Best Cars for On-Road Jobs

The best car for an on-the-road job depends on the kind of work you're doing. Jobs such as ride-share driving, delivery services and traveling sales might differ in the details, but all benefit from cars that are fuel-efficient and offer plenty of cargo space with a comfortable ride. If you're joining the ranks of those working behind the wheel, read on for our top picks of cars that pay the bills.

Ride-share driver/courier/small-item delivery person
Traveling salesperson
Real estate agent
General contractor
Musician/artist/craftsperson

Ride-share driver/courier/small-item delivery person

One of the common jobs for people behind the wheel involves driving other people or delivering things to other people. If you're looking for the best car for ride-hailing services like Uber or Lyft, you'll want a car with exceptional fuel economy, large cargo capacity and plenty of cabin space. The Honda Accord delivers on all three counts with nearly 41 inches of rear seat legroom, a 16.7-cubic-foot trunk and 32 mpg combined. That's ample space to keep customers in the back seat relaxed and happy, a trunk large enough to accommodate a few suitcases for airport runs, and fuel efficiency that helps keep more money in your pocket. The Accord's wide door openings also make it easy to get in and out. 

The Accord comes standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, allowing you to keep phone, navigation and voice-to-text messaging tools front and center, and its 192-horsepower turbocharged engine has plenty of muscle for city and highway driving, even with a few passengers on board. It's also pretty affordable, starting at around $29,500. For maximum fuel economy, consider the Accord Hybrid. It gets up to 48 mpg combined but costs about $5,000 more than a base trim Accord. That's a hefty premium that could take a few years to pay for itself, even if you drive around 30,000 miles per year. We think most drivers will find the regular Accord more than capable. 

For drivers who prefer inanimate objects to people and drive for DoorDash, Amazon Flex or Taskrabbit, similar rules apply. But rather than lots of rear seat legroom, you'll want more cargo space for boxes or large items. The Kia Niro is an ideal partner, with nearly 23 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats and about 64 cubes when you fold the seats down. That's as much as many compact SUVs and enough to accommodate about 40 carry-on suitcases. While Kia considers the Niro an SUV, we see it more as a slightly lifted hatchback — which also comes in handy when dealing with the user-friendly height of its rear cargo floor. The Niro comes standard with a hybrid powertrain and gets up to 53 mpg combined. There's also a plug-in hybrid version that offers up to 33 miles of all-electric range. It's an option for drivers who have a way to regularly recharge, such as with a home charging unit, but the $7,500 price increase may not be worth it for most people. 

Traveling salesperson

The traveling salesperson is baked into American mythology. Modern air travel has certainly made travel easier for sales professionals, but air travel is also tedious and time-consuming, not to mention pricey and unpredictable. For many sales pros with reasonably manageable territories, driving often makes more sense. As for drivers with services like Uber and Lyft, comfort and fuel efficiency are key here, as is ample trunk space for products and samples.

But you also want something roomy and nice enough for times when you may need to drive around with customers or even colleagues from another office. Here again, the Honda Accord gets our nod, but if you don't need quite as much legroom or trunk space, the Toyota Camry or Hyundai Sonata are fine picks that cost a bit less. All offer comparable fuel economy, comfortable seats and loads of features, including essentials for the modern traveling professional: Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, easy Bluetooth syncing, USB charging ports and wireless device charging.

If your tastes lean more toward SUVs, the Nissan Rogue delivers vast cargo space — 74 cubic feet maximum — and 33 mpg combined. The Rogue also offers Nissan's ProPilot Assist 2.0 hands-free driving assistance tech, which can help reduce the fatigue of long highway stints.

Real estate agent

Let's face it: Perception matters. And if you're a real estate professional aiming to convince homebuyers that they're in good hands, it's hard to go wrong with a midlevel luxury car like the Lexus ES. Classy without being ostentatious, the ES is roomy, elegant and quiet, with loads of rear seat room ideal for hours of driving clients to properties. The ES is available in several configurations, and this is one instance where we'd actually recommend the ES 300h hybrid version. For about $1,500 more than the base non-hybrid ES, you get up to 44 mpg combined.

If your heart is set on an SUV, the Genesis GV70 is one of today's most affordable and feature-packed small luxury SUVs. It offers legroom and space comparable with another class leader, the Mercedes-Benz GLC, but has more power and cargo space and costs several thousands less. The GV70 is only average in fuel economy (the Benz does better by a few combined mpg), but overall it hits the mark for a car that impresses with understated luxury.

General contractor

If you're in the construction business already, you know the value of a van. Pickup trucks are great and have their place on a job site, but when it comes to making the rounds to clients and businesses, checking on jobs or estimating the cost of projects, few vehicles can beat a van. Sliding doors, a cargo bay that you can stand up in, and walls that can be outfitted with all manner of tool storage make the modern cargo van a better alternative to reaching over a tall-sided pickup bed to grab a drill.

The Ford Transit is the undisputed leader here, with dozens of available combinations of body length, roof height and interior options. Its rear barn doors complement the side sliding door, and the Transit comes with options that can take it from the bare-bones essentials (vinyl seats and flooring, 4-inch central display) to packed with driver aids and creature comforts (cloth upholstery, 12-inch touchscreen, surround-view camera, parking sensors).

The Transit's payload capacity — the maximum weight that the van can carry — is just over 5,100 pounds, an impressive amount that outmatches its Ram ProMaster rival. Granted, that's for the Transit model with the highest roof, longest wheelbase and dual rear wheels, which is probably overkill for most contractors. But we still give the edge to the Ford for its superior ride quality and overall better build quality. Fuel efficiency depends on the engine, length and configuration you choose. If gas is a concern, the new Ford E-Transit is an all-electric alternative, which offers the option to avoid the pump altogether thanks to 159 miles of estimated range.

Musician/artist/craftsperson

For many musicians playing in locally touring bands, sleeping and driving to the next gig in a Ford Econoline van was a rite of passage (you could equally substitute the Chevrolet G-Series or Dodge Ram Van here). The Econoline was heavy and slow but also durable and cavernous, able to sleep a six-piece band and all its equipment in the cargo hold. The Econoline was eventually replaced by the Ford Transit, and the Transit still makes a great option for fledgling bands or visual artists and craftspeople who need to move large pieces.

That said, the Ram ProMaster Cargo Van is a better deal. It not only costs about $2,000 less than the Ford, but its low load floor also makes easier work of loading and unloading, it offers more than 4,000 pounds of payload capacity, and its tight turning circle allows for easy maneuvering in the city. It also comes standard with features such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The ride isn't as refined as the Transit, which could be wearying if you're putting in serious, steady miles from town to town. But if you're delivering large art pieces and handmade furniture or loading up wares for a weekend market, the Ram is a solid choice.

Another alternative? A used compact van, the kind of vehicle that disappeared from American dealers only within the last couple of years. For small businesses with modest delivery needs —flower shops, bakers, caterers, for example — a used Ford Transit Connect, Ram ProMaster City, or Nissan NV200 can make more sense than a larger Ford or Ram van. The last of this trio, the Transit Connect, bowed out in 2023. But sliding side doors, rear barn doors, compact footprints and fuel economy in the low-to-mid 20 mpg range still make these compact European-style delivery vans ideal for smaller business needs.