# So You Wanna be a Rich Uber Driver?



## El Janitor (Feb 22, 2016)

Just posting facts, cameras don't lie this is what $1600 sounds like. Anyone else care to post their repair expenses? Maybe people should know what they're getting into before they start this.


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## LucklessRoadrunner (Jun 6, 2019)

I’m sorry you’re having to endure this, but cars fail whether you are using them for ridesharing or not.


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## Merc7186 (Jul 8, 2017)

@El Janitor , Bro....you aint Anting like a boss unless you get a sexy (hefty) repair bill. I just happened to get this bad boy yesterday.









Antin' Like A Boss.


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## lowcountry dan (Jun 15, 2017)

I feel ya. I just had a $1400.00 repair. A fan blade went through my radiator. Tow bill and dead battery to boot. However, I have the average amount of miles on my car for it's age (for now anyway) and I have to chalk it up to normal repair. I've owned two Hondas and at some point you have to put money into them. Excessive miles will increase your likelihood for repair, no doubt. All the best to the drivers out there.


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## 25rides7daysaweek (Nov 20, 2017)

Our cars are our tools. They break wear out and need to be replaced. I'm not going to like the comments because the stink. Shopping for a lower cost mechanic that will let you buy the parts should help costs..


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## UberchickATL (Apr 27, 2018)

People don’t look at the big picture as to how much ride share actually COSTS us as drivers. If you plan on driving full time, or close to full time, plan on about 50,000 miles per year. After 4 years, what’s your $20,000 car with 200,000 miles on it worth? Plus factor in all the repairs and maintenance during that time.

Oh and what lender will offer you a car loan when your main source of income is rideshare? Only predictor lenders so plan on paying a crazy amount of money for your next car.

We pay a lot of money for the privilege of driving around a bunch of entitled, rude, cheapskate people.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

Like most newbies, when I started I way underestimated the amount of miles I would put on my car. My first year driving PART TIME I put 36,000 on my van. I was surprised at the true mileage and ground and pound on the van. I drove a Honda Odyssey back then and started with 160,000 miles already on the van! At 227,000 miles its still going strong but not used for rideshare anymore.


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## Taxi2Uber (Jul 21, 2017)

UberchickATL said:


> People don't look at the big picture as to how much ride share actually COSTS us as drivers. If you plan on driving full time, or close to full time, plan on about 50,000 miles per year. After 4 years, what's your $20,000 car with 200,000 miles on it worth? Plus factor in all the repairs and maintenance during that time.
> 
> Oh and what lender will offer you a car loan when your main source of income is rideshare? Only predictor lenders so plan on paying a crazy amount of money for your next car.
> 
> We pay a lot of money for the privilege of driving around a bunch of entitled, rude, cheapskate people.


After 200,000 miles, you should have earned about $200,000, so no need for a car loan. Just pay cash.


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## reg barclay (Nov 3, 2015)

LucklessRoadrunner said:


> I'm sorry you're having to endure this, but cars fail whether you are using them for ridesharing or not.


Yes, but parts become more likely to fail or need replacing the more a car is driven. It's pretty certain that someone driving their car 40k miles vs 10k miles a year, will spend more on maintenance/repairs.


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## LucklessRoadrunner (Jun 6, 2019)

@reg barclay absolutely, I agree 100%. However, it's to be expected. It shouldn't be newsworthy that our cars need cleaning, maintenance, and repairs more than the average car.
And also the manner in which we drive plays a significant role too.


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

So many drivers completely delude themselves about expenses. Many seem to be of an attitude such as "Oh, well I'd have to make my car payment anyway" (yeah but that car will be junk before you finish paying it off due to rideshare) or "Well I'm only going to be doing this six months so it won't matter" (I'd say an extra 20k-40k miles does matter...a lot) or "I do most repairs myself so maintenance expense will be near nothing" (Yeah so you know how to do an engine swap and have all the tools for it?).

Then something like this happens and they learn.


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## reg barclay (Nov 3, 2015)

LucklessRoadrunner said:


> @reg barclay absolutely, I agree 100%. However, it's to be expected. It shouldn't be newsworthy that our cars need cleaning, maintenance, and repairs more than the average car.
> And also the manner in which we drive plays a significant role too.


It may be obvious to you and me. But I think you'd be surprised how many drivers think their main expense is gas. They view whatever they made after gas as profit, so they don't expect or set aside money to cover the costs of maintenance and repairs. Nor do they realize how depriceation works, and that driving 40k miles a year means that in 5 years their brand new car might be a POS worth scrap value. I'm sure they're aware that repairs and maintenance happen, but they probably think those things just pop up randomly every now and again, regardless of how much they drive. TBH I might have thought that way myself when I was much younger.


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## FormerTaxiDriver♧ (Apr 5, 2018)

El Janitor said:


> Just posting facts, cameras don't lie this is what $1600 sounds like. Anyone else care to post their repair expenses? Maybe people should know what they're getting into before they start this.


This is another example of taking advantage of the sick and old.


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

reg barclay said:


> Yes, but parts become more likely to fail or need replacing the more a car is driven. It's pretty certain that someone driving their car 40k miles vs 10k miles a year, will spend more on maintenance/repairs.


What often gets drivers too is that while their car is new or near new they might hardly need any repairs. Then after a year or two of driving they start to get above 100,000 and all hell starts breaking loose with the repairs.

You see this with people driving newer cars who try to figure their actual costs. They think that the costs in years 0-3 of ownership are going to be the same in years 3+ of ownership after doing rideshare full time. Welp, NOPE! Your costs in the later years of that car's life might be ten times what they were in year 1 easily.



reg barclay said:


> It may be obvious to you and me. But I think you'd be surprised how many drivers think their main expense is gas. They view whatever they made after gas as profit, so they don't expect or set aside money to cover the costs of maintenance and repairs. Nor do they realize how depriceation works, and that driving 40k miles a year means that in 5 years their brand new car might be a POS worth scrap value. I'm sure they're aware that repairs and maintenance happen, but they probably think those things just pop up randomly every now and again, regardless of how much they drive. TBH I might have thought that way myself when I was much younger.


Real life example here:

I bought my current Corolla used with 9,000 miles on it in October 2016. Today it has about 104,000 miles on it.

If I didn't do rideshare with it I would only put on about 5,000 miles a year.

So if I never signed up for Uber/Lyft my car would only have about 25,000 miles on it right now. All in all I would probably have been able to keep the car for another ten years easily. But now in doing rideshare I'm probably going to have to get a new car in 2021 or so.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

This is one area where many newer drivers just fail to comprehend. They don't think the mileage will have the affect it actually will have. A smart business plan is to budget for car repair and replacement so when the day comes they are ready. A separate bank account for repair/replacement is a good idea. I know some experienced drivers such as @oldfart have posted about this and actually budget for it. I suspect many don't have the discipline and don't actually do it.


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## UberLAguy (Aug 2, 2015)

touberornottouber said:


> What often gets drivers too is that while their car is new or near new they might hardly need any repairs. Then after a year or two of driving they start to get above 100,000 and all hell starts breaking loose with the repairs.
> 
> You see this with people driving newer cars who try to figure their actual costs. They think that the costs in years 0-3 of ownership are going to be the same in years 3+ of ownership after doing rideshare full time. Welp, NOPE! Your costs in the later years of that car's life might be ten times what they were in year 1 easily.
> 
> ...


Say you drive 200000 miles on the car. Day you make $200000 from the car. Can you at least give back $1600 to the car that helped you ?


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## nouberipo (Jul 24, 2018)

LucklessRoadrunner said:


> I'm sorry you're having to endure this, but cars fail whether you are using them for ridesharing or not.


Your logic is really warped. I presume, based on the comment, you either work for Uber or are outsourced to post on these boards to try and make the company look better than it is


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## LucklessRoadrunner (Jun 6, 2019)

@nouberipo please elaborate on my logic for me.


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

I have budgeted/saved $5,000 for future major car repairs, this does not include maintenance items like brakes, tires, oil changes, etc, and also continue to set a side money for a replacement car. Unlike most I fell I have really given this side gig some thought.


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## Mordred (Feb 3, 2018)

60k gross - 6k repair and maintenance - 6k gas - 2k taxes = 44k profit. What am I missing?


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

LucklessRoadrunner said:


> @reg barclay absolutely, I agree 100%. However, it's to be expected. It shouldn't be newsworthy that our cars need cleaning, maintenance, and repairs more than the average car.
> *And also the manner in which we drive plays a significant role too.*


Driving habits factor in big and I think most drivers over look at. Easy on the gas easy on the brakes, makes a huge difference over 200,000 miles. I always get better gas mileage that what my car is rated. I get above average mileage from brake pads. I keep my tires properly inflated and rotated often to extend the life from them. Little thinks make a difference.


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## losiglow (Dec 4, 2018)

Ouch. That's quite the bill.

I know it's not practical for everyone to learn how to be a mechanic. But if you're mechanically _inclined_, you may want to consider looking up repair videos on Youtube. Or at least investigate what's involved in maintenance - which includes more than oil changes BTW. Transmission fluid replacement is a big one, as are brakes. Both of those are quite easy yet mechanics charge an arm and a leg for them.

I'm a gearhead so my overhead with repairs is only the cost of parts, which are quite low with Honda vehicles (drive an Acura, but it's just a fancy Honda). If I had to pay for all my maintenance and repairs it would really eat into profits. I agree that many drivers don't consider this. As was already stated, gas may be the highest expense but repairs/maintenance/depreciation is a very close second for many drivers.


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

Mordred said:


> 60k gross - 6k repair and maintenance - 6k gas - 2k taxes = 44k profit. What am I missing?


 You are missing depreciation


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## Mordred (Feb 3, 2018)

oldfart said:


> You are missing depreciation


Depreciation is a hypothetical cost. If i never sell my car all I pay is repairs and maintenance.


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## TheDevilisaParttimer (Jan 2, 2019)

Taxi2Uber said:


> After 200,000 miles, you should have earned about $200,000, so no need for a car loan. Just pay cash.


That breaks down to 50k per year not including any expenses......


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## W00dbutcher (Jan 14, 2019)

Redbull, coffee, condums, mints, water, assortment of candies, charge cords and the kitchen sink.!?

371,000 miles btw. Gotta love a HOT ROD LINCOLN.


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## Bob Reynolds (Dec 20, 2014)

There are tens of thousands of auto repair shops all over this country. 

Do ride share drivers not realize why those shops are there? 

Do ride share drivers think those auto repair shops are for other people? 

Do ride share drivers believe that their vehicles never have to visit one of these repair shops? 

Do ride share drivers believe their vehicles do not have a maintenance and repair expense?


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## Rakos (Sep 2, 2014)

When my $20,000 2011 Santa Fe...

with 200,000 miles got repoed...

It was sold for $3200...in great shape...

Still owe the bank $20,000...8>O

Trading miles for money...8>)

Wanna bet mine isn't the only repo???

Now I have a 2016 Ford Escape...8>)

Good Luck out there!

Rakos


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## Bob Reynolds (Dec 20, 2014)

Rakos said:


> When my $20,000 2011 Santa Fe...
> 
> with 200,000 miles got repoed...
> 
> ...


And why was the Santa Fe repoed?


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## Rakos (Sep 2, 2014)

Bob Reynolds said:


> And why was the Santa Fe repoed?


Because I owed way more than it was worth...

Paid the bank $20k over 4 years.

250,000 mile Write off...8>)

Rakos


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## UberLaLa (Sep 6, 2015)

My post from almost two years ago. I no longer drive my cars...I lease livery.

https://uberpeople.net/threads/just...ser-to-a-major-car-repair.207516/post-3098258
_Oct 3, 2017_
_
Spent $6k on repairs over a 12 month period - between 120k & 140k miles (Tires, transmission, starter, battery, brakes and rotors all around) - 160k on it now. It looks brand new...but we all know better :frown:_


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## treesweets dancer (May 4, 2019)

reg barclay said:


> may be obvious to you and me. But I think you'd be surprised how many drivers think their main expense is gas. They view whatever they made after gas as profit, so they don't expect or set aside money to cover the costs of maintenance and repairs. Nor do they realize how depriceation works, and that driving 40k miles a year means that in 5 years their brand new car might be a POS worth scrap value. I


My city's forum has these dudes who discuss & argue about economic theory. One of em pretty well read. Even set up a formula for people to use to figure their cost per mile. Which included figuring yr car's current value & how many miles u expect to drive. As in, he acknowledged all the stuff.

Yet they say that gas expense is all that matters. That if u gross $10 for a 3 mile ride vs a 7 mile ride, those rides are both equally profitable. I figure at 20c a mile, u made $9.40 & $8.60, respectively. They disagreed vehemently.

I don't typically argue in earnest on the internet. But the assertion _so_ blew my mind I tried to prove them wrong with logic. I failed. Two against one. They both insisted I just didn't get it. It is really weird. But ur right. They're out there.


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## reg barclay (Nov 3, 2015)

Mordred said:


> Depreciation is a hypothetical cost. If i never sell my car all I pay is repairs and maintenance.


Well you're unlikely to drive the car forever. At some point you're likely to stop driving it. Either because, a.) It gets to a point where costly repairs outweigh its value, or b.) You just want a newer car. At that point you are no longer benefitting from the original investment. So theoretically if you drive a car forever you can keep stretching out the depreciation. But most people don't do that. They eventually end up selling, trading, scrapping, or letting it rot away in their back yard. At which point their depreciation cost is the cars original value, minus whatever they got in sale or scrap, streched out over the time they drove it.



touberornottouber said:


> What often gets drivers too is that while their car is new or near new they might hardly need any repairs. Then after a year or two of driving they start to get above 100,000 and all hell starts breaking loose with the repairs.
> 
> You see this with people driving newer cars who try to figure their actual costs. They think that the costs in years 0-3 of ownership are going to be the same in years 3+ of ownership after doing rideshare full time. Welp, NOPE! Your costs in the later years of that car's life might be ten times what they were in year 1 easily.
> 
> ...


Yes, the first few years of a newish car usually don't cost much in maintenance and repairs, but the car depreciates faster. I think it's like a see saw. As depreciation slows down, repair bills start to increase.

Had you only done the 5,000 miles a year, then your cars sale/trade value would probably be a few thousand dollars more. If you got a chance to check it out, I'd be curious to know the value difference between your car in its current state vs had you not done rideshare.


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## UberPete1911 (Aug 10, 2017)

Mordred said:


> 60k gross - 6k repair and maintenance - 6k gas - 2k taxes = 44k profit. What am I missing?


... and this is why uber and Lyft are thriving at the cost of drivers that are unable to comprehend the actual expenses.

Not only you but a lot of drivers use this basic premise for rideshare math in which the actual math does not add up.

Your numbers are a bit askewed. For example, if this was the way it worked then we would all be making bank. It's not like that.

You're forgetting to add - let's see - cell with unlimited service 1200$ yr. Gas prices fluctuate so it's not actual numbers that you're stating. Driving 8 to 10 hrs a day requires food - another expense at your cost. What about dead miles? Depending on your market if will vary. Don't forget downtime when you're getting your car fixed, 1 to 2 weeks.

So here's a few things you're missing - among others.

When it was 1.65$ a mile then it was worth it, now that it's around, .66c a mile, is it worth it?!


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## Mordred (Feb 3, 2018)

UberPete1911 said:


> ... and this is why uber and Lyft are thriving at the cost of drivers that are unable to comprehend the actual expenses.
> 
> Not only you but a lot of drivers use this basic premise for rideshare math in which the actual math does not add up.
> 
> ...


Food, cell service... Pretty much everyone pays that anyway. Nothing to do with Uber. And 6k is accurate in my market for gas. Around 100 a, week. What else ya got?


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## BobMarley (Feb 12, 2019)

UberPete1911 said:


> ... and this is why uber and Lyft are thriving at the cost of drivers that are unable to comprehend the actual expenses.
> 
> Not only you but a lot of drivers use this basic premise for rideshare math in which the actual math does not add up.
> 
> ...


Well for one thing, its an odds game. I'm pretty confident it costs me no more than 25c a mile to drive, with my vehicle. Bad luck and yes it'll be more. Cell phone, I've had no trouble with my 10GB a month plan that I had before I even started rideshare. Insurance: $100/per 6 month add on from StateFarm, thats the only price add on. Food... not seeing the relevance, its not a physically intensive job so your not adding any calories to your day, or very few.


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## UberPete1911 (Aug 10, 2017)

Mordred said:


> Food, cell service... Pretty much everyone pays that anyway. Nothing to do with Uber. And 6k is accurate in my market for gas. Around 100 a, week. What else ya got?


Best and only advice that I will give you - with your approach to rideshare - make sure you clear 1$ per mile you drive. 1$>1mile..


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

BobMarley said:


> Well for one thing, its an odds game. I'm pretty confident it costs me no more than 25c a mile to drive, with my vehicle.


Okay. 25 cents a mile. Now how many dead miles do you have for each paid mile? On average it will be 1 for 1 meaning one unpaid for each paid mile. So suddenly your 25 cents per mile is now 50 cents per paid mile.

Now what does the company pay you per mile?

Many people are around 60 to 70 cents per paid mile. In Orlando it is 54 cents per paid mile. If you were in Orlando and paying 50 cents per paid mile in costs then that would leave you with a whopping four cents per mile in net earnings! That would mean you could drive 100 paid miles and earn a whole net of $4 for it.


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## UberPete1911 (Aug 10, 2017)

BobMarley said:


> Well for one thing, its an odds game. I'm pretty confident it costs me no more than 25c a mile to drive, with my vehicle. Bad luck and yes it'll be more. Cell phone, I've had no trouble with my 10GB a month plan that I had before I even started rideshare. Insurance: $100/per 6 month add on from StateFarm, thats the only price add on. Food... not seeing the relevance, its not a physically intensive job so your not adding any calories to your day, or very few.


Well, in that case, you don't need to rideshare, you just need to gamble all day long. Odds will be in your favor more gambling then doing rideshare.


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## BobMarley (Feb 12, 2019)

touberornottouber said:


> Okay. 25 cents a mile. Now how many dead miles do you have for each paid mile? On average it will be 1 for 1 meaning one unpaid for each paid mile. So suddenly your 25 cents per mile is now 50 cents per paid mile.
> 
> Now what does the company pay you per mile?
> 
> Many people are around 60 to 70 cents per paid mile. In Orlando it is 54 cents per paid mile. If you were in Orlando and paying 50 cents per paid mile in costs then that would leave you with a whopping four cents per mile in net earnings! That would mean you could drive 100 paid miles and earn a whole net of $4 for it.


No, not even close to 1 for 1, more like 2 to 1. If a pickup is over 3 miles away I almost always decline, unless the last ride brought me out to the sticks, or it's Uber and I get long pickup mileage. I made over $1 per mile last weekend, but 80 something cents it's more usual. Thats miles, garage to garage.


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

reg barclay said:


> Well you're unlikely to drive the car forever. At some point you're likely to stop driving it. Either because, a.) It gets to a point where costly repairs outweigh its value, or b.) You just want a newer car. At that point you are no longer benefitting from the original investment. So theoretically if you drive a car forever you can keep stretching out the depreciation. But most people don't do that. They eventually end up selling, trading, scrapping, or letting it rot away in their back yard. At which point their depreciation cost is the cars original value, minus whatever they got in sale or scrap, streched out over the time they drove it.
> 
> 
> Yes, the first few years of a newish car usually don't cost much in maintenance and repairs, but the car depreciates faster. I think it's like a see saw. As depreciation slows down, repair bills start to increase.
> ...


I would say if my car only had 25,000 miles on it then it would probably be worth about $13,000 (that low mileage would command a premium). It's worth about $10,000 on it now with the current mileage. BUT while coming back from a 45+ long trip some road debris (piece of concrete from a truck) hit the top of it and put a large dent in it. It would probably cost about $1,200 to fix professionally instead of with the touchup paint approach I used.

So you might say that rideshare cost me about $3,000-$4,000 in actual depreciation so far.

My favored approach for estimating depreciation is as follows though:

Take the purchase price (in cents) and divide it by the estimated remaining useful life of the vehicle in miles. So for a $13,000 purchase price of a vehicle we estimate will last 200,000 more miles:

1,300,000/200000 = 6.5 cents per mile depreciation

104,000 current miles
- 9,000 miles at purchase
-15,000 non-rideshare miles
= 80,000 due to rideshare (in about 2.75 years)

80,000 * 6.5 = 520,000 = $5,200 in depreciation

This seems high but this depreciation is linear. In actuality as the vehicle approaches the end of its useful life the depreciation is rapidly to $0 (or scrap value). When it gets to 200,000 miles and the engine or transmission goes out, the value will be just a few hundred dollars of scrap value as it is unlikely I will pay to put in a new engine or transmission at that point.


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## Mordred (Feb 3, 2018)

UberPete1911 said:


> Best and only advice that I will give you - with your approach to rideshare - make sure you clear 1$ per mile you drive. 1$>1mile..


I do.


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

BobMarley said:


> No, not even close to 1 for 1, more like 2 to 1. If a pickup is over 3 miles away I almost always decline, unless the last ride brought me out to the sticks, or it's Uber and I get long pickup mileage.


For some reason people making these kind of posts ALWAYS say this when this is pointed out to them. They always claim they have hardly any dead miles at all. But I started driving a taxi in 2006 and in all my years my numbers were very near this even then. Also my own numbers with Uber/Lyft are still very near this 1:1 ratio. I am very skeptical of people who claim to be far away from it.


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## RideshareUSA (Feb 7, 2019)

touberornottouber said:


> What often gets drivers too is that while their car is new or near new they might hardly need any repairs. Then after a year or two of driving they start to get above 100,000 and all hell starts breaking loose with the repairs.
> 
> You see this with people driving newer cars who try to figure their actual costs. They think that the costs in years 0-3 of ownership are going to be the same in years 3+ of ownership after doing rideshare full time. Welp, NOPE! Your costs in the later years of that car's life might be ten times what they were in year 1 easily.
> 
> ...


Not so, it's a Toyota!


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## reg barclay (Nov 3, 2015)

touberornottouber said:


> I would say if my car only had 25,000 miles on it then it would probably be worth about $13,000 (that low mileage would command a premium). It's worth about $10,000 on it now with the current mileage. BUT while coming back from a 45+ long trip some road debris (piece of concrete from a truck) hit the top of it and put a large dent in it. It would probably cost about $1,200 to fix professionally instead of with the touchup paint approach I used.
> 
> So you might say that rideshare cost me about $3,000-$4,000 in actual depreciation so far.
> 
> ...


I don't go with a linear estimate for depreciation. The main reason being that I would be owning the same vehicle regardless of whether I drove rideshare. So I go with an estimate of how much extra the ridesharing miles will cause it to depreciate during its lifetime, compared to how much it would likely depreciate if I only drove it for personal use.


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

RideshareUSA said:


> Not so, it's a Toyota!


I hope so anyway! I expect to get about 200,000 miles from it. It's one of the last models which doesn't have the CVT transmissions they have been having issues with.


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## RideshareUSA (Feb 7, 2019)

touberornottouber said:


> I hope so anyway! I expect to get about 200,000 miles from it. It's one of the last models which doesn't have the CVT transmissions they have been having issues with.


Knock on wood, my Prius has over 330,000 miles. Still running great in every aspect. Furthermore, my experience is not unique. Many Toyotas are still on the road, running strong with similar mileage.
Ask yourself this: Have you ever met a dissatisfied Toyota owner?


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## BobMarley (Feb 12, 2019)

touberornottouber said:


> For some reason people making these kind of posts ALWAYS say this when this is pointed out to them. They always claim they have hardly any dead miles at all. But I started driving a taxi in 2006 and in all my years my numbers were very near this even then. Also my own numbers with Uber/Lyft are still very near this 1:1 ratio. I am very skeptical of people who claim to be far away from it.


OK, heres my data from last Saturday. Uber says I was paid $81.93 for distance. Thats, 128 miles given we are paid 64c a mile here. Lyft, I got out a calculator and added up every ride for the day, I drove 84 miles. That's 212 paid miles between the two.

I drove for a total of 255 miles that day. See the two screens from my mileage log, I did two sessions that day. Thats basically garage to garage. Though I usually turn it off when I'm within like half a mile on the way back. Just so the IRS man doesn't see the start and stop is always the exact same place.

212/255 is 83%. Now is everyday that good? No. But I'm still improving my paid mileage, I made one idiotic pickup that day on Lyft, it was autoqueued and I didn't realize it for like 5 miles, but I felt bad for making them wait. Of course it was like 9 miles to pickup a woman at Walmart with her kid, and then drive like 3. So it could have been better. And did she tip? Of course not.

Screens attached for proof.

Edit to add: oh and could that be done on a weekday, outside of rush hour, no effin way, not even a little bit close. I am in no way advocating anyone try this as a full time job.

ETA2: OK, I thought 83% was suspiciously high. 128 miles on Uber was for the whole week, I only did 73 miles on Saturday. Lyft+Uber divided by total miles comes to 62%. I bet I can do better though if I get more ruthless on cancellations.


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## I_Like_Spam (May 10, 2015)

LucklessRoadrunner said:


> I'm sorry you're having to endure this, but cars fail whether you are using them for ridesharing or not.


Although this is certainly true enough, a dramatic increase in the number of miles driven accelerates how fast parts wear out


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## OldBay (Apr 1, 2019)

Mordred said:


> 60k gross - 6k repair and maintenance - 6k gas - 2k taxes = 44k profit. What am I missing?


Well put.


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## I_Like_Spam (May 10, 2015)

RideshareUSA said:


> Knock on wood, my Prius has over 330,000 miles. Still running great in every aspect. Furthermore, my experience is not unique. Many Toyotas are still on the road, running strong with similar mileage.
> Ask yourself this: Have you ever met a dissatisfied Toyota owner?


I owned Buick and Olds my whole life, and moved over to an Avalon, and I have to agree that its a great ride.

But for the kind of mileage that a livery vehicle puts on, a rear drive vehicle with a long hood gives a lot more room for the maintenance and repairs for a do-it-yourself kind of driver.


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## OldBay (Apr 1, 2019)

touberornottouber said:


> For some reason people making these kind of posts ALWAYS say this when this is pointed out to them. They always claim they have hardly any dead miles at all. But I started driving a taxi in 2006 and in all my years my numbers were very near this even then. Also my own numbers with Uber/Lyft are still very near this 1:1 ratio. I am very skeptical of people who claim to be far away from it.


When tips are considered, my daily earnings are around $1/mile. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Yes there are dead miles in there, but if you are doing lots of 1 mile shuttle trips, you will end up making $1.2+/mi, even though more than half are dead miles.

Dead miles matters only as much as they lower your profit/mile. Dead miles are something to avoid, but they only tell a part of the earning story.

Dollar per mile is a better metric, but even that is not accurate as highway miles not equal to city miles.



I_Like_Spam said:


> I owned Buick and Olds my whole life, and moved over to an Avalon, and I have to agree that its a great ride.
> 
> But for the kind of mileage that a livery vehicle puts on, a rear drive vehicle with a long hood gives a lot more room for the maintenance and repairs for a do-it-yourself kind of driver.


Its true, lots of Crown Vics with a million miles.


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## UberPete1911 (Aug 10, 2017)

RideshareUSA said:


> Knock on wood, my Prius has over 330,000 miles. Still running great in every aspect. Furthermore, my experience is not unique. Many Toyotas are still on the road, running strong with similar mileage.
> Ask yourself this: Have you ever met a dissatisfied Toyota owner?


Yes.. the ones with cvt transmissions.


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## Taxi2Uber (Jul 21, 2017)

touberornottouber said:


> Okay. 25 cents a mile. Now how many dead miles do you have for each paid mile? On average it will be 1 for 1 meaning one unpaid for each paid mile. So suddenly your 25 cents per mile is now 50 cents per paid mile.
> 
> Now what does the company pay you per mile?
> 
> Many people are around 60 to 70 cents per paid mile. In Orlando it is 54 cents per paid mile. If you were in Orlando and paying 50 cents per paid mile in costs then that would leave you with a whopping four cents per mile in net earnings! That would mean you could drive 100 paid miles and earn a whole net of $4 for it.


You keep spewing the same incorrect math it's getting embarrassing.
Either you REALLY don't know how to figure things, or you're just trying to discourage others from driving.



UberPete1911 said:


> Yes.. the ones with cvt transmissions. :smiles:


He said Toyota, not Nissan :wink:


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## R3drang3r (Feb 16, 2019)

UberPete1911 said:


> Best and only advice that I will give you - with your approach to rideshare - make sure you clear 1$ per mile you drive. 1$>1mile..


Is that $1 per actual running mile?

Not counting on surges or bonuses and just running only X rides how does one accomplish this?
Every ride you get doesn't put you directly on the PIN for the next ride. There's always going to be deadhead miles. It's pretty hard to maintain a dollar per running mile when you're not even getting paid a dollar a mile to begin with.


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## UberPete1911 (Aug 10, 2017)

Taxi2Uber said:


> You keep spewing the same incorrect math it's getting embarrassing.
> Either you REALLY don't know how to figure things, or you're just trying to discourage others from driving.
> 
> 
> He said Toyota, not Nissan :wink:


https://www.consumerreports.org/car...la-hatchback-recalled-for-transmission-issue/

I read Toyota, heard Toyota, must be a Toyota... :roflmao:


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## El Janitor (Feb 22, 2016)

Bob Reynolds said:


> There are tens of thousands of auto repair shops all over this country.
> 
> Do ride share drivers not realize why those shops are there?
> 
> ...


Before computer controlled fuel injection, before coil packs, and cars that require an EPROM ECU just to start, people could fix their own car if they wanted too. Now the throttle cable is gone, its all plastic snap connectors, and wiring harnesses, solenoids, and sensors. If you want to tune your car you need a laptop, software and the right harness, and you had better know what you're doing or you'll kill your engine.

Do non-ride share drivers know that the first reliable friction clutch has been around since 1921?

Do non-ride share drivers know that the first internal combustion engine has been around since 1892?

Do non-ride share drivers know that the internal combustion engine is obsolete and is mainly still in production because of the automobile industry's affiliation with the oil industry?

Do non-ride share drivers know that the internal combustion engine has caused harm to the planet and could be phased out by electric cars like Tesla?

Do non-ride share drivers know that although there are over tens of thousands of repair shops all over the nation that they *should never* take their car to a NON-ASE certified mechanic, or an ASE mechanic who's certificates aren't up to date because they don't know enough about new technology to be competent in their career field to charge $90 an hour for labor?


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

Taxi2Uber said:


> You keep spewing the same incorrect math it's getting embarrassing.


25 cents times two is equal to 50 cents, no?


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## Taxi2Uber (Jul 21, 2017)

touberornottouber said:


> 25 cents times two is equal to 50 cents, no?


No. Because you don't "times two" the 25 cents.
The other poster said it costs him no more than 25c a mile to drive. 
That's ALL miles. Paid and unpaid. Which makes sense and is likely.
For me it's about 18 cents/mile. THAT'S ALL MILES.

As for the .54/mile or .60 or whatever the driver earns. That is NOT THE ONLY THING your earnings is based on.
(I said this to you in another post that you ignored(?) or didn't respond to.)
There is Time, Min fare supplement, Surge, Quest, Boost, Base fare, Tips, (did I forget any?)
Add all that up and hopefully, depending on the market, you are over $1/mile.
For me it's about $1.25/mile so far this year. Again, THAT'S ALL MILES.

So using a figure, then slicing into paid/unpaid, then doubling that figure is not at all accurate.
Then using that inaccurate figure against another inaccurate figure of earnings, and well, there is a real problem.


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## wicked (Sep 24, 2017)

Just replaced rear brake pads. The red warning was making pax nervous.


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## Taxi2Uber (Jul 21, 2017)

UberPete1911 said:


> https://www.consumerreports.org/car...la-hatchback-recalled-for-transmission-issue/
> 
> I read Toyota, heard Toyota, must be a Toyota... :roflmao:


Wow. 3400 recalls of one specific model. Hardly mentionable.

Meanwhile,
_"*Nissan CVT issues are common among Nissan vehicles*."
"From *2012 to 2018, *several models of Nissan vehicles received the transmission, including the *Sentra, Versa, Versa Note, Altima, Rogue, and Murano models*."
"*Some of the most common issues with the vehicles directly relate to the transmission*. Reported issues include loss of power, transmission jerking, transmission slipping, CVT coolant hose leaks and failures, and a CVT error message being displayed. *These problems call the Nissan CVT transmission reliability into question and can result in serious harm to unsuspecting drivers*."_

https://www.mylemon.com/blog/2018/10/nissan-cvt-transmission-problems.html


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## RideshareUSA (Feb 7, 2019)

UberPete1911 said:


> Yes.. the ones with cvt transmissions. :smiles:


Well, my Prius has a cvt and is smooth as silk.


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## dmoney155 (Jun 12, 2017)

Mordred said:


> Depreciation is a hypothetical cost. If i never sell my car all I pay is repairs and maintenance.


It's not... you use you car... if you drive a lot, you will use it up faster. Like someone said earlier, if they didnt drive uber, they would have the car for 10 years. with uber, 3 years. So you will be changing cars every 3 years. You can either be faced with a large capital expenditure every 3 years... or you take that and depreciate it little by little. If depreciation was a hypothetical cost, you would not see it in the books of businesses... but hey, what do accountants know anyways right? you know better.



treesweets dancer said:


> ..... They both insisted I just didn't get it. It is really weird. But ur right. They're out there.


If someone insist you just don't get it, it means they are clueless about what they are talking about since they can't explain it well enough for me to get it.
I look it at it this way, one pays for hardware to use. Say $10,000. One can only use 200,000 units out of the said hardware (in our case units are miles). So you divide up 10,000 into 300,000 and you get $0.05/km. This is how the hardware (in this case the car) depreciates over its lifetime.



Mordred said:


> I do.


Same, I 0 my odometer, and use that as gauge.. my gross must be more than what odometer shows... if it shows less, I stop driving. Too many people drive around empty, that's the problem. Should never drive empty. Just be patient and wait... if you don't get any pings, that's the universe telling you to go home.


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

Mordred said:


> Depreciation is a hypothetical cost. If i never sell my car all I pay is repairs and maintenance.


I kinda feel the same way although I would say depreciation is an estimated not a hypothetical-cost, until the car ihas to be replaced. Then the cost of a new car is very real

So Im building a savings account big enough to to replace my car. The idea is to add to that savings account at the same rate the car is losing value

Technically the money I put into savings is not a cost, but it's money I don't spend.... I treat it like a cost

So i don't care what you call it; depreciation, new car fund, savings account or something else,,, it is quite real and not hypothetical


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

Taxi2Uber said:


> No. Because you don't "times two" the 25 cents.
> The other poster said it costs him no more than 25c a mile to drive.
> That's ALL miles. Paid and unpaid. Which makes sense and is likely.
> For me it's about 18 cents/mile. THAT'S ALL MILES.


His 25 cents a mile is for ALL MILES. The problem is he is only paid for about half of those miles. Thus if he is paid say 60 cents a mile then 50 cents is going to costs.

Unless you are using some sort of magical car, you have dead miles. On average the dead to paid ratio is about 1:1.

Those dead miles do not just magically "not count" towards your expenses, see?


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## BobMarley (Feb 12, 2019)

touberornottouber said:


> His 25 cents a mile is for ALL MILES. The problem is he is only paid for about half of those miles. Thus if he is paid say 60 cents a mile then 50 cents is going to costs.
> 
> Unless you are using some sort of magical car, you have dead miles. On average the dead to paid ratio is about 1:1.
> 
> Those dead miles do not just magically "not count" towards your expenses, see?


Uhh, I'm the one who said 25c per mile. Your math is wrong. I drove 253 TOTAL miles on Saturday. Thats going to my first ping, driving home from my last, hell that even includes a few miles looking for a good deal on gas and then the station being sold out. I made $231.27 between both apps and $18 from cash tips. Almost exactly a dollar a mile (not just paid miles, ALL miles). I'm going to learn to stop being a "nice guy" and cancel trips that I suspect are not worth it, and get that number up a bit more.

Not only that, but the 25c a mile number is my "99% sure it won't cost more than that figure". Its probably less than that, its certainly less on the highway. The car I drive has very little serious problems with the engine or transmission, I only paid 9k for it (which was a steal from a family member who kept it in a garage most of the time), so it can't depreciate all that much. If we only made money from mileage then you might be right. But actually, less than half of what I made from Uber/Lyft last week was from mileage.

Is rideshare going to make someone rich? No. Is it a good career? No! Is it making me a bit of extra income on the weekend? Yeah.

Edit to add: when you say "Thus if he is paid say 60 cents a mile then 50 cents is going to costs." That's not correct. It doesn't matter how much we are paid, costs are costs.


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

BobMarley said:


> I only paid 9k for it (which was a steal from a family member who kept it in a garage most of the time), so it can't depreciate all that much.


It can depreciate to scrap value as soon as it needs repairs over $1,500+ and you deem it is no longer worth fixing. Every mile you drive brings it a little bit closer to that happening.


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

wicked said:


> Just replaced rear brake pads. The red warning was making pax nervous.


You can fix that with a little piece of black tape


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## BobMarley (Feb 12, 2019)

touberornottouber said:


> It can depreciate to scrap value as soon as it needs repairs over $1,500+ and you deem it is no longer worth fixing. Every mile you drive brings it a little bit closer to that happening.


Yes, like I said. Its a calculated risk. But, its very unlikely to happen before it hits about 150,000 miles. My vehicle is 7 years old, with 28k miles on it (yeah seriously!). There are all kinds of horror stories about the make/model/year I have... but they're for the turbocharged inline 4, I have the naturally aspirated V6. On that one, "crickets", one of the most reliable cars out there. It has a timing chain instead of belt (manual says to check it after 300,000 km), odds of total engine failure are tiny. I have automotive tools, and jack stands in my garage. I used to work on my previous vehicle, a Jeep. Any smaller issues stuff I can do myself.

https://www.carcomplaints.com/Hyundai/Santa_Fe/2012/


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## 1.5xorbust (Nov 22, 2017)

Repairs are what other drivers have to get.


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

1.5xorbust said:


> Repairs are what other drivers have to get.


 Repairs and maintenance are part of owning a car especially one that is used like we use ours. I plan on 3 years before I replace the car and I budget $3500 a year for maintenance and repairs by the end of this month 18 months I've spent just $3000 So I'm little ahead of my schedule. A $1500 repair is not out of the question but it shouldn't be a problem if you plan for it


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## BobMarley (Feb 12, 2019)

oldfart said:


> Repairs and maintenance are part of owning a car especially one that is used like we use ours. I plan on 3 years before I replace the car and I budget $3500 a year for maintenance and repairs by the end of this month 18 months I've spent just $3000 So I'm little ahead of my schedule. A $1500 repair is not out of the question but it shouldn't be a problem if you plan for it


Yup, which is why I factor that it costs me 25 cents a mile to do rideshare. I spend almost exactly 10 cents a mile on fuel, figure 5 cents for depreciation, 10 cents for repairs and maintenance.


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## UberLAguy (Aug 2, 2015)

I was thinking. If one buys a Camry Hybrid for $5000 and resell it for $3000, after driving 100K trouble free, would that beat out any rental program ?


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

UberLAguy said:


> I was thinking. If one buys a Camry Hybrid for $5000 and resell it for $3000, after driving 100K trouble free, would that beat out any rental program ?


I would say if you can buy one at $5,000 and put 100,000 miles on it and then sell it at $3,000 with no repairs and just basic maintenance yes that would be way better than a rental. Your depreciation on it would be 2¢ per mile. Plus you would make more earnings per mile and minute by not being on the rental program.


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

UberLAguy said:


> I was thinking. If one buys a Camry Hybrid for $5000 and resell it for $3000, after driving 100K trouble free, would that beat out any rental program ?


If you can do it, yeah, probably. But how many miles will a Camry Hybrid have on it if you bought it for only $5,000? And you better have great timing to get rid of it before it turns into a hunk of junk after putting another 100k on it otherwise you would be lucky to get $500 for it.


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## MiamiKid (May 24, 2016)

LucklessRoadrunner said:


> I'm sorry you're having to endure this, but cars fail whether you are using them for ridesharing or not.


Just did a four year analysis, on my car's repairs. Compared previous four years, while driving rideshare, to the four years prior to that.

Guess what? The repairs came our lower for the fours not driving rideshare. Go figure.



FLKeys said:


> I would say if you can buy one at $5,000 and put 100,000 miles on it and then sell it at $3,000 with no repairs and just basic maintenance yes that would be way better than a rental. Your depreciation on it would be 2¢ per mile. Plus you would make more earnings per mile and minute by not being on the rental program.


Also, when it comes to depreciation, mileage is just a piece of the entire expense. Age makes up a sizable portion. You can


nouberipo said:


> Your logic is really warped. I presume, based on the comment, you either work for Uber or are outsourced to post on these boards to try and make the company look better than it is


Seriously? He makes an excellent point. So, anything positive about Uber, and we're an Uber shill?

Stop by a Greenlight Hub, sometime soon. We'll be happy to explain things in greater detail. Rideshare does not work for everyone.

However, it's perfect for many people. Stop in soon. ?


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## BobMarley (Feb 12, 2019)

MiamiKid said:


> Just did a four year analysis, on my car's repairs. Compared previous four years, while driving rideshare, to the four years prior to that.
> 
> Guess what? The repairs came our lower for the fours not driving rideshare. Go figure.


What were your repair costs per mile, and what make and model car do you drive? Curious to know if I'm budgeting in the right ball park for this.



> Also, when it comes to depreciation, mileage is just a piece of the entire expense. Age makes up a sizable portion. You can


Its also "stepped". So each time the manufacturer comes up with an updated model, your vehicle will depreciate instantly.


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## Juggalo9er (Dec 7, 2017)

Did you set aside the .05 a mile or so that another member suggested for repairs


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## BobMarley (Feb 12, 2019)

Juggalo9er said:


> Did you set aside the .05 a mile or so that another member suggested for repairs


I factor 10 cents a mile. I don't exactly set aside anything on purpose. I'm saving as much money as I can, Ubering is mainly for building up my retirement and rainy day funds.


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## BBslider001 (Apr 24, 2019)

Do your own repairs. THAT would be "anting like a boss".


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## BobMarley (Feb 12, 2019)

BBslider001 said:


> Do your own repairs. THAT would be "anting like a boss".


I can replace brake pads, change out a water pump, or even an alternator. Something actually wrong with the actual ICE, or transmission would be beyond me though.


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## DMAGENT99 (Jun 17, 2017)

I do all my own repairs, still cant imagine paying any car dealers mechanic especially when they start listing miscellaneous as a charge.


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## UberLaLa (Sep 6, 2015)

On my 5th year driving. I do a Fleet Lease (BlackSUV). Went through 2.5 cars before landing here. All I do now is pay my weekly lease and put fuel in it, now. Here is a link from the Chevy Equinox I used up on Fuber:

https://uberpeople.net/threads/just...ser-to-a-major-car-repair.207516/post-3098258


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## Uber_Yota_916 (May 1, 2017)

$2800 for a transmission rebuild. Two sets of drum brakes, 4 sets of front brakes. New starter. Two sets of spark plugs. Two sets of tires. I can’t remember how many oil changes, coolant exchanges and transmission fluid exchanges.....and windshields. Two plus a lot of rock chip repairs.

Plus a totaled car for an accident with a stolen vehicle.


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