[JimS]

Went to the airport lot and felt very inadequate. Apparently size matters. There I was - in my little Saturn - perfect for the night life and carrying folks across town. And there was the staging area. 4 cars ahead of me in line - A Mercedes GLA, Lexus GX, a Cadillac ATS, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the lowest car on the lot: a Hyundai Santa Fe. And I show up in my little white Saturn.

Definitely had SUV envy (interestingly, none would qualify for UberXL).

But then I thought about their $30-50K cars and the associated payments and depreciation. And their insurance! As much as I enjoy doing this, I recognize it as a part time gig with part time pay. The only way I figured I could support my family with this was to do this full time - 60 hours/wk + and in my same cheap car.

Maybe Uber will see this and introduce UberSelect in this market. They win with better revenue, drivers can get more for their car, clears out the congestion in the UberX race and everyone still beats out a taxi.

 

[mausibaer]

Jim---If it makes you feel any better, I had the same thoughts myself. Once I did the math on the realistic possible gain in revenue versus the additional cost of upgrading, I knew that I was better off with my little boring car and my part-time schedule.

 

[Luberon]

UberX is no pissing contest.... When I see brand new cars and SUVs I look up at my Prius' dash, see 43mpg displayed, remember I payed less than a fifth the cost of GLA for the workhorse AND keep a much bigger chunk of every dollar Uber deposits every thursday.
I wish I had a finer car for my own personal use... not for UberX

 

[ProspectiveDriverDC]

I'm one of the drivers with a nicer car (2015 BMW)....I'll make the argument why it makes money sense for someone in my situation to do Uber...

In my particular situation I calculate the incremental cost (with the exception of my time) to be just the cost of gas. As long as Uber covers the gas (and remember I have to get premium) I come out ahead...

In my situation I lease my car with about 10,000 miles / year for 3 years. This is the minimum viable size of a manufacturer lease which sucks since I only drive about 5k-6k a year under normal usage. All maintainence (including tire insurance - dealer threw that in for free) is covered for the next 3 years for a BMW lease. I leased this car before I signed up for Uber and would lease the same car regardless of Uber. This effectively makes my fixed cost of driving uber to be very close to zero.

My motivation for doing Uber is threefold: 1) To use uber to get to 10k miles / year so I'm not gifting my dealer excess miles; 2) To drive the few hours a week where I don't have a better use of my time. I live in the city center so I just sit in my living room when I take pings a few hours a week; 3) By my calculation driving for Uber might even generate a taxable loss that I can use against other income. 4) To pass some of my regular driving under Uber to add to that tax loss.

The insurance situation scares the shit out of me and I might just stop doing Uber because of that (and a recent mailing from GEICO) but that is a separate story....

I realize I'm in a super fortunate situation but just giving you the perspective that for some uber drivers the marginal cost of driving is very very low...

 

[Luberon]

I'm one of the drivers with a nicer car (2015 BMW)....I'll make the argument why it makes money sense for someone in my situation to do Uber...

In my particular situation I calculate the incremental cost (with the exception of my time) to be just the cost of gas. As long as Uber covers the gas (and remember I have to get premium) I come out ahead...

In my situation I lease my car with about 10,000 miles / year for 3 years. This is the minimum viable size of a manufacturer lease which sucks since I only drive about 5k-6k a year under normal usage. All maintainence (including tire insurance - dealer threw that in for free) is covered for the next 3 years for a BMW lease. I leased this car before I signed up for Uber and would lease the same car regardless of Uber. This effectively makes my fixed cost of driving uber to be very close to zero.

My motivation for doing Uber is threefold: 1) To use uber to get to 10k miles / year so I'm not gifting my dealer excess miles; 2) To drive the few hours a week where I don't have a better use of my time. I live in the city center so I just sit in my living room when I take pings a few hours a week; 3) By my calculation driving for Uber might even generate a taxable loss that I can use against other income. 4) To pass some of my regular driving under Uber to add to that tax loss.

The insurance situation scares the shit out of me and I might just stop doing Uber because of that (and a recent mailing from GEICO) but that is a separate story....

I realize I'm in a super fortunate situation but just giving you the perspective that for some uber drivers the marginal cost of driving is very very low...

Sadly I met several drivers that bought brand new $35k cars solely for X...

 

[Bigreddon]

I started driving with my Jeep Grand Cherokee limited. Leather...black...loaded. And 12mpg. I used the $200 a week has money to buy a used Honda Civic hybrid (40 mpg). Payment: $172. Gas $30 a week. Now everything is duductible for that car because it's exclusive for uber, plus I'm not killing my personal vehicle anymore. Envy? Nawww..don't sweat it. Yeah it's nice once a week when a car full of larger riders piles in...but not enough to make me drive the jeep on a daily basis. That's what uber black is for.

 

[Bigreddon]

Oh...and I paid $8500 for my civic..

 

[KGB7]

Every time im at a Dulles Airport, i make a friend. Aint shit to do while waiting, so i talk to people.

Talk to XL drivers and youll be surprised how little money they make, waiting at the airport for 2 hours for a ping.

Helped one dude quit smoking, who was a smoker for 33 years. After two weeks he feels like a young man.