# preventing damage to your car



## Sam023 (Nov 4, 2015)

Hi

I consider myself to be a safe driver. I have a Honda civic 2012 and only 50,000km on it. However, I have started to notice that large part of my pay is are going straight to car repairs. I don't do more than 15-20 trips per week. 

Last night, I hit a pothole. I have a bent rim and a flat tire. When I took it to the repair shop, they found few other problems. The cost of repairing it all is around $800. Except for December, usually my pay is around $500-600 per month. Minus the gas. 

Driving around nights, my main concern is potholes. have you modified your car anyway to reduce the pothole impacts. Such as better suspension, tires and ect... 

thanks


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## EcoboostMKS (Nov 6, 2015)

Find a car better suited for livery work. A little honda civic isn't built for this kind of work. 

With that said, car repairs are part of the game. They're inevitable.


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## Sam023 (Nov 4, 2015)

EcoboostMKS said:


> Find a car better suited for livery work. A little honda civic isn't built for this kind of work.
> 
> With that said, car repairs are part of the game. They're inevitable.


OK.... so suggest me a car that would be suitable for driving around Uber.
What kind of car do you driving. 
Why is Honda bad?


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## galileo5 (Jan 16, 2016)

Is the repair shop reputable? They're probably up-selling a bunch of irrelevant services.


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## EcoboostMKS (Nov 6, 2015)

Sam023 said:


> OK.... so suggest me a car that would be suitable for driving around Uber.
> What kind of car do you driving.
> Why is Honda bad?


I wouldn't recommend buying anything specifically for uberx. But to answer your question, probably a camry or prius these days. There's a reason why you see them all over the road as taxis. They're built well and cheap and easy to fix.

A honda civic is probably a fine car for personal use, but when was the last time you ever saw a honda civic taxi? They're good for young people to get around, but they're not taxis.

Town cars and crown vics were most ideal for taxi / livery work, but no one uses them these days for uber. You could get a town car to 400k miles and it would still drive like a new car. Those are some of the best and most reliable cars ever built. Absolute tanks.

I drive a lincoln mks, but for limo. I would't use it as a taxi / uberx. All I ever buy are lincolns.


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## 5 Star Guy (Nov 7, 2015)

Sounds like up selling, just fix the tire and rim. I would say slow down. I used to have radar that would seek and hit every pothole with 90% accuracy. I slow down, driving lights definitely help to spot them and watch the car in front go around them. Don't tailgate so you have time to go around, the pot hole.


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## ATX 22 (Jun 17, 2015)

Stop driving uber and your problem is solved.


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## corrado (Jan 19, 2015)

Get tires with the tallest sudewall that will fit in the wheel arch. That will absorb more impact. But in the end the job is a losing propisition. Hell i was cheating the f#ck out of the system and was only making about $15 per hour after expenses. Not worth it


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## wk1102 (Dec 25, 2015)

Sam023 said:


> Hi
> 
> I consider myself to be a safe driver. I have a Honda civic 2012 and only 50,000km on it. However, I have started to notice that large part of my pay is are going straight to car repairs. I don't do more than 15-20 trips per week.
> 
> ...


What are they saying it needs done?


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## RamzFanz (Jan 31, 2015)

Sam023 said:


> When I took it to the repair shop, they found few other problems.


Said everyone always.


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## Ardeko (Dec 5, 2015)

Car damage, and wear and tear, are a big issue when driving UberX. 

While most drivers can feel the impact of major repairs, they don't realize how much wear & tear they put on their cars.

With all the driving you are doing, you are bound to eventually either sustain serious damage to the car, get into an accident, get a traffic ticket, etc. Simple statistics - since you are driving lets say 30x more then an average driver, you have 30x chance to get into such incidents

This could be considered "part of the job", but unfortunately Uber pays such low rates, that the risks mentioned above make it extremely not worth it to drive


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## ndndr (Nov 18, 2015)

Hit two big potholes back to back yesterday.....my poor car took a big hit. I am now thinking its not worth doing uber anymore, even the passenger commented my car must have some serious repairing needed.


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## 5 Star Guy (Nov 7, 2015)

I think the more you drive the more you'll know where they are and avoid them in the future. I have one opposite a house I tagged, I need to mark other spots.


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## Imchasinyou (Mar 4, 2016)

corrado said:


> Get tires with the tallest sudewall that will fit in the wheel arch. That will absorb more impact. But in the end the job is a losing propisition. Hell i was cheating the f#ck out of the system and was only making about $15 per hour after expenses. Not worth it


Larger tires means your speedo is off, adding more miles to your vehicle that whats actually driven, uses more fuel and can wear out the drive
train faster. 


EcoboostMKS said:


> I wouldn't recommend buying anything specifically for uberx. But to answer your question, probably a camry or prius these days. There's a reason why you see them all over the road as taxis. They're built well and cheap and easy to fix.


90% of the riders I hear from are sick and tired of the small cars, especially the Prius! They are rating down for them. Granted when you cant drive yourself, you cant complain too much but then again, they are paying you to drive them. 


5 Star Guy said:


> Sounds like up selling, just fix the tire and rim. I would say slow down. I used to have radar that would seek and hit every pothole with 90% accuracy. I slow down, driving lights definitely help to spot them and watch the car in front go around them. Don't tailgate so you have time to go around, the pot hole.


Agree. pay attention to the vehicle in front of you as you drive. If you see them hit the hole, you know to move around it. If they move around it, you know its there. Adding lights might help but if used and aimed properly. Its probably not a good idea to blind the oncoming traffic. If I cant see, your not going to see either as I have more lights and much brighter lights than you do! Oncoming traffic that wont dim or shut off extra lighting will feel my wrath in stages. First are my front bumper lights, then its the lower windshield lights, if that dont get you to turn them down or off, im blasting you with an additional 20,000 lumens of LED that will make you think you just seen Jesus! My additional lights are ILLEGAL for highway driving but Ill use them if I have to!


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## wk1102 (Dec 25, 2015)

Imchasinyou said:


> Larger tires means your speedo is off, adding more miles to your vehicle that whats actually driven, uses more fuel and can wear out the drive
> train faster.
> View attachment 33825


Wouldn't a taller tire a put your speedometer behind actually causing the speedometer to read slower and show less mileage?

Maybe I haven't had enough coffee yet but, let's say the one rotation of smaller tire made the car travel 5 feet, and the bigger one 5 ft 6 inches. The speedometer would read it as 5 feet every rotation of the tire when it's actually 5'6", you'd be going a further distance than the speedometer registered. The speedometer would get more and more behind the faster you went showing less mileage.


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## 5 Star Guy (Nov 7, 2015)

wk1102 said:


> Wouldn't a taller tire a put your speedometer behind actually causing the speedometer to read slower and show less mileage?
> 
> Maybe I haven't had enough coffee yet but, let's say the one rotation of smaller tire made the car travel 5 feet, and the bigger one 5 ft 6 inches. The speedometer would read it as 5 feet every rotation of the tire when it's actually 5'6", you'd be going a further distance than the speedometer registered. The speedometer would get more and more behind the faster you went showing less mileage.


If that's the case drivers need bigger tires so they put less miles on the car and get fewer speeding tickets.


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## wk1102 (Dec 25, 2015)

5 Star Guy said:


> If that's the case drivers need bigger tires so they put less miles on the car and get fewer speeding tickets.


It would be less miles on the car but probably more speeding tickets, because you'd be going faster than the speedometer was showing.

Unless I'm wrong and according to my wife I usually am. :/


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## UberVolt (Feb 25, 2016)

I can't *WAIT* until Uber dives in to the world of self-driving cars and starts realizing the *actual* cost of maintaining these vehicles.


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## Tim In Cleveland (Jul 28, 2014)

5 Star Guy said:


> Sounds like up selling, just fix the tire and rim. I would say slow down. I used to have radar that would seek and hit every pothole with 90% accuracy. I slow down, driving lights definitely help to spot them and watch the car in front go around them. Don't tailgate so you have time to go around, the pot hole.


Repair shops lie. I got an unreal deal on 5 synthetic oil changes for the price of 2. Each time I got an oil change, they would list other repairs that I needed. When I went to the dealer, they always said "You don't need that" or even "That service is not recommended for your car, ever". This problem oil changer also consistently fails to reprogram the air pressure gauges on my tires so when the dash says RR tire is low I have to guess which one is actually low.



UberVolt said:


> I can't *WAIT* until Uber dives in to the world of self-driving cars and starts realizing the *actual* cost of maintaining these vehicles.


They realize the real cost now. They don't care if they screw over drivers. This is a company that holds lavish parties that drivers are NOT allowed to attend. Watch The Wolf of Wall Street to the see the caliber of our management. High ranking officials have actually been sued by their landlords for trashing the house with coke and prostitute parties (which rented for over $20,000 PER MONTH).


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## Imchasinyou (Mar 4, 2016)

wk1102 said:


> Wouldn't a taller tire a put your speedometer behind actually causing the speedometer to read slower and show less mileage?
> 
> Maybe I haven't had enough coffee yet but, let's say the one rotation of smaller tire made the car travel 5 feet, and the bigger one 5 ft 6 inches. The speedometer would read it as 5 feet every rotation of the tire when it's actually 5'6", you'd be going a further distance than the speedometer registered. The speedometer would get more and more behind the faster you went showing less mileage.


Actually, you are correct. Obviously, i am the one with the need for more coffee. My speedo reads 40, im doing 45 so yes, your right.


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## uberron73 (Mar 13, 2016)

Sam023 said:


> OK.... so suggest me a car that would be suitable for driving around Uber.
> What kind of car do you driving.
> Why is Honda bad?


I got me a good ole crown Vic police interceptor. An I do all my own repairs. shops well rip u off big time. I only use shops when I can't figure a prb out like electrical issues but yes get a retired cop car there made for this and there adorable prices


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## Sal29 (Jul 27, 2014)

What you actually have to do is get much smaller wheels but tires that are the same diameter as your current tires. This way you'll have a much taller sidewall than you currently have, but your speedometer will still be as accurate as it is now. This will actually improve your fuel economy and the tire will absorb more shock so your car will absorb less.
Your cornering will suffer though so you should take turns slower.


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## ChortlingCrison (Mar 30, 2016)

Stay clear of college brats.


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## ResIpsaUber (Dec 27, 2015)

Sam023 said:


> Hi
> 
> I consider myself to be a safe driver. I have a Honda civic 2012 and only 50,000km on it. However, I have started to notice that large part of my pay is are going straight to car repairs. I don't do more than 15-20 trips per week.
> 
> ...


POTHOLES! They are definitely tire killers. I live in San Francisco but drove my 2008 BMW 335i down to Ensenada Mexico. I was dodging potholes left and right. But the funny thing about living in SF, is I developed the skills to anticipate and dodge potholes. Who would have guessed that SF, CA driving would have been the training ground necessary to drive in Mexico.


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