Then you might want to drive what Uber/Lyft/taxi drivers do in Chicago:
Do you really think the average Uber driver has the capacity to do cost per mile analysis?
A back-of-the-napkin analysis says Camry is a great choice - Toyota reliability withOUT the complication of hybrid in a size more comfortable for passengers than a Corolla but easier to drive and park in city traffic than a Sienna.
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3 uber rides, one a Mercedes, one a chryser van, one I don’t remember, I do not know there is a correlation between uber driver car popularity in Chicago and low driving cost.
Just an indicator. And successful Uber and Lyft drivers are all about the costs. They operate on a razor’s edge as far as cash flow goes. Are you surprised by the list? I’m not.
Here’s where I got it:
Interesting chart. A person in the market for a car would unlikely go far wrong buying any of the top ten. It would be interesting to see what make/models race-car drivers like Indy and Formula 1 use for their daily drivers. I think I read that one of those race-car drivers used a Camry as his daily…
There’s like 140k Volkswagen Passat’s on the list. Meh, I dunno. Camry yes. V dub ya. Nah.
Just to be clear, that’s how many total trips were taken with Passats, not how many were used.
Toyota pretty much has the top 3 locked in. Can’t argue there. But the highlander, the one I bought, is in Passat territory! Hopefully that’s because the gas mileage isn’t great and not a reflection on anything else.
If Uber drivers were really good at cost analysis they would be doing something else for a living.
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Most Uber drivers I’ve dealt with are pretty sharp. They had their reasons for driving. Several were retired.
Taxi drivers are professional drivers and drive a lot of Crown Vics after the Police get done with them. 4,5,600,000 miles? Ubers are part time drivers using the car that they would use for their personal use. I don’t see the correlation at all.
Then again there may be a correlation to the type of person who would be an Uber driver and the kind of car they are drawn to.
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One Uber driver here uses an F150 Crew Cab.
I’ve seen a few Uber transactions involving trips that I am familiar with and I would never get involved with such a one sided “dump on the driver” operation. For someone looking for a little pocket change who owns an acceptable, economical car there’s some opportunity for those who know how to hustle but the prime times/locations will have Ubers and Lyfts lined up fighting for the business and some will go home in the hole. And those who are somewhat successful the 1099 will make April 15th a date to dread with the 15.5% FICA plus the income tax at the rate that includes a regular job. Then of course there’s tires, batteries, windshields, etc.
I drove a lot of miles on a parcel delivery route and learned how to make a decent living at it and some analysis was needed to make the best of the opportunity. And does anyone in California know how things have worked out with Fed-Ex Ground’s struggle with contract drivers? Like Uber/Lyft Fred Smith dumped all the potential for failure on any particular route on the driver while offering few benefits and of course the drivers got those 1099s and many were looking for tax attorneys come April 15.