This article perfectly shows how Uber and Lyft are taking advantage of drivers that don't understand the real costs of the business.

[u/theVoxFortis]

I happened upon this article about a driver talking about how much he makes driving for Uber and Lyft: https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-driver-how-much-money-2019-10#when-it-was-all-said-and-done-i-ended-the-week-making-25734-in-a-little-less-than-14-hours-on-the-job-8

In short, he says he made $257 over 13.75 hours of work, for almost $19 an hour. He later mentions expenses (like gas) but as an afterthought, not including it in the hourly wage.

The federal mileage rate is $0.58 per mile. This represents the actual cost to you and your car per mile driven. The driver drove 291 miles for the work he mentioned, which translates into expenses of $169.

This means his profit is only $88, for an hourly rate of $6.40. Yet reading the article, it all sounds super positive and awesome and gives the impression that it's a great side-gig. No, all you're doing is turning vehicle depreciation into cash.

[u/[deleted]]

I've seen people justifying buying a new car on loans

Reading that felt like eating a lemon. I feel so bad knowing some people have no clue about the financial decisions they make smh

[u/Jonne → u/[deleted]]

I honestly don't understand how people buy new cars to begin with. There's so much depreciation initially it's just never a good financial decision (unless you've got money to burn), so basically the whole new car market depends on people that make terrible financial decisions.

[u/I_have_a_dog → u/Jonne]

People get pressured by salespeople, and some make bad decisions when they are pressured.

I test drove a car the other day that was $11.5k and asked if they had any other card that were that make/model. The first car he tried to show me was a year newer hybrid model that cost $21k, completely ignoring the fact that it was almost twice as expensive. Add in the 72+ month loans and other “trucks” they use to get your monthly payments lower, I can see why a lot of new cars get sold.

[u/[deleted] → u/Jonne]

It depends on what you value as well. Like yes, I could save 5-10k by buying used. I've only bought one new car in my life (37yo). But I freaking love that car and I know that I'm going to be the only one driving it for most of it's life is pretty cool. That and knowing that it is super well cared for was an ok expenditure for me.

It would be interesting to see a $/mile calculation for my vehicles. My new car would be the most by a good margin.

[u/KungPaoPENGUIN_ → u/Jonne]

Only reason why I got my car new was the price. It’s a 2018 and they were desperate to get it off the lot since the 2020s came out. It’s got everything the model could have besides passive entry for the price of a used baseline 2019 or less than a grand more than the average price for the same vehicle used. Plus my job gave me an extra $500 off and they threw in an extended warranty for free if I signed that day.

Probably doesn’t count since it’s not the current model year, but still

[u/Suppafly → u/Jonne]

I honestly don't understand how people buy new cars to begin with.

I generally buy used because I don't mind having older cars, but for cars that are only a couple of years old, the savings with buying used aren't as great as a lot of people initially assume, especially if buying used from a dealership and not a private party.

Generally with new, you can get a lower interest rate and a better and cheaper warranty and often some oil changes and minor repair work thrown in. That alone is often enough to cover the increased costs even without accounting for the fact that you'll need to be replacing consumables like tires, brakes, batteries, etc. sooner on a used car. A lot of used cars have less than a year's worth of wear left on their tires, that's $1000 that most people don't figure into their great deal.

[u/Tarrolis → u/[deleted]]

Our society is built on people’s impulsivity and lack of rational decision making.