# New car make sense?



## FinerThings (Aug 13, 2018)

I own a 2017 Honda CRV with 12K miles on it, been using it for rideshare almost exclusively since August 8th for a total of 7500 miles so far. I didn't plan on rideshare when I bought this car. Does it make "sense" to just drive this car until it isn't reliable anymore or sell it while it's still worth decent money and buy a cheaper, used car with better gas mileage? I get 25 miles per gallon and I'm currently driving 2600 miles a month, or 31,000 a year. According to AutoTrader, I'm thinking that in my area I could get $21K-22K for my CRV. 

Thanks,
Darrien


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## Uber's Guber (Oct 22, 2017)

You should go all out and purchase a Mercedes-Benz SUV. Fill up the back with water and mints.


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## FinerThings (Aug 13, 2018)

Well considering the mood I'm in, and in light of the serious financial situation I suddenly find myself in, hence rideshare, I really appreciate your thoughtful and helpful jab, er um, reply.


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## Atom guy (Jul 27, 2016)

CRVs hold their value better than most vehicles, so I guess if you're going to do Uber in it, the value won't drop as fast as other cars would. Driving 31k a year will cost you more in maintenance, but it is hard to find an older, higher mileage car that won't start needing major repairs soon after you buy it. I was spending about $2500 a year in repairs for my 2012 Hyundai Sonata that had 91k miles when I bought it. Finally the check engine light came on, and that wasn't even because the transmission was starting to go, so I ditched it for a new car with a $215/month finance payment. I'm going to pay it off in 3 years (by that time it'll have over 150k miles on it).


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## NorCalPhil (Aug 19, 2016)

FinerThings said:


> I own a 2017 Honda CRV with 12K miles on it, been using it for rideshare almost exclusively since August 8th for a total of 7500 miles so far. I didn't plan on rideshare when I bought this car. Does it make "sense" to just drive this car until it isn't reliable anymore or sell it while it's still worth decent money and buy a cheaper, used car with better gas mileage? I get 25 miles per gallon and I'm currently driving 2600 miles a month, or 31,000 a year. According to AutoTrader, I'm thinking that in my area I could get $21K-22K for my CRV.
> 
> Thanks,
> Darrien


Sell it. Get as much as you can for it. Go to hertzcarsales and find a year old, 30k mile car you like that gets at least 30mpg. You'll be able to buy it under KBB price. In general, fleet cars are well maintained. You'll get your money's worth.

In my case I did this - bought a year old car for $6500 that had 33k miles on it. Gets 35-40 mpg. I paid cash for the car, so no payments to deal with. At 108k miles now 2.5 years later and other than tires, brakes and oil, it's been trouble free.

No reason to pay depreciation on a vehicle - rideshare doesn't pay that well and the pax don't deserve your generosity in this capacity. Good luck!


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## EaglesFan (Mar 10, 2015)

How long are you planning to uber? I don't think a 2017 CRV is ideal just because the depreciation on such a new car is going to be big and to a lesser extend the mpg is not ideal and will cost you a few cents extra per mile driven. However, if you're only doing this for a few months, say till you find a new/better job then I don't know that it makes sense to sell a car you like just to save pennies per mile on gas for a few months.


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## bsliv (Mar 1, 2016)

By going to a car that gets 30 mpg instead of 25 mpg and gas costs $3 per gallon, you'll save $52 per month.

From 15,000 to 30,000 miles, Edmunds estimates your cost to drive to be $0.31 per mile (not including financing costs, taxes, fees or insurance). Almost half that amount is depreciation. So, driving 2600 miles will cost you $806 ($383 in depreciation). The cost per mile remains fairly consistent up to 75,000 miles.

A 2012 Prius with 60,000 miles will cost $0.28 per mile (not including financing costs, taxes, fees or insurance), saving a whopping $0.03 per mile or $78 per month.

The Prius should cost about $11,000. Sell the CRV for $21,000 leaves you $10,000. Invest the $10,000 at 2% will give you $200 per year in interest.

Interest plus the cost per mile savings will net you $1136 more per year driving the Prius. This assumes you paid cash for the CRV and will pay cash for the Prius. If the CRV is financed you'll save a bit more due to financing costs.

Based purely on economics, sell the CRV.

On the other hand, 'Driving Matters' (Mazda slogan). 

An interesting statistic; assuming driving 15,000 miles per year for 5 years:
the CRV depreciates $1421 in year 5
the Prius depreciates $806 in year 5
my Mazda 3 depreciates $1047 in year 5
a Mercedes ML 63 AMG 4dr SUV will depreciate $4348 in year 5 (total cost to drive = $1.06 per mile in year 5).


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

NorCalPhil said:


> Sell it. Get as much as you can for it. Go to hertzcarsales and find a year old, 30k mile car you like that gets at least 30mpg. You'll be able to buy it under KBB price. In general, fleet cars are well maintained. You'll get your money's worth.
> 
> In my case I did this - bought a year old car for $6500 that had 33k miles on it. Gets 35-40 mpg. I paid cash for the car, so no payments to deal with. At 108k miles now 2.5 years later and other than tires, brakes and oil, it's been trouble free.
> 
> No reason to pay depreciation on a vehicle - rideshare doesn't pay that well and the pax don't deserve your generosity in this capacity. Good luck!


Im with Phil on this.


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## whiskeyboat (Oct 14, 2017)

don't sell and then buy, the transaction costs will be significant

if you are in a serious financial situation bust your butt to get a real job and use rideshare only as a bridge
if you already have a good job and are just doing rideshare part time then use what you have but be selective about when you drive and baby the car


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## NOXDriver (Aug 12, 2018)

whiskeyboat said:


> don't sell and then buy, the transaction costs will be significant
> 
> if you are in a serious financial situation bust your butt to get a real job and use rideshare only as a bridge
> if you already have a good job and are just doing rideshare part time then use what you have but be selective about when you drive and baby the car


Best free Uber advice out there.

Step 1: Get a real job. Really. Uber doens't give paid holidays, health insurance, promotions, raises or ANYTHING. And at the end of the day you make $5/hr

Step 2: YOU CANNOT SPEND YOUR WAY OUT OF FINANCIAL PROBLEMS. You have an INCOME problem, even if you reduce your expenses, without money coming in it won't matter. A $350 car payment vs a $400 car payment is less... but still meaningless if you only make $300.

Step 3: Get a real job. Two if you need them, then SUPPLEMENT then with the low paying joke that is Uber/Lyft.

96% of Uber drivers quit in the first year.. yet you want to get a new car loan using Uber profits??? LOL NO.


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## mytheq63 (Oct 6, 2016)

NorCalPhil said:


> Sell it. Get as much as you can for it. Go to hertzcarsales and find a year old, 30k mile car you like that gets at least 30mpg. You'll be able to buy it under KBB price. In general, fleet cars are well maintained. You'll get your money's worth.
> 
> In my case I did this - bought a year old car for $6500 that had 33k miles on it. Gets 35-40 mpg. I paid cash for the car, so no payments to deal with. At 108k miles now 2.5 years later and other than tires, brakes and oil, it's been trouble free.
> 
> No reason to pay depreciation on a vehicle - rideshare doesn't pay that well and the pax don't deserve your generosity in this capacity. Good luck!


So I assume you haggled on the no-haggle price? I searched the website and didn't find a single car in that price range with those specifications.


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## emdeplam (Jan 13, 2017)

Buy and sell cars is a great way to fund your community thru lots of fees and taxes. Might hurt but it's for the children


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## Bbonez (Aug 10, 2018)

Sell the car, that car is way to nice to only qualify for uberX. Look for a prius about 5 years old for around $12k or get a good used minivan for about $15k. You profit margin will be much higher than it is now. With the prius you will about $200 a month in fuel and make the same as you are now. With the minivan your fuel will cost the same but your revenue will go up since you can take XL fares. Keep the extra equity for the crv sale in case you need to make repairs.


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## emdeplam (Jan 13, 2017)

Keep the CRV. Get a job at McD. Do RS as a gig and get your side income on. No reason to be a car broker.


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## NorCalPhil (Aug 19, 2016)

mytheq63 said:


> So I assume you haggled on the no-haggle price? I searched the website and didn't find a single car in that price range with those specifications.


Nope, didn't haggle at all. They also don't seem to have the car I bought in their collection at the moment. 2015 Mitsu Mirage.


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## NOXDriver (Aug 12, 2018)

NorCalPhil said:


> Nope, didn't haggle at all. They also don't seem to have the car I bought in their collection at the moment. 2015 Mitsu Mirage.


So OP is going to ignore all the sound financial advice and buy another car.

I hope you like to slave away just to make a car payment. I mean really, your idea is dumb and no amount of new age Uber math will make is a smart decision.

96% of Uber drivers quit in the first year. Yet you are going to take out a multiyear loan because of Uber profits? MAYBE if you are in a top 5 market... but Uber sucks as a job.

To drive Uber your going to give up:
Health Insurance
Paid Holidays
Paid sick time
Raises
Promotions

For a car? Wow.... just wow.


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## USMCX (Jul 13, 2015)

mytheq63 said:


> So I assume you haggled on the no-haggle price? I searched the website and didn't find a single car in that price range with those specifications.


I thought the same thing. It only seems like the Rental makes the assumption every single car is in excellent condition, which is a joke

Buy a used Toyota or Honda for $5,000. That'll mean it's at least 10 years old with 100,000+ miles but a well maintained used car like that is better than most new American or German cars in terms of cost of ownership: your repairs will be relatively cheap and; if you look up Youtube, you'll save hundreds on basic maintenance yourself


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## VictorD (Apr 30, 2017)

I am finding it increasingly more and more difficult to justify making _any _significant investment in this gig. Just look at this company's history. No matter what you invest, it's only a matter of time before they either change something or reduces compensation even more and puts your investment at risk.

Look at what they did (intentionally) to the Black drivers as soon as they enticed enough of them to take-on tens of thousands of dollars in debt, achieved desired levels of saturation and then cut the rates 65%, leaving all of those drivers with $50,000 Black SUVs and no choice but to use those vehicles for "X" rides to even have a chance of making enough to avoid repossession... and then blame the drivers for 'not working hard enough'.


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## grtgrt12 (Nov 21, 2018)

I would definitely sell it when it is still worth some decent money.


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## UberDriverGIG (Nov 21, 2018)

FinerThings said:


> I own a 2017 Honda CRV with 12K miles on it, been using it for rideshare almost exclusively since August 8th for a total of 7500 miles so far. I didn't plan on rideshare when I bought this car. Does it make "sense" to just drive this car until it isn't reliable anymore or sell it while it's still worth decent money and buy a cheaper, used car with better gas mileage? I get 25 miles per gallon and I'm currently driving 2600 miles a month, or 31,000 a year. According to AutoTrader, I'm thinking that in my area I could get $21K-22K for my CRV.
> 
> Thanks,
> Darrien


Using a new car for Uber is an absolute terrible idea. You need a cheap used car with good gas mileage that is in good condition so you are not losing money from depreciation alone. 25MPG on a car that is worth 20K+ is negative profit. It would take about 2 years working uber full time before you make a profit with that vehicle, just don't do it.


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## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

FinerThings said:


> I own a 2017 Honda CRV with 12K miles on it, been using it for rideshare almost exclusively since August 8th for a total of 7500 miles so far. I didn't plan on rideshare when I bought this car. Does it make "sense" to just drive this car until it isn't reliable anymore or sell it while it's still worth decent money and buy a cheaper, used car with better gas mileage? I get 25 miles per gallon and I'm currently driving 2600 miles a month, or 31,000 a year. According to AutoTrader, I'm thinking that in my area I could get $21K-22K for my CRV.
> 
> Thanks,
> Darrien


Funny... what are the chances?!


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## UberDriverGIG (Nov 21, 2018)

KD_LA said:


> Funny... what are the chances?!
> 
> View attachment 275317


Haha I did not see that before I posted. I wasn't talking to him/her directly.


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## rideshare2870 (Nov 23, 2017)

If you buy a new car to do this, you are already on the path of destruction. It makes no sense to drive a new car just for this gig that pays around 70 cents a mile. Buying a dirt cheap car is the way to go. If you have to finance, I would go with the cheapest car you can get to finance but I still don’t recommemd borrowing at all. Leasing/rental programs are a huge no no. I recommend buying a cheap car under $4k with cash or you might as well not be doing it at all. You know what happens when you don’t have a car payment? You have money.


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