Starting a Rental Car Business: Here Are the Critical Questions Answered

If you have alternative means of income, you can start a car rental company with only one car. The challenge will be to use the profit you make from that first vehicle and save it towards purchasing more in future. Growing your fleet of rental cars takes time, but the profit increase is well worth the effort and time.

You can either build your business up to having a fleet of cars by adding more as you make profit, or you can start a fleet using capital. Some car rental companies start slow, helping to ease into the logistics of running such a company. Others start off strong when the initial capital is high enough.

There are two ways to look at profitability when it comes to a vehicle rental business. First, you can lease luxury vehicles at a high price and make more profit per unit using cars that cost you more to purchase in the first place. Second, you can lease lower-priced vehicles in high quantities—if you can find the right kind of clients (fleets, tourists, contractors, etc.)

The risks of a car rental business are vehicle theft, vehicle wear & tear (high maintenance costs), vehicle damage due to bad driving, and increasing insurance costs.

The minimum amount (in ZAR) that you can lease a car for is around R150 per day. This amounts to R4 500 per month. The higher the value of the car, the more you can charge, so this minimum is applicable to entry-level cars (light motor vehicles).

There are various things to monitor when leasing out a vehicle, and each of them requires a different method. You can monitor:

• The location of the car with a GPS tracking device.
• The driver behaviour with fleet software and vehicle camera technology to ensure your cars are being driven with care.
• The health of the vehicle with a CAN Bus attachment to know what maintenance is needed and when.

The best way to protect your vehicles from being hijacked or stolen is to track their location using GPS technology. You should also back up your tracking efforts with an anti-jamming CT tag in case the original tracking device is removed or jammed. Finally, always make sure your vehicles are insured in case your stolen vehicle recovery service provider fails to retrieve them.

To start your car rental business you need a good written-up business plan, watertight legal documentation for the leasing process, and some capital to get started. You should also contact multiple insurance providers to get competitive quotes on insuring multiple vehicles. Finally, contact a fleet software company to help keep track of each vehicle and gather valuable data so that you can make sound business decisions.

It isn’t common for rental cars to get stolen by those who rent them, but they are targeted by vehicle thieves for a variety of reasons:

• Rental cars are often driven by tourists who aren’t accustomed to high road crime.
• Rentals are usually marked with branding or custom number plates, which tell criminals that the driver isn’t the owner.
• Certain car brands are more likely to get stolen for their parts.

Yes, when you opt for Cartrack’s fleet software, all of your vehicles are tracked and displayed to you simultaneously. The software also highlights issues that require your immediate attention, so you can focus on one vehicle problem at a time according to priority.

Yes, Cartrack aims to be as affordable as possible. Your fleet software is tailored to suit the size and nature of your fleet. You can always add or remove certain features if you need/don’t need them, and your pricing will reflect what you use. This means you only pay for what you need.

Yes, dashcams are especially helpful in rental cars. They give you insight into how your cars were driven by each client and also show you what happened if an accident occurs. Footage is always protected by the POPI Act, so your clients can rest assured that their privacy is prioritised.