Spend analysis of 6 years, 686 rides, and $12k spent on Uber (2017)
The really frustrating thing about this analysis is he completely ignores mileage. However you split it, that&#x27;s a huge factor in a vehicle&#x27;s maintenance cost and depreciation. He compared maintenance on vehicle that clearly must be driven significantly more than he took Uber.<p>Since he also has two other vehicles, he was clearly using those to drive too. He&#x27;s sold them now, but he doesn&#x27;t mention anything about the cost of Turo which he suggests as an alternative.<p>I have no idea exactly what Uber breaks down to per mile, but ridester.com suggests $1 to $2.50 per mile. Let&#x27;s assume it&#x27;s as cheap as $1&#x2F;mile to give him the benefit of the doubt and account for UberPool.<p>----<p>At $1&#x2F;mile, he traveled 12k miles over 6 years - or 2000 miles&#x2F;year.<p>* Maintenance on 12k miles would basically be nothing. No major work should need to be done in a 12k window. Probably some wipers, some fluid changes, possibly a minor repair - let&#x27;s just say it&#x27;s $500.<p>* Gas - Let&#x27;s assume 20 miles&#x2F;galloon and $4 per gallon. $2400 over 6 years.<p>* Insurance - The most expensive part. 2000 miles&#x2F;year is nothing, but insurance doesn&#x27;t work that way. Let&#x27;s assume a modest $500&#x2F;year. - $3000<p>When you add that up it comes to roughly $6k left over. You can look at this two ways.<p>1. Try to buy a vehicle in the $6k range and assume no-resale value. You&#x27;re not going to get a great car, but it will be doable.<p>2. Account for only depreciation. 12k is mostly negligible miles. The biggest lost will be due to aging. That being said, as long as you avoid relatively late-model year, you can purchase basically any mid-upper car and still break even (like an M3).<p>Plus, in both cases you get the benefit of actually owning a vehicle and not relying on 3rd parties.<p>----<p>EDIT: He also mentions using Turo as an alternative for a car.  That opens up the possibility of him renting out an own vehicle on Turo. An M3 would likely catch $100&#x2F;day or more. Let&#x27;s say $50&#x2F;rental day gets to his pocket. If he rents a out his M3 just twice&#x2F;month (e.g. one weekend) and assuming the driver hits the 100 mile&#x2F;day standard. He&#x27;d add only 14.4k more miles (still not a lot) and make an additional $7.2k. That pays for depreciation and leaves him room to ride share while his car is gone.