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I had the same reaction, although to be fair I think he's still saving money if you only figure the costs of the Jeep. > Incidentals on the vehicles cost $3,45

I had the same reaction, although to be fair I think he's still saving money if you only figure the costs of the Jeep. > Incidentals on the vehicles cost $3,450 per year: $1,000 maintenance, $500 insurance, $1,500 gas (just above the national average of $1,400), $300 car washes (so shiny), $150 registration, and $0 parking. Let's say 50% of the maintenance and the insurance was the Jeep (probably not, since the BMW should be more expensive to insure), and 100% of the gas costs would go to a single car (balances out the other way, since the BMW probably had better milage). 50% of registration. Stop getting your car washed. Total: $2,325/yearly for just the Jeep. So on average he's still saving a little bit of money on the Uber. On the other hand, if you just compare the last three years he'd be better off with just the Jeep. The average is very skewed by 2011 and 2012, when he didn't Uber much. He doesn't assign any cost to wait time; I'd be interested to find out how much time he's spent waiting for his Ubers to show up. I bet Uber doesn't give you that information on your account but I don't have an Uber account to check. Interesting analysis effort anyhow! I'm critiquing but I like the general idea and I'm glad he published this.

Retric 8y ago
Don't forget to include the time waiting for Uber to show up. That's the real cost of taking a cab IMO.
- spaceflunky 8y ago
  What you lose in terms of waiting for the car to show up, you gain back in not having to park and getting delivered as close to your destination as possible and not having to walk from the parking spot.
  - majormajor 8y ago
    This wildly depends on where you are. Your parking savings will be much higher in SF than in suburban Dallas, where "time for parking" was a foreign concept to me growing up for anything except sports games and big concerts. There are definitely people who are better off not owning a full-time car, but I agree with the poster above who find it a bit disingenuous to compare to a $80,000 M3. You could definitely find a car that would cost you under 12K for six years -- especially if you already have a car that's all-or-almost paid off. The factor on the other side of the fence is that though comfort, etc, is usually lower in the back seat of a Lyft than in the driver's seat of your own personal car, you're not having to do the work of driving. If you want to save money, this is labor that'll be worth it to you driving your own cheap car. But if you want to save effort/stress/etc, it's worth spending to not drive yourself, especially in high-traffic areas.
- BryantD 8y ago
  I didn't! Second to last paragraph. OK, let's make up some numbers... 267 rides last year. Assume, I dunno, average 5 minute wait? So 22.25 hours of waiting; half a week. Huh, that's actually pretty significant given the author is probably making pretty good money in his role.

Retric 8y ago

Don't forget to include the time waiting for Uber to show up. That's the real cost of taking a cab IMO.

spaceflunky 8y ago
What you lose in terms of waiting for the car to show up, you gain back in not having to park and getting delivered as close to your destination as possible and not having to walk from the parking spot.
- majormajor 8y ago
  This wildly depends on where you are. Your parking savings will be much higher in SF than in suburban Dallas, where "time for parking" was a foreign concept to me growing up for anything except sports games and big concerts. There are definitely people who are better off not owning a full-time car, but I agree with the poster above who find it a bit disingenuous to compare to a $80,000 M3. You could definitely find a car that would cost you under 12K for six years -- especially if you already have a car that's all-or-almost paid off. The factor on the other side of the fence is that though comfort, etc, is usually lower in the back seat of a Lyft than in the driver's seat of your own personal car, you're not having to do the work of driving. If you want to save money, this is labor that'll be worth it to you driving your own cheap car. But if you want to save effort/stress/etc, it's worth spending to not drive yourself, especially in high-traffic areas.
BryantD 8y ago
I didn't! Second to last paragraph. OK, let's make up some numbers... 267 rides last year. Assume, I dunno, average 5 minute wait? So 22.25 hours of waiting; half a week. Huh, that's actually pretty significant given the author is probably making pretty good money in his role.