Lyft’s app is now more useful for taking care of your own car, not just hailing a ride in someone else’s. You now have access to a trio of maintenance and parking features in the US through a dedicated app section. You can ask for 24/7 roadside assistance through Agero, including tow trucks. SpotHero now helps you reserve parking. And if you need a repair or tune-up, you can soon book car maintenance at Goodyear Auto centers.
Not surprisingly, Lyft is offering some incentives to Pink subscribers. A membership covers four roadside help “events” per year, and Goodyear’s services are 15 percent off. Most of the features are available nationwide, although you can’t get roadside help in Nevada. Parking services are only available in 30 cities, including Chicago, Denver, New York City and San Francisco, although Lyft says more regions are “coming soon.”
It’s not hard to see the strategy behind these additions. On top of boosting Pink subscriptions, this could keep you in Lyft’s ecosystem even if you have no need for ride hailing, bikes or scooters. The company can help you through “all phases” of your life, as fleet head Jody Kelman explains. Still, you might not mind if you’re willing to trade flexibility in providers for the convenience of booking all your car services in a single app.
This might also represent slight competitive advantage over main rival Uber, whose app still revolves around on-demand rides. In theory, you might stick to Lyft simply because it addresses more of your transportation needs.
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