Many or all companies we feature compensate us. Compensation and editorial research influence how products appear on a page. Auto Loans Uber Financing Might Not Work For You Updated Feb 28, 2022 6-min read Written by Jeff Gitlen, CEPF® Written by Jeff Gitlen, CEPF® Expertise: Student loans, personal loans, home loans, insurance, credit cards Jeff Gitlen, CEPF®, is the director of content operations at LendEDU. He graduated from the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics at the University of Delaware. Learn more about Jeff Gitlen, CEPF® Uber is the leading ride sharing service in North America. Started in 2009 in San Francisco, the app quickly took off and now provides people around the world with a cheap and efficient alternative to public transportation and taxis. From when it started to 2016, Uber facilitated over 2 billion rides and in 2016 made $20 billion in gross revenue. Despite competitors in the ride sharing space, Uber has a majority of the market share. Most people know about Uber because a friend or a family member wouldn’t stop telling them about the great new app that they had to download that allowed them to get cheap rides in fancy cars. But others see Uber as an easy way to make a little extra cash by driving for the company as either a full or part-time job. Whether you’ve never taken an Uber ride or you’ve driven for Uber for years, you might have heard about the Uber financing program and thought that it might help you buy a car or upgrade to a nicer vehicle so that you can start driving for Uber or earn more money with your fancier wheels. After all, buying a car isn’t always an easy process – especially if your credit isn’t ideal. The Uber Financing Program offers the promise of almost guaranteed acceptance. Uber found that many of its drivers or potential drivers struggled to purchase a new vehicle because they couldn’t qualify for financing. In order to make sure that they could continue to expand their business by getting more drivers to drive for them, Uber decided they should get into the financing business and help their drivers secure financing to lease or buy a vehicle. They wanted to make sure those with poor credit or thin credit files had the vehicle they needed to start driving. What is the Uber Financing Program? While Uber launched the Uber Financing Program expressing an interest in getting into the auto financing game, they don’t actually provide the auto loans themselves but instead work with third party lenders who are willing to offer sub-prime loans to their drivers. Many of the borrowers who receive loans to purchase vehicles through the program were unable to qualify for funding anywhere else and were attracted to the program because it did not require a credit check. Others saw it as a convenient option to get and repay an auto loan. Because of that added risk involved in lending to primarily sub-prime borrowers, lenders charged significantly higher interest rates on the loans that they extended – often as much as 20% to 30% APR. Drivers were required to put at least $2,000 down towards the vehicle. Uber helps reduce some of the risk for lenders by taking the car payments out of the drivers’ Uber earnings before paying the drivers. This is part of the reason why lenders are willing to take a chance on sub-prime borrowers, but that can create problems for borrowers if they don’t earn enough money driving that month. The Uber Financing Program vs. Traditional Auto Loans The Uber Financing Program focuses on helping drivers who have bad credit or no credit get financing. If you have good credit, a traditional auto loan would likely be a much better option. With good credit and a steady income, you can qualify for very affordable rates for a traditional auto loan. There are, in fact, a lot of auto loan options these days – either online or at a traditional bank or credit union. For that reason, you can easily shop around and save money by finding the best rate, as well as terms that work for you. Your interest rate could be as low as 3% or less with terms of anywhere from 2 years to 10 years with no pre-payment fees. Applying is also easier than ever with the option of applying online and a number of online auto loan marketplaces where you can fill out one application and get quotes from multiple lenders. If you have bad credit, it would likely be more difficult for you to qualify for a loan and you would have to pay more in interest, but it might be far cheaper than the Uber Financing Program and would allow you to choose from a broader range of terms. In addition, you might have more flexibility around what kind of make and model of car you buy and you won’t have to pay your car payment directly out of your paycheck. One great example of a traditional auto loan for those with good to excellent credit is LightStream loans which provides great rates, flexible terms, and some unique options. LightStream offers easy to apply for auto loans of between $5,000 and $100,000 without having to put any money down. Candidates can be approved as soon as the same day and have the funds deposited into their bank account that same day as well. The interest rate you qualify for depends on your personal credit and financial situation. LightStream also charges no origination fees or pre-payment fees and you can choose whatever kind of car you want to buy regardless it’s make, model, year, or mileage. While many traditional auto loans require that you use the car as security on the loan, LightStream offers the option of unsecured auto loans for those with excellent credit. While LightStream does offer financing for those who don’t have perfect credit, they primarily lend to those with credit scores above 660. The Bottom Line If you are desperate to drive for Uber, but don’t have the cash to buy a new car or if you’ve been driving for Uber for a while and want to earn more money by upgrading your ride, you can likely find an auto loan at a lower interest rate than you would pay via the Uber Financial Program. Even if you have bad credit, there are likely still lenders out there who will extend you a loan. These lenders could offer better interest rates, and more flexible term options. If you have good credit and an income, you will likely be able to easily get an auto loan with much better terms and rates. If you have no credit or if you don’t currently have an income, then it could be almost impossible to find a traditional auto loan and, in that case, an Uber loan might be your only option. But before you sign on the dotted line, be sure that you can afford the high cost of your loan. Ultimately, the key is to shop around in order to find the lender who is right for you and who will provide you with the loan that gives you the best deal.