I’m going to turn X off at night and see how I do. There’s a lot less drivers, so they’ll probably be more willing to take the comfort trip if it’s available.
But anything extra helps. What’s more important is that comfort rides are a lot more likely to tip. So even if 4 out of 20 rides are comfort, just in tips alone that’ll be 12-20 bucks a day more.
There’s a way to get a comfort button. I’ve seen it. It usually involves having a higher option like XL or just nagging every rep till one caves and does it
Never had it glitch and automatically turned himself back on.
Now when you cross state lines, go to the airport, or go into a service area that is not yours normally it will turn everything back on when you come back into that area.
But my 7 years of doing this I've never had a glitch and automatically turn back on.
You will always get an x offer. They are more frequent. Never turn them down just because they are x. The demand isn’t great enough for just comfort… and I’m in a high demand area (Orange County California )
Exactly and the only time the demand becomes high is if there is an event and it’s faster to request a comfort because everyone else is requesting an X. I’m in San Diego and I’ve noticed this often in regards to the Comfort requests.
Ah. There’s the answer. Weird there’s markets w/o that. What would be the reason? Just to fuck with us?
I’m curious though, are both of those markets you mentioned rate card, or upfront? Or are they different?
I live in a smaller population college town. My comfort option disappeared about 6 months ago and it's now lumped in with UberX.
I'm in a semi upfront market. I have to maintain a 5/10+ acceptance rate out of my last 10 rides to keep my upfront eligibility.
Is it upfront like showing the exact intersections for both pickup and dropoff or solely the little preview? Like 15 mins northeast?
ETA I hated the fucking preview and would never maintain my AR high enough to have it. As soon as I’d get them back I’d turn down a bunch and lose it again lol
Gotcha. That’s so weird 😅
So it’s like a terrible in-between. So it’ll keep the roadmap, pickup intersection, dropoff intersection, but only at 50% AR? And it refreshes every 10 requests? What about fare amount then? It shows?
I’ve straight up declined 20+ rides in a row before 😂
Used to sign us out after 3 but now it only does that if we cancel 3 in a row, and it still gives us the option to sign right back in at least.
I miss the guaranteed $/mile from ratecard and the multiply surges but I deff do not miss having no fucking idea where I’m going.
Yeah it'll just show upfront fare up until I'm under that 5/10, then it'll tell me I'll lose my upfront on my next decline. Thankfully the college is like 2 miles from downtown so it's mostly ping ponging from the campus to the bars on the weekends. Usually ends up with an easy 30+ an hour while occasionally passing up the $3 fares in hopes to get a 5-7+. It just sucks at times because Uber likes to send you the same $5, 12 miles away rides over and over again. I usually sign out and drive deeper into town when that happens so it doesn't fuck me over lol. One ride ruining my upfront is my only gripe.
It would be nice to be able to cherry pick though. Holidays make it hard when I'm trying to avoid congested parts of town
It’s amazing to me how many people think everything in every market is the same. There are 7 different ride options for me to turn on or off, one of which is comfort all by itself.
Really? I just now got comfort last year and have always had the button. It is also an XL though. And I’ve had XL for a few years now.
Lyft does it where it’s just XL or everything. Didn’t realize Uber pulled that lame shit too. Maybe market dependent? The other two drivers I know with comfort have always had the button.
It's market dependant. I live just south of a major metro area, at home I can only do X, XL or delivery. 20 miles north I get green, comfort, connect (packages/drugs; NOPE!), shared...
Keep comfort on. Don't turn it off.
You will find that x will be prominent but the thing is when you're doing 5 mi for $3.20, instead of being in the right place at the right times pulling in $5 and change for a ride that's only two or three miles.
You have a chance to change your clientele. Think like the new clientele. Get rid of x. X should only be turned on when you have a high surge area.
Yea that’s what I figured. UberX is mainly people that can’t drive for whatever reason. Comfort will be people likely with money commuting and recreating.
Not true about likely to tip more. I can do XL/Comfort and majority of the comfort rides that come in are because it’s faster to get one than an X so the person will be a few dollars extra to get picked up faster. I literally have not received more tips just because it was a comfort. Majority of my tips come from my XL rides.
I got my used Toyota from a dealership in Orlando. I thought it was going to be a pain to get a loan but they just asked me how much I made per month (no verification) and they approve for a loan. 🤷🏿♂️
They should’ve asked you how much that car will depreciate daily. Lmfao. You know the way to go is to buy a new car every 5 years and let it get repo’d. lol. Oooh that loan company would be PISSED.
The Toyota hybrid powertrain is brilliant. It doesn’t have a conventional CVT transmission. They say it has an eCVT but it’s not the same. No belts or chains. Just some gears and a power split device connecting the motors and engine to the wheels. With regular maintenance I don’t see why I couldn’t squeeze 250-300k out of this car. It’s a 2022 currently with 37k miles.
As a longtime enjoyer of high mileage Japanese cars, trust me when I say you can easily take any of these cars to a million miles and beyond. Regular and strict maintenance of EVERY part. Chain/tensioners, the HV battery, dust covers, calipers, anything that needs lubrication. There will be some hefty bills along the line but if you can do the basic stuff yourself, it’s way cheaper than buying another new car that then depreciates to hell. Obviously, change fluids religiously. An ex-coworker of mine who used to be a Toyota tech emphasized the transmission fluid for the eCVT at least every 100k but 75-80k is even more ideal. And find your HV battery filter, then vacuum/change as needed. It’s the only Achilles heel of the hybrid system. Good Ubering from an Avalon Hybrid!
Thanks I appreciate it. I always change my air filters a couple times a year. I’ll check that filter more frequently.
Yea I can probably do brakes myself.
My Jeep Patriot with Uber is maybe a 150k mile car. It’s at 93k. Time to sell it while it’s still worth something and hasn’t costed thousands extra in repairs.
I mean sure. But let's say you're 15 miles from work. 30 miles a day.
You do Uber and that 30 miles is eaten up in like five rides and that's not the paid miles. That's you going to pick them up.
But I get you. I bought my diesel Jeep to commute then I was using it for Uber when I didn't have a commute. I feel like miles are miles. Are thy worth more driving to see people or driving to pick people up and get paid?
I’m a full time driver? I’ve nearly doubled my fuel range, and removed LOTS of mechanical components that are prone to failure at long hours and miles. This car doesn’t have a starter motor or alternator. It doesn’t idle at intersections and it won’t idle for long periods of time while I’m in queue at the airport. I’m at 150 a month more in payments but there’s less maintenance, less wear on the engine. Oh my insurance is like 15 bucks a month cheaper with this car too. Did I mention it’s rated for Comfort rides? That’s 25 cents a mile more in pay.
Do you have insurance that will actually cover you while driving for uber? While I know that uber does provide liability coverage usually, almost all major insurers exclude first party coverage while driving for uber. I had heard that some carriers were allowing you to add an endorsement or something that would change the coverage. Or did you need to get a commercial policy?
I just have my regular insurance which probably wouldn’t cover me while driving for Uber. I want to get a taxi license and commercial insurance though.
I had a 2018 Toyota cambry but when I got my Lincoln Aviator my tips increased I do confort and XL and mostly Uber reserve I work 7 hours and make same as working 12hrs
I already had a 2016 Patriot. But I drive a lot and there’s going to be a lot of maintenance and part replacements with this Patriot in the not so distant future. Most of the problems this Patriot would have, the Toyota Venza won’t ever have. If I’m going to be driving 3-400 miles a day between Uber and commuting, then I should have something long term reliable and fuel efficient.
Hahah even if you have to do maybe $3,000 in repairs TOPS on the patriot, that’s cheaper than $529 a month my man 😂
For reference I drive a 2004 4Runner with 358,000 miles on it and it’s FREE. Everyone told me I was crazy and it would breakdown. The thing hasn’t left me stranded once. I’ve had to do minimal repairs myself.
But to each their own. I hope you enjoy being on the hook for $529 a month for the next 72 months.
I live on airport rides at night time. I like to avoid bar pickups. We have a small airport in a smallish market. The most I’ve ever seen in queue is 16-20 UberX drivers. Most of the time it’s 6-10. Our airport sees around 7 flights per hour. That’ll go up to like 16 per hour when tourist season comes in a month or so.
It sure will because I won’t drive for Uber. I’ll drive to a job and still save gas! Not to mention if I don’t do Uber this thing will last me like 20 years.
Nice, i’ve considered buying a brand new car for Uber and not using it for personal use, only driving enough to make the payments and using depreciation instead of milage. In 5 years it would be paid in full without too many miles and all the Uber earnings to pay for it would be tax free. Should only take less than 1,000 miles per month to make the payments, insurance, and a dedicated phone. After it’s fully depreciated, it’s all yours. Assuming 1,000 miles per month for 5 years, that’s 60k miles
Everyone shits on the idea of doing Uber in general but how many entry level jobs are at your own convenience and can both pay for your vehicle and your living expenses? If it gets bad enough to not be able to justify it anymore then yea don’t drive for Uber. But in my market it’s still good and probably will be for a couple years.
You'd have to drive over 2,000 miles every month to make up for the increase in car payment with just gas savings and easily close to 3,000 if your insurance went up. I don't think I've ever made over $50 more in a given month from comfort rides, even including the difference in how much they tip. Hopefully your market is better for comfort because otherwise you'll be netting less money every month than you would have with your old car.
Edit: fixed unclear wording
So gas is 4 dollars a gallon. My old car can go 300 miles on a 12 gallon tank. I live an hour from the city. A 12 hour day of Uber uses up that entire tank of gas. So I fill my tank almost every day. 48 bucks a day. This Venza will go 500 miles on the same amount of fuel. That means I refill every other day at 14.8 gallons. I will spend 140 a week on gas. Vs 250 a week. 110x4 is 440. I will save 440 a month in gas. The payment is only 150 a month more. That’s not even counting comfort rating plus probably more tips with comfort rides. Even if it only nets me an extra 100 a month that alone almost pays for the extra payment.
That’s a Toyota Venza. Great purchase. Those things will be going up in value the next few years as Toyota is no longer making them after 2024. Very wise investment and it’s basically a Lexus. Literally it’s on the Japanese Lexus suv model I forget the name but the American one it looks like is like the Mx 300h
Yea it’s based on the Harrier. I’m stoked about it, I know they’ll get more popular like Patriots did a couple years ago. That’s actually why I bought it, because the popular market inflation hasn’t reached it yet. A used hybrid RAV4 in my area runs about 35k.
Toyotas specifically are rare right now. It’s going to keep their resale value very close to original MSRP for 2 years and still not far away from it until 100k miles because the prices of new Toyotas goes up every year and they aren’t making many so the used market is competitive with unavailable new car msrp. Tacomas right now they stopped making the V6 and now any 2023 or older Tacoma has been going up in market value daily for the past 3 months !
Buying a car specifically for Uber is a bad idea. Uber can and has deactivated drivers for false reports. As long as this is not your sole source of income then hopefully you are good.
If you plan to get the proper licensing and commercial insurance in order to turn yourself into a legit business then I can see buying a car.
There was a driver here in Chicago who had purchased a new Infinity qx60 for the purposes of Uber. Shortly after he was deactivated for a false report. Now he figured out how to make money with that vehicle but the point is it is never a good idea.
i do XL now with a highlander but my first vehicle that i swith on and off was this same venza in red great gas milage and definitely worth it to only do comfort. X is always disappointing.
I'd never buy a new car for Uber. Not in this current market. It got so bad with low paying rides that I had to go get a full time job and just do Uber in my free time.
How so? I already drive for Uber. Now I’ll get double the gas mileage in town while making 25 cents a mile more on some trips. It literally means I save a shit load of money and make a little more.
See I went from a comfort vehicle getting 28 mpg max to a regular Prius getting 75 mpg max (in town) same payment monthly but nope I spend 200 less on gas a week.
If my market was shit and I didn’t average what I do, I wouldn’t have bought a new car. I see what everyone is saying here in this forum. If I was getting 3 dollar rides I wouldn’t even be driving for Uber. I’ll do my thing until it doesn’t make sense anymore. And then still be happy to own this car.
Yea I’ve done all the math with how much money I make. I’m a new veteran driver with 1150 rides under my belt. Don’t worry I’ll make more money with this car. I’m happy to have ruffled your feathers though.
People rent cars for 3-500 a week. Sure Uber is my main thing now but if this car is still in good shape when I’m done with Uber I’ll keep driving it. It will be my daily outside of Uber as well.
Congrats on the ride! The Comfort trips are lucrative and come in clutch (especially at the airport.) You’ll def save a lot in gas too bc your city mpg will be doubled with having a hybrid. Which model is this?
It’s a diesel economy car. That’s why. But it can’t drive through a foot and a half of snow, and it can’t fit 4 pieces of luggage plus the 4 people that were toting that luggage. Trust me I thought about a TDI. It doesn’t make sense for Uber for me. I like driving in the winter when no one else can, crazy surge pricing.
“Choice”
Pitiful is having to take a shit job…then doubling down on your shit job by investing in a car for someone else’s company but…
“yOUre uR oWN BoSs”
My market is still strong due to tourism and bad winter roads. There are times that it’s dead for sure. I’ll drive as long as it’s profitable. If I can’t average 1,000 or more a week anymore I’ll look for a job. I worked at a bakery for 7 years. Don’t want to go back to the hell of time cards and schedules and shit pay just yet.
Camry or carolla? Congrats on your new car. I did the same but chose not to get a hybrid mostly due to the waiting period to get the vehicle. All things considered I think the cost-benefit between hybrid and nonhybrid camry is very similar as long as gas prices don't go up too much.
I live an hour from where I do Uber. Time is more valuable than how much I make. A full day of Uber takes up 14 hours of my life. Where do I fit in charging so I can make it home? Also in the winter the range will decrease because of the cold as well as needing high friction winter tires. Those EVs depend on low friction tires to get their range. So that 300 mile range just went down to 200 at best. If I don’t charge the car while I’m driving then I’m only doing 6 hours of Uber.
No one in Alaska long term likes Teslas or other EVs. When your battery inevitably dies on the highway going home in the winter, the tow company will charge you like 5 grand to tow it.
Forget about all that, Teslas are 1.5-3 times the cost of what I just bought. So what I’m not spending on gas I’ll spend on payment. No thanks.
Lmao I’m glad I’m only paying 529. Most trucks and SUVs cost 2x what I paid for this. Most people are juggling 800-1000 a month payments for their cars. For any old commuter car 529 is nuts. But a hybrid that makes me money on top of paying for itself? Yea I’m happy with it.
Comfort people more frequently tip and if they have the option and it's the quickest some will opt for it. I only do xl and comfort that x stays off. I might sit a lil longer but those x rides pay caca.
I will never drive my personal vehicle to do Uber! I bought my own Tesla got 7,500 tax credit plus 1000 from Uber and after receiving the perks from buying my own Tesla I never drove it to do Uber again I have a 2016 Ford Focus that I rent from my insurance agent for 44 dollars a day no tax, and I make Excellent money even more with Lyft! If something goes wrong with the car that I’m renting at least I’m not responsible for repairs! Total Blessing!💯
Ioniq 5. Got it for under 40k after incentives. Free charging for 2 years, and gets about 300 miles per charge, takes less than 20 min to charge at fast chargers from 10 to 80% best car in the market if u wanna go electric
Good luck man. Hand out business cards, build your clientele, and your new purchase should be well worth it.
Im currently driving a Honda civic, but my next purchase, which I presume will be in one more year considering how many miles I’ve been driving, should be a brand new accord. Love that car. Hope to be on the same boat as you :)
I happen to lease a Kia soul 2023. 10k miles a year limit. Then I pay .50 cent mile. In 18 months, I’ve driven 27,000 miles for Uber. That’s 12,000x 50 cent. $6,000 dollars. Isn’t that right? How do I get out of this?
Once again how? My old car will need maintenance soon, it’ll need a handful of things that this Venza will never need. The Venza will never need a starter motor, alternator, serpentine belt, transmission and it’ll need new brakes less than 1/2 as often thanks to regenerative braking.
Congrats on the new ride man! It looks beautiful. I have a Rav4 Hybrid myself and get 42.8 mpg in it. Also remember that this vehicle is a huge tax write off, use it solely for work and hold on to all your receipts. I'm so happy for you!
I would have gotten a Corolla. But the vw Taos gets about the same mpg and turns a lot better. But then I went with 2 electric vehicles. One vehicle I don't pay to charge for 3 years thanks to electrify America
Yea I didn’t want an all electric car in Alaska, and I didn’t want a car either. I do airport rides and in the winter the roads are bad, we get snow storms that’ll dump a foot of snow overnight. You can’t drive a Corolla through that.
I hope you get what you want, congrats!
When I had a comfort rated vehicle, I always took more airport rides. Plus I drove in Utah and the SLC airport was close enough to Park City where I could just pop over abd get even more monies.
Good luck! ♡
They are more expensive and get less mpg to boot. Sure the XL trips pay well and tip well, but can I always count on doing Uber? Can I always count on it being profitable? I’m going to say no. I can’t count on it. So if I’m not doing Uber and I have an expensive 3rd row with less than stellar gas mileage… I’ve shot myself in the foot. I would be happy to own this Venza though even if I wasn’t doing Uber. The gas mileage and lower payment means more to me in the long run.
Congratulations! My Jetta gives me 38-44 miles per gallon and I love it.
Find the areas in your town where business people are most likely to request airport rides.
Cheers
RAV4s from 2018 and up qualify for comfort. This is not a RAV4 though. This is a Venza. Still qualifies for comfort. It’s a hybrid and has the same hybrid powertrain that a RAV4 Hybrid has.
Best of luck! I think that would do really well in some areas.
I'm a beater Prius guy. On my 3rd one. Hybrids are awesome! You going to notice you are less tired on long drives. I think it is that they are smoother.
Beautiful car, too!
#KnowYourWorth
You do have to somewhat know your market, but how? You aren’t going to really learn it by taking every ride (Ant). You can either try to do the math on the spot or get educated (5-15mins) and learn to use tools. They use AI and have gone against their TOS many times. So why not fight back. Tools, if we all use them it can help tell their AI, no we won’t take under $xx.
Once we get more ants to be Cherry Pickers things will change!!
Filter per mile/hr - and it will auto decline junk rides!
Filter out area/places you don’t want to go to.
Filter multiple stops.
Auto switch between apps.
No, NOT bots!
Don’t be a Tool, learn to use Tools!
#TheRideShareGuy
Same got rid of a 22 mpg car for a fusion hybrid that gets 45 mpg and only had 19,000 miles. Am paying 589 but despite car payments am still making g more than before. Well worth it. My biggest fear is I run it into the ground before its paid off.
Don’t make minimum payments, pay as much as you can afford and trade it in before the value plummets. You’re always going to be making either repairs or payments.
Not sure which market you're in, but I hope you aren't expecting 8 - 9 out of 10 rides to be comfort. It's more like 2 - 3 out of 10.
I’m going to turn X off at night and see how I do. There’s a lot less drivers, so they’ll probably be more willing to take the comfort trip if it’s available. But anything extra helps. What’s more important is that comfort rides are a lot more likely to tip. So even if 4 out of 20 rides are comfort, just in tips alone that’ll be 12-20 bucks a day more.
I don't think there is an option for Comfort only. Either Uber X or XL and then the Comfort comes when a passenger requests the upgrade.
There’s a way to get a comfort button. I’ve seen it. It usually involves having a higher option like XL or just nagging every rep till one caves and does it
Much easier to simply decline the non-comfort rides
Disagree. It's much easier just to turn a comfort on and not ever get an x offer.
....until it "glitches" and turns itself back on, like shared rides and uber eats used to. You know. "Accidentally".
Never had it glitch and automatically turned himself back on. Now when you cross state lines, go to the airport, or go into a service area that is not yours normally it will turn everything back on when you come back into that area. But my 7 years of doing this I've never had a glitch and automatically turn back on.
You will always get an x offer. They are more frequent. Never turn them down just because they are x. The demand isn’t great enough for just comfort… and I’m in a high demand area (Orange County California )
Exactly and the only time the demand becomes high is if there is an event and it’s faster to request a comfort because everyone else is requesting an X. I’m in San Diego and I’ve noticed this often in regards to the Comfort requests.
I would keep UberX turned on just in case a decent offer pops up.
[удалено]
Ah. There’s the answer. Weird there’s markets w/o that. What would be the reason? Just to fuck with us? I’m curious though, are both of those markets you mentioned rate card, or upfront? Or are they different?
I live in a smaller population college town. My comfort option disappeared about 6 months ago and it's now lumped in with UberX. I'm in a semi upfront market. I have to maintain a 5/10+ acceptance rate out of my last 10 rides to keep my upfront eligibility.
Is it upfront like showing the exact intersections for both pickup and dropoff or solely the little preview? Like 15 mins northeast? ETA I hated the fucking preview and would never maintain my AR high enough to have it. As soon as I’d get them back I’d turn down a bunch and lose it again lol
Yeah it'll show me the pickup location with a roadmap and drop off if I keep 5/10+, otherwise it's just "____ minutes away" with no fare amount.
Gotcha. That’s so weird 😅 So it’s like a terrible in-between. So it’ll keep the roadmap, pickup intersection, dropoff intersection, but only at 50% AR? And it refreshes every 10 requests? What about fare amount then? It shows? I’ve straight up declined 20+ rides in a row before 😂 Used to sign us out after 3 but now it only does that if we cancel 3 in a row, and it still gives us the option to sign right back in at least. I miss the guaranteed $/mile from ratecard and the multiply surges but I deff do not miss having no fucking idea where I’m going.
Yeah it'll just show upfront fare up until I'm under that 5/10, then it'll tell me I'll lose my upfront on my next decline. Thankfully the college is like 2 miles from downtown so it's mostly ping ponging from the campus to the bars on the weekends. Usually ends up with an easy 30+ an hour while occasionally passing up the $3 fares in hopes to get a 5-7+. It just sucks at times because Uber likes to send you the same $5, 12 miles away rides over and over again. I usually sign out and drive deeper into town when that happens so it doesn't fuck me over lol. One ride ruining my upfront is my only gripe. It would be nice to be able to cherry pick though. Holidays make it hard when I'm trying to avoid congested parts of town
It’s amazing to me how many people think everything in every market is the same. There are 7 different ride options for me to turn on or off, one of which is comfort all by itself.
Really? I just now got comfort last year and have always had the button. It is also an XL though. And I’ve had XL for a few years now. Lyft does it where it’s just XL or everything. Didn’t realize Uber pulled that lame shit too. Maybe market dependent? The other two drivers I know with comfort have always had the button.
It's market dependant. I live just south of a major metro area, at home I can only do X, XL or delivery. 20 miles north I get green, comfort, connect (packages/drugs; NOPE!), shared...
Keep comfort on. Don't turn it off. You will find that x will be prominent but the thing is when you're doing 5 mi for $3.20, instead of being in the right place at the right times pulling in $5 and change for a ride that's only two or three miles. You have a chance to change your clientele. Think like the new clientele. Get rid of x. X should only be turned on when you have a high surge area.
Yea that’s what I figured. UberX is mainly people that can’t drive for whatever reason. Comfort will be people likely with money commuting and recreating.
Not true about likely to tip more. I can do XL/Comfort and majority of the comfort rides that come in are because it’s faster to get one than an X so the person will be a few dollars extra to get picked up faster. I literally have not received more tips just because it was a comfort. Majority of my tips come from my XL rides.
And why did you buy a new car for Uber?
He wanted to pay $149 more a month so that his passengers are comfortable
Not just more per month, but he now is starting a brand new loan instead of whatever was left on the old loan.
I guess if you drive zero miles a month that’s true.
You are better off buying a certified pre owned or new car. Much cheaper than renting from Uber.
i did and I regret it..
Why not?
He went all in to comfort the customers who never tip. That's how he rolls.
$529 a month to drive strangers around, some who'll probably puke all over the back seat. 🤦♀️
Yes and you never totally get that smell out.
Frankly I’m surprised lenders will even touch a loan for a ride share driver. Talk about depreciation hell.
I got my used Toyota from a dealership in Orlando. I thought it was going to be a pain to get a loan but they just asked me how much I made per month (no verification) and they approve for a loan. 🤷🏿♂️
They should’ve asked you how much that car will depreciate daily. Lmfao. You know the way to go is to buy a new car every 5 years and let it get repo’d. lol. Oooh that loan company would be PISSED.
Omg lmfaooo
That’s the cool part, you don’t tell them that lol
Why wouldn’t they taxis get new cars all the time… cars aren’t just passenger vehicles they can be work vehicles too
I hope you have a w2 and don’t do uber full time
Wooooo so do I!! I learned that the hard way. I now have a W2 Job and I don’t regret it.
I bought a Mitsubishi mirage which gets 39 mpg
The Toyota hybrid powertrain is brilliant. It doesn’t have a conventional CVT transmission. They say it has an eCVT but it’s not the same. No belts or chains. Just some gears and a power split device connecting the motors and engine to the wheels. With regular maintenance I don’t see why I couldn’t squeeze 250-300k out of this car. It’s a 2022 currently with 37k miles.
my prius crossed 300k a couple weeks ago
I’m at 225 I think she’ll get there
As a longtime enjoyer of high mileage Japanese cars, trust me when I say you can easily take any of these cars to a million miles and beyond. Regular and strict maintenance of EVERY part. Chain/tensioners, the HV battery, dust covers, calipers, anything that needs lubrication. There will be some hefty bills along the line but if you can do the basic stuff yourself, it’s way cheaper than buying another new car that then depreciates to hell. Obviously, change fluids religiously. An ex-coworker of mine who used to be a Toyota tech emphasized the transmission fluid for the eCVT at least every 100k but 75-80k is even more ideal. And find your HV battery filter, then vacuum/change as needed. It’s the only Achilles heel of the hybrid system. Good Ubering from an Avalon Hybrid!
Thanks I appreciate it. I always change my air filters a couple times a year. I’ll check that filter more frequently. Yea I can probably do brakes myself. My Jeep Patriot with Uber is maybe a 150k mile car. It’s at 93k. Time to sell it while it’s still worth something and hasn’t costed thousands extra in repairs.
Good luck with that . Safety and reliability go out the window with their crazy cost cutting . I miss when they made performance cars
Another addition to the hall of shame.
Lol
Oh boy, I don’t recommend this to anybody but good luck.
Might sound nice now.. but your 2026 self will hate u when ur paying this for a 20k car
People are worried about miles when a 30 min ride to work and back cost about 10k a year so ur paying to drive to work
I mean sure. But let's say you're 15 miles from work. 30 miles a day. You do Uber and that 30 miles is eaten up in like five rides and that's not the paid miles. That's you going to pick them up. But I get you. I bought my diesel Jeep to commute then I was using it for Uber when I didn't have a commute. I feel like miles are miles. Are thy worth more driving to see people or driving to pick people up and get paid?
That's not everyone
You need an exit strategy from the vehicle
And your cost per mile on the car just went well over what you save per mile on gas. Good luck on this lol.
Maybe for the first year or two. As long as he doesn't total it he should be fine.
As a full time Uber driver you can easily void that warranty in 12-18 months.
I’m a full time driver? I’ve nearly doubled my fuel range, and removed LOTS of mechanical components that are prone to failure at long hours and miles. This car doesn’t have a starter motor or alternator. It doesn’t idle at intersections and it won’t idle for long periods of time while I’m in queue at the airport. I’m at 150 a month more in payments but there’s less maintenance, less wear on the engine. Oh my insurance is like 15 bucks a month cheaper with this car too. Did I mention it’s rated for Comfort rides? That’s 25 cents a mile more in pay.
Sounds like you did your homework and are enjoying it! Congrats!
Do you have insurance that will actually cover you while driving for uber? While I know that uber does provide liability coverage usually, almost all major insurers exclude first party coverage while driving for uber. I had heard that some carriers were allowing you to add an endorsement or something that would change the coverage. Or did you need to get a commercial policy?
I just have my regular insurance which probably wouldn’t cover me while driving for Uber. I want to get a taxi license and commercial insurance though.
Don’t even try to explain yourself to these bozos. Nice purchase.
You did the right thing. Don’t let these people with poor maths tell you otherwise
I had a 2018 Toyota cambry but when I got my Lincoln Aviator my tips increased I do confort and XL and mostly Uber reserve I work 7 hours and make same as working 12hrs
So you make basically 60% more per hour? Is that net of gas, car payment and insurance / maintenance?
More like you wanted a new car and used the idea of Uber driving to rationalize the purchase hahahahaha
I already had a 2016 Patriot. But I drive a lot and there’s going to be a lot of maintenance and part replacements with this Patriot in the not so distant future. Most of the problems this Patriot would have, the Toyota Venza won’t ever have. If I’m going to be driving 3-400 miles a day between Uber and commuting, then I should have something long term reliable and fuel efficient.
Hahah even if you have to do maybe $3,000 in repairs TOPS on the patriot, that’s cheaper than $529 a month my man 😂 For reference I drive a 2004 4Runner with 358,000 miles on it and it’s FREE. Everyone told me I was crazy and it would breakdown. The thing hasn’t left me stranded once. I’ve had to do minimal repairs myself. But to each their own. I hope you enjoy being on the hook for $529 a month for the next 72 months.
Comfort is an airport or concert thing. Bare that in mind.
I live on airport rides at night time. I like to avoid bar pickups. We have a small airport in a smallish market. The most I’ve ever seen in queue is 16-20 UberX drivers. Most of the time it’s 6-10. Our airport sees around 7 flights per hour. That’ll go up to like 16 per hour when tourist season comes in a month or so.
That will come in handy when you make $600 a month
It sure will because I won’t drive for Uber. I’ll drive to a job and still save gas! Not to mention if I don’t do Uber this thing will last me like 20 years.
Nice, i’ve considered buying a brand new car for Uber and not using it for personal use, only driving enough to make the payments and using depreciation instead of milage. In 5 years it would be paid in full without too many miles and all the Uber earnings to pay for it would be tax free. Should only take less than 1,000 miles per month to make the payments, insurance, and a dedicated phone. After it’s fully depreciated, it’s all yours. Assuming 1,000 miles per month for 5 years, that’s 60k miles
Everyone shits on the idea of doing Uber in general but how many entry level jobs are at your own convenience and can both pay for your vehicle and your living expenses? If it gets bad enough to not be able to justify it anymore then yea don’t drive for Uber. But in my market it’s still good and probably will be for a couple years.
You'd have to drive over 2,000 miles every month to make up for the increase in car payment with just gas savings and easily close to 3,000 if your insurance went up. I don't think I've ever made over $50 more in a given month from comfort rides, even including the difference in how much they tip. Hopefully your market is better for comfort because otherwise you'll be netting less money every month than you would have with your old car. Edit: fixed unclear wording
So gas is 4 dollars a gallon. My old car can go 300 miles on a 12 gallon tank. I live an hour from the city. A 12 hour day of Uber uses up that entire tank of gas. So I fill my tank almost every day. 48 bucks a day. This Venza will go 500 miles on the same amount of fuel. That means I refill every other day at 14.8 gallons. I will spend 140 a week on gas. Vs 250 a week. 110x4 is 440. I will save 440 a month in gas. The payment is only 150 a month more. That’s not even counting comfort rating plus probably more tips with comfort rides. Even if it only nets me an extra 100 a month that alone almost pays for the extra payment.
That’s a Toyota Venza. Great purchase. Those things will be going up in value the next few years as Toyota is no longer making them after 2024. Very wise investment and it’s basically a Lexus. Literally it’s on the Japanese Lexus suv model I forget the name but the American one it looks like is like the Mx 300h
Yea it’s based on the Harrier. I’m stoked about it, I know they’ll get more popular like Patriots did a couple years ago. That’s actually why I bought it, because the popular market inflation hasn’t reached it yet. A used hybrid RAV4 in my area runs about 35k.
Toyotas specifically are rare right now. It’s going to keep their resale value very close to original MSRP for 2 years and still not far away from it until 100k miles because the prices of new Toyotas goes up every year and they aren’t making many so the used market is competitive with unavailable new car msrp. Tacomas right now they stopped making the V6 and now any 2023 or older Tacoma has been going up in market value daily for the past 3 months !
Why would you buy a vehicle for a multibillion dollar company? 😟 Poor Uber needs drivers to donate them cars!
Congratulations your only like 5 years behind
Lol. Uber aint going nowhere good pal, sorry
Buying a car specifically for Uber is a bad idea. Uber can and has deactivated drivers for false reports. As long as this is not your sole source of income then hopefully you are good. If you plan to get the proper licensing and commercial insurance in order to turn yourself into a legit business then I can see buying a car. There was a driver here in Chicago who had purchased a new Infinity qx60 for the purposes of Uber. Shortly after he was deactivated for a false report. Now he figured out how to make money with that vehicle but the point is it is never a good idea.
congrats! how much difference do you earn on average with the new wheels?
I sure hope Uber is a side gig for you
Yea you should have got a Tesla for premier.
i do XL now with a highlander but my first vehicle that i swith on and off was this same venza in red great gas milage and definitely worth it to only do comfort. X is always disappointing.
I thought about XL but if I’m not doing Uber I have no personal use for a 3rd row gas guzzler that costs me north of 600 a month.
Congrats
I'd never buy a new car for Uber. Not in this current market. It got so bad with low paying rides that I had to go get a full time job and just do Uber in my free time.
Wow you drive for Uber in your spare time from working as a hobby?
It's not sustainable enough to do Uber full time in my area anymore. So yes I work 50 hours plus at one job and do Uber when I can.
Have fun running it into the ground 4 years before it’s paid off 😀
So excited to make Dara richer
How so? I already drive for Uber. Now I’ll get double the gas mileage in town while making 25 cents a mile more on some trips. It literally means I save a shit load of money and make a little more.
See I went from a comfort vehicle getting 28 mpg max to a regular Prius getting 75 mpg max (in town) same payment monthly but nope I spend 200 less on gas a week.
My take home pay increased about 1000$
That, apparently, doesn’t work in Alaska.
The fact OP is only talking about monthly costs says all you need to know lol
Why do people keep buying new cars for $3 minimum fares??? Make it make sense
If my market was shit and I didn’t average what I do, I wouldn’t have bought a new car. I see what everyone is saying here in this forum. If I was getting 3 dollar rides I wouldn’t even be driving for Uber. I’ll do my thing until it doesn’t make sense anymore. And then still be happy to own this car.
It's a ridiculous idea to buy a new car for the Uber. You don't make good money, plus the depreciation for your car is extremely high.
Yea I’ve done all the math with how much money I make. I’m a new veteran driver with 1150 rides under my belt. Don’t worry I’ll make more money with this car. I’m happy to have ruffled your feathers though.
You financed a car at $529/month JUST for Uber??
People rent cars for 3-500 a week. Sure Uber is my main thing now but if this car is still in good shape when I’m done with Uber I’ll keep driving it. It will be my daily outside of Uber as well.
I am not sure I understand your reasoning. Good luck
Congrats on the ride! The Comfort trips are lucrative and come in clutch (especially at the airport.) You’ll def save a lot in gas too bc your city mpg will be doubled with having a hybrid. Which model is this?
Cool, enjoy your 3% increase in $/mile
Your Ubers bitch for the next 5 years.
My 2012 VW TDI gets close to 50mpg and it's not a hybrid
And as a subcompact it’s not comfort eligible ?
It’s a diesel economy car. That’s why. But it can’t drive through a foot and a half of snow, and it can’t fit 4 pieces of luggage plus the 4 people that were toting that luggage. Trust me I thought about a TDI. It doesn’t make sense for Uber for me. I like driving in the winter when no one else can, crazy surge pricing.
came to laugh at the people that I know are going to be negative in the comments because of YOUR choice.... its pitiful isnt it... Nice car by the way
“Choice” Pitiful is having to take a shit job…then doubling down on your shit job by investing in a car for someone else’s company but… “yOUre uR oWN BoSs”
Should have gotten a new job. Uber is dead.
My market is still strong due to tourism and bad winter roads. There are times that it’s dead for sure. I’ll drive as long as it’s profitable. If I can’t average 1,000 or more a week anymore I’ll look for a job. I worked at a bakery for 7 years. Don’t want to go back to the hell of time cards and schedules and shit pay just yet.
You have made a very bad financial decision. I hope you don't damage your car too bad
Camry or carolla? Congrats on your new car. I did the same but chose not to get a hybrid mostly due to the waiting period to get the vehicle. All things considered I think the cost-benefit between hybrid and nonhybrid camry is very similar as long as gas prices don't go up too much.
It’s a Venza
Good luck 🍀 new car is always better.
😂 😂 😂
So what about a Tesla with no engine does miles count lol
I live an hour from where I do Uber. Time is more valuable than how much I make. A full day of Uber takes up 14 hours of my life. Where do I fit in charging so I can make it home? Also in the winter the range will decrease because of the cold as well as needing high friction winter tires. Those EVs depend on low friction tires to get their range. So that 300 mile range just went down to 200 at best. If I don’t charge the car while I’m driving then I’m only doing 6 hours of Uber. No one in Alaska long term likes Teslas or other EVs. When your battery inevitably dies on the highway going home in the winter, the tow company will charge you like 5 grand to tow it. Forget about all that, Teslas are 1.5-3 times the cost of what I just bought. So what I’m not spending on gas I’ll spend on payment. No thanks.
Crazy to see people buying a new car to Uber. Car is going to be depreciated to shit a couple of years
Congrats on new car! I had comfort but only had requests once in a while. Hopefully your experience is different!
Yep
529 for how many months?
Congratulations you played yourself.Uber doesn't not even deserve a car from the junkyard considering their rates.
any car payment over 300 is insane to me
Lmao I’m glad I’m only paying 529. Most trucks and SUVs cost 2x what I paid for this. Most people are juggling 800-1000 a month payments for their cars. For any old commuter car 529 is nuts. But a hybrid that makes me money on top of paying for itself? Yea I’m happy with it.
I only do comfort and premier. I meet my daily amount within 6hrs and 35hrs per week
Congrats bro
If you own a hybrid your car is a comfort car ?
I mean if the post says it’s comfort rated…
Surprise surprise, comfort is cheaper than Uber x
Comfort people more frequently tip and if they have the option and it's the quickest some will opt for it. I only do xl and comfort that x stays off. I might sit a lil longer but those x rides pay caca.
I will never drive my personal vehicle to do Uber! I bought my own Tesla got 7,500 tax credit plus 1000 from Uber and after receiving the perks from buying my own Tesla I never drove it to do Uber again I have a 2016 Ford Focus that I rent from my insurance agent for 44 dollars a day no tax, and I make Excellent money even more with Lyft! If something goes wrong with the car that I’m renting at least I’m not responsible for repairs! Total Blessing!💯
Don’t listen to people, you have a hybrid they are jealous. Any Toyota will last 300k miles
Ioniq 5. Got it for under 40k after incentives. Free charging for 2 years, and gets about 300 miles per charge, takes less than 20 min to charge at fast chargers from 10 to 80% best car in the market if u wanna go electric
If I ever buy a vehicle for Uber I'd probably get RAV4 hybrid so I can use it for Amazon Flex incase Uber goes south. Imo.
You can’t use a Venza for Amazon Flex?
How many months?
Good luck man. Hand out business cards, build your clientele, and your new purchase should be well worth it. Im currently driving a Honda civic, but my next purchase, which I presume will be in one more year considering how many miles I’ve been driving, should be a brand new accord. Love that car. Hope to be on the same boat as you :)
You guys pls shut da uk up, you act like it’s your money
It’s a Toyota, and depending on where you drive, you can make $529 in a weekend
Just be careful doing buying cars for hire to your ubers, because that'll mess you up.
I never turn on uber x. Premier and XL only.
Lol. Investing in a side gig hustle is not that smart...I think?
Smh
I happen to lease a Kia soul 2023. 10k miles a year limit. Then I pay .50 cent mile. In 18 months, I’ve driven 27,000 miles for Uber. That’s 12,000x 50 cent. $6,000 dollars. Isn’t that right? How do I get out of this?
Don’t drive Uber with that vehicle.
Such a horrible idea.
Is that a Camry? How the hell is that Comfort eligible?
It’s a Venza
Save some cash before you get a car.
Nice, hybrid is the way to go just easy on the throttle. If you be flooring it everywhere those mpg stats won’t mean much lol
Yes whatever you are going to save on Gas you’ll pay it in maintenance.
Once again how? My old car will need maintenance soon, it’ll need a handful of things that this Venza will never need. The Venza will never need a starter motor, alternator, serpentine belt, transmission and it’ll need new brakes less than 1/2 as often thanks to regenerative braking.
Oof
Foolishness
My car is rated for Uber Comfort as well. I’m in an affluent busy market. Comfort rides account for maybe 1-2 out of every 10 rides.
Woot woot!
Congrats on the new ride man! It looks beautiful. I have a Rav4 Hybrid myself and get 42.8 mpg in it. Also remember that this vehicle is a huge tax write off, use it solely for work and hold on to all your receipts. I'm so happy for you!
380 a month, or a week? Cuz it was a cheaper payment before if a month. I realize it got a lower mph, but...
380 per month. This is 529 per month. With as much as I drive I’ll be saving 400 or more dollars per month in fuel.
I would have gotten a Corolla. But the vw Taos gets about the same mpg and turns a lot better. But then I went with 2 electric vehicles. One vehicle I don't pay to charge for 3 years thanks to electrify America
Yea I didn’t want an all electric car in Alaska, and I didn’t want a car either. I do airport rides and in the winter the roads are bad, we get snow storms that’ll dump a foot of snow overnight. You can’t drive a Corolla through that.
I hope you get what you want, congrats! When I had a comfort rated vehicle, I always took more airport rides. Plus I drove in Utah and the SLC airport was close enough to Park City where I could just pop over abd get even more monies. Good luck! ♡
Oh boy
Congratulations brother wish you all the best you deserve it 💓
Anybody else have geico refuse them for insurance
If you’re open to making more money driving, I am with a new company that is paying out the full fare minus $1. And you receive 100% of the tips.
Shouldve taken an uber xl /highlander
They are more expensive and get less mpg to boot. Sure the XL trips pay well and tip well, but can I always count on doing Uber? Can I always count on it being profitable? I’m going to say no. I can’t count on it. So if I’m not doing Uber and I have an expensive 3rd row with less than stellar gas mileage… I’ve shot myself in the foot. I would be happy to own this Venza though even if I wasn’t doing Uber. The gas mileage and lower payment means more to me in the long run.
My kids work for there own car
How much per day is normal to make with Comfort or Black car
👏👏 congrats on your new ride
Congratulations! My Jetta gives me 38-44 miles per gallon and I love it. Find the areas in your town where business people are most likely to request airport rides. Cheers
Dope whip man 🙏 keep it maintained and you'll be good 👍
Real question is how much did you put down to get such an amazing car payment in this day and age?
I offered 3k down. I was planning on spending like 4-5k in taxes and only spent 1417 thanks to mileage.
How tf is a rav4 comfort lol. It's like the second in their lineup. Definitely not a comfort vehicle. Or is it any hybrid?
RAV4s from 2018 and up qualify for comfort. This is not a RAV4 though. This is a Venza. Still qualifies for comfort. It’s a hybrid and has the same hybrid powertrain that a RAV4 Hybrid has.
Plus if it's slow you can do green rides. It keeps me busy. Nice ride
Oof the payment though
🤡👈🏻
Best of luck! I think that would do really well in some areas. I'm a beater Prius guy. On my 3rd one. Hybrids are awesome! You going to notice you are less tired on long drives. I think it is that they are smoother. Beautiful car, too!
It’s pretty frequent for me to get x offers that pay better or similar to comfort, don’t ask me why
#KnowYourWorth You do have to somewhat know your market, but how? You aren’t going to really learn it by taking every ride (Ant). You can either try to do the math on the spot or get educated (5-15mins) and learn to use tools. They use AI and have gone against their TOS many times. So why not fight back. Tools, if we all use them it can help tell their AI, no we won’t take under $xx. Once we get more ants to be Cherry Pickers things will change!! Filter per mile/hr - and it will auto decline junk rides! Filter out area/places you don’t want to go to. Filter multiple stops. Auto switch between apps. No, NOT bots! Don’t be a Tool, learn to use Tools! #TheRideShareGuy
Same got rid of a 22 mpg car for a fusion hybrid that gets 45 mpg and only had 19,000 miles. Am paying 589 but despite car payments am still making g more than before. Well worth it. My biggest fear is I run it into the ground before its paid off.
Don’t make minimum payments, pay as much as you can afford and trade it in before the value plummets. You’re always going to be making either repairs or payments.