My first what car thread. I feel giddy. 7 row for Uber XL musings.

Yep.  So thoroughly fed up with culturally rude and cheap restaurant guests and an overstaffed waitstaff isn't $3 an hour just great that I'm seriously considering Uber.  So this is really a combo what car/Uber thread.

Currently I would say at a guess in my paycheck I average $50 per lunch shift after every one and the govt has had their share.  I will be doing a more thorough breakdown later but am terrified it's less but a necessary evil if I'm ever gonna learn how to budget precisely.

So with that in mind I have to think about car payment increased insurance and what I'll actually bank from Uber to see if it offsets at bare minimum the $50 per day from grovelling to my betters in society.

First order.  Thoughts on a '10 to '12 Dodge Caravan?  17/25 mpg. 20 mpg combined.  Carfax searches have turned up many below or at $10k.

So that's at the forefront of my mind.  

Why '10 to '12?  I only want to do this for a couple of years.

Why XL?  Lots of potential for airport runs to BWI/Reagan National/Dulles.  Higher payout I believe to offset gas and no return trip.

Now is a Dodge Caravan of that vintage a ticking time bomb and should I run like I robbed a liquor store or is it a reasonable risk?

I will be financing but I am loathe to take on debt even if it does allow me to make money and better money than present at that.

The other option that I haven't researched yet as I only discovered today that the Dodge Journey offers 3rd row also.

One final query off topic sorta is I see good reviews for Mazda 3is of that vintage but that would limit me to Uber X with however a much smaller car loan.

Thanks in advance.

p.s.  Kinda serious about this and my only limitation is the fear of landing in doo-doo with debt and no commensurate income. 

 p.p.s Here's an example Caravan. '12. under $9k list. 

hmm.  Dodge Journey wiki list 3rd row as 'minimal height and legroom occasional use seats'.  And fueleconomy.gov doesn't give the fwd but more than 2 mpg better rating.  I haven't looked at prices yet and probably won't. 

Doesn't Uber/Lyft have restrictions on how new your car is? 

FWIW, anecdotally when I talk to drivers around the DMV the only ones who are happy are the ones who are doing it as a secondary source of income. The folks who are doing it full time usually seem to be scraping by.

I was back home in DC this past weekend for a wedding. Uber was a blessing! Why boy drive uber premium too? I noticed a lot of people used it there.

I found this in your local CL. Checks all the boxes, seats 7, in your price range, plus really low miles.

Dave M said:

Doesn't Uber/Lyft have restrictions on how new your car is? 

FWIW, anecdotally when I talk to drivers around the DMV the only ones who are happy are the ones who are doing it as a secondary source of income. The folks who are doing it full time usually seem to be scraping by.

2003 and newer, clean title, 4 doors. 

No, do not run from the Caravan. We’ve had very good luck with the 5 we’ve owned. Good power, good seating, good mileage and storage.

Thanks guys.  Especially on the Caravan.  D.C. is ten years old.  Va. is 15 years old and Md. 8 years I believe. 

It would be secondary as I would keep night shifts and they tend to average $100 in my paycheck times five a week which would actually cover all my important bills for the month.

The Merc looks amazing but the 23k miles has me wondering. 

Once I move to my new digs Nov.1 I'll contact the ins. co. with a VIN number for an ins. quote.  That's where the rubber will really hit the road. 

yupididit said.

I found this in your local CL. Checks all the boxes, seats 7, in your price range, plus really low miles.

Sounds too good to not be a scam.

In reply to rustybugkiller :

Only one way to find out. If they're well off they probably just didn't drive it much. Rich people tend to under use their expensive E36 M3 lol

uber premium or is it select has a narrow range of vehicles you can use according to one youtube video and you need a sterling rating too so maybe not for newbies but yeah in D.C. we have a lot of 'kind of a big deal' honchos so that could be great.  

Baby steps that's why I mentioned the Mazda for a lower buy-in price.

Oh yeah no weekends and nights.  I know how much people drink around here and after witnessing the ingress of several 20 somethings into an Uber minivan with one dude wearing visibly sharted shorts that's a pleasure ride I'll avoid.  Travis Bickle I ain't. 

Looks like I'll be Dodge Caravan shopping soon. 

In reply to yupididit :

very true. 

You would be better off doing something else than Uber. The Math never works out.

Yea, I just got a card in the mail today saying "you could earn up to $1300 in your first 200 trips." That's like 6 bucks a trip, doesn't seem worth the hassle to me.

The people that drive the night/weekend gigs in bar-heavy areas are the only Uber drivers that I've ever seen or heard about consistently making enough to justify it. Others might have good days here and there but it's usually tough to depend on. Do lots of math before you jump into it.

As for the Caravan, my parents have one of that generation that I think has 300k miles now. No major issues that I'm aware of. 

In reply to chada75 :

I appreciate the feedback and I believe you but waiting tables is soul destroying.  I have no skills and the neither the free time to acquire them.  I work on average 9hrs a day with the break time in between tethering me to the job in a sense so make that 11hrs a day for a take home average in my check of $140 a day. 

Something has to be better.  Remember I have no skills.  I want to move into a field and like everything it takes time/money set aside for learning.  5 days and 11hrs a day per week at $700 is too slow a pace right now.  Or should I just be less frenetically intemperate which I will accept and put off bettering myself for at least two years. 

I don’t see how it makes sense to by a car just so you can drive for Uber. Especially not if it’s financed. Could you possibly earn enough to cover the cost of the loan, insurance, fuel, and maintenance?

In reply to STM317 :

the funny and I mean funny is that uber is developing a way to tell from your cell phones motion if you're hammered to alert Travis Bickle I mean the driver that you're a less than desirable pick-up. 

With all the Uber things in mind I'm glad to see two positives for a Dodge Caravan and no negatives. 

In reply to LanEvo :

the loan math is easy to figure out right now.  I can't really add the ins. until I move Nov. 1st.  

Heck some people lease from Uber so it has to make some sense.

And the context.  $50 a lunch waiting on people who look at you like you've insulted their entire extended family nation culture religion ethnicity just so they can give you a 5% tip the entirety of which you don't get. 

Context. I'm tired of not getting a reach-around.

Dinners are more diverse and you're slightly above the status of a dalit at least until the last hour or so. 

So yes I realize in the rarefied air of those with talent/skills/moxie/success Uber might not be the best I'm just hoping it isn't any worse.

Any pot holes of Caravan ownership is what I'm looking for.

Like Ford Taurus transmissions are only good for 60k then E36 M3 the bed kinda stories.

My impression of the Caravan is that it's going to have more stuff break than most other vehicles. Most objective metrics like CR suggest this as well. The problem is they're so cheap, they deserve consideration, especially for someone who can fix their own vehicle. I'm not sure how much the calculation changes when you're livelihood depends on a vehicle, but it could be considerable.

To address some of the other comments you've written above, if you're able, obtaining other skills/education makes a world of difference. Employers and customers treat lower skilled employees terribly. It's completely different when you're further up the skill ladder. Your elusion to the Indian caste system is apt. Work summers/part time while going to school and living as cheap as you can. IMO skilled trade, or coding are the easy to recommend options. It is still possible to land tech jobs based on DIY learning, obtaining certifications, etc. but it's tougher road.

In reply to Snrub :

the coding/tech recommendations are why I'm looking at Uber as an off-ramp from my current line of work.  My current job sucks the entire M-F out of me and a late Sat. morn too for the weary bones.  

To recap I'd keep working nights.  That pays for everything and not much more but it does pay.

My worry is buying a say 146,000 mile Caravan and having every little nickle and dime draw me down or something other fancy damn thing cost me 2k in repairs.

Window regulators are a great example of being a pain in the ass.  I can't even get them outside of a junkyard for my 200sx(s).

So far I'm not hearing that kind of stuff which is good.  

Great conversation guys. 

Drive for uber eats and get the cheapest reliable car to do so. Do not have a loan on it. This way you dont have to deal with people and your car doesnt have to be nearly as new.

Ive done it during downtime, i made about 18-20 an hour depending after expenses but thats only for 3 or 4 hours during boost time here during the day. Nights are more money, so figure a max of 160 for 8 hours here

Its really not a bad gig as long as you arent paying for a payment on top of it

Sounds like you are trying to go into debt to buy yourself a customer service job even though you hate the customer service job you already have. 

In reply to nutherjrfan :

I think the tone of my post might have come across different from what I intended. I wasn't trying to crap on the idea of driving for Uber at all.

I was just thinking that the math might not work out if you need to buy a new car specifically for a Uber gig. If you already have a suitable car, then I can see it working out pretty well. But can you earn enough to justify getting into a financing situation on a new car?

First off, if you’re a good server don’t let yourself believe you aren’t skilled.  I’m in a lot of restaurants and I work with lots of staff and good servers can make or break a restaurant. It might not be a traditional blue collar trade but it’s still a skill. 

Are you tied to the DC area  in other ways, or are you free to move?

if you’re free to move, ditch the crappy lunch shift and find a seasonal restaurant job that offers housing. We’re heading in to winter and I’m 100% sure that every ski hill from Virginia to Vermont is hiring restaurant staff. Bigger mountains are more likely to have housing, or there’s always van-life. In February and March, start looking at the National Parks (Xanterra and Aramark are two of the biggest contractors), ball parks, beach towns, amusement parks, etc. Nothing is guaranteed but an American who speaks English with restaurant experience and who can piss clean can get a seasonal job. Many of them at least pay full minimum wage, plus tips, and either provide or offer low cost housing and have employee dining. 

If you have to stay in DC, start looking for catering jobs. Hotels, convention centers, etc anywhere with conference space. Again it’s been my experience that caterers make at least minimum wage for their hours plus a cut of the “service charge” aka tip that facilities charge. It’ll be less regular work, but the hours should be better, the pay will be better, the work is less demanding,  and you’ll have time to Uber or heck even go back to school on your off time. 

It worked for me. I had a long string of retail work that ended with working in a couple liquor stores. I took the product knowledge I learned there to a seasonal job in Alaska that led to a career in wine sales. I had some good breaks along the way, but I was making good money in catering and the plan was to follow seasonal jobs around the world until I found a place I just couldn’t leave. Fortunately my first stop was pretty good to me, and I found a woman I couldn’t leave too.