Can You Rent a Car Lift? Car Lift Rental Guide

The idea of car lift rental sounds great in theory - especially if you just need to work on your vehicle for the weekend. But can you rent a car lift? 

Renting a car lift isn’t the same as renting other types of equipment. You don’t bring a car lift into your garage for a bit of time. Rather, you drive your car to a garage that will rent you a bay for a given window of time.

The thing is, though, these types of places are few and far between. From insurance complications to low demand, they just don’t thrive very often. The car lift rental providers that do pop up tend to go under fairly quickly.

That’s why anyone looking to service their own vehicles is better off buying a car lift for garage. It’ll pay for itself over the course of 5-10 years if you can handle more of your own maintenance. 

If this sounds like something that might make sense for you, get in touch with My Garage Supplies. We carry all types of car lifts from the top brands with competitive prices, hassle-free financing, and world-class customer service from A to Z!

Why Would One Consider Renting a Car Lift?

There are actually plenty of reasons why you might look into car lift rental. There’s clearly demand - businesses were born just for this purpose! It usually comes down to a specific project, limited space, or testing the experience before investing in a lift. 

These are some of the most common scenarios people look into car lift rental:

• One-time repairs or upgrades: Suspension work, exhaust installs, or clutch replacements are difficult or downright unsafe on jack stands.
• Apartment or HOA restrictions: Drivers who don’t have a private garage but still want to handle their own maintenance.
• Trying before buying: Some people want to experience working on a lift before choosing a 2-post, 4-post, or scissor setup for their own garage.
• Detailing or restoration work: Tasks like undercoating, rust inspection, or paint prep are much easier with full vehicle access.

It all sounds great in theory - you can pay a few hundred dollars to use a car lift for the weekend, without having to give up your garage or spend thousands on your own equipment. But can you rent a car lift? 

Can You Rent a Car Lift, Though?

Car lift rental is not exactly a booming business model. We did some digging into brands that offer this service, and a lot of them have gone belly up. Insurance rates are super expensive, and demand is lower than you may have guessed.

Nevertheless, can you rent a car lift somewhere? Technically, yes. But whether there’s a location near you or not is another story. Independent DIY garages, hobby shops, or motorsport facilities offer hourly or daily bay rentals, but they’re usually concentrated near large cities.

A lot of shops avoid the business model altogether for liability exposure, insurance requirements, and the risk of inexperienced users operating heavy equipment. Even when you find one, you’ll need to sign waivers, show proof of basic mechanical knowledge, or follow strict supervision rules. 

Put yourself in the position of a shop owner, and you can understand why renting out car lifts isn’t in their best interest. A two-post or four-post lift ties up valuable shop space. Most shops make more money performing the work themselves rather than renting the equipment out.

How Much Does it Cost to Rent a Car Lift?

There’s no way for us to confidently tell you how much car lift rental costs. It all depends on the availability in your area. We found one provider that offers tiered memberships:

• $50/month: 2 hours of lift time per month ($25/more per extra hr), can add storage for $40/month.
• $100/month: 5 hours of lift time per month ($20/more per extra hr), can add storage for $25/month.
• $150/month: 10 hours of lift time per month ($15/more per extra hr) with free vehicle storage.

This provider also lets you purchase per-hour lift rental appointments, starting at $30/hour. That adds up pretty quickly if you’re doing a brake replacement, for example! 

There’s another company that offers a similar service starting at $37.50 per hour for half-day lift bay rentals. Walk-ins with this business cost $60 per hour. You get the idea - renting a car lift isn’t cheap. You’re paying for convenience. 

Where Can I Rent a Car Lift?

Your best bet for car lift rental is doing a Google search for providers in your area. This will give you a better idea of whether or not renting a car lift is even feasible. 

For instance, we’re writing this resource from Northern California - our closest car lift rental provider is three hours away! That’s six hours round trip. If we had a 5-6 hour job on our hands, we’d have to book a hotel and stay overnight to make it make sense from a time perspective.

Of course, it’s worth noting we’re in a relatively rural area. You might have better luck finding car lift rental providers if you live in a big city. Otherwise, you might have to look into other options.

When Does it Make More Sense to Buy a Car Lift?

Buying a car lift starts to make financial sense when you’re regularly under your vehicle and paying shop labor rates adds up. Run the numbers and see if it’s worth investing in one yourself.

An entry-level 2-post car lift or 4-post car lift starts between $1,900 to $2,500 depending on capacity and features. They’re way more affordable than you may have thought for serious DIY owners who plan to keep working on their vehicles long term.

Here are some of the most common situations where investing a car lift pays for itself:

• You handle routine maintenance yourself. Oil changes, brake jobs, suspension work, and exhaust repairs become faster and easier when you’re not working on jack stands. Saving even a few hundred dollars per year adds up over the course of a decade.
• You maintain multiple vehicles. Families with several daily drivers or enthusiasts with project cars usually reach the break-even point faster because the lift gets used more often.
• You plan to keep vehicles long-term. Someone driving a truck or SUV for 10+ years often saves thousands by handling wear-and-tear repairs in-house.
• Storage matters as much as service. A four-post lift can create an extra parking space, offsetting garage expansion costs or paid storage fees. 

The payoff period for a lot of home garage car lifts is around 5-10 years. It’s just a matter of whether you’ll use it enough to justify the investment or not. But if you do find that that’s the case, your search for the best residential garage car lifts ends here! 

Take the Next Step With My Garage Supplies

We carry the top manufacturers like Atlas, Katool, Triumph, iDEAL, Tuxedo, and more - always priced competitively and with hassle-free financing available. 

Our customer service team knows our inventory inside and out, and we can help you narrow it down to the ideal lift for your needs - be it the best 4-post car lift for home garage, a single-post car lift, or even a car scissor lift. 

Take maintenance into your own hands with My Garage Supplies!

Final Thoughts on Car Lift Rental

So, can you rent a car lift? We hope this car lift rental guide has helped you understand your options. Renting a car lift may be possible if you live in or near a big city, but these types of businesses are few and far between. 

Plus, it can make more sense to buy a car lift instead of renting one. You just need to think about how much space you have in your garage, how often you’ll use the lift, and then, find one that fits your needs. 

Our blog has more resources on Bendpak vs Atlas if you want to weigh your options. At this point, though, all that’s left to do is connect with the experts at My Garage Supplies for one-on-one support. Bring a car lift into your garage without the stress!