Yes, any and all expenses that are related to your business is a business expense.
Is there still money to be made anymore doing uber?
- Thread starter CarLuver
- Start date
I've ordered Uber eats a few times, mostly with restaurants that don't charge a delivery fee. It is frustrating when you get missing items.
My dad used to drive for Uber and Lyft. No more. He’s an SF cabbie now.
He told me he loved getting out of the house, else he would have driven my mom crazy via Cambodian talk radio and maxing out credit cards at Home Depot. He bought a Lexus RXh on the advice of a family friend to get Comfort/Lyft Luxe rides. I will say this - there’s a lot of miles(151K) on that car. He went through 3 sets of tires. I was doing yearly major services and monthly oil changes. The people he picked up - mainly people from the ‘hood and downtown SF/San Jose were ungrateful. Then Uber made the car ineligible for Comfort, he ended up getting a Camry Hybrid. He was barely breaking even. When he became a cabbie he admitted to me he should have a bought a Prius instead. Lyft did pay better at one point.
We still have both cars, the RX with 151K, the Camry just hit 52K. The Camry is now my mom’s DD. I will say this - there’s too many buckets on Uber now from their rental program and they’re barely maintained. I was at the local Firestone when the manager had to deliver the news that Uber and Hertz aren’t covering tires for a driver who is renting a car to drive.
I don’t take Uber or Lyft unless I need to - like if I’m planning to have more than one drink somewhere. Lyft has been 10-25% more expensive these days. If I’m in SF/Oakland, I’ll take the bus or ride my bike.
Also, if you must do Uber, I still think the Prius or RAV4/Camry Hybrid is the best car for it. A Tesla Model 3/Y are honorable mentions.
Patman
Staff member
My ex wife does Uber part time and it’s a decent income considering it’s just a side gig to the main tour company business that we do together. She lives in Niagara on the Lake she gets pretty much all of her customers who just want to go from there to Niagara Falls (or vice versa). Those two places are 15 miles apart and are both tourist areas so it’s common for people to stay in one of them and visit the other. And when she uses the Kia EV it costs next to nothing compared to if she uses her CRV. So on a weekend she will often spend a few hours just going back and forth between those two areas.
I had considered doing it as well, mainly in the tourist off season but I would have to buy a new car (a two door Civic won’t work!) and where I live it’s not an Uber town at all. Everyone here uses cabs, I see them everywhere taking people to Walmart and the grocery stores. So before anyone considers doing ride sharing they really need to take a good look as to whether or not people are actually using it in that area.
I had considered doing it as well, mainly in the tourist off season but I would have to buy a new car (a two door Civic won’t work!) and where I live it’s not an Uber town at all. Everyone here uses cabs, I see them everywhere taking people to Walmart and the grocery stores. So before anyone considers doing ride sharing they really need to take a good look as to whether or not people are actually using it in that area.
i looked into the insurance part and from my insurance it would be a couple hundred more a year . seems so odd. of course the ride share insurance supposed to cover when actually ferrying folks around .
I am interested in doing it not to make a living on it , but to keep busy . these gig jobs are the few that allow a flexible schedule to work when wanted . i don't want to be tied up to a schedule .
I am going to look more into it and see if any licenses or permits are needed. like a few posted , can try it out and see .
I am interested in doing it not to make a living on it , but to keep busy . these gig jobs are the few that allow a flexible schedule to work when wanted . i don't want to be tied up to a schedule .
I am going to look more into it and see if any licenses or permits are needed. like a few posted , can try it out and see .
It is never a good idea to invest too much to go up market in any investment unless you have a very good demand guaranteed.
Even Amazon say no to Apple when they want a custom cloud service build for icloud without paying up ahead of time. Google ended up doing it and didn’t make any money on that deal. The best is typically do just enough investment to keep up with demand and offer a good price for the quality you offer.
I see a lot of people with old cars do uber eats instead of uber for human.
Even Amazon say no to Apple when they want a custom cloud service build for icloud without paying up ahead of time. Google ended up doing it and didn’t make any money on that deal. The best is typically do just enough investment to keep up with demand and offer a good price for the quality you offer.
I see a lot of people with old cars do uber eats instead of uber for human.
Yea and Uber(to a smaller degree taxis) is why Toyota still makes the Prius. There’s a big secondary market when the original buyers get rid of them. Uber wants drivers in newer cars for passengers. Any car within the last 20 years qualifies for Eats. In Oakland, its common to see Doordashes and Uber Eats clog up the streets - and it’s it not a newish HyunKia or Nissan that’s leased via Hertz or Enterprise, it’s a beat up second generation Prius held together with duct tape and straight-piped.
I'll finish with this... In Uber/Lyft I had a few cases where the passenger made my hair raise. Needless to say one hand was holding the steering wheel, and my other hand was close to my weapon. In that regard - I'd rather do UberEats, DoorDash, Postmate, to stay busy. Much safer option. Less people interaction, and same income.
Although having some very tipsy "cougars" get topless in the back seat will forever be my favorite Uber passenger memory
Patman
Staff member
I’m sure that a lot of ride share drivers are a little bit more cautious about who is in their back seat if they watched the latest season of Dexter (where one of the serial killers was targeting ride share drivers and strangled them from the back seat)I'll finish with this... In Uber/Lyft I had a few cases where the passenger made my hair raise. Needless to say one hand was holding the steering wheel, and my other hand was close to my weapon. In that regard - I'd rather do UberEats, DoorDash, Postmate, to stay busy. Much safer option. Less people interaction, and same income.
Although having some very tipsy "cougars" get topless in the back seat will forever be my favorite Uber passenger memory
I’m thinking some people are doing it to take equity out of the car, to make the car payments.
There was a guy on here not long at - @Sienna dude that did it full time. Seems his profile is gone so he maybe got the boot? I asked him some Uber questions and he seemed pretty positive about it. Sounded like he did multiple things at once - like Uber and deliveries. I am sure its one of those things that it is going to depend greatly on the location / time / clientele. Doubtful there is any money moving people around my neighborhood - but in the tourist areas I bet its different.
Funny thing is I always tip the uber driver - sounds like others do not?
Funny thing is I always tip the uber driver - sounds like others do not?
Uber claims to provide the insurance for when you actively have a ride. So yes, I would read my policy thoroughly - but its not likely a simple yes / no answer. There are plenty of reddit threads on this.
With any luck drivers can earn enough to keep up with maintenance and repairs on their vehicle.
Unless the vehicle is brand new in which case they use the money for lease payments.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2026
I know people who do things like Uber, Lyft etc and they also do like DoorDash, GrubHub and UberEats and they say they make more doing the food delivery services than Uber or Lyft because the insurance and cost of vehicle operation is so expensive. My dad does DoorDash, GrubHub and UberEats and makes a killing especially during weekends and sports events like football Sunday and Super Bowl time and all of that. It was also busy during the World Series but since we watch that he didn’t do anything at that time. Some days are slower than others but a lot of it depends on the area the day etc. I’d do the food services over the ride services. Last year Super Bowl Sunday I think my dad made almost $1,000 if not just over it. That was working from like 4-9pm.
Just think of all the food you could snag.
Patman
Staff member
He craves deodorant over food
Target delivery person.He craves deodorant over food
EDIT PS GREAT WAY TO MEET WOMEN!!!
