‘It’s so easy’: Car owners earning extra money with Car Next Door Newcastle

It’s Airbnb for your car! All over Australia, Car Next Door is gaining traction in Newcastle and is looking for more car owners to rent out their vehicles and make some extra money.

Kate Leso, Car Next Door, Newcastle.

You’ve got Airbnb for your house or apartment, now essentially there’s a new platform that’s an Airbnb for your car.

Car Next Door is giving car owners, who don’t use their vehicle very much, the chance to make some extra cash by renting their car out to people who need a vehicle.

It’s happening all over Australia, and is now starting to gain traction in Newcastle.

“We’ve got about 30 cars on the platform and those numbers are continuing to grow,” Car Next Door Head of Growth Keal Wilson said.

“We’re giving it a really good go over the next six to 12 months to turn it into a bustling system with borrowers and owners.”

Kate Leso has so far made over $10,000 renting out her car through Car Next Door.

Kate Leso moved to Newcastle from Sydney in 2016, and her new workplace was just minutes from her home in Hamilton, so she walked or rode to work daily.

Her car was just gathering dust sitting on the side of the road not being used most weeks, until she learnt about Car Next Door.

“I signed up because I didn’t need my car at all. I drive with my husband on the weekends or book out my car if I need it,” Ms Leso said.

“In the summer months I was averaging about $400 a month and then in the winter it drops down naturally, but it covers your insurance, as it comes out of the membership.

“The insurance company is through Car Next Door and it’s at a really good price but usually I am making money on top of the insurance that is paid.

“It’s so easy. I get bookings and 15 minutes later they come and get it. It’s an easy system.”

And she’s had minimal problems in the three years since starting up on the platform.

“My car is still running fine, it hasn’t been damaged, one person has smoked in it and that’s it,” she said.

“I can get my car cleaned and Car Next Door will reimburse me and some credit on top of that and the person will get a fine and can be banned from the platform.

“They look after us.”

Mr Wilson said the platform gives people the ability to rent their cars out to the community, which are vetted borrowers.

She walks or rides to walk so rents out her car when it’s not being used.

“The average car sits around not being used most of the time and for a lot of people if they’re not using their car, it’s just sitting there costing them money,” he added.

“We screen them before they go on, and once the car is live on the platform, then it is available to be booked out by borrowers.

“The owners sets the rates they want, they set an hourly rate and a daily rate and they also set a rate that they are paid per kilometre. That per kilometre rate is designed to cover the cost of fuel and servicing.”

One car shared can take up to six to 10 cars off the road.

In Newcastle the ratio of cars to borrowers is 50 to one and Car Next Door is looking for more owners to come on board.

“The average car brings in about two and a half thousand dollars a year. A ute or a van can bring in between five to ten thousand sometimes even more,” Mr Wilson said.

“Aiming to get to 10 thousand cars nationally over the next five years and now we’re at about 29 hundred cars.

“It’s win win for the owners and the borrowers and for the environment because we offset all of the kilometres that the cars travel.”

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