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Lyft not accepting subcompact - Honda Insight

9K views 43 replies 27 participants last post by  Syn  
#1 ·
Wha? I traded in my Mini Countryman and picked up a 2019 Honda Insight (this isn't a discussion about a new car - I have my rationale) and I decided that I would also try driving for Lyft. Not sure why as it's pretty steady with Uber but I just thought it would give me additional flexibility.

I went to sign up and the Insight was rejected as a subcompact car. Wha?!?! They also tell me that Prius' are also not eligible. How is it possible that a 2019 Honda Insight is not eligible to drive pax in enough comfort??? For what they pay they then would expect me to drive an Accord? This is ridiculous. I guess I don't really care other than the irritability factor. I understand they're probably making the determination from the previous Insight designs, but I would think Lyft has a position whose job it is to know this stuff. For sure they'll eventually change this - but it also goes to show that support doesn't think for themselves. I even sent a picture of the car to them. This car fits 5 very comfortably.

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#2 ·
First gen Insights from the turn of the century were 2-door subs that were incredibly ugly looking (anyone remember the partially hidden rear wheels?). Lyft simply hasn't caught up to the fact the new Insights are 4-door sedans. There are probably many markets where you can still add a vehicle from 2000-05 or whenever that generation ceased production. Of course, it doesn't help either that Honda entirely redesigned the model yet kept the name.

Either way, escalate this issue with pictures or go to a hub if possible and literally show them the new model. They'd likely be overjoyed you want to drive a new 2019 for what they pay!

Edit: the person you spoke with was obviously an idiot or lacked a mastery of the English language. The Prius *C* is what was discontinued not the entire Prius line. If Lyft aged out all Prius drivers off platform, they'd lose half their drivers in Seattle alone! Lol.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Lyft's list is out of date and includes many cars that DON'T EVEN EXIST (Hyundai Accent Hybrid...). So obviously they put the Insight on the list based on the old 2 door 1990's body style, which is much smaller than the new sedan which is really just a Civic with different sheetmetal. Good luck finding a sentient human at Lyft to explain that to.



This list was obviously created by some intern with ZERO knowledge of cars. It's so bad and inaccurate, it's laughable.
 
#3 ·
You say that it fits 5 comfortably but have you ever sat in the middle of the back seat with a person in each side???

Not comfortable.

If I order a ride and see a Prius and its more than just me in the car, I will shuffle the driver until I get a car that wasnt meant for little people.
 
#5 · (Edited)
It fits five averaged-sized people just fine. If there are 4 in one ride and the order X they will be expecting it to be not luxurious - same with pool.

I don't know your size so maybe you're larger than average. A six foot passenger can easily sit behind me and I'm 6'1. If Uber didn't allow this size of vehicle they wouldn't haven't many drivers on the road.

HA! "Toyota Prius" LOL

That's like 90% of their entire driver force :roflmao:

Drive for Uber instead and see if they got their shit together to recognize the new model of your car as a mid size sedan.
Right? Being in product tech for my entire career before semi-retiring, this type of stuff just winds me up. It's such a fail, but what what really gets me is the dismissiveness of the support person. Here the person has an opportunity to fix something and follows a script instead. I realize she can't make the change but she should respond with something like "I am not allowed blah blah blah blah blah but I see this car looks suitable and I will mention it to my supervisor blah blah blah".

I'm doing my best to follow up and just let it lie. I don't really care as Uber is generally busy enough but it's the principle of it. Maybe I just miss my career. Ha
 
#9 ·
Wha? I traded in my Mini Countryman and picked up a 2019 Honda Insight (this isn't a discussion about a new car - I have my rationale) and I decided that I would also try driving for Lyft. Not sure why as it's pretty steady with Uber but I just thought it would give me additional flexibility.

I went to sign up and the Insight was rejected as a subcompact car. Wha?!?! They also tell me that Prius' are also not eligible. How is it possible that a 2019 Honda Insight is not eligible to drive pax in enough comfort??? For what they pay they then would expect me to drive an Accord? This is ridiculous. I guess I don't really care other than the irritability factor. I understand they're probably making the determination from the previous Insight designs, but I would think Lyft has a position whose job it is to know this stuff. For sure they'll eventually change this - but it also goes to show that support doesn't think for themselves. I even sent a picture of the car to them. This car fits 5 very comfortably.

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Seems like LYFT IS ESPECIALLY AGAINST HYBRIDS !

Lyft Hates Green !
 
#10 ·
Most of "hybrids" on their list don't exist and never existed. Prius C is only one that actually existed. Accent hybrid, Fiesta hybrid, Sonic hybrid, etc never existed.

Lyft is really being dumb. They will accept 10 years old Civics and Corollas, but won't accept new Versa which is larger, offers better comfort and has better safety features.
 
#11 ·
Lyft's list is out of date and includes many cars that DON'T EVEN EXIST (Hyundai Accent Hybrid...). So obviously they put the Insight on the list based on the old 2 door 1990's body style, which is much smaller than the new sedan which is really just a Civic with different sheetmetal. Good luck finding a sentient human at Lyft to explain that to.


This list was obviously created by some intern with ZERO knowledge of cars. It's so bad and inaccurate, it's laughable.
Lol. I know! But it's baffling to me that a company like Lyft in the business of cars doesn't have a full-time role to accurately manage this. Think about how much money they leave on the table? If I was an investor with Lyft I would be irritated by this.

Seems like LYFT IS ESPECIALLY AGAINST HYBRIDS !

Lyft Hates Green !
Ha! Bad Earth Day company!

Uber and Lyft are phasing out the smaller cars, they are not comfortable to ride in. I saw a while ago something stating it was going to happen.
You are missing the point - the Inisght is NOT a "smaller car". It's quite spacious, actually. Very comfortable.
 
#17 ·
Really? I can't help but keep wondering what the fuss is about to be honest. I have only done about 160 rides for Lyft and 300 or so for Uber. I have only thrice had 4 ppl in my car, and one party was actually a couple with two small children.
The other was yes four college students.
The third was a father, two teenage sons and their buddy.

(I had 2 more incidents where 5 students called UberX and I said NO, in one case I canceled the ride and in anotyher 3 of them went and 2 remained to wait for another UberX.)
So overall out of almost 500 rides I had 3 instances of having to actually transport 4 people.
Is this really as big a problem?
 
#18 ·
They must be thinking of the old insights, and if so they would be right. But the 2019 is larger than a civic. I drive a 2019 insight for uber and it is wonderful. Over 5pmpg and plenty of room. I get a lot of compliments on it. I hope lyft straightens out their list before I get deactivated from Uber and need to switch.
 
#19 ·
There's also people's stuff. l've picked people up at the airport who complained they had to cancel with a car right before me that didn't have room for their luggage. I have a Jeep Patriot, a small SUV but it can still comfortably seat 4 plus the driver AND there's still room for people's luggage. Airport runs are a huge part of my business. A subcompact simply wouldn't work.
 
#21 ·
How much luggage can one person possibly have? Even smallest cars will fit 2 people & 2 pieces of luggage. If they have more than that (people or luggage) - they shouldn't be ordering Uber X anyways.

Let's be completely honest. NONE of these small cars safely seat 5 people, they are just too narrow. They should get rid of subcompacts.
What's unsafe about that? If there are 5 seatbelts & driver and all paxs can put it one - what is unsafe?
 
#22 ·
They must be thinking of the old insights, and if so they would be right. But the 2019 is larger than a civic. I drive a 2019 insight for uber and it is wonderful. Over 5pmpg and plenty of room. I get a lot of compliments on it. I hope lyft straightens out their list before I get deactivated from Uber and need to switch.
Why is the edit post button missing here....i meant 50 mpg of course. I can edit my other replies but not this one. Weird.
 
#23 ·
It fits five averaged-sized people just fine. If there are 4 in one ride and the order X they will be expecting it to be not luxurious - same with pool.

I don't know your size so maybe you're larger than average. A six foot passenger can easily sit behind me and I'm 6'1. If Uber didn't allow this size of vehicle they wouldn't haven't many drivers on the road.


Right? Being in product tech for my entire career before semi-retiring, this type of stuff just winds me up. It's such a fail, but what what really gets me is the dismissiveness of the support person. Here the person has an opportunity to fix something and follows a script instead. I realize she can't make the change but she should respond with something like "I am not allowed blah blah blah blah blah but I see this car looks suitable and I will mention it to my supervisor blah blah blah".

I'm doing my best to follow up and just let it lie. I don't really care as Uber is generally busy enough but it's the principle of it. Maybe I just miss my career. Ha
Americans are getting fatter. It used to be that if one was large you needed to go to a specialty shop to buy clothes. Now even Costco carries XXL and size 18 in the warehouse.
 
#24 ·
I've had two Lyft employees in my car, both telling me how lucky I am to be grandfathered in with my Mitsu Mirage.

I always think how unlucky they are to have to ride in it!
 
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#26 ·
Wha? I traded in my Mini Countryman and picked up a 2019 Honda Insight (this isn't a discussion about a new car - I have my rationale) and I decided that I would also try driving for Lyft. Not sure why as it's pretty steady with Uber but I just thought it would give me additional flexibility.

I went to sign up and the Insight was rejected as a subcompact car. Wha?!?! They also tell me that Prius' are also not eligible. How is it possible that a 2019 Honda Insight is not eligible to drive pax in enough comfort??? For what they pay they then would expect me to drive an Accord? This is ridiculous. I guess I don't really care other than the irritability factor. I understand they're probably making the determination from the previous Insight designs, but I would think Lyft has a position whose job it is to know this stuff. For sure they'll eventually change this - but it also goes to show that support doesn't think for themselves. I even sent a picture of the car to them. This car fits 5 very comfortably.

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They have the bar set at a specific measure of interior square footage. I think your car is just below that, unfortunately.
 
#29 ·
You are wrong. This is what I'm talking about. People don't read or research. They accept a Honda Civic bit not the Insight. It's the same frame.

The car is not below a square footage minimum. Did you look at the pic of the car?

Let's be completely honest. NONE of these small cars safely seat 5 people, they are just too narrow. They should get rid of subcompacts.
IT'S NOT A SUB-COMPACT! That's the whole point of the post!

My gawd people don't read.
 

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#27 ·
I often fit 3 adults in my back seat without complaint. There are lots of uber civics out there (civic isn't on this stupid list) and the new insight is bigger. I am convinced that Lyft doesnt know what the new insight actually is. They are clearly thinking of the two previous iterations that were both ridiculous. Honda finally got it right for 2019.
 
#28 ·
Prius C's don't work. Prius hatches were made for ride share. I drive an 09' an can carry 2 to 4 pieces of large luggage. Don't really have too in the PHX market as most rides seem to be single or double riders. Funny they promote being eco-friendly but in reality they are adding to traffic volume because of all the single riders.
 
#33 ·
Wha? I traded in my Mini Countryman and picked up a 2019 Honda Insight (this isn't a discussion about a new car - I have my rationale) and I decided that I would also try driving for Lyft. Not sure why as it's pretty steady with Uber but I just thought it would give me additional flexibility.
Didn't you say in another thread that the Mini was your wife's?

I'm a new driver and spent the first few weeks driving my wife's 2012 Mini Countryman.
 
#36 ·
In tracking down the useful payload on the 2019 Honda Insight, after doing all of the math that you should know how to do, I find it to have a carrying capacity of 811 pounds on a full tank (10.6 gallons) of gas.

So if there are not any packages, groceries or luggage, each passenger would have to average 162 pounds. It is possible for three people (driver and 2 passengers) to over gross this vehicle.

This is why this vehicle is not suitable for ride share. This is why Lyft will not allow it. It is dangerous and unsafe to overload a vehicle. If there is an accident, then someone is going to get hurt, or killed, and the lawyers will have a field day when they are able to easily demonstrate the vehicle was overloaded. I'm sure Uber will ban these small cars at some point just like Lyft has done. The lawyers just won't allow them to stay on the platform.

The information used to calculate the useful payload is on your door sticker permanently attached to your vehicle.
 
#39 ·
I would expect that all of the vehicles that have a payload capacity problem that allows the vehicle to be easily overloaded with 4 passengers and a driver will be deactivated from the platforms. The reason for this is because passengers find the rides uncomfortable and lawyers find negligence when a ride share vehicle is overloaded and an accident occurs. This can triple the damages in a lawsuit.
 
#43 ·
I was upset when they banned the Ford Fiesta! Not that I have one but it was good fun when I saw a driver pull up to a pick up in a clown car. Saw one pull up at a train station to pick up 4 fatties! It really was great entertainment watching 4 chubs trying to cram in but somehow they did it with the windows down! The only way it could have been funnier was if the driver actually put a clown suit on. LOL

Must have had to call the fire dept at the destination to come with the jaws of life to cut the car open to get out! Great Fun!