How your car can earn you big bucks

Queenslanders are raking in cash by renting out their vehicles to strangers - making up to $1000 a week.

Queenslanders are overtaking the rest of the nation in making fast cash from their cars, with some pocketing $1000 a week.

Since April the number of people hiring out their vehicles has jumped by 169 per cent, with residents in West End, Fortitude Valley, South Brisbane, New Farm and Surfers Paradise making most use of the Car Next Door online service.

When Maggie McComiskie is away from her Newstead home working as a heavy vehicle operator at Cavil Ridge mine in Central Queensland, her Mazda 2 Genki is zipping around town earning her income.

FIFO worker Maggie McComiskie is one of many Queenslanders renting out their cars to earn income when they’re not using them. Photo: Sarah Marshall

“Being FIFO and away for a week at a time, it felt like a waste to have my car just sitting there, and I’m all about side hustles,” Ms McComiskie, 36, said.

She estimates the scheme has made her $17,000 in two years, or $700 per month. Her car is charged out at $7 an hour or $28.50 per day, and Car Next Door takes a 25 per cent cut.

Aaron Lawes, of New Farm, has raked in $4000 a month from his Toyota HiAce and Renault Trafic vans while East Brisbane’s Amanda Sansom nets $1000 a month from her Audi A3 convertible.

Car Next Door launched in Brisbane in 2017 but has accelerated during COVID, with 12,000 people a month signing up, more than in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth or Canberra.

Co-founder Will Davies said the service helped offset the cost of vehicle ownership, which averages $8500 a year, according to RACQ figures.

Cars were insured against collision, theft and third party property damage and borrowers retrieved the key via a lock box (with a one-off code) on the vehicle’s window.