f you have a car, you are probably aware that it is very expensive for you. Every day, every month ... When it rolls, and even when it is stopped! So the title may surprise you, but this article shows how to make money with your junk car.
The average annual cost of a car varies between 5,000 and 10,000 €, depending on the model . However, on average, the French only use it for 50 minutes a day, most often to go to work. The rest of the time, the car sleeps in the garage or deteriorates on the street, while continuing to cost its owner a lot of money ... If you recognize yourself in this typical situation, rest assured, I will explain to you how get out ! Here are 11 tips on how to save money and how to make money with your car !
1 - Advertising stickers
The first solution is probably one of the most obvious. It consists of transforming your car into a mobile advertising panel . Using such a solution saves between 100 and 300 € per year. It can represent between 1/3 and 3/4 of the total average expenses incurred for your car!
In addition, this tip is very easy to implement. It doesn't require any special effort from you. Several platforms offer car advertising services . They pretty much all work the same. Just send a photo of your car with all the information about it and details of your daily trips. You will then receive the stickers to set up and an offer of remuneration.
Among the different platforms that offer this service, it'smycar is pretty cool. Compensation is in the form of gifts: various products, vouchers, etc.
2 - Save money on your credit and insurance
When we buy a car to go to work every day, we often forget the important impact it can have on our finances. It is quite a paradox, knowing that it is an investment that one makes to be able to go to work, and therefore to earn money.
When you buy a car, the two biggest items of immediate spending are auto credit and auto insurance. Fortunately, you can reduce these costs by taking out a loan directly with your insurer to buy your car . And you can get several benefits.
First, it allows you to combine the two monthly payments into one. Also, you greatly reduce the administrative costs involved in the two procedures. Then, if the new car you buy replaces an old car and you stay with the same insurer, taking out a car loan with him can guide you in choosing the model that will cost you the least amount in insurance . Finally, having a relationship of trust with your insurer for several years greatly simplifies the process.
Financing and insurance signed in one go, at your insurer.
3 - Carpool
Car pooling is becoming more and more popular. Why ? Because applications made it extremely easy . Because its ecological dimension makes it a solution appreciated by individuals. Even better, because it allows owners of cars that drive frequently to save money, make their trips profitable, and even sometimes make money while driving.
Indeed, by practicing it regularly, carpooling can allow you to earn a little money on the long journeys that you make. For that, you have to be an exemplary driver with excellent reviews on the platforms. And you have to organize yourself well enough so that your car is always full on each trip.
Many drivers who are new to carpooling tend to turn to the best known online solution, BlaBlaCar . It is true that it is practical, that its application is of excellent quality and that it has many users.
But be aware that there are also other more profitable platforms. So take the time to compare them and subscribe to several of them to generate as much income as possible.
4 - Carpool with your colleagues
Carpool apps are very useful for taking strangers with you on long journeys and thus saving the cost of petrol and tolls. However, statistically, the overwhelming majority of journeys made by the French last less than thirty minutes and are made to get to work. Classic carpooling is therefore not always the best solution.
This is why you have to organize a carpooling system between colleagues. The idea is to precisely calculate the cost of the journey by integrating the detours necessary to recover each colleague, then to share the costs equitably among all. Obviously, such an organization can only work if you commit, as a driver, to be punctual and to warn beforehand in case of absence.
This carpooling system will not necessarily allow you to earn money with your car, because it might seem a little dishonest to try to make profits on the back of your colleagues. However, it can help you cut the cost of each round trip by five . At the end of the month, the difference can be very significant.
5 - Transport packages
Car pooling is therefore an excellent opportunity to save on your daily trips. But it is not the only one !
Indeed, in addition to transporting colleagues or strangers, you can also transport packages . More and more drivers are turning to this new solution offered by young companies such as Cocolis.
The idea is extremely simple. Just register by filling in the model of your car and the volume available to transport the packages. Then, you precisely inform the journeys that you make daily by indicating well the days of the week concerned. Then the start-up takes care of the rest.
You can even do this work in your spare time and outside of your daily commute . In this case, you will have to roam your city and region to drop off parcels for individuals and companies at the right addresses. The ideal is still to drop a package from time to time on the way to your work. Thus, you will manage to earn a few hundred euros per year.
Do not cheat on the volume of your vehicle, it will save you complicated deliveries!
6 - Become an occasional driver
Do you like to drive? Do you want to make money with your car? Have you ever thought of becoming an occasional driver for individuals?
Some applications will first ask you to obtain a VTC driver's certificate and to open your own business in the form of a SASU . It may sound a bit complicated, but it also saves a lot of money in your spare time.
If you find it too complicated to be worth it, there are even easier solutions. These are still applications, like SnapCar for example, but they have fewer requirements than the others. You just have to declare yourself an autoentrepreneur . It is now done in a few minutes on the internet . You can then register on the application ... and collect your income.
As a driver, you choose your working hours and the routes you accept. You can work whenever you want, 24/7.
So it represents ideal casual work . In addition, apps like this usually only take a 15% commission, compared to others that sometimes go up to 25%. In just a few months, the annual cost of your car will be reimbursed and the additional income will add up to appreciable wages .
7 - Rent your car when you are not using it
Until then, most of the ideas I've given you on how to make money with your car involve using your car. However, in the long term, what costs the most is that your car spends an immense majority of its time at a stop, at the garage or, worse still, outside to be exposed to the weather.
Fortunately, there are solutions that allow you to make money with your car without even having to use it. To do this, simply register on websites and applications for car rental between individuals , such as Drivy for example.
Like carpooling apps, these services are very easy to use and can quickly prove very profitable, depending on the model of your car. It is quite easy to reimburse all the costs of your car just with this solution and even earn extra money.
Many individuals are interested in this opportunity but are concerned about insurance. Fortunately, the rental services between individuals manage the matter themselves. Your car is fully covered. You do n't even need to report this activity to your personal insurance .
On the other hand, pay attention to the availability that you give. It would be silly not to be able to use your car when you need it!
8 - Rent your car when you go on vacation
Rental between individuals has been so successful in recent years that it has given ideas to start-ups and even at many airports in France. Thus, new services are emerging to allow people like you to leave their car at the airport when they go on vacation so that it can be rented to other individuals. This is the case of TravelCar for example. The rental company receives a commission, but the majority of the revenue is collected by the car owner.
This car sharing solution is increasingly popular with travelers who want to make their car profitable while they are away. First, it allows you to save on airport parking costs during your vacation. And in addition, it brings you rental income . Double hit! Instead of spending several hundred euros for a week of parking, you will be able to earn several hundred euros during your week of vacation.
Of course, these concierge systems come in handy at airports, but they are not mandatory. If you go on vacation from an airport that does not have one or you take the train, you can still rent your car through the applications and classic sites. Just think about doing it well enough in advance to be sure your car will be rented.
Parking spaces are scarce. And what is rare is expensive!
9 - Rent your parking space
If renting your car during the holidays is interesting, it's also because parking is expensive. So if you own a parking space in a big city, you may not know it, but I'm telling you : you're sitting on a gold mine ! Indeed, you can rent your parking space when you are not using it. And it can pay off! And there again, there are online services: Parkadom for example.
The most common way to use this system is to fill in your work hours. So someone can rent your place during the hours you don't occupy it. Often, those who rent the space are simply people who work in the neighborhood where you live.
It is also possible to sublet a place that you are renting to someone. But in this case, you are not allowed to make a profit.
Of course, the various tips previously exposed can be easily combined. If you manage to rent your car during your vacation, then your parking space will be free for one or two full weeks. And if you can also rent your parking space to tourists passing through your city, then you can earn a lot of money in a very short time. At the end of the year, it can make a big difference!
10 - Pay less for your fuel
The government has launched an official website which lists all the petrol stations in the territory as well as the price of each fuel. Thanks to this, it becomes possible to prepare a route by determining in advance the service stations that will cost you the least .
There, it is not strictly speaking to earn money. But you can save tens and tens of euros on long journeys. And that can therefore make the solutions to earn money even more effective since they will have less expenses to compensate. Fuel is one of the biggest expenses in the overall cost of a car…
11 - Pay less tolls
Few people know, but the increase in the price of tolls each year is limited by law. A company owning a stretch of motorway must limit the overall increase in the cost of its tolls to a specific percentage each year.
To maximize their profits, these companies then decide to apply the largest price increases to the busiest tolls. Generally, these are the ones that are located directly on the highway at the end of a stretch. Why ? Because users always tend to make the shortest and fastest route. They therefore take the highway as long as possible without asking questions.
However, it is possible to save a lot of money quite simply by borrowing secondary tolls rather than the main tolls. To do this, you just need to know where to get off the highway to find the cheapest toll and where to get back then. Fortunately, there are sites and applications like Péago which calculate the quickest and cheapest routes taking these secondary tolls into account. It will save you a lot of money!
All tolls are not the same. So choose the least painful!
Bonus: Save money by driving carefully
Here is probably the easiest and one of the most money-saving tips. However, it is too little applied…
For starters, driving slower saves a lot of fuel. For example, by reducing your speed by 10 km / h, you can save about one liter of fuel per 100 kilometers. And you will only lose 8 minutes over this same distance. On long and regular trips, this can represent a lot of savings.
Then, in general, more careful driving saves money. Sudden acceleration and dry braking are also very expensive . First, in fuel since you exceed 1,500 rpm, which remains the most economical ratio. Then the brake pads are expensive and wear out prematurely with this kind of behavior. On the other hand, by driving more slowly and by anticipating, the use of the engine brake allows you to save money.
Finally, driving carefully also reduces the risk of fines for speeding, and also the risk of accidents, even those without serious consequences. As a result, you will be an exemplary driver and your auto insurance will cost you less as you collect the bonuses. To save money with your car, it is in your best interest to be careful.
Accumulate the tricks to earn a lot of money
As you may have noticed, none of these tips really exclude the others. If you own your car and your parking space, you can earn a lot of money easily and without much effort. The ideal is obviously to combine each tip to earn as much money as possible .
Obviously, some tips still involve greater use of the vehicle. They therefore increase the overall cost of maintenance. By driving more, the car wears out faster. It will have to be revised more often. Some parts will also need to be changed more frequently. However, if you apply these tips correctly, the increase in costs is systematically offset by the gains.
I still recommend you take the time, at the end of the first year of implementation of these tips, to take stock of expenses and gains . You will then see the gains obtained, like Lionel who had shared them with us in this article . And you can then think about implementing new tricks to limit the annual cost of your vehicle even more, and even earn even more money.
Okay, are you convinced? All the solutions presented here show how it is possible to earn money with your car. Now it's up to you to implement them! And don't hesitate to share your first reviews in comments afterwards.