor's blessing, I decided to investigate how to sign up with Uber.
Create an account online. You can create a partner (driver) account online. Your partner account needs to have a different email address than what you used with your rider account – it took me a while to figure this out, but the customer service email team were helpful.
Visit a centre. You'll receive an email with these details, but you basically need to visit an Uber centre with your licence, passport, your RMS driving history (which you have to pay for, but those costs are reimbursed when you sign-up as a driver), your car insurance details and your car. Uber has several sign-up centres, with locations and times changing week-to-week.
At the sign-up centre
I visited a centre in Mascot, with my documents and car in tow. I was greeted by a friendly Uber rep and run through a presentation that explained the partner app used by drivers, driver eligibility and a bit about Uber's philosophy. Afterwards, I was taken upstairs to go through my documents.
The whole process was quick, with the most time-consuming element being the vehicle inspection and filling out police check documents. While everything went well, sadly, my newly-purchased car didn't pass the vehicle inspection. With some kind advice from the inspector and a business card for an auto mechanic, I was on my way.
What I learnt at Uber
Uber needs drivers. Uber has more passengers than drivers and is in need of new sign-ups. As long as you meet the eligibility criteria to be a driver, company reps can help you through the process and get you working quickly.
The work sounded enticing. While I was unsure of whether I wanted to work as an Uber driver at first, the presentation was pretty convincing. You can work when you want, take breaks when you want and you're paid weekly. The whole structure is transparent. The presenter said quite a few times that you would be working "with Uber, not for Uber".
There are eligibility criteria. You need to be over the age of 21 and have held an unrestricted licence for at least 12 months. Your car also needs to be less than 10 years old.
It's easy to make money. There's a minimum $30 per hour guarantee for drivers in the first few weeks they work, but the presenter said this usually isn't needed because of the number of ride requests. He also said that surge pricing (where the cost goes up during periods of high demand) makes it easy to get higher fares if you know how to use the app by picking up riders in under-served areas.
What happened after
A few days after the failed vehicle inspection and a kind message sent to my equally-uninformed sister about her misaligned front tyres, I received a call from Uber saying that I had passed the police check and could become a driver pending a successful vehicle inspection.
While the need to visit a mechanic has slightly deterred me, the vision of me zipping around the city for a few hours each weekend hasn't faded yet. If you're looking to put $200 extra a week towards your loan and have a few spare hours every weekend, Uber is an option you'll want to consider.
Uber wants to help you buy a car
In between buying my own vehicle and making the trip to Uber, the company announced financing partnerships that can help you get a car loan if you want to sign up as a driver. Through the Uber Marketplace, new and existing drivers can rent or buy vehicles through suppliers working with Uber. Lenders currently include SocietyOne, RideShare Solutions and easifleet.
Not ready to sign up yet?
If you're not quite ready to sign up to Uber, but still want to compare a range of car loans? Use the table below to compare and see you repayments.
Elizabeth Barry is the lead editor for Finder. She has over 10 years' experience writing about a range of topics with a focus on personal finance. You’ll find her writing and commentary in a range of publications and media including Seven News, the ABC, MSN, the Irish Times and Singapore Business Review.
Want to buy a classic car but don't have the ready money? There are still financing options available for classic vehicles. Find out what loans you have to choose one and which one will work best for you.
Have bad credit but still need a car? There are a range of lenders that will consider you for a loan. Find out how to apply and how you can get approved in this guide.
Finding the right car loan shouldn't be as hard as finding the right car. Get a loan that will give you pre-approval so you can go shopping with the right amount of funds.
How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Important information about this website
finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stands by our editorial principles
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product. You can learn more about how we make money.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
What happened after
What happened after