Rent, lease or buy a car for Uber and Bolt in Romania? 1- and 3-year calculation

Together with the commission, fuel and taxes, the car is one of the biggest costs of an Uber or Bolt driver. You have three options: rent it, lease it or buy it. In the short term the differences look small, but after one or three years they can reach tens of thousands of lei.

Below I compare the three options for the same car, with the same schedule and the same fuel, so that the only difference is how you get the car.

Assumptions

• The car: a 2021–2022 Toyota Corolla Hybrid with an LPG system. On the Romanian second-hand market such a car costs about 16,000–17,500 EUR, roughly 85,000 RON, plus about 5,000 RON for the LPG system. In the calculation: 90,000 RON.
• Schedule: 45 hours a week at 80 RON gross per hour, about 70,000 km a year.
• Legal form: PFA (sole trader) for all three options.
• Fuel: hybrid on LPG, about 1,820 RON a month, the same in every option (details in the article on fuel costs).
• Yearly car costs (RCA insurance, servicing, repairs, tyres, ITP test, road vignette, car tax): 8,605 RON a year, the default values of the calculator. At 70,000 km a year, servicing and tyres can cost more, and RCA insurance depends a lot on your age and city (ASF reference rates: about 1,400–4,200 RON a year).

Option 1: renting

A hybrid with LPG for Uber or Bolt rents in Bucharest for about 600–700 RON a week, plus a deposit usually equal to one week's rent. In the calculation: 650 RON a week, about 2,815 RON a month.

Many offers include RCA insurance, servicing and maintenance in the rent. Check in the contract what is included: insurance, the ITP test, the road vignette, tyres and who pays if the car is off the road for repairs.

• Pros: you need little money up front, you carry no risk of big repairs and you can stop at any time.
• Cons: it is the most expensive option in the long run, and at the end you are left with nothing.

Note: there has long been a draft amendment to Emergency Ordinance 49/2019 that would ban using cars held under a free-use loan (comodat) or rented for ride-hailing. As of October 2026 it has not been adopted, but if it came into force, renting might no longer be an option.

Option 2: leasing

For a PFA or a company, 2026 finance lease offers usually ask for a 15–30% down payment, with interest rates in EUR of about 5–8% a year. In the calculation:

• 20% down payment: 18,000 RON;
• the remaining 72,000 RON over 48 months at 7% interest: an instalment of about 1,724 RON a month;
• CASCO (comprehensive) insurance, which the leasing company almost always requires: about 4,500 RON a year, i.e. 5% of the car's value (details in the article on RCA and CASCO). Ask for quotes declaring that the car is used for ride-hailing.

With the instalment, the yearly costs and CASCO, the car costs you about 2,815 RON a month, practically the same as renting. The big difference is that you pay the down payment up front, and the car becomes yours.

• Pros: once you have paid off the instalments, the car is yours and you do not depend on rental prices. Note, however, that the interest rate may be variable.
• Cons: you need the down payment, you are tied to a contract for several years and you pay for repairs.

Option 3: your own car, bought outright

You pay the 90,000 RON up front, and after that only the yearly costs: about 717 RON a month.

That does not mean the car only costs you that much. The car loses value with every kilometre: at 70,000 km a year, a 90,000 RON hybrid can lose 15,000–17,000 RON in the first year. And money tied up in the car no longer earns interest: at 5% a year, that is another 4,500 RON or so a year.

• Pros: the lowest total cost, no instalments and no contracts.
• Cons: you need all the money up front and you pay for repairs. If the car breaks down, you earn nothing until it is fixed.

Comparison over 1 and 3 years

For the value of the car at the end I used an estimate: about 74,000 RON after 1 year and 45,000 RON after 3 years, given the high mileage of ride-hailing. Real cost = everything you pay for the car, minus what the car is worth at the end, plus what you still owe on the lease.

With leasing, after 1 year you still owe about 55,800 RON, and after 3 years about 19,900 RON. In the table these amounts are already deducted from the value of the car.

What the numbers show:

• In the first year, renting and leasing cost practically the same. Over 3 years, leasing comes out about 7,000 RON cheaper, because a growing share of each instalment goes towards the car rather than interest.
• Over 3 years, owning the car is about 17,000–31,000 RON cheaper than renting, depending on whether you count the lost interest.
• The value of the car at the end matters enormously. If after 3 years the car is worth 5,000 RON less than estimated, leasing and owning cost 5,000 RON more.

How much you keep per month

With the calculator and the same assumptions (PFA, 45 hours a week, 80 RON per hour):

• Renting: about 4,000 RON cash in hand a month.
• Leasing: also about 4,000 RON a month, plus the down payment at the start.
• Own car: about 6,000 RON a month in your account, but about 1,500 RON of it is the car's loss of value. If you want to be able to buy another car in a few years, that money has to be set aside. That leaves about 4,500 RON a month.

Which to choose

• Renting, if you are just starting, are not yet sure ride-hailing is for you or do not have money for a down payment. It is also a good option for a few months' trial.
• Leasing, if you work full-time consistently, have the down payment and want a newer car with a warranty. Watch out for CASCO and the usage conditions in the contract.
• Your own car, if you have the money or already have a suitable car (under 15 years old when the certified copy expires). In the long run it is the cheapest option, but set money aside for repairs and for your next car.

Your numbers will be different: enter your rent, instalment or car value in the earnings calculator and compare the options.

Sources

• Car rental for ride-hailing: OLX listings, rental offer on Uber
• Second-hand Toyota Corolla Hybrid prices: AutoUncle
• Leasing terms 2026: credite.cc – PFA leasing, Porsche Finance – finance lease