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Pick up, renew, and return your Express Drive rental

You can schedule pickups and returns, as well as renew your vehicle in your Lyft Driver app.
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Pickup
You can reserve a rental vehicle in the ‘Vehicles’ tab of your Driver Dashboard. Scroll to the ‘Express Drive’ section, then follow the prompts.
Once you pass the DMV and background checks, you'll be able to schedule a pickup.
If you’re a returning renter, you’ll be able to schedule a rental in advance while waiting for any required DMV and background checks. Please note: If your DMV and background checks are not finished running prior to the appointment, the pickup will be canceled.
If you're not a Lyft driver yet:
  1. Visit lyft.com/expressdrive.
  2. Verify your phone number.
  3. Select 'Rent with Express Drive' to begin your application.
What to bring
When you pick up your rental vehicle, bring your:
  1. Driver’s license.
  2. Credit/debit card listed in your name.
  3. Phone with the Lyft Driver app installed.
Your costs
You’ll pay a refundable deposit to rent a vehicle through Express Drive. You won’t pay for any other costs upfront when you pick up the vehicle.
Your earnings as a Lyft driver will cover your rental costs. If your earnings don’t cover your rental costs during the Lyft billing week (which starts Monday 5 AM), we’ll charge your default card on file for any remaining amounts the following Tuesday.
Any unpaid rental charges will carry over each week until they’re repaid. Earnings must cover your total outstanding rental costs before you can receive a payout.
After those rental costs are covered, we transfer the rest of your earnings to your bank account.
Credit and debit cards are the only accepted card types for the rental deposit and as your default payment method for Express Drive.
Your billing history shows a full summary of your rental costs for the past billing week. To view your bills and card charges:
  1. Open the Lyft Driver app main menu, then tap ‘Account.’
  2. Tap ‘Pay & Tax Info.’
  3. Tap ‘Express Drive billing history.’
We don’t accept the following as your default payment method:
  1. Prepaid cards
  2. Commuter cards
  3. Apple Pay
  4. Google Pay
  5. Venmo
  6. Cash App
  7. Paypal
When you return your vehicle, you’ll receive a full refund of your deposit within 3 weeks as long as rental-related fees, damages, and tolls have been covered.
Enabling backup payments
Enabling backup payments helps reduce failed charges on your account.
Unless you disable backup payments, you authorize Lyft to use any payment methods you have on file if your primary one fails.
Note: You may have issues renewing your rental or may be asked to return your vehicle if your payment fails.
To disable backup payments, open the Lyft Driver app, then:
  1. Tap the main menu, then tap ‘Account.’
  2. Tap ‘Pay and Tax Info.’
  3. Tap ‘Backup Payments.’
  4. Toggle ‘Enable backup payments’ off.
To enable backup payments, open the Lyft Driver app, then:
  1. Tap the main menu, then tap ‘Account.’
  2. Tap ‘Pay and Tax Info.’
  3. If you don’t have multiple cards for your payment method, tap ‘Lyft charges’ to add an additional card.
  4. Tap ‘Backup Payments.’
  5. Toggle ‘Enable backup payments’ on.
Confirming your appointment
Once you accept the agreement and pay the deposit, you’ll receive a confirmation email.
If you don’t see a confirmation email, make sure to check:
  1. If you paid the rental deposit: This is required before receiving a confirmation email.
  2. Your email settings: Make sure there aren’t any blocks on Lyft email addresses.
  3. Your spam and junk folders: Our emails sometimes get lost in these folders.
Cancelling or rescheduling your appointment
You can reschedule or cancel your rental reservation from the ‘Your Vehicles’ tab of the Lyft Driver app. Note: If you cancel your appointment, you’ll have to restart the reservation process.
Vehicle availability
Vehicles are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis, depending on their availability.
If no vehicles are available when you try to schedule your appointment, you're still approved to rent with Express Drive.
Check the ‘Your Vehicles’ tab daily to see when vehicles become available. We update pickup dates for new appointments every night at midnight.
Hertz renters only: Right now, there's no way to join a waitlist or get notified when more vehicles are available. Keep checking the ‘Your Vehicles’ tab for availability updates. Flexdrive renters only: To join a waitlist, tap ‘Notify me.’ You’ll get an email when a vehicle becomes available.
Make and model availability
The type of vehicle you get depends on availability at each rental location. We can’t guarantee a specific vehicle will be available before pickup.
Based on your city, electric vehicles, SUVs, and hybrids may be available.
Renew
Your rental will automatically renew for 7 days each week as long as you:
  1. Earn enough to cover weekly rental costs.
  2. Complete required maintenance on time.
  3. Have a valid payment method on file.
  4. Don’t have any outstanding charges from the previous week.
You can find the status of your renewal in the Driver app or Express Drive dashboard.  We'll send you a text and email to notify you that your rental has automatically been renewed.
Required maintenance
Rental vehicles require routine maintenance. We’ll send you a text and email to let you know when maintenance is due.
If you rent from Hertz, you’ll be asked to create an account with the Hertz Maintenance Portal. Once created, you’ll receive texts and emails when maintenance is due.
Your weekly auto-renew may fail if you don’t get routine maintenance.Your rental provider will pay for routine maintenance.
Ride requirements
You must complete at least 20-40 rides per week to renew your rental with Flexdrive or Hertz. Your rental region determines the minimum ride requirement threshold.
You can track your progress toward the minimum ride requirement on the Driver app's home screen.
Your first week’s ride minimum is prorated. This means you may not have to complete all 20-40 rides in your first week, depending on the day you pick up your rental vehicle.
If you're unable to meet the ride requirements, return the rental vehicle to the location you picked it up from.
My rental didn't auto-renew
Here are some reasons why a rental may not auto-renew:
  1. Invalid payment method on file (such as an expired card)
  2. Required maintenance not completed on time
  3. Overdue weekly rental charges
  4. 3 or more traffic violations
  5. Drove less than ride requirement (20-40 rides per week)
  6. Accident occurred while driving an Express Drive vehicle
  7. Someone else besides you drove the rental
  8. Violation of the Lyft Terms of Service
You can find the status of your renewal in the Driver app or Express Drive dashboard.
Enabling backup payments
Enabling backup payments helps reduce failed charges on your account.
Unless you disable backup payments, you authorize Lyft to use any payment methods you have on file if your primary one fails.
Note: You may have issues renewing your rental or may be asked to return your vehicle if your payment fails.
To disable backup payments, open the Lyft Driver app, then:
  1. Tap the main menu, then tap ‘Account.’
  2. Tap ‘Pay and Tax Info.’
  3. Tap ‘Backup Payments.’
  4. Toggle ‘Enable backup payments’ off.
To enable backup payments, open the Lyft Driver app, then:
  1. Tap the main menu, then tap ‘Account.’
  2. Tap ‘Pay and Tax Info.’
  3. If you don’t have multiple cards for your payment method, tap ‘Lyft charges’ to add an additional card.
  4. Tap ‘Backup Payments.’
  5. Toggle ‘Enable backup payments’ on.
Return
You can return the vehicle any time after you hit the 7-day minimum. After 7 days, you’ll only be charged for the additional days you had the vehicle.
For example, if you met the 7-day minimum and rented for another 3 days, you’d be charged for 10 days.
Schedule a return in the Driver app or using the Express Drive dashboard.
It takes about 3 weeks to process your refund.
You’ll see your rental deposit refunded to the card originally charged 2 weeks after the return. After the refund, the deposit will be in your account within 5-7 business days.
You can check the status of your rental deposit in the 'Your Vehicles' tab of your Lyft Driver app.
Note: You won’t get the deposit back if you have outstanding rental costs that exceed the deposit amount.
Scheduling a return
You can schedule a return in the Driver app or using the Express Drive dashboard. Note: To avoid additional charges, clean and refuel the vehicle before returning it. Return the vehicle in the same condition as when you picked it up.
Getting your deposit back
It takes about 3 weeks to process your refund.
If you have any outstanding rental costs from your rental reservation (such as rental charges, tolls, or damages), your deposit will cover those charges.
You’ll see your rental deposit refunded to the card originally charged 2 weeks after the return is finalized. After the refund, the deposit will be in your account within 5-7 business days.
To check the status of your rental deposit:
  1. Open the Lyft Driver app main menu, then tap 'Vehicles and Devices.'
  2. Tap 'Your Vehicles.'
  3. Tap ‘See details’ on your Express Drive rental.
  4. Tap ‘Rental deposit.’
My deposit wasn't refunded after I returned the rental
Here are some reasons you didn’t get your deposit back, or why it may have been less than expected:
  1. It’s been less than 3 weeks since you returned your rental.
  2. Your rental charges exceed your deposit amount.
  3. The vehicle needed deep cleaning or refueling.
  4. You got another charge such as a damage fee.
Note: You won’t get the deposit back if your outstanding rental costs exceed the deposit amount.
Rental Replacements
You can get a new rental and update your rental plan when you come in for your rental replacement appointment.
For a smooth swap, make sure the car is clean and remove personal items. If there are no additional charges, your deposit will automatically transfer to your new rental.
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