Man Rents Out His Mahindra Thar, Earns Rs 37,000 In 2 Weeks: Here’s How He Does It Safely
In 2025, the idea of self-drive car rentals isn’t new to most of us. Platforms like Zoomcar even let individuals rent out their private vehicles and earn passive income from it. A corporate employee from Goa with a ‘demanding job’ recently took to Reddit, sharing an unusual money hack. In the post, he explained that he rented out his Mahindra Thar and earned Rs 37,000 in just 14 days (2 weeks). He even shared screenshots of his earnings report. The post was later deleted. However, it made the internet curious and sparked discussions on the platform.
This Redditor is a corporate employee from Goa. According to the post, he was able to allocate all of his actual salary towards savings and investments as the money earned by renting out the SUV sufficed to cover all his rent, EMIs, and groceries. In the description of the now-deleted post, he wrote ‘My Side Hustle Pays Every Bill & EMI, Letting Me Save My Entire Salary!’.
It remains a grim reality that many corporate employees who own niche vehicles like the Thar do not use them on a daily basis. In busy cities like Bengaluru, people prefer small cars or SUVs as their daily drivers. More expensive or niche vehicles like the Thar stay parked in their garages on most days. The sheer relatability of this situation caught the internet’s attention.
Renting out the vehicle instead of leaving it parked in the garage is smart. Being able to generate a handsome secondary income from it is smarter. People discussed various aspects of the situation.
Image for representation only
Some questioned the legality of this practice, while others were worried about the safety of the vehicle that’s being rented out, insurance coverage in the event of an incident and repair costs. The Thar owner actively engaged with most comments. His words paint a rosy picture overall.
He used Zoomcar to rent out his Thar. Tourists visiting Goa often prefer self-drive/ride rentals to roam around. The Thar is in good demand there. No wonder this gentleman was able to earn a handsome figure in rent in such a short span of time.
Many users raised concerns of the potential abuse of the SUV by people who rent it and even talked about the risks of theft or a complete loss of the vehicle.
Alcohol is cheap in Goa. Referring to the same, a user wrote ‘Your Thar will be abused by drunken tourists. Keep money aside for repairs.’ The SUV owner, however, replied that the vehicle’s insurance covers most such repairs and even added that the rental platform sometimes reimburses these costs partially.
In some cases, we see people causing accidents refusing to take the blame or pay for repairs. The SUV owner here says that he always takes photos and videos of the vehicle before handing it over to customers. Furthermore, he also collects photocopies of the driver’s license, Aadhaar card (or other government-issued address proof) and a few photos of the person driving.
He further mentions that the platform generates an automatic contract for each booking, and they even fill up a form issued by the Goa government, underlining all the rules and regulations to be followed in the state. These keep the owner away from trouble to a great extent.
Addressing concerns around insurance cover, the SUV owner said that Zoomcar has a damage insurance policy. The vehicle, he said, has bumper-to-bumper insurance. This pays for most of the repairs.
Addressing concerns of theft, he said that he has installed a GPS tracker on the Thar. This device, he says, would automatically turn the engine off if the vehicle crosses Goa border- geo-fencing! In the past, we have come across incidents in which fraudsters rent cars on platforms like Zoomcar, remove tracking devices, change number plates and sell them off. GPS-based devices help prevent such crimes to some extent.
Some even talked about the delay in processing payments that many Zoomcar hosts have reported in the past, especially in reimbursing repair costs and processing insurance. The owner acknowledged these but added that his personal experience has been smooth so far.