The first step to driving for services like Uber and Lyft is having a car that qualifies for their services. The standard Uber service, Uber X, is the most Uber request that takes place, with additional services, like UberSUV or UberBlack which impose additional restrictions on your car. This guide will take you through the general requirements for each Uber service to let you know whether or not you can drive for Uber. However, it’s important to know these are general guidelines. To drive for Uber, you must pass a vehicle inspection as well as a general background check. You may pass all the requirements for a given service, but still fail the vehicle inspection if your car is not in good condition, so be careful of holding these guidelines as absolute.
General Uber Requirements
- Vehicle must be at most 15 years old or younger (this means your model year should be 2001 or newer.)
- Must seat 4 or more passengers excluding the driver.
- Must be a 4-door car, truck, or minivan.
- Must have the driver’s name on the vehicle’s insurance, however, the driver’s name does not need to be on the registration of the vehicle
Besides passing a vehicle inspection, you (the driver) must also pass a background check. Additionally, you cannot drive for Uber if your car is any of the following:
- A full-sized van (think Sprinter)
- A taxi, decommissioned police car, or another marked vehicle,
- Salvaged, rebuilt, or has onerous modifications.
Additional Uber services have more stringent qualifications.
UberX Requirements
Uber X is the baseline service for driving with Uber, and if you pass the above guidelines, you will most likely qualify for UberX. Most importantly, you must have at least 4 seat belts, 4 full doors, not center-opening doors like the Honda Element has. And suicide doors will mostly likely disqualify you from being able to drive with Uber.
Typical Uber X cars include the: Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Nissan Altima, Ford Focus, etc.
Uber XL Requirements
Uber XL is the Uber service for groups of 5-6 passengers. You typically make more money for satisfying UberXL orders, and you must have seat at least 6 passengers, with 6 seat belts, along with the general requirements.
Example UberXL vehicles include: Dodge Caravan, Dodge Grand Caravan, Honda Odyssey, Infiniti QX60, etc.
UberSelect Requirements
UberSelect is the first tier of Uber cars that offers a luxury service past Uber X. UberSelect requirements include:
- Vehicle year must be of year 2007 or newer
- Vehicle must have at least 4 seat-belts and 4 doors
- Vehicle must have a leather interior
UberSelect cars are typically entry-level luxury cars, such as: Lincolns, Infinitis, Cadillacs, Audis, etc.
UberBLACK and UberSUVRequirements
UberBLACK and UberSUV are the most expensive forms of Uber you can drive for. UberBLACK is typically used by luxury customers or on special occasions. The requirements for driving for either include:
- Vehicle year must be of year 2012 or newer
- Vehicle must have black paint on black leather interior
- Vehicle must be in excellent condition
- Vehicle must have commercial registration and insurance, and city-specific airport permits if in a city is within airport
Example UberBLACK cars include: Audi A6, Tesla Model S, Mercedes-Benz E and S-Class, Porsche, etc.
Example UberSUV cars include: Cadillac Escalade, Infiniti QX60, Infiniti QX80, Ford Expedition, etc.
It’s worth noting that if your car qualifies for multiple Uber services, you can accept jobs from the categories that you prefer. For example, if your car qualifies for UberX and UberXL, you can choose to receive UberX and Uber XL rides, or just UberX rides. UberXL rides pay more, but appear less frequently than UberX rides, so most drivers have the ability to choose to accept both types of rides.
If your car passes the above guidelines, the next steps for Uber is to get a vehicle inspection performed. Then, after a background check, you can begin to drive for Uber!
