Good to know: When you add a car to Wheelbase, it is automatically published on Ride.auto — you don't need to set up a separate listing. The same car is also available for direct bookings through your Wheelbase tools, so you get both demand channels from a single inventory record.
This guide walks you through adding your first car to Wheelbase and getting it live on ride.auto, the consumer marketplace for car rentals from professional fleets.
Everything happens inside the Wheelbase Dashboard — there is no separate Ride.auto login, no second system to manage, and no extra app to install. You add the vehicle once, set your pricing and insurance, and it syncs to the marketplace in real time. Bookings flow back into the same dashboard and calendar.
Prerequisites
An active Wheelbase account.
A verified bank account and W9 on file for payouts.
Insurance settings configured in Wheelbase — only vehicles approved for insurance will appear on Ride.auto.
A clear set of vehicle photos and an accurate VIN for each car.
Step 1: Add the Vehicle
Navigate to the Vehicles tab in the main menu on the left.
Select Add new vehicle in the upper right corner.
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Fill in the vehicle details and select Create Vehicle:
Location: Choose the location from the drop down. If you have not set up a location yet, click Edit Location to set one up first.
Type: Choose the appropriate car type. The type you select determines which insurance and protection options are available.
Make and Model: Select from the drop down or type the exact make and model.
VIN: Required for insurance eligibility on Ride.auto.
Step 2: Set Pricing and Vehicle Details
After creating the vehicle, you land on the vehicle page with a menu of setting tabs.
Prices: Set your daily rate, security deposit, prep fee, mileage allowance, and turnaround time. You can override the account-level cancellation policy here if needed.
Details: Add the Highlights and Description fields. This is the text guests see beneath the photos on Ride.auto, so write it for renters — not for your team.
Photos: Upload high-quality photos. Listings with clean exterior, interior, and feature shots convert significantly better on the marketplace.
Add-ons and Checkout Questions: Optional, but useful if you offer car-specific extras (child seats, ski racks, toll passes) or need to ask the renter something at booking.
Step 3: Enable Insurance
Ride.auto requires every vehicle on the marketplace to be approved for insurance coverage.
Go to the Insurance tab on the vehicle.
Confirm the VIN, year, make, model, and base value.
Submit for review. Approval is typically same-day for eligible vehicles.
If the vehicle comes back as "Ineligible," see Why is my vehicle "Ineligible" for Insurance? for the most common causes.
Step 4: Publish
Once insurance is approved, publish the vehicle from the vehicle page.
Published cars sync to Ride.auto in real time. Any future pricing or availability changes you make in Wheelbase update the marketplace automatically.
Your Website Integration
If you already use the Wheelbase widget or iframe on your website, nothing changes — your existing RV and direct-booking integration continues to work exactly as it does today. Adding cars to Wheelbase does not affect your current site.
If you want to take direct bookings on cars from your own website, you can extend the same integration to display your auto inventory. We recommend creating a new page for where your auto customers would land, and embed the same widget with the auto filter automatically applied.
See Integrating the Wheelbase Widget for setup details. For an interactive example, click here. To obtain your user ID, please contact support.
What Happens Next
Bookings: Reservations from Ride.auto appear on your Wheelbase Dashboard and Calendar alongside any direct bookings. Marketplace guests are tagged with either ride or Outdoorsy on their profile.
Taxes: Ride withholds sales tax for marketplace bookings on your behalf. Do not add sales tax to Ride.auto bookings in your settings.
Insurance: Marketplace bookings are covered by Ride's protection package, including $1M liability. You don't need to verify the guest — Ride handles ID and driver verification.
Payouts: Sent to the bank account configured in your Wheelbase payout settings.