Book the exact date and time on our mobile app, web app, or text us the approximate time of your trip, like “I’d like a car tomorrow from 10am-5pm delivered to 123 Mission St”. For each subsequent trip, we’ll assume that you want your car delivered to your home, unless you tell us otherwise.
Upshift is like owning a car, but better. You always have an identical, unbranded well-equiped hybrid or EV that’s clean, fueled, and ready to go at your doorstep. We take care of all the headaches of owning a car, like storage, insurance (full coverage), cleaning, and maintenance.
Yes! Our service area includes most of San Francisco’s most popular neighborhoods. Feel free to start your trip at home and have us pick it up at your favorite restaurant, where you’re meeting friends. You can also have your car delivered to your office and have us pick it up later at your home.
We’re currently available in most of San Francisco’s most popular neighborhoods, and plan to expand to other neighborhoods and cities soon. Let us know if you want us to come to your neck of the woods!
We deliver your car to you and pick it up when you’re done. Please park it in a legal spot where it can stay for at least 1 hour when you return, or until 9am the following morning if returning after 5pm. You’re responsible for parking the vehicle legally during your booking.
Our Priuses get 54 and RAV4 hybrids get 40 combined MPG, which helps save your wallet and the planet. Don't bother filling up the tank at the end of your day: we'll refuel for you and charge you the price we paid at the pump, with no markup.
All of our cars have FasTrak. We’ll bill you for any FasTrak charges incurred during your trip.
To avoid paying twice for tolls, don’t pay cash when passing through a toll plaza with electronically tolled lanes—the plates on all of our cars are registered, so toll plazas may take a picture of your plates and bill the car even if you pay cash. (You also shouldn’t bring your own FasTrak transponder with you, for the same reason.)
Full comprehensive insurance is included in your membership, so you never have to worry about whether or not you’re covered. To become an Upshift member, you must be at least 25 years of age, hold a valid driver's license from your permanent state (or country) of residence, and have a clean driving record with two years of driving history. It’s important that you review the Insurance tab and Membership Agreement for more information on our insurance policy. You’re responsible for the car from the moment you take possession of it until the moment we take it back at the end of your booking. Seconardy drivers are only allowed if they've been registered and approved as a shared account.
Yes! We'll ask you to digitally sign an affidavit stating that you meet our driving record requirements and accept our membership agreement. You’ll also need a US cell phone number to communicate with us.
You’re responsible for any tickets, parking, or tolls incurred until we get the keys and car back from you. We assess a $10 administration fee for processing tickets.
Pets are allowed as long as they stay in a crate and you place a blanket under the crate, or they can be on a car seat cover in the back seat - cover must stay properly installed while the pet is in the vehicle. We absolutely love animals, but some of our members are allergic! If we find pet hair in the car, we’ll bill you a $25 fee plus the cost of extra cleaning.
During our service hours of 8am-6pm daily, we can deliver your car in under an hour within our service zone. You can also reserve your car up to 30 days in advance.
Please give us one hour (or more) advance notice for any changes to your trip and 24 hours advance notice for cancellations. Please respect our hard-working concierges and don't send them to the wrong place or at the wrong time. Fees may apply for not following the guidelines outlined in our Fees schedule.
Sure! You can take your car for any period of time, including short trips. Upshift gives you the flexibility to use your car exactly when you need it.
Any trip that lasts fewer than 24 hours counts as one day, even if it starts on one calendar day and ends on the next.
As far as you want... just don’t leave the country!
14 days is our maximum period. For multi-day trips, we apply multiple day credits. For example, a trip starting at 8am Tuesday and ending by 8pm Wednesday would count as 2 days.
Nope! But we recommend booking as far in advance as possible for the best chance of securing your preferred vehicle.
Booking periods can start on the hour or 15, 30, or 45 minutes past the hour. We deliver between the hours of 8am-6pm daily. Requests made after regular business hours will be responded to the next business day.
We park your car within two blocks of your address and hand off the key. If you have a front desk concierge or a secure mail slot, we can also leave the key there without meeting. You can end your trip by parking it anywhere in our coverage zone whenever you want, 24/7.
Please book ahead or by 5pm for trips before 9am the next day. If you would like a car before 8am, we can deliver it during business hours the night before. For late-night returns, park in any legal spot (even at a meter) and we'll pick it up the next morning by 9am — there’s no need for you to meet your concierge to return your car.
We have a mobile app and are installing vehicle telematics so you will soon be able to locate and unlock your car 100% remotely.
Yes! We can deliver your car the night before for early morning bookings that start before 8am, please request the day before as soon as possible but up to 5pm. You can always return your car 24/7 without needing to meet anyone.
Nothing! It’s included in your subscription.
When you’re done with your trip, park your car anywhere in our service area when it can legally remain for one hour (or, if it’s after 6pm, until 9am the next day). Then lock the keys in the car, text us where you parked, and get on with your day. We’ll come pick up your car. It's that easy.
Sign up here. If you live outside of San Francisco or in a neighborhood where we don't operate, let us know where you’d like us to expand. Most sign-ups are processed instantly, but it may take a few hours to review your driving record before your very first booking.
Subscribe to 4, 8, or 12 days per month of credits with 1 month rollover of unused days. You can book up to 30 days in advance with no extra cost for holidays or weekends. Additional days over your credit are $89-109 per day, depending on your plan. Cancellations less than 24 hours before the start of your trip will result in forfeiture of a day credit or the cost of the trip.
You can cancel your plan with 30 days notice. There is no minimum commitment. Upgrades or downgrades to plans have a 3-month minimum commitment. If you do cancel your plan, unused credits are lost, and we don’t issue refunds for partial months. Unused days have no cash value and are non-refundable. Changes to plans will take effect at the next billing cycle.
1. Be a member of Upshift in good standing.
2. Do not use the vehicle for a purpose prohibited by the Upshift Membership Agreement.
3. Drive in accordance with all highway and other applicable laws and regulations.
4. Have a valid driver's license (either US or foreign).
5. Report to us any moving violation that you have incurred since becoming a member.
6. Continue to meet the Driving Record Requirements in the Upshift Membership Agreement.
7. Never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs that may adversely affect your ability to operate the vehicle, or do anything that would impair your ability to use the vehicle.
We know. Some months you drive more and some months you drive less! That's why unused days in your account rollover from one month to the next. The current month days are used first followed by rollover days are if your trip requires more. Unused rollover days expire if not used in the second month.
Yes! We can pause your membership for $49/month. Any days in your account will be retained until you reactivate your account. You will not need to pay a new reactivation fee.
We'd hate to see you go but you can always email us at support@upshiftcars.com to request to cancel your plan. We require 30 days notice for cancellations. If this goes into another billing cycle, then your plan will cancel after the end of that new billing cycle. Any unused days will expire once your subscription ends. If you restart your membership more than 1 year after cancelling, you will be subject to a new activation fee. You can also pause your membership for $49/month to retain your days and then restart when you are ready with no reactivation fee.
We process your first month's payment on the date you choose to activate your membership plan. Subsequent monthly payments are always processed on the same day of the month as your first payment—so if you sign up for Upshift on the 8th of the month, you’ll always be billed on the 8th.
Additional days are billed whenever you make a booking that exceeds the number of day credits in your account. We apply additional charges (like any gas or charging, tolls, and fines) after your trip.
Upshift only accepts major credit cards backed by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. Upshift does not accept debit cards, cash, check, PayPal, or Venmo as forms of payment. The credit card must be in the same name as the driver or the membership will be denied.
We guarantee that the vehicle will be clean when it’s delivered. If the car isn’t in satisfactory condition, let us know via text or phone, or you may be charged $25 plus the cost of cleaning when you return it.
This rarely happens, but if it does, we’ll help you find an alternative (carshare, rental car, or rideshare) and compensate you for it up to $100/day including insurance, taxes, and transportation to and from the car location. We guarantee you will always get to where you need to go! Book as far in advance as possible to ensure a seemless Upshift experience.
We do our best to ensure this doesn't happen, but sometimes things happen that are beyond our control, like another member running late or getting in an accident. If a vehicle that you have reserved is not available at the time of your reservation, you have the following options:
1. We’ll compensate you for a replacement vehicle and insurance with another service, as well as transportation to and from its location up to $100/day.
2. You may cancel your reservation with a 100% trip refund.
There’s no such thing as “late” when you’re an Upshift member. Use your car when and for as long as you need it—just give us a heads-up if your plans change to help us plan where and when cars are needed for other members.
No problem. Just give us one hour’s notice for concierge service and we'll come pick up your car anywhere within our service area. You can also opt for self service, and simply text us where you parked your car to end your trip. We'll scoop it up and ready it for the next booking.
In either case, you’ll still be charged for the full duration of your initial trip reservation.
That would be… really strange? But just in case you’re thinking about it, here’s the legalese: if you do not return the vehicle when required by your reservation, we may report it to the police as a stolen vehicle and, at your expense, recover the vehicle where and when it is found and may also assess fees for loss of use. To the extent permitted by law, you waive any right to a hearing or to receive notice or legal process as a pre-condition for Upshift recovering the vehicle.
Absolutely not. Not even smoking out the window. Smoke smell lingers and is very hard to get out, which stinks for the next member who will drive your car. We’ll charge $300 if we detect the smell in the car regardless of whether there are ashes or cigarette butts found in the car or not. We may also revoke your Upshift membership.
No. Our insurance doesn’t cover members using our vehicles to carry persons for hire in a ridesharing service.
No. We love Burning Man and burners, but the Black Rock Desert would destroy our nice new Priuses. Please find a ride that doesn't mind playing in the sand with you! We reserve the right to assess penalties and excess cleaning charges if you go to Burning Man in one of our vehicles.
If you have any urgent need during your booking, text or call us immediately. Roadside assistance is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.