lyft and uber

[Robert Fischer]

extra credit to anyone who knows the origin of "Fox Force Five"

[jocko699]

Originally Posted by Robert Fischer

extra credit to anyone who knows the origin of "Fox Force Five"

Pulp Fiction?

[Robert Fischer]

Originally Posted by jocko699

Pulp Fiction?

Winner

[JustRalph]

Used a Lyft about a half hour ago. 18 bucks for 16 mile ride.

Driver was a 35 yr old male. Leases his 2018 Chevy Malibu from Lyft for $150 a week. It had 65k miles on it today. It was new when he got it 19 months ago.

If he does 75 trips min a month he gets $150 off his lease. Basically a week free on his lease.

He says he drives about 40 to 50 hours a week. He refuses to drive during rush hour in Houston. He normally drives early morning or throughout the night on weekends. Takes Mon-Tues or Tues-Wed off.

He finds a movie theater during rush hour watches a movie 3-4 times a week.

He says he grosses about $1000 a week. Takes home over 700.

The only real restriction he has is that due to insurance he cannot drive his car outside Texas. If he wants to take a personal trip outside the state, he rents a car.

He is single, no kids.

[PhantomOnTour]

Unfortunately, in a smaller city like Lafayette, La, (pop ~ 150,000) where the trips are short and the fares are relatively small, you don't get the best of citizens transporting you around town.
I've found big city drivers to be a much better lot, as one would presume, since the job pays much better.

[kingfin66]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

Used a Lyft about a half hour ago. 18 bucks for 16 mile ride.

Driver was a 35 yr old male. Leases his 2018 Chevy Malibu from Lyft for $150 a week. It had 65k miles on it today. It was new when he got it 19 months ago.

If he does 75 trips min a month he gets $150 off his lease. Basically a week free on his lease.

He says he drives about 40 to 50 hours a week. He refuses to drive during rush hour in Houston. He normally drives early morning or throughout the night on weekends. Takes Mon-Tues or Tues-Wed off.

He finds a movie theater during rush hour watches a movie 3-4 times a week.

He says he grosses about $1000 a week. Takes home over 700.

The only real restriction he has is that due to insurance he cannot drive his car outside Texas. If he wants to take a personal trip outside the state, he rents a car.

He is single, no kids.

I suppose the good news is that he is able to have flexibility with his hours of work. That sure sounds like a tough way to make a living. Don't get me wrong, there are worse gigs, but it would be difficult to support a family on that type of wage.

[Suff]

Lontime Uber User. I can see it maturing. Everything's improving to me. It is easy and transparent. The option to walk to a dedicated pickup spot for a lower rate is a feature that I like. I walked a few blocks in brooklyn last month and the walk shows up in previous trip even!

[reckless]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

these are the numbers i would work with

to buy a $25,000 Toyota Camry or Honda Accord would be roughly $17,000 brand new. add $1000 for sales tax and $500 for excise tax. $1200 per year for regular car insurance. $1800 per year for regular maintenance and small repairs like brakes, battery, exhaust, and tires. let's say you drive the car 40,000 miles a year and spend $5000 per year on gas @25 mpg.

the total expenses for owning the car for 5 years would be about $4000 per year. you should be able to earn about $20,000 per year before these expenses for a net of $16,000 working roughly 40 hours per week.

bottom line is you make about $8 per hour before you pay your income taxes and you own a car with 200,000 miles on the clock.

Good back of the envelope analysis lambo.

But I do think the numbers you give for 'regular' maintenance and 'small' repairs could be in the very low end once you become a Uber/Lyft driver rather than an everyday guy next door driver.

[Robert Fischer]

I drove a little Uber in 2015, after my third open-heart surgery.

Wasn't a great gig. Nice way to get min-wage+ on your own schedule.

Used a 2005 Altima with almost no resale value, which cut down on loss of value.

Selective with my trips and did some 'bonus pay' events.

Made up some business cards and got a couple side-trips to the airport.

Best story? = Preakness was a $70/trip guarantee, but it was a mess trying to navigate drunk Preakness-goers through 2-blocks of closed-off streets. Made a mistake of cutting through a neighborhood alley, where local teens surrounded/pounded vehicle for a few stressful seconds.

Have the know-how to manage a small rental operation comparative to Lyft's $150/week(per JustRalph)

and you have to know how to 'seed' your tip jar

always 'seed' your tip jar lol

[davew]

These companies may be hurting when Tesla has a million RoboTaxis on the road next year.

[NorCalGreg]

Uber and Lyft are now allowed to go to and from airports. There is a certain area at the end of the terminal set aside for them. Saw a bunch of them at Oakland airport Sunday--and one lonely taxi from Achmed's cab co...or maybe it was Muhammed's taxi

Now, there is absolutely no reason to call a cab ever again.

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by NorCalGreg

Uber and Lyft are now allowed to go to and from airports. There is a certain area at the end of the terminal set aside for them. Saw a bunch of them at Oakland airport Sunday--and one lonely taxi from Achmed's cab co...or maybe it was Muhammed's taxi

Now, there is absolutely no reason to call a cab ever again.

Lots of those cab drivers are now Uber/Lyft driversnow.

I have been using Lyft 3-5 days a week for the last few months. One driver so far was English as a first type

[Robert Fischer]

Originally Posted by NorCalGreg

Uber and Lyft are now allowed to go to and from airports. There is a certain area at the end of the terminal set aside for them. Saw a bunch of them at Oakland airport Sunday--and one lonely taxi from Achmed's cab co...or maybe it was Muhammed's taxi

Now, there is absolutely no reason to call a cab ever again.

Originally Posted by JustRalph

Lots of those cab drivers are now Uber/Lyft driversnow.

I have been using Lyft 3-5 days a week for the last few months. One driver so far was English as a first type

In '2015, there was a grey-area(and by 'grey area', I mean "don't get caught" ) regarding Airport pickups. and one of the rules was that we could not sit in the Parking-lot that is designated for waiting families/etc...

Of course, that was also the place to be in order to get the Uber 'ping' on your app for a pickup.

Occasionally a security/police would come through the waiting lot.

I wasn't sure if Uber was too dumb/cheap to pay off the airport to rent a designated Uber lot, or that was a last-ditch stronghold of Taxi/Limo legislation...

So, I'm sitting here as low-key as possible no "uber" sticker on my window, trying to look like a 'normal person', and these Jamaican ex-cabbies sloppily parked over the lines of spaces, are out of their car, playing music, congregating, practically tail-gating...

(You would also get a ticket in the pickup/dropoff areas, so one more reason to blend-in, help with baggage in the trunk, and smile and send-off the passengers as you would family or friends)



Another 'story' - was a late night 'ping' in Baltimore city at the 'Block', for a dancer/cocktail waitress. I learned that one side is 'Taxi Only' , and a local cabbie literally played chicken with me because I was accidently in 'his' space... A near 'brush', and a quick U-turn, and I found that the other side of the street is 'Police Only', and an officer gave just as 'friendly' a greeting, but this time I didn't confront.

Did my best in downtown Annapolis. Lot's of tourists and the Naval Academy, not only going place to place, but also to the Airport.

Made 2 sets of business cards, 1 set (pic top) for Airport and for gated communities on the other side of the Bay Bridge which were out of range at the time for reliable uber/lyft... And a second (pictured bottom) was especially for spring/summer Naval Academy/Annapolis Area kids going to Ocean City for vacations.


My ROI wasn't too bad, but between health issues, and having outgrown that stuff, I'm happy to be out of that racket.

[Track Collector]

I drove for Uber in a much less populated area. Totaled 502 jobs with a 4.92 Driver Rating. Great flexibility but gave it up after 1 year as the earnings often struggled to reach minimum wage, and that did not even take into account the wear and tear on my vehicle. I could have driven to Baltimore or DC to set up shop, but driving 70-80 miles each way just for the hope of more business did not seem worth the effort.

I plan to use Uber for the first time as a passenger in July when I fly to Oregon for an annual racing trip. Rental car fees can be hundreds of dollars more at airport locations vs. off-airport locations, so it appears using a company like Uber as transportation between the two will save me some significant money.

[barahona44]

In relation to this thread, I saw an ad on tv yesterday for a company called Turo which acts as a middleman for people who want to rent out their personal vehicles to others.I looked them up and have been around since 2010,used to be called Relay Rides.Even though I don't drive it that much anymore, I'm not really sure I would want to rent out my own wheels, the liability issues alone would induce high anxiety. . Also it's a manual transmission,which most people seem to be unable to drive these days.