Eco Beater for Uber?
 

Last year I used to drive for Uber but I don't have a car suitable for it now.

Requirements for Uber:
- Car less than 10 years old
- At least 4 doors
- At least 5 seats (3 in back, driver, passenger)

I need something cheap, maybe a fixer-upper. Here in the USA cars seem to cost more than in Canada. I was looking at Honda Fits and G2 Insights, in the 2009-2010 age bracket, but I'm sure there are other suitable cars. Those ones were a little outside my price range. I think I can afford like a $4000 USD car, but would prefer to go cheaper.

For eco-driving a manual is better, but when I was driving a manual for Uber last year, well I longed for the simplicity of an automatic or CVT. You're constantly checking GPS and you don't always know the roads you're on and sometimes the passengers are rowdy drunks, so having an auto or CVT would mean one less thing to worry about.

I don't really want to change the appearance of whatever I get, but I can (and will) do underbody aero or maybe a grill block if it can be discreet. I'm open to installing a ScanGauge too.

If the car is 9 years old, does that mean you have to get a newer one next year?

I'd get a 2007 Prius. It turns off whenever stopped, and you'll get 50 MPG without having to try. You should be able to find one near your budget.

Can't go wrong with a Civic or Corolla either.

Yup, a 2nd gen (not 1st gen) Prius is a good bet.

There are several reasons that taxi fleets continue to use 'em.

Deals can be found under $4k, though they're harder to find in Canada than in the U.S. because they sold in far greater numbers south of the border (a far greater per capita difference).

FYI, my search adventure for a sub-$4k Prius:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ure-32007.html

Also:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ius-22514.html

In addition to the Prius / Corolla. I'd add a Matrix and Pontiac Vibe to the list. You'll get more cargo capacity than a Corolla with only a hint less mpg.

I would worry less about the Eco part and get something reliable. Repairs will kill profits much faster then a gas bill. Now some cars can do both. I question if a Fit or similar is really a 5 passenger vehicle. If I had my family of 4 with some luggage and a guy showed up with a Fit I would be pissed. Prius is better but I doubt you find much that cheap. I see used cop cars with 100,000 under $5000. Normally 4-6 years old or less, Crown Vicks, Impalas, v6 Chargers. The Impala would probably be the best choice and least expensive to boot.

We had a guy on here doing kind of the same thing but looking a mini van.
He said the mini van was far more profitable.
Seemed like the mini van would use more gas but would move up to 5 or 6 people around making a lot more money.

I just sold my 2005 Prius with 150K miles for $3600. It was in excellent shape, I just wanted a different car after 10 years.

That's a good deal!

Another consideration: a bit more money, but used Mirage CVT's are starting to show up in the $5k-$6k range.

We know of 2 taxi companies using them, plus Uber drivers. More room in the rear seat than you'd think. Though 3 large people won't fit easily back there.

I agree with the repair statement. And with exception of battery replacements, I would think that a Prius should offer a smaller repair bill...

And when the time comes to replace the batteries, you could part-it-out and recoupe allot of your money with which to buy you another one. There's never a shortage of modders out there willing to pay for all the electronics :thumbup:

If you are referring the sale price of my 05 Prius - that was Kelly Blue Book's private party sale price.

I think Prius is the only way to go, passengers probably won't appreciate you EOCing etc so that kind of rules out every non-hybrid. With a Prius you can concentrate on the task at hand (driving with strangers is always a bit distracting IMO) and still get good numbers.

Another advantage of a van is that you can see better in traffic.

There aren't any 8 year old Prius out there for under $4000 that doesnt already need a battery. Buying a 9 year old one would get you by for a year but I doubt you find that either. The one example given was 11 years old. It is just not a viable option for a cheap Uber car.

Yeah its sounding like a van might be the most practical choice. I guess I can still try to do some eco stuff, you know tire pressure and whatnot.

I also have a 2009 Prius. Trade in value on it is $4500, Private Party $5900 both in "Good" shape. For a 2008 model it is $3700 Trade-in / $4900 Private Party. Put the word out that you are looking for one and you may be surprised what you find. Many people are more than happy to sell a car to a friend at dealer trade-in. Deals on a Prius can be found if one is patient.

I'm sure some of this is regional too. Here in Portland it seems 1/2 the cars on the road are either a Prius or a Subaru. I can go to a store, walk out and there are 3-4 Prii in my row of the parking lot.


EDIT: Whether a van or a Prius makes more financial sense depends on whether you are looking at purchase price or purchase and running costs. I can't think of a van available today that gets more the 1/2 the fuel mileage of a Prius in city driving. I'm pretty sure there is a reason that almost every taxi I see in Portland is a Prius or a Prius V.

I'm sure a Prius makes sense for a professional full time driver that may drive 200+ city miles a shift and they may hot seat the car between 2 or even 3 shifts. They could be saving $10,000 a year in gas. They probably buy brand new ones and I wouldn't doubt if the city or the state (considering Portland, OR) doesn't give them some other incentives to buy electic or hybrids.

Does Uber pay van drivers more money since they hold more people? Van doesn't make sense unless it makes more money based on the extra capacity.

FYI- Oregon doesn't have any incentives for vehicle purchases of any type.

To maximize profits and minimize expense, something like a 2008 Prius would be best. It's only a grand more expensive than the same year Corolla. Go into super saver mode to build up the additional $1,500 you'll need to get one.

You could always get something like a 2008 Chevy Aveo or Hyundai Elantra. I'd probably choose the Elantra over the Aveo, because nobody is going to be happy getting picked up in the crappiest car allowed by Uber.

Yes van drivers get more money on trips where there's more people.

The taxi drivers I talked to say they drive a Prius because it is a roomy car with very low operating expenses. Not only does it get good fuel economy but it is also a very reliable car. Add in the fact that you don't need to replace the brakes because of the regenerative braking and you have huge cost savings over a conventional car.

Operating costs matter even for someone driving part time. The most fuel efficient van I can find from 2008 is a Mazda 5 that gets 24 mpg. Even at $2 a gallon that is $0.083 per mile just for gas. At 45 mpg a Prius is $0.044 per mile. A Mazda 5 only holds 6 people so you aren't doing much better than a regular car. The most fuel efficient "real" minivan is the Honda Odyssey at 20 mpg ($0.10 per mile)

EDIT: A 2008 Odyssey is $1000 more than a 2008 Prius and a 2008 Corolla is $1000 less.

Not to mention that the OP is likely going to drive this car as a personal vehicle so there are savings from personal miles too.

What percentage of Uber drives have more than 3-4 people? That is a key metric to determine if it is cost effective to drive a larger vehicle with higher operating costs.

Huh? They have incentives. From OR DMV here is one "Oregon business owners might be eligible for a maximum project tax credit of up to 35% of eligible costs associated with projects involving:
Alternative fuel vehicle infrastructures—Projects such as electric vehicle charging, blender pump, and compressed natural gas systems.
Transit services—Projects involving regular public transportation (excluding school bus, charter, or intercity passenger rail transportation) that reduce energy consumption." They also have zero rate loans for public service type agencies to buy hybrids. I bet money that some local cities, especially Portland and Eugene, also have grants and tax incentives to companies for this type of thing as well. It also looks like the Portland city council hadn't approved new cab permits for a decade until 2012 when it was a bunch of proposals from "green" car type cabs that they finally added big number to the fleet. So the city basically picked the winners and loser of what cab companies even were allowed to drive in Portland, and they picked the companies running Prius.

After looking at some Uber drivers break down their cost, I would say the only way to make worthwhile money is in tips. For this I would say the driver personality would be #1 and the comfort and condition of the car would be #2. Really the money is terrible, people working their wheels off for $3.50/hr before any tips. I think they may be like waitstaff. Before tips wages terrible, after tips especially under the table, they do pretty well. In Oregon as pointed out a Prius is beloved, or a Subaru. Any beloved car can also encourage better tipping and happier customers. I doubt that will be the case for Atlanta GA.

I didn't think I needed to qualify my statement by saying there are no consumer incentives. I doubt Oregon would consider Uber drivers to be a business since they don't register the business.

I did extensive research in 2004 to start a cab company with a Prius fleet, but found out there is a council comprised of existing cab companies that you have to convince your company would provide a substantial benefit to the community and have a minimum of 24 cars. That should have spurred me to create an Uber service, but I wasn't up on the increasing use of internet on cell phones at the time. I'm happy to see Uber tearing into the mafia controlled industry.

I've basically come to the same conclusion. My friend estimates he makes $1 per total mile driven including on the way to pick up the fare, but that doesn't include expenses, which on his 2015 TLX luxury vehicle, probably has substantial depreciation. Not too many of his fares select the luxury car option, so I'm not sure it makes much sense for him to drive that vehicle. If I were him, I would leave the luxury car in an easily accessible location that I could swap to when a fare pays extra for the service, and drive an economy car the rest of the time.

He's the perfect Uber driver since he has good social skill and is well presented, but as a former Boeing engineer, he isn't being compensated nearly what he's worth.

My point was why you see the professional cab companies using Prius. They do get incentives. Then that doesn't even count some private grants that are available for such projects.

Most Uber profit breakdowns don't even include the cost of depreciation and maintenance, only gas if that. Then what about insurance, inspections, and tags? They just assume you already are paying these costs, and Uber is a hobby, not a job. The Post Office estimates the total cost to have a rural letter carrier, supply, run, maintain, insure, and fuel their own car for use delivering mail to be about $.70/mile or $27 a day whichever is more. Some rural carriers make money on that (they get lucky and their 20 year old Ford van just keeps on chugging), some lose, on average it's a wash.

As an Uber driver you better be keeping track of all your real expenses so maybe you can at least shelter what you do make form the majority of income taxes.

Something to keep in mind too is that certain vehicles (like dedicated cng vehicles)
Can be significantly cheaper to purchase up front due to the lack of interest in your area and CNG can be up to half the cost per gge (gallon) meaning even a 15 passenger van might be cost compatible to a full size car and a full size car cost competitive with a Prius.

This assumes your area has accessible and low cost cng stations.

In Wisconsin, cng is common but no longer priced competitively , this is not true in all areas.

My guess is the lack of reporting taxable Uber income is nearly equal to the write off people would get if they did report their income, but deduct their business related expenses. Heck, they would probably get all of the money back earned from driving due to the considerable expenses. I call it a wash.

I didn't even think of CNG. There are lots of CNG stations in Atlanta because the transit system, MARTA, uses only CNG buses. There's some terminals kinda near the airport.

When I drove for Uber in Canada I did get tips sometimes, and overall I did find it to be profitable, but I guess I didn't do it long enough for the car to break down from the job. I really try to avoid taking cars to the shop, I generally fix problems on my own. RockAuto is the best site. I guess I need something with a reliable engine and transmission, and then I can fix almost anything else on my own.

I figured Uber would report on your behalf. Then remember you are self employed so you have to pay double social security and Medicare taxes, as well as whatever income bracket to reach working multiple jobs. My wife babysat her nephews for a few bucks so her sister could go back to work and the state and feds came after us for over 1/3 of the money plus the headache of an audit. My wife told her sister, keep your money, I'll watch them for free after that. Stupid to be honest and have the government suck money money from a poor single mom and a stay at home mom trying to help out a little.