# 2007 Honda Civic Si - Is This An Accepted Car?



## Cas Ra (Jun 9, 2015)

I'm on the verge of buying one of these tomorrow strictly for the purpose of driving it for uber. 

I'm buying it directly from the Honda dealership. It's got 99k miles on it and is in excellent condition. 

My concern is that I can't find a clear answer on whether or not the Si is accepted by Uber. I'd hate to buy the car for the sole purpose of driving it for uber, only to find out it's not a car they accept. 

I'm in Los Angeles. It's a white 2007 Civic Si sedan. 

Anyone know?


----------



## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

Buying a car just for uberx in LA is always a bad idea.

Always.


----------



## Cas Ra (Jun 9, 2015)

Not only is that not useful information what so ever, but you couldn't even elaborate on your point. 

Very helpful.


----------



## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

Eloborate?

I know the answer... I read it on this forum.

Read a few thousand posts here how Uber is a minimum wage job with no insurance that pays for damage to your car when in an at fault accident.

Or just blindly buy a car without checking with Uber!

.....and be sorry, your call.


----------



## Cas Ra (Jun 9, 2015)

I have a car, I don't want to put miles on it, hence why I'm thinking of getting a fairly old and inexpensive Civic Si. Consider it a work expense. 

Notice how am I'm not blindly buying the car. I'm doing research and can't find any clear answers, which is why I'm asking on Uber boards. I need to make sure it is an accepted car before I consider buying it. 

You don't have to be a dick. I'm legit asking for help here, and you just come in acting like some all knowing self righteous troll. Grow up.


----------



## Amsoil Uber Connect (Jan 14, 2015)

How many years is the loan? 
And how many years are you planning using it for uber?

And the first thing u need to do is put a timing belt on it cause you don't know if it was done at 60K that is recommended. And a dealer will want to do the water pump as well. $500-$600.


----------



## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

If we told you it was an accepted car you would buy it..

But if we tell you buying a car for Uberx is a financially irresponsible plan you call me a troll.

Uber On! You my good man will be perfect for UberX.


----------



## DexNex (Apr 18, 2015)

How can you have already picked out a particular car for Uber if you don't know if it is even accepted? I don't see this going well for you as a whole.


----------



## Cas Ra (Jun 9, 2015)

It would be a 3-4 year loan. I'd also plan to drive the car for maybe the same amount of time. It's just something to do while I'm in school.

Thanks for the timing belt tip, I'll for sure bring that up when I go see the car tomorrow.

As far as I know, the only requirements for Los Angeles is that it be a 2000 or newer sedan in excellent condition. Which is what this car is. I just wanna be 100% sure about it and it's not as if uber has a number I can call. Their website doesn't seem to offer a list of accepted cars in Los Angeles either. I've seen Civic on quite a few lost, but never an Si specifically.


----------



## DexNex (Apr 18, 2015)

Why would you even waste your time looking at the car tomorrow?



Cas Ra said:


> I'll for sure bring that up when I go see the car tomorrow.


----------



## UberComic (Apr 17, 2014)

As previously mentioned, make sure the timing belt was done. Any reputable Honda dealer would have made sure of this.

Don't forget that Uber X in LA can use as old as 2000 model year (2001 after Jan 1st, 2016). 

I had a 2007 Civic that I bought new. Mine was a coupe and I needed more doors after my daughter came along. They are great cars.


----------



## Clifford Chong (May 3, 2015)

I wouldn't use a Civic Si. 2 reasons.

Lower mpg than the standard Civic. You also need premium fuel for the engine.

Manual transmission. In LA traffic, this is just...horrible. I wouldn't do it esp. on the busiest interstates.

Having said that, it's a fun car and I respect your decision.


----------



## Amsoil Uber Connect (Jan 14, 2015)

Hey Since they accepted a Dodge Charger with a Hemi, I'd say no problem. 
Ya ya I know I'm a little off, You had to walk in my shoes to understand.


----------



## Cas Ra (Jun 9, 2015)

I enjoy driving too much to get an automatic. All my cars have been manual. Cruising around town in 6th will make for good mpg too. 

As for the guy with the Charger. I totally get it. How's that working out for you? I considered maybe getting something more fun to drive, but figured gas cost would eat up a lot of the profits you make.


----------



## Amsoil Uber Connect (Jan 14, 2015)

$350-400 mo for gas. 21-22 hwy. 17-18 city About 500 miles a week total. Ugh. But after driving 3 different Accords since 1988. Time to put some fun back into driving.


----------



## Cas Ra (Jun 9, 2015)

Yeah man, I totally feel you. 

This is what kinda led me to the compromise that is the Civic Si. Fun to drive 4 cylinder 2.0 that is fairly inexpensive. 

Any ways, looks like I'll have to make the long trek to the Uber office tomorrow to get a definite answer. 

Amsoil, did you get the Charger for Uber specifically, or did you already own it? If you got it for Uber, what other sportier cars did you consider? What city are you driving in?


----------



## Cas Ra (Jun 9, 2015)

Got word from Uber today. It's an accepted car.


----------



## Woober (Oct 12, 2014)

Yes it's an accepted car. No doubt about that as long as it has four doors. I'm a civic man myself  but let me tell you a 2007 has a timing chain, not a timing belt. Unless the SI is different? I drive a Civic for Uber, it works out really good, but nobody's too impressed by it... they're just trying to get from point A to point B. I keep it very clean etc.


----------



## Clifford Chong (May 3, 2015)

Woober said:


> Yes it's an accepted car. No doubt about that as long as it has four doors. I'm a civic man myself  but let me tell you a 2007 has a timing chain, not a timing belt. Unless the SI is different? I drive a Civic for Uber, it works out really good, but nobody's too impressed by it... they're just trying to get from point A to point B. I keep it very clean etc.


All Civics 2006 or newer has timing chain, regardless of trim level or body style.


----------



## Amsoil Uber Connect (Jan 14, 2015)

Cas Ra said:


> Amsoil, did you get the Charger for Uber specifically, or did you already own it? If you got it for Uber, what other sportier cars did you consider? What city are you driving in?


Two years ago while on vacation I rented a 2012 Challenger with Hemi. Knowing My Career job was coming to an end, (laid-off and took retirement, "they say", the first major purchase after retirement is a new car, I believe they are correct, Haha.) I already knew what I wanted. Then Uber came along as what I thought at the time was a better job choice, well in some ways it is better than punching a time clock. However I needed a four door. So I decided to have my cake and eat it too. Otherwise I probably would have ended up a Camry or a 4th Accord. It was time for a change and I think I miss the slightly built 283 I once had.

Drive mostly Riverside / Moreno Valley. Sometimes OC.

ps I thought I had heard the newer ones have a chain now.


----------



## Kingo9 (May 20, 2015)

1- Why would you want a second car payment, insurance, etc just to make $7/hour? Over your loan is it going to be worth it?
2- If that was the case, then buy whatever is the most reliable and best mpg you could get. Sounds like you have a nice car already... have fun with that and get a Prius, TDI, or other small 35+mpg car for this. 
3-


Cas Ra said:


> Cruising around town in 6th will make for good mpg too.


I'm not going to get too engineering here, but cruising in a higher gear when the engine is not in the power band can actually be worse for mpg and the engine.

SI would not be a _bad _car by any means. Its a great car. I just think if you are using a car just for this, there are better options.

Lastly, as I've said on almost any of these newer posts... Do. Your. Homework. Insurance, uber fees, taxes... crunch some numbers first.


----------



## ARIV005 (Mar 4, 2015)

Cas Ra said:


> I'm on the verge of buying one of these tomorrow strictly for the purpose of driving it for uber.
> 
> I'm buying it directly from the Honda dealership. It's got 99k miles on it and is in excellent condition.
> 
> ...


Si comes in stick.. Bad idea putting PAX in a small car, that has a tight suspension and stick. Await some bad ratings.


----------



## ARIV005 (Mar 4, 2015)

Check how many owners it had... Civic Si is a kid's car. And by that I mean, they most likely beat the piss out of it. I wouldn't be surprised if the Honda dealer is eager to get rid of it. Haggle an extended warranty for free.


----------



## Cas Ra (Jun 9, 2015)

Kingo9

1. It would be my only car payment. Also, based on all the research that I’ve done, even after expenses, fees, it should never be less than $14 an hour worse case scenario. Los Angeles average seems to be about $21.

2. I still want a car that’s fun to drive, since I plan on keeping it, and see this as a business expense / subsidized car.

3. I’ve never hear about cruising in a higher gear actually being worse for mpg and the engine. I’ve always been under the impression that lower RPG = Higher MPG. Can you please explain what you mean as I’m not the most technical car guy.

The only person that’s left to talk to at this point would be a tax guy. He could essentially make or break this purchase.

Because I have done enough research to see that the cons could potentially out weigh the pros.


ARIV005

A Civic isn’t the most spacious car around, but it’s no slouch. The Sedans offer a pretty good amount of space. The suspension is a bit stiffer yes, but I wouldn’t call the ride uncomfortable by any means. Now, I’m not trying to argue for the sake of arguing here, but do you really believe people would find the ride comfort so bad that they’d give bad reviews? If that was the case, why would Uber even approve the car?

The car has only had one owner, and has 99k miles on it. The dealership called me today to inform me that they’ve been given the go ahead to sell the car, so it has now been given to the mechanics to do an inspection and replace/repair anything that needs fixing.

Tomorrow or thursday I will finally go in, check the car out, and negotiate. Car should cost about 11k. I definitely won’t buy the car if they don’t give me an extended warranty for free.

Having said all of that, I really think it comes down to what my tax guy says. If after taxes I’m making $15 an hour, I’ll just abandon ship. I can definitely see why this can only makes sense if you already own the car you’d be using.

One last question since a few of you mentioned it, what’s the difference between timing chain and belt? benefits? cons? Interested in hearing what you guys think.

Thanks for the advice, appreciate it.


----------



## Abc123 (Mar 12, 2015)

^Timing chains usually doesn't need to be replaced vs a belt that would need to be replaced at a certain mileage. Its a plus, no cons there.

As long as you know that you're sacrificing a chunk of profit for a fun car vs what you can make with a hybrid that gets 50mpg, well that is your choice. In my opinion, with the rates you guys have down there, you should really have a gas sipping hybrid of some sort & squeeze out every last penny that you can.

By the way, I don't drive in LA, but I'm not so sure how accurate your guesstimate of $21 an hour average is. Maybe some SoCal folks can chime in


----------



## Kingo9 (May 20, 2015)

Cas Ra said:


> Kingo9
> 
> 1. It would be my only car payment. Also, based on all the research that I've done, even after expenses, fees, it should never be less than $14 an hour worse case scenario. Los Angeles average seems to be about $21.
> 
> ...


Keep in mind, me or anyone else on here (for the most part) isn't trying to give you a hard time, just helping people understand, so don't take anything the wrong way.

1- The best kind of car? One that is paid for. And you know that since your other car is paid. Is the $14-21/hour you are figuring after: taxes, car payment, depreciation, fuel, tolls, insurance, maintenance, cleaning, etc?

2- I hear you... all my cars up until I got a company truck for my main job have been sticks. 328i, S4, IS300, Evo IX, so I get what you mean about fun to drive, but like you said, "Business car". Its not your play car, its for work, so the car for this should be best for your bottom line.

3- Yes, a vast majority of the time, higher RPM = better mpg. BUT, amount of fuel entering the chamber at each RPM and gear is not constant. If you press the throttle say 40% and 4th gear, you may be pressing it at 50% in 5th gear because the engine has no power. Also, with more fuel entering the cylinder, it can gunk up the engine over time. Again, this is not all of the time, but if you change gears too quickly and too soon, it _can _hurt mpg. Accelerate and shift smoothly will yield the best results.

Add insurance to your list. The biggest threat to you is insurance. I imagine you know that your personal insurance will not cover you anytime the app is on, but what you might not know is that you could be dropped or even denied a claim if something happened while NOT driving for Uber. If you have an accident and they find out, you could be screwed. If they ask and you lie, its insurance fraud. Find an insurer that will cover you when the app is off and wont when its on. Cali should be better for this, but don't be insurance naive.

The pros do outweigh the cons... just not as much as Uber makes it out to new drivers.


----------



## azndriver87 (Mar 23, 2015)

half of people trash talk on here, but at the end of the day, they're still are willing to drive for uber.

This is how i see it regard to "financing a used stick shift car for uber."

1) if you're doing it full time, you are putting about 60,000 miles on your car, part time 35,000 an SI doesn't last as long as the lx/ex versions. your car might die before your loan is up. unless you are putting down $500/month on payment (a lot more than the minimum)

2) you have to be absolutely sure you're smooth at shifting or else people might be mad and give you a low rating

3) why SI for uber? when driving for uber you want to drive as smooth and accelerate as slow as possible, no sudden acceleration. You're not going to use the full potential for SI, might as well just stick to EX/LX trim. Also you'll be saving a lot more money on gas.

4) a lot of people bash about James River Insurance, but I have not yet found a post about them not paying out. just people are trying to file a claim when they don't have passengers in the car, or they have no proof (a hit and run) that this was during a ride. I have a dash cam in my car just in case.


----------



## ARIV005 (Mar 4, 2015)

Cas Ra said:


> Kingo9
> 
> 1. It would be my only car payment. Also, based on all the research that I've done, even after expenses, fees, it should never be less than $14 an hour worse case scenario. Los Angeles average seems to be about $21.
> 
> ...


Uber has given its riders the impression of "entitlement"... THIS hurts drivers. They expect A1 service at dirt cheap prices. As far as Uber accepting the car, they just don't care. They are getting their Safe Rider Fee and 20% from you or 30% if you're in their new sliding scale. And if in 3 months, you get deactivated, they have dozens of other drivers to take your place.

I've seen a few threads on here stating that LA is getting bombarded with drivers. That means less rides and less surge pricing and a lot more competition. That same scenario happened in my market and because of all the additional drivers, I went from paying multiple car notes on Uber money to just making enough to gas up my cars. I hope you think long and hard before making that investment.

It's a great car to play with, but keep in mind if you can handle the expense in a worst case scenario.


----------



## Sdavids1212 (Jun 10, 2015)

You should never buy a car just for the sole purpose of driving for Uber. Test it out before you make a big purchase. A lot of people don't get as many requests as they think they will. However, yes it is acceptable. I love Hondas!


----------



## azndriver87 (Mar 23, 2015)

Sdavids1212 said:


> You should never buy a car just for the sole purpose of driving for Uber. Test it out before you make a big purchase. A lot of people don't get as many requests as they think they will. However, yes it is acceptable. I love Hondas!


unless it's a $2000 that passed all the inspections


----------



## The Kid (Dec 10, 2014)

Cas Ra said:


> ...but figured gas cost would eat up a lot of the profits you make.


True, that $5 or $6 per hour profit would go fast at current gas prices.


----------



## Sdavids1212 (Jun 10, 2015)

azndriver87 said:


> unless it's a $2000 that passed all the inspections


Touche. I guess I should get the full story. Wow, you could pay that thing off in a month!


----------



## Uber-Doober (Dec 16, 2014)

Cas Ra said:


> I'm on the verge of buying one of these tomorrow strictly for the purpose of driving it for uber.
> 
> I'm buying it directly from the Honda dealership. It's got 99k miles on it and is in excellent condition.
> 
> ...


^^^
If the Civic is acceptable, there's no reason why the SI wouldn't. 
It's only a trim level.


----------



## Uber-Doober (Dec 16, 2014)

Cas Ra said:


> Kingo9
> 
> 1. It would be my only car payment. Also, based on all the research that I've done, even after expenses, fees, it should never be less than $14 an hour worse case scenario. Los Angeles average seems to be about $21.
> 
> ...


^^^
OK... it's Friday and I'm wondering what happened. 
Did you buy it or not?


----------



## Cas Ra (Jun 9, 2015)

Didn't buy the car. Wasn't in good enough condition. 

Still in the market for one.


----------



## Oh My (Dec 26, 2014)

W


Cas Ra said:


> I have a car, I don't want to put miles on it, hence why I'm thinking of getting a fairly old and inexpensive Civic Si. Consider it a work expense.
> 
> Notice how am I'm not blindly buying the car. I'm doing research and can't find any clear answers, which is why I'm asking on Uber boards. I need to make sure it is an accepted car before I consider buying it.
> 
> You don't have to be a dick. I'm legit asking for help here, and you just come in acting like some all knowing self righteous troll. Grow up.


Well one of my riders in Chicago told me he was anticipating being picked up by a 2014 model car according to the app but a guy showed up in a '98 Civic calling for him out the window. So I guess you can just get activated with the newer car but drive the old one.

This will stump Ashleigh the CSR and take her 2 months to figure it out and in that time, according to Uber ads, you will have racked up at least $10,000 to buy an acceptable vehicle that meets their standards.


----------



## Luberon (Nov 24, 2014)

Sorry am very late to the show but felt like putting in a word anyway.
1. Manual is fun but not the best for Uber:
For starters I have been doing Uber in a 2005 Civic Hybrid with manual transmission for over 8 months. Very nice clean car, smooth shifts and all but the occasional jerk kinda tends to set a bad tone for the entire ride and I feel that affected my rating. I have been driving sticks for 15+ years and I love them as much as the next guy but I would rather buy automatic for Uber. Between minding the road, steering wheel, Uber app, GPS, shifting gears, minding cops, drunk pax, etc you will realize it can be a handful sometimes. After long shifts (8+ hours) I usually end up with shoulder pain. Uber driving is vastly different from your daily commute and a manual ****** doesnt help especially if you plan on working long hours.
2. You CAN make semi-decent profit driving Uber. See my older post on this: https://uberpeople.net/threads/how-to-really-make-money-on-uberx-no-maths-involved.14799 and also this https://uberpeople.net/xfa-blog-entry/how-to-calculate-costs-as-an-uber-driver.23/
Bottom line is as Uber driver you need to think of ways to minimize your costs at all levels. A 2007 Civic is an excellent option but you should also make sure you got the best possible deal that you can either pay out of pocket or will put you in the least amount of debt.
I bought a 2005 Civic hybrid for $2800, spent under $1000 in all fixes and routine maintenance over a year, averaged 33mpg in a hilly city with non-stop AC/heat even when waiting for ping. Made $13k in fares over 6-7 months part time. I only took libility insurance $65/mo because my own car is essentially disposable, I could walk away from it in an accident with minimal fuss. After a few warning lights came on I ditched the Civic (sold it $1500 to a friend) and bought a 2008 Prius 97K miles for $5000 (money I made doing Uber and Lyft) looking to start the cycle again. I plan to put 40-50K miles on the Prius before upgrading to something better.

My final word is if you really want to make profit instead of just a hobby, then you should treat every aspect business-like and the most importent first step is getting the least priced car that meets your personal and Uber's preference. this will give you a head start and you will be better off than 90% of drivers out there before even leaving your driveway.


----------

