The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 2 letter word HOP IN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
H
O
P
I
N
More clues leading to the result HOP IN
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "I could be taking you for a ride" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case i could be taking you for a ride = hop in.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.