# New Kia or no payment 2009 Impala



## AndrewG (Jul 17, 2015)

OK, I couldn't decide whether or not this should go in advice or in this forum but I chose this one. I have a 2009 Chevy Impala with 134,000 miles and with a monthly payment of $114. It is a fine car for uber, but I'm wondering if I should get a new Kia with a small monthly payment. The Kia would be brand-new and would come with their 100,000 , 10 year warranty. The monthly payment would be about $200. Do you all think it is worth it?


----------



## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

Hell no.


----------



## Mr_Frenchie (Jul 13, 2015)

Stick with the Impala. First, it’s more roomy. Pax love more legroom. 

2nd, it’s cheaper. You are $86 ahead every month. Do not get a new car for Uber. That is the worst thing to do.


----------



## Mr_Frenchie (Jul 13, 2015)

What’s the MPG difference? Between the Kia and Impala. Also, don’t forget your personal insurance is going to be higher too for a new car.


----------



## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

AndrewG said:


> OK, I couldn't decide whether or not this should go in advice or in this forum but I chose this one. I have a 2009 Chevy Impala with 134,000 miles and with a monthly payment of $114. It is a fine car for uber, but I'm wondering if I should get a new Kia with a small monthly payment. The Kia would be brand-new and would come with their 100,000 , 10 year warranty. The monthly payment would be about $200. Do you all think it is worth it?


Have you been drinking.


----------



## Chicago-uber (Jun 18, 2014)

Usually I'd say stick with the old car, but in your car it makes sense to get a new car. Negligible difference in monthly payments, and you'll get the warranty, and I'm sure you'll save on fuel as well.


----------



## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

Chicago-uber said:


> Usually I'd say stick with the old car, but in your car it makes sense to get a new car. Negligible difference in monthly payments, and you'll get the warranty, and I'm sure you'll save on fuel as well.


Have you been drinking.


----------



## Chicago-uber (Jun 18, 2014)

cybertec69 said:


> Have you been drinking.


Drinking tea now


----------



## KGB7 (Apr 23, 2015)

Factory warranty is your friend and so is better MPG.


----------



## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

Use the old car, see if it's worth your while, then think REALLY hard about financing a new car for Uber.


----------



## Jtuno (Jul 1, 2015)

Mr_Frenchie said:


> What's the MPG difference? Between the Kia and Impala. Also, don't forget your personal insurance is going to be higher too for a new car.


I went from in Impala to a Kia and my insurance went down bc of the smaller engine. Gas is a lot cheaper in a Kia too. The $80 a month for the extra car pmt will probably be made up in gas alone. Plus the Impala is at the end of its life expectancy at that milage. Kia will have the warranty so you won't get hit with unexpected repairs. BUT... You will owe more than the Kia is worth so #1 buy gap insurance when you buy the car, #2 you're going to be stuck with the car until its paid off bc it won't be worth anything with all the miles on it. The 10 yr warranty isn't transferable to a buyer, the second owner only gets 3 yr/36,000 mi warranty.


----------



## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

Jtuno said:


> BUT... You will owe more than the Kia is worth so #1 buy gap insurance when you buy the car, #2 you're going to be stuck with the car until its paid off bc it won't be worth anything with all the miles on it. The 10 yr warranty isn't transferable to a buyer, the second owner only gets 3 yr/36,000 mi warranty.


There are some possible advantages in having a new car, but when you are dealing with thin profit margins, and a unstable income stream remember what the poster above said.

You'll never be able to bail out of that car, you will ALWAYS owe more than it's worth. After a couple of years the difference will be MANY $1000s. And how confident are you in UBER allowing your income levels to remain the same as they are now?


----------



## leroy jenkins (May 27, 2015)

please all you readers repeat after me, the only possible new/new used car that can possibly make any sense is a Toyota Prius (even the Camry Hybrid or Prius V doesn't make sense cuz every penny/MPG counts). The End.

And even with the Prius, you're at the mercy of future Uber/Lyft price cuts, Uber/Lyft flooding your market with drivers. government regulation, You might want to move to a small city with no uber market, etc. 

Everything else? It won't make $$$$ sense. 

Abd you will never get a tip simply because you're driving a new car (good attitude, good conversation, knowing your way around, sure).

You're only getting paid $1 or less per mile.

So please OP, if you have a wife, give the wife the Kia. Keep the Impala for Ubering. Any decent mechanic can repair/maintain Impalas and parts are cheap. Hell if you have a driveway, learn how to change your own oil/do basic maintencne from youtube vids.


----------



## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

leroy jenkins said:


> please all you readers repeat after me, the only possible new/new used car that can possibly make any sense is a Toyota Prius (even the Camry Hybrid or Prius V doesn't make sense cuz every penny/MPG counts). The End.
> 
> And even with the Prius, you're at the mercy of future Uber/Lyft price cuts, Uber/Lyft flooding your market with drivers. government regulation, etc.
> 
> ...


People just have no idea what they are getting themselves into.


----------



## Jtuno (Jul 1, 2015)

leroy jenkins said:


> Keep the Impala for Ubering


My Impala was a gas guzzler, maybe his isn't, idk. But if its anything like mine was I don't see how he can make ANY profit.
EDIT:
Maybe I'm figuring this wrong but if you get an average of 18 mpg which it WILL be less bc of idle time waiting for the pax. If you get $1 a mile, drive 18 miles that's $18 + .18¢ a min but minus 20% and $1 SRF and $3 for a gallon of gas. It seems like there's barely anything left! If you don't get at least 24 mpg I don't think you should even try this job, IMO


----------



## ReviTULize (Sep 29, 2014)

I would go with the newer. Less maintenance and youll have oeace of mind with the warranty.

Are you part time?


----------



## leroy jenkins (May 27, 2015)

***My Impala was a gas guzzler, maybe his isn't, idk.***

Impalas are reasonably good with gas once you hit the top gear. OP is in Charleston, so guessing most of his driving is 'suburban.' Not stop and go in the old parts of Charleston.

My main argument is if you're going to borrow to get a car, the new/new used car has to be a Prius if you're going to be Ubering with it regularly.


***Factory warranty is your friend and so is better MPG.***

Until your warranty claim is written up by the one service manager in the entire state that actually gives a fart that your using your car for commercial purposes on the one day OP forgets to take down his Uber sticker.


----------



## Mikeydz (Aug 20, 2014)

As


AndrewG said:


> OK, I couldn't decide whether or not this should go in advice or in this forum but I chose this one. I have a 2009 Chevy Impala with 134,000 miles and with a monthly payment of $114. It is a fine car for uber, but I'm wondering if I should get a new Kia with a small monthly payment. The Kia would be brand-new and would come with their 100,000 , 10 year warranty. The monthly payment would be about $200. Do you all think it is worth it?


I'm assuming you aren't in an area that regulates the age or mileage of the vehicle that you use to Uber.

What model/trim of Kia are you looking to purchase? I actually a salesman for Kia in Houston TX, so I'm assuming it's gotta be a base trim Rio or Forte to be around the $200/mo mark (unless you are talking about a lease).

The biggest factor you need to know is what's your cost of ownership per mile. You could look at a online site to help figure some of this, like Edmunds "True Cost of Ownership calculator. Edmunds assumes 15,000 miles per yeas. So for example, a 2009 Impala (Edmunds calc doesn't do 2008 or older), your 5 year cost is about $30k. So $30,000/75,000 miles (15k miles per year * 5 years) = $0.40/mile. The 2015 Kia shows a little over $37k, so $37,000/75,000 miles = $.493/mile. So the Kia is estimated to cost you 10 cents more per mile. Mainly thats due to depreciation (your Impala isn't gonna depreciate too much per year over the next 5 years vs the Kia) and insurance. The Kia makes a comeback on the repair costs, due to the warranty. Now unless you are only Ubering part time, your gonna put more that 15,000 miles per year, but the concept is the same.


----------

