How to Earn From Your Car in New York With Peer-to-Peer Car Sharing

If your car spends most of the week parked, peer-to-peer car sharing lets you rent it to vetted drivers on the days you don't need it. You set the price, you choose the days, and the car earns money instead of sitting at the curb or in a garage.

Levy is a peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace for all of New York State. You can create a draft listing today. Bookings open when the marketplace launches in your area. This guide explains how car sharing works in New York, what the law requires, which costs to plan for, and how to get your car ready.

How peer-to-peer car sharing works

A peer-to-peer car-sharing program connects people who own cars with people who need one for a day, a weekend, or a week. The owner, called the host, lists the car with photos, a daily price, a pickup location, and the days it is available. A driver requests specific dates, and the host accepts or declines. The program verifies the driver, collects payment, provides trip protection, and pays the host.

It differs from a rental company in one important way: you keep owning and using your car. You share it only on the days you choose, and you can change those days whenever your plans change.

On Levy, a trip will work like this once bookings open:

• A driver requests your car for specific dates, and you decide whether to accept.

• The driver verifies their identity and driver's license and signs a trip agreement.

• At pickup, the driver photographs the car, odometer, and fuel level, then unlocks it with their phone during the booked trip window. You don't have to be there.

• At return, the driver photographs the car again and locks it.

• The driver pays your price plus tax. Levy adds no trip fees, service fees, or markups on top.

• Tolls from the trip are matched to the trip and billed to the driver.

• Levy initiates your payout within 3 business days after the trip ends, to your bank account through Stripe.

For the full walkthrough, see how hosting works on Levy.

Car sharing is legal in New York, with rules

New York allowed peer-to-peer car sharing when Governor Hochul signed Senate bill S6715 on December 22, 2021. The law added Article 40 to the General Business Law, which sets rules for the programs that run car sharing. Several parts matter directly to hosts:

• Disclosures. The program must disclose its key terms, including the daily rate and fees, to owners and drivers (§ 905).

• Limits on damage charges. The program can't take a security deposit or card hold from a driver for damage, and a driver's liability for damage is capped at the lesser of the reasonable repair cost or the car's fair market value before the damage (§ 913).

• Safety recalls. The program must check the federal recall database before your car is shared and at least once a year after that, and it can't let a car with an unrepaired safety recall be shared (§ 909). Our guide to safety recalls for hosts explains what you need to do.

• Inspection. The same section requires a valid New York safety inspection, and the program must have proof of one from the past 12 months.

• Liens. If your car is financed or leased, the program must warn you that sharing it may violate your contract with the lender (§ 903).

• Driver checks. The program must verify that every driver holds a valid driver's license and keep records of it (§ 906).

New York also taxes peer-to-peer trips. Since September 1, 2022, a special 6% tax (3% statewide plus a 3% regional or MCTD tax) has applied to what the driver pays, on top of sales tax, and the program collects it from the driver (NYS Tax Department memo TSB-M-22(1)S). You don't collect or file these trip taxes yourself. Income tax on your earnings is a separate question, covered below.

Is your car a good fit?

Most cars in good condition can be shared. Before you list, check these:

• Registration and inspection are current. New York requires an annual safety inspection. The DMV's inspection page explains the rules.

• No open safety recalls. Look up your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.

• Your lease or loan allows it. Read the contract, or ask the lender or leasing company.

• You have open days. A car you drive every day has little to share. A second car, or one you mostly use on weekends, has more.

• Pickup can work without you. Drivers will pick up and return the car on their own, so think about where it parks and whether a driver can reach it.

• Ideally, it has a connected-car app. Many recent cars can lock and unlock through the automaker's app, and Levy uses that for keyless handoff. If your car doesn't have one, you can still create a draft, and we'll email you about handoff options before launch.

What you control

As a host on Levy, you decide:

• which days the car is available, and you can change them at any time;

• the daily price;

• which booking requests to accept;

• where the car is picked up and returned.

You also don't have to leave another platform. If you already host on Turo, you can keep your Turo listing and add Levy. Read adding a second marketplace to your Turo fleet for how to keep the calendars straight.

Keyless handoff means you don't meet drivers

Meeting every driver in person is the part of car sharing that wears hosts out. Levy connects to your car's connected-car service so a verified driver can unlock it with their phone, using a link that works only during their booked trip window. There's no key exchange, no lockbox code to share, and no waiting at the curb. It's the same technology behind Levy Guestpass, which hosts already use for remote handoff. Our guide to keyless car-sharing handoff covers the details, including what to do if a remote unlock fails.

Costs to plan for

Car-sharing income isn't all profit. Plan for these costs:

• The platform's share. Every marketplace keeps part of each trip. On Levy, you keep 70%, 80%, or 90% of the trip price, depending on the host protection plan you choose, with $250, $1,500, or $2,750 of damage responsibility per claim. Levy adds no fees on top of your price, so the driver pays your price plus tax. For reference, Turo's help center lists three US host plans that pay 70%, 80%, or 90% of the trip price, with more damage responsibility on the higher-paying plans.

• Cleaning between trips, whether you do it yourself or pay someone.

• Wear and maintenance. Extra miles bring oil changes, tires, and brakes sooner, plus some added depreciation.

• Parking. If you rent a garage spot in the city, check whether it allows other drivers to pick up and return the car.

• Insurance changes. Ask your insurer how your personal auto policy treats peer-to-peer car sharing before you share.

• Your time for messages, cleaning, and photos.

To work out your own numbers, read how much your car could earn in New York or try the earnings estimator.

Where car sharing fits across New York

Demand will differ across the state, and we won't guess at numbers before the marketplace opens. Some patterns are easy to picture, though:

• New York City. Plenty of city residents don't own a car and still need one for weekend trips, moves, and visits outside the five boroughs. See the NYC page and our guide to parking, pickup, and return in NYC.

• Long Island and Westchester. Commuter rail stations, beaches, and airports bring people who need a car for a few days. See Long Island, Westchester, and sharing a car on Long Island and in Westchester.

• Hudson Valley. Hiking, weekend getaways, and fall foliage draw visitors who arrive by train and need a car at the station. See the Hudson Valley page.

• Upstate cities and college towns. Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Ithaca each have an airport or a rail station, colleges, and visitors who need a car for a few days. Read car sharing upstate for more.

Questions to settle before you share

Protection. On Levy, you pick a host protection plan for each car. Above your damage responsibility ($250, $1,500, or $2,750 per claim, depending on the plan), Levy reimburses eligible physical damage to your car during a trip: the repair cost, or the car's actual cash value up to $200,000 if it's a total loss. This is Levy's contractual protection, not insurance, and it doesn't cover normal wear and tear, mechanical failure, diminished value, or lost hosting income. Separately, ask your insurer how your personal auto policy covers the car when it isn't on a trip. Nothing in this article is insurance advice.

Your lease or loan. Some leases and loans restrict sharing or require specific coverage. Read the contract, or ask the lender.

Taxes. Treat car-sharing payouts as income you may need to report. Payment platforms may report payouts to the IRS; see the IRS page on Form 1099-K. How to report the income, and which expenses you can deduct, depends on your situation, so ask a tax professional.

How to get started today

Setting up a listing takes a few minutes, and nothing goes live until launch:

• Go to Start your listing and create an account.

• Add your car's year, make, and model.

• Upload photos. You need at least three to submit the listing for review.

• Add the pickup location, a short description, and a daily price.

• Save the draft. You don't need to sign an agreement or add payout details yet.

• Submit it for review when it's ready. It goes live when the marketplace launches in your area.

Have more questions? The New York car-sharing FAQ covers hosts and drivers.

Start your listing

Start your listing to save a draft for your car today, or join the host list to get launch updates for your area. Bookings open when the marketplace launches.