Want a tesla, can't afford, but could if I rent it out

[Sasmania]

IF you do it, certainly do it through Relay Rides as others have suggested. I did it with my old car and it worked great. IF you do it, it's imperative to get lots of great (professional level) photos... I can't understand people who want to list a $200 a day car and put up one crappy photo. That will not work...


I was going to do it with my P85 to but I decided to do Uber instead and commercial insurance would not allow renting it as well. I may in fact do it when I get back from my road trip.

I would only consider it if you would be happy renting it 2 or 3 days instead of 8...and some months maybe ZERO. You can't bank on this as your life saver. It can help you, but don't put yourself in the situation where it has to happen without causing severe financial issues.

 

[MsElectric]

Don't forget that you'll have to pay taxes on your income so it would probably mean and additional 4 to 5 rental days a month to clear the $800 just to cover the car payment and insurance. You'll have other expenses such as maintenance and higher electricity bills to consider as well.

Taxes will be for the "profit" though, not gross income.

I am sure between depreciation, insurance, maintenance, and possibly interest payments you can technically make it look like you just broke even on paper with no further tax liability.

I concur with Max and PurpleWalt in that if you are seriously considering this, do it with a CPO car that you buy for $50K-something. Not with a brand new car. And just realize it is only a matter of time until someone damages your car so be mentally prepared to deal with it and read all that find print in the applicable insurance policies.

 

[brucet999]

No necessarily. Some insurance companies are adding additional coverage specifically for ride sharing, that is very reasonable (USAA offers in TX for $6-8 a month). This means you don't need "full up" livery coverage, which is usually more than most of these drivers would make in a month.

I don't think renting your car by the day would qualify as ride sharing which, I think, applies when you are driving.

 

[CHG-ON]

I simply could never do it. She's MY girl. Nobody else's... Sounds stupid, I know. But that's the truth.

 

[Sus]

Try renting out your Prius first and see how it goes. That way you can have a realistic expectation of the process (hassle, income) before making a jump like this.

 

[Khatsalano]

@BigBearBalls, have you done all of the following:

(1) Paid off all consumer loans, student loans (above 5% interest), car loans, and credit cards?
(2) Bought a home?
(3) Established an investment portfolio, or, at a minimum, a 401k/IRA that is accumulating near the maximum annual limit?
(4) Considered a different username on this forum?

If you have done all that, and you can afford a Telsa without having to rent it out, then it's a good idea. Otherwise, no. Don't do it. The point is to get yourself in such a good financial picture in 10 years, you can afford anything you want, even a Telsa. Imagine now that you started those actions 10 years ago instead. Best of luck.

- K

 

[bigbear]

@BigBearBalls, have you done all of the following:

(1) Paid off all consumer loans, student loans (above 5% interest), car loans, and credit cards?
(2) Bought a home?
(3) Established an investment portfolio, or, at a minimum, a 401k/IRA that is accumulating near the maximum annual limit?
(4) Considered a different username on this forum?

If you have done all that, and you can afford a Telsa without having to rent it out, then it's a good idea. Otherwise, no. Don't do it. The point is to get yourself in such a good financial picture in 10 years, you can afford anything you want, even a Telsa. Imagine now that you started those actions 10 years ago instead. Best of luck.

- K

1) still have 10k owned on a minivan at 1.49
2) yes and paid off
3) yes, maxed out Roth ira
4) no

We don't have a ton of income coming in though, so if consistent rental money want coming in the payment would be hard to cover which I know wouldn't be smart financially. I guess I'll either wait for a cpo to get into the mid thirty range or wait for the 3. Either way, I hope to see a telsa coming my way. Thanks for all the opinions and advice!

 

[brucet999]

Taxes will be for the "profit" though, not gross income.

I am sure between depreciation, insurance, maintenance, and possibly interest payments you can technically make it look like you just broke even on paper with no further tax liability.

Operating expenses on a rental asset that is available for personal use (most usually a vacation home) may be written off only in proportion to the number of days of the year in rental service. In this case, 8 days per month would work out to 26%, so at $100 per day, to break even on paper, expenses would have to run $3076 per month; almost $37,000 per year.