A vehicle is personalized to perform at least one action (e.g., control of acceleration or navigation of the vehicle) based on configuration data for a user of the vehicle. For example, when a car is rented by a user that is a driver, the car recognizes the driver and sets itself up accordingly. In some cases, an application on a mobile device of a user communicates the settings to the car when the user rents and/or hails the car. In one example, the mobile device may carry preference settings that can be downloaded to a ride-sharing vehicle or a rented vehicle to adjust controls relevant to the role of the driver.