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I've personally noticed a significant drop in Uber quality in NYC. I recall a year or so ago Uber blew taxis out of the water in overall service quality. Now mo

I've personally noticed a significant drop in Uber quality in NYC. I recall a year or so ago Uber blew taxis out of the water in overall service quality. Now most of the time the driver relies heavily on their GPS which doesn't work that well in NYC so you end up taking noticeably longer to get to your destination than a professional driver that really knows the city. In addition, the quality of drivers has plummeted. Half the time it seems like I'm being driven around by someone who just got their license, which can be nerve racking in the mid-west let alone NYC. Pretty much the only thing Uber still has going for them is it "feels" safer to take Uber than a random taxi according to my girlfriend.

Nicholas_C 11y ago
I've noticed the same in Dallas as well. The cars, although technically newer than '06 or '07 as Uber requires, have gotten shittier and the drivers have gotten shadier.
- prostoalex 11y ago
  Make year requirement is one of those things that are supposed to make you feel safe, warm and and fuzzy, but are meaningless. Everybody else in the industry and consumer space uses mileage for a good reason - a 2007 vehicle with 450,000 miles on it is hardly new or safe. While this mileage is atypical of average consumer car, any vehicle retired from police or taxi service is likely to be in that range.
prostoalex 11y ago
The argument that Slate and Pando led against Uber, and which the company denies, is that there's a high churn among drivers. The initial numbers quoted in the ads look good, so people sign up, but after calculating their total income 6-9 months down the road, and incorporating maintenance, gas, wear & tear of the vehicles as well as downtime, the numbers don't look as appealing. Those same numbers are pretty hard to predict beforehand, since you don't know what kind of mileage you'll be putting on the car (and a car nearing 25k requires different maintenance work than a car nearing 100k or 200k miles) as well as the quantity and quality of trips (e.g. a drop-off to a remote suburban neighborhood, where you have a zero chance of finding another customer vs quick-and-easy airport runs). Insurance is also pesky if your mileage is suddenly 3x-4x compared to the same period last year - sometimes they won't even mention "commercial transportation", but raise the rate exorbitantly to gently push you to a competitor.

Nicholas_C 11y ago

I've noticed the same in Dallas as well. The cars, although technically newer than '06 or '07 as Uber requires, have gotten shittier and the drivers have gotten shadier.

prostoalex 11y ago
Make year requirement is one of those things that are supposed to make you feel safe, warm and and fuzzy, but are meaningless. Everybody else in the industry and consumer space uses mileage for a good reason - a 2007 vehicle with 450,000 miles on it is hardly new or safe. While this mileage is atypical of average consumer car, any vehicle retired from police or taxi service is likely to be in that range.

prostoalex 11y ago

The argument that Slate and Pando led against Uber, and which the company denies, is that there's a high churn among drivers. The initial numbers quoted in the ads look good, so people sign up, but after calculating their total income 6-9 months down the road, and incorporating maintenance, gas, wear & tear of the vehicles as well as downtime, the numbers don't look as appealing. Those same numbers are pretty hard to predict beforehand, since you don't know what kind of mileage you'll be putting on the car (and a car nearing 25k requires different maintenance work than a car nearing 100k or 200k miles) as well as the quantity and quality of trips (e.g. a drop-off to a remote suburban neighborhood, where you have a zero chance of finding another customer vs quick-and-easy airport runs). Insurance is also pesky if your mileage is suddenly 3x-4x compared to the same period last year - sometimes they won't even mention "commercial transportation", but raise the rate exorbitantly to gently push you to a competitor.