I Lost Money Driving for Uber
Вставка
- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- Something I didn't expect is that if you use a luxury car to drive regular UberX, you might just lose money. In this video, I talk about all the hidden costs you should consider in order to figure out your real earnings per hour. These include the time required to drive back from where ever Uber takes you, the gasoline used, the car depreciation, maintenance, and wait time.
► More resources at my Patreon: / beatthebush
► My honest reviews on Amazon: www.amazon.com/...
► Mint Mobile, as low as $15/month: mintmobile.com...
► Moomoo, up to 17 FREE stocks: j.moomoo.com/0...
► Webull, up to 12 FREE fractional shares: bit.ly/2XwlcQ4
► Get $30 when you spend $30: www.rakuten.co...
► FREE Audible Audio Book: bit.ly/2Z4RrN7
► Build Credit w/ NO Credit by Self-Lending: self-lender.3q...
► BeatTheBush Honey Badger T-shirt: bit.ly/2FBAeLA
Other BeatTheBush Channels:
/ beatthebushdiy
/ beatthebushfoods
Ending Song: Rondo Brothers, Mr. Tea
That is the UBER secret, let the driver assume all risks.
Not only Uber Taxi, Lyft and Uber. Let’s face it no driver for Uber and Lyft makes money. All the money you make goes to gas and the maintenance of your car. YOu make more money working for McDonald’s. It’s the truth.
@@unknowngoogleh5246 lmao clearly have no idea what you’re talking about
@@unknowngoogleh5246 I actually feel bad when I take an Uber because I know the pay is bad. I always thought they were making $6 an hour "or less". I value my life too much to be chauffeured around by idiots who are too stupid to realize they are being robbed by Uber. I am so glad I watched this video. Now I realize the "or less" was very true. I always thought Uber was a way for kids to milk their parents. Teens can use Uber to burn up the usefulness of the car their parents paid for to get money out of it. They are basically selling their cars for drug money. Sneakily taking money from their parents because now the parents have to buy them a new car when they wear it out. Uber is genius.
Why would you drive a BMW for an Uber car???
Get a cheap used car that's what your customers deserve.
Half of them will reek of weed or use you as a drug mule.
Ain't that the truth
Man....this is sadly the reality for a majority of drivers. Uber is designed to benefit the rider and the corporation. The drivers are collateral damage to Uber, they don’t give AF about the driver.
Yet bunch dumpass drive for them because of the visible cash flow, they dont know they losing money from the car and other spending.
It doesn’t benefit the UBER corporation. They said they will never make a profit. It only benefit consumers.
It's almost like the drivers are merely taking money out of the value of their car thinking they're making a significant amount. Horrible idea.
who cares? Uber isn't there for their employees Uber's goal is to encourage the production of automated cars making the driver irrelevant.
Why anyone is so retarded enough to drive for uber is beyond me
Arman honestly corporations shouldn’t be able to continue operating in negative income and get huge tax breaks to stay in business. Because most people can not do that and actually go into debt, collections, reposition, etc. Yet Uber makes negative income and their corporate employees make huge amounts while the drivers loose money while destroying their own vehicles.
The past 6 or so ubers I have been in all had drivers that were not happy with the current Uber policies.
You can interview any group of employees / "independent contractors" anywhere and hear that.
Look twenty thumbs up, none down , verdict is, Correct!
I have a friend who thinks uber is a full time job. He can’t understand why he’s always broke. Total fool
Total fuel
I’ve been trying to tell this to new drivers. I had a executive car service. I averaged about 60k miles a year. Driving FT with Uber you will be putting that many miles on your personal car!
How many years are you financing your car for??? Lol
You aren’t making enough to make up for the depreciation of the miles!!!! Your car is worthless in 24-36 months plus maintenance!!!!!!
so what do you suggest uber drviers do, Einstein?
mohammad mirza you mad?
@@mohammadmirza84 Get some skills!CDL perhaps.
You are just providing a company car for Uber to USE for FREE. It's a ripoff.
yup, I figured this. You rent out your car for Uber/Lyft at the cost of IRS deduction rate while you are the one paying everything out of pocket. They claim that rate is your income, in reality you are wearing out your own car for them at the basic IRS rate while driving and accepting risk for free.
@@ljohnson2345 but you need to track your car, mobile data and gas spendings and mileages so you can have a big reduction at the end of year. Many drivers forget to do that and the pay a lot of money when taxes come in
@@buuzy252 u basicallg mean buisness expesnses for irs tax deduction
@@user-he7sc3fg3r Yes thats what I mean! Yiu gonna have your deduction so you won't worry about anything, but again it's good to work for Uber and all Gig jobs as part time income
That's not true y'all think like a company worker they tax your check I paid 0 taxes because of all my write offs y'all work 5 6 days a week I set my own schedule my car is a business that's the mindset u need if u are going to be successful
Don't wait at airports if there is more than 40 cars in the que....
I called it in your other Uber video in the comments. Uber is a losing situation. And they force you to have a newer car.
This "gig economy" is a farce
Bingo...We have a Winner Bob...show him what he's won!
no one wants to ride in an old car.
@@AP-ei2mt a cab isn't exactly a new car. Most of them are pretty old and worn
@@LarsonFamilyFarm-LLC I'm just angry, because I read all these articles about young people being "lazy" and there are a bunch of opportunities...like Uber
@@duanerackham9567 lol, on that opportunity. Uber can be successful but you have to buy a basic simple economical car like a Geo and while waiting in your car, for the next pick-up, you need to do something productive..like write a book or blog..or read how to fix items or financial literature.
I mean, if you wanna drive for Uber, if you really need money, you wanna get Honda or Toyota, something reliable, cheaper maintenance.
Even then dont expext more than 14 an hour long term
Even then you’ll lose money. Uber was fair before 2014. I drove with uber from 2014 - 2018 in NYC in my brand new 2015 Honda CRV. It was a disaster starting from 2015.
That still wont matte because Uber pays 0 and they gain 100%... The driver pays for everyting.
@@90kevin20 I have a 98 Honda Accord and No I don't use it for Uber, but it's a forever car and the parts and mechanic bill is cheap. It's a great car...
A Prius is a way to go. And you need to drive during rush hours and go to all the events and hotspots. Say goodbye to your weekends if you want to see $300 days on your weekend.
I always felt like I was losing/barely making anything once I realized I needed all these new things that needed fixing, and buying gas 2x a week. I finally found a pt job.
Man you're lucky to buy gas twice a week, I buy gas 5 times a week in 7 days. I found a full time job now I am earning money.
Some points to help you out. First, gas expense is part of the IRS figure of 58 cents per mile. Second, as someone else said depreciation is not linear. Therefore it is not wise to use a brand new car or low mileage luxury car for ANY commercial purpose. Third, the 58 cents figure applies to all businesses. Driving an 18 wheeler costs much more than your car, but the figure remains 58 cents. The figure is largely a made up figure by Congress to help businesses write off expenses, not based on empirical data. Personally I use a high mileage Toyota that has already reached residual value (2012). Therefore my depreciation is 0. It still gets 31 mpg and gas is $1 less in NH. Finally, to avoid deadheading back home at the end of the day from a long trip, use your destination filter and set it to your home address. Never take long trips without getting rides coming back to cover the cost of return. Good luck and continue to research your market to optimize your time and miles. P.S. the airport thing is rarely profitable.
Word. and the new bid war on rides "Ride Radar" is a real bad deal. really really bad deal
Thank you for explaining this with a very good Common Sense approach; as I have been trying to share basically the same to people myself.
Everyone must think of themselves as independent contractors because that is exactly what you are. You are not being made to do anything that you don't want to do.
Strategize and think smart and make the most of your time out there in order to gain the most earnings. Don't disrespect yourself.
I always laugh when i see youtube Uber drivers making youtube vids and think they are cool driving for Uber when they really pay Uber and work almost for free and Uber spends their money crazy.
The ones with millions of views are making insane money though
Well if they getting a lot of views then they are making money.. so they don't care about the Uber money.. they care about the views
You made me quit driving for Uber Thank you much!
Me too lmao
Same, I applied for Lyft instead.
I started driving for Uber today just to try it out In 6 hours I made $40 I’m not doing it again fuck Uber normally I make $100 to $130 in 6 hours the worst is calling customer service your on hold for 1 hours.
@@Anonymous-zu8qt Luft is the same scam as Uber. They tried to hide 💀 care fare receipts so you couldn't know how much you were making and how much lyft was charging you.
Anonymous lol Lyft is not better.. they are the same shit. My Advice get a CDL.. I got my CDL 3 years ago and I'm making $30/hour now.. don't have kill my car up.
This is why I only recommend this as a part time gig and not using newer/ high end vehicles. Plus when you know your market you know the best times/locations to go so you don’t add dead miles to your car. Lastly... if you do Rideshare full time.. plan on running that vehicle till the wheels fall off... then depreciation doesn’t matter. Overall this was a great video with great points. Stay safe out there and if you are going to keep driving... get used vehicle that’s not so pricy to maintain.
depreciation doesn't matter? uh, yeah it does, because you have no car to trade in once the "wheels fall off"
it does matter! its a business expense!
Best use of your car with highest utility value?
*Sleep in it!!*
If i had a ford edge with a 2.0 4 cyl i would for a while and stack. Just need that gym membership for showers and working out, and good to go
@@tjmns I have a hybrid hatchback and had no problem sleeping in my car for a month!
24 hour gym membership ftw!
Funny you say that. CA has 130k+ homeless unfortunately. The first step of homelessness in CA is living in cars and RVs. There are RVs littered throughout the Bay Area. Just search in UA-cam for CA RV homeless. There are lots of stories on it.
@@boostedmaniac Yea... better than camping in the streets? But again, we should evaluate why there's 130K of them...
I think Hobo Ahle also lived in CA?
@@cherrytung I would move to another city where homelessness was less percentage-wise, lay low and stack some cash
Uber is just counting the days when they don't have to pay their drivers anything by replacing them with self-driving cars.
naw most of them are working til they can cashout their stock options and move on to the next Pyramid scheme. The Elec car thing is window dressing which is decades away and wont involve Uber anyway.
Nowhere close yet
No Uber didnt pay the drivers nor owning the cars. All drivers are freelancers.The Uber drivers are taking all the hits. It is the best way to operation the business. If Uber are using self driving vicheals. Uber will have to invest millions of $ on cars and take care all the maintenance fees. Which I think it is not gonna happen.
Borp - Uber will never have autonomous vehicles. It is their excuse why they have a loss and therefore pay no taxes.
Bennett - exactly. It will never happen.
All drivers lose money and glad you made this video. I hope the government puts a stop to these companies for exploiting people like this. There needs to be a law to stop this.
Very very smart! This is what I have been trying to tell my daughter... but without the charts... now I can pass along this video as well.
Using your calculation you'd depreciate the full 42k cost of your car within 25 weeks......
That's not how depreciation works.
Level1 Life then how does it work?
@@socaluberdude6648 you take the cost, subtract the salvage value, then divide that total by the useful life (5 years for automotive).
So even with a $0 salvage value that's only $154/week of depreciation (using the straight line method)
@@level1life79 most states have the option to depreciate with mileage. With UBER you get high mileage.
Agreed Uber is not a good deal,but the IRS mileage allowance takes into account gas and depreciation.
This IRS writeoff is way under what it should be.
@@tellmestraight _Then you can record and deduct your actual costs,but{BeatTheBush) was trying to show both as an expense.
@@billgarrett1 You are right! I forgot about that. Thanks.
He double counted the gas
Uber is just a type of cash advance.
Great analogy
That's a perfect description.
GIV-X FACT
GIV-X most jobs are
Yes! Exactly!
You can write off mileage and depreciation so those cost values are not completely accurate. Also, you could drive an older luxury car that has already taken the hit of the steep depreciation curve (say a 2011 328i purchased for 12000) and significantly decrease your depreciation amounts. Not to mention as you stated that you can increase your hourly wage by improving your stategies. This is an easy gig and it's funny that people whould ever expect significantly more than minimun wage to be a taxi essentially. I see it as a good side hustle that can make you some cash that is a %100 flexible time wise rather than a too good to be true money making gig being dubunked. I do appreaciate and enjoy the video however just had some thoughts!
The problem I have is I’m buying my car and in 3 years the car is going to my son who is 14 now. I also work on cars and know what needs to be done.
Correct
I think you did the wrong cost/mi calculation, you divided the mileage by the cost difference which actually gives you the miles "allowed" per dollar depreciation. In your first example 2018 it should be 7005/7880 = 0.89 dollars depreciation/mile driven. If we take this as the average for example and multiply it by the miles driven on your car 1150x0.89 = 1023.5 dollars which is the amount you would have lost in depreciation instead of 1653...let me know if that makes sense unless I'm missing something...
Beat the Bush what about Federal/state income taxes? That's another 20+% gone. Not to mention some states require self employment business license to drive uber/lyft.
I had that same thought & driving for Uber you'd likely have to pay health insurance out of pocket too.
You can deduct all those expenses though.
You likely wont ever make enough to have to pay federal taxes doing this job. plus all the deductions from your own business
If u make less then 25000 in 1 year doing uber they dont send u a 1099 cuz your gonna claim a loss as a biz n get a tax return for failing at being a profitable biz
maybe can write some of it off, gas and depreciation?
You didn’t take time depreciation of the car into value when estimating the value depreciation per mile. A car that drives no miles will depreciate over time, and this wasn’t factored in.
Depreciation is nonlinear, so if you buy a fuel-efficient used car with a moderate amount of miles on it you can greatly reduce your overhead relative to your BMW.
Oh man, the costs of owning and maintaining a vehicle these days !!!! It's never worth it to use your own car !!!!
I have a friend who has been driving for uber for the past 4 years. He does this program where he rents a car from uber and so long as he does 100 rides per week, he does not need to pay for the rent of the car. Uber does all the maintenance and the car depreciation goes on the rental car, not his own. I feel like this is the only way that uber is worth it. Extra vehicle and your own car does not depreciate.
Mr Money Mustache did the same experiment and his Uber earnings was about $7/hr after expenses. Then again, he didn’t drive a BMW.
Dang that’s low like the minimum wage
Yeah. Depreciation on a BMW plus premium gas and maintenance are crazy.
That's why every Uber driver actually trying to make a buck uses a Japanese hybrid car.
@@satoshiishota3101 no brainer. Dependable as f*ck.
@@satoshiishota3101 Japanese electric.😝
I always assumed most people tipped in rideshares.
Totally wrong about that!
isthisnametaken7 Yeah, most Uber passengers are assholes
That's an expensive gas you're buying bro, heard about Costco gas?
As a former taxi driver and current part-time Uber driver I can tell you that the income potential has dropped significantly in the three and a half years I've driven for Uber. The incentives used to be significant, an extra $50-100 bonus for driving 45-60 trips in a 3 or 4 day period. After going public Uber reduced these down and recently eliminated them in favor of a reduction of their 25% commission to 20% for trips driven after you reach 15 or 5% for trips after reaching 45. This incentive only benefits full or plus-fulltime driving. So even though it calls itself a 'side hustle' Uber only rewards those who put in long hours/days.
One more thing: a taxicab rate begins with a base fare (usually around $3). So does an Uber ride, but the so-called 'booking fee' of around $2.75 is 100% kept by Uber. That's why for the most common short rides of under 2 miles the driver makes about $2.62. A few cents more if there is traffic. When Uber says they charge maximum 25% commission they're not including the booking fee, so Uber keeps closer to 40% or more of what the rider pays on shorter trips.
Still I drive some Uber (weekends, holidays) and I take Ubers myself when going out. But I tip at least a buck or two. Have a heart and tip even if a small amount, it was something 90% of folks did during the taxicab era even though cab fares were twice as expensive as Uber fares.
Your biggest mistake is driving a BMW of course you lost money....
In order too make it in this biz?
You have to get a Hybrid!
I get 44 to 50 mpg bought a used one and the depreciation factor is null and void even putting on 50000 miles a year it's really only 10 percent of what I make and will get well over my car value over twice as much what I paid in fact on deductions it also helps to know how to do your own repairs pick up a book watch some videos and car repairs will barely cost anything
I work only 4 to 6 hours a day and easily pull what you just made.
There's a lot of factors in order to make it and one is not to just rely on Uber or Lyft solely but to work them both and double your options.
It takes work getting to know your area and market some people never get it?Even after years of experience It's why their is always a new driver turn out rate I see 90% always come in with high expectations and never to be seen again within weeks...
The biggest mistake drivers make is taking whatever is thrown at them by the apps and driving around in their downtown areas stuck doing crappy 1 to 5 miles jobs and wonder what they are doing wrong and not making money?
You have to have a game plan where your going everyday and know the busy times of day and where people like to go?not just sign on hope you get some random good Rides....
The Truth is Uber nor Lyft is never gonna give you what you want....
You have to learn how to make things happen it's all about being in the right place at the right time
I average well over 25 dollars a ride on my bad days and most days make well over 50 to 100 a ride and only do 3 to 6 rides a day I don't waste my time with local pick ups driving people to work or picking up drunks from the bar
And that's only possible with experience because if I just followed the App? I'd be stuck giving 30 rides a day working 14 hours to make the same as Uber nor Lyft is gonna enable me to make that kind of money....
Also your not losing 580$ driving a thousand miles lol maybe if you lease a car you would...
Sure on paper it looks that way but really your not if you have a descent used car and not wasting your money driving a new car or even a expensive car that's just asking too lose money especially if your leasing when you will make the same money driving something affordable
I spent only 10000 on a used 2012 Toyota hybrid and I'll easily get 4 plus years of driving 50000 a year from it so you can see where I'm not losing anything at all from depreciation and actually make way more money because I get 44 plus a gallon and not burdened with ridiculous expenses like luxery cars that are gonna have expensive repairs and horrible gas milage it's just not smart business sense
What about batteries issues
@@sincerelyyours8603 Even if you have to replace the battery it's still a winning solution.A hybrid has less parts that can break down no Alternator,No Belts,No water Pump and No Power Steering.
Just do the Math say your running 50000 miles a year?
Break that down on what a regular car gets for gas milage? Which you would be lucky to get even 30 combined gas mileage highway and city over a couple of years?The Reality is you will get way less with A.C. Heat and Idling....
The difference is you will still come ahead even with the cost and if you have half a brain and can turn your wrist Left and Right?You can very easily replace it yourself if need be......
My cars 7 year s old and battery hasn't lost a beat and has actually been improving with age I get over 50 MPG on a good warm day! And that's city and highway.
I save about a 100 plus a week in gas easily!
Not all Hybrids are the same now.....
I wouldn't invest in a Hyundai or Honda or Ford.....
Toyota has been making them for over a decade and has the tecknology down to a science!
I wouldn't go any other way
What strategies do you use to make alot of money while working only a few hours?
I drive Uber for years and it's not a good job to make 💰, but it's an easy job
I drive a Toyota Corolla with 375K miles
Total investment 2,200 bucks. I spend 6 to 10 bucks to make 125 to 150 bucks. I make 1200 a week. Damn depreciation and repairs cheap who cares. It's a tool.
The drivers at Uber lose money just like the company loses money...what a surprise! 🙄🙄
Uber doesn't "lose" money. They *SPEND* all their money to get new investments and in technology development..
@@mustardpikachu3597 correct, no company is in it to lose $$$ AND what they may tell people and what goes on behind the scenes are very different things.
@@mustardpikachu3597 exactly; their employees esp the software engineers are one of the highest paid in silicon valley
@@bobarelle10 I say in about 10 years, minimum, IMO. Still too early and even dangerous as of today.
Marcus M. I make cash every day...this isn't hard...theres no hidden agenda...its 20 hr plus...gas it 10 bux a day maybe 15
*Great break down* 💪
I drive for uber and lyft and have made net income well over the cost of my vehicle and i could probably still sell it for 2 to 3 gs
Which car you have?
@@mituljariwala9821 dodge avenger
Please do a video where you count all the costs and explain it for us!
@@JayFGrissom Not A bad Idea
@@JayFGrissom im actually kind of doing that on my instagram this week.
When I heard BMW... no wonder you lost money. It doesn't make sense to use IRS average. If You are using a new BMW to drive UberX, you are driving for fun, not for money.
Chi Mui he doesn’t know what he’s doing!
He is right, I drive for lyft on the weekends for extra money, my car is a 2007 nissan altima its paid off, high mileage it runs great. I will never drive a new car for uber or lyft special if it's not paid off. Not worth it. I have 2 other new cars that I dont use for rideshare.
But remember, you get ALOT of deductions when doing ride share:
1: Gas
2: milage ( the depreciation)
3: Your phone bill
4: All your vehicle maintenance
5: As an independent contractor, your home or apartment can be considered your home office. For me, i record all my rides, when i get home, i download my videos onto my lap top. A percent of my home becomes deductible. Rent, utilities etc.
6: If you make payments on your car, and its used for business, you can deduct the interest on your payments. If you bought a car straight up just for uber and Lyft, like i did, you can deduct the price of the car as a business expence. Make sure you apply for a federal EIN number as a LLC transportation business.
All of these deductions get you most of your expenses back..
It’s worth mentioning that if you own a car and drive it to your hourly job then most of this cost is part of THAT job too. The moral here is mostly that cars suck and are a lot more costly than we generally realize.
And depreciation is a lot less with an older car.
I'm averaging nearly $20 per hour after deducting ALL costs (fuel, generous maintenance reserve, insurance, and car replacement reserve factoring the cost of replacing the car with a similar one every 150,000 miles). I've been doing this about a month now and my worst day was about $11 per hour while my best was $34 per hour. This isn't my career - I'll be graduating from Nursing School in December. But it sure isn't a "farce" or a "rip off" if you go about it correctly.
I totally agree with you!!!
I worked hard as a full time uber driver but finally found out that I had lost a lot compared to working for other jobs.
Excellent breakdown. Most drivers have no understanding of this valuable essential analysis that you did. In the taxi business you need to have a fixed cost such as the regulated taxi cab business. They have weekly rentals, full maintenance programs, 24 hour commercial insurance coverage, contract calls ,flagged calls, credit card calls,cash calls, 100% utilization of vehicles ,if you break down you are back up and running immediately. The simplest way to describe the Rideshare operation is it is broke ass drivers chasing broke ass customers and that is not a recipe for success... It will never work long term.
Is there a job that you can refer that offers free car, free gas and free maintenance? Let us know and we stop driving uber...for life
Does your work offers you free gas, free maintenance free car? Goodluck to youuu!!!
taxs on top of all , dam !!
Gas, oil change, car wash all this is covered with the deduction of depreciation. Which you can actually use it as “ making” money
Deduction? Deduction reduces your taxable earnings. So if Uber pays you $20/hr before taxes, gas, depreciation, etc. You will never make more than $20 after deductions.
This video has a decent break down of money vs expenses. Ultimately people will benefit the most if driving is part of a bigger game plan like driving for Uber while you're building something else on the side or if you're using it for side income. Like most things in life, it comes down to having a plan.
Having a plan of something else wont make you earn more right? A strategy to drive may get you more per hour or just more experience.
As a rideshare driver myself. Yes! it is possible to work for Uber/Lyft and lose money overall. It is not something that everyone can make money at. you need to know your market, keep up on events, and drive as smart as possible. 80% of drivers quit 3 to 6 months because it's not as easy as one might think.
BMW: Break My Wallet
lol
Josh hahahahaha
Yes indeed. I sold mine a month ago.
Ridiculous car for Uber. And anything beyond X is silliness as well. the game is tips not $20 rides with a buck tip taking an hour and leaving you in bumf%ck noplace. Car is trashed and you are standing with your pants around your ankles.
FIAT: Fix It Again TonyFORD: Found On Road Dead
I make good money in Minnesota doing DoorDash as a side job. I think it's best though when there's faster speed limits in a certain zone. If you go into an area where there is a lot of stop and go, you don't get as many deliveries.
BEST REVIEW EVER on this subject!!
Great work!
Your time and energy to this is MUCH APPRECIATED..
Don't worry - Uber themselves lose a lot of money too.
I like how btb still made $ because of the lease situation! Winners win!!
He could have sold the BMW to CARMAX for a potentioal Profit instead of returning the lease. All he did is waste a week. Beat the bush needs to actually do something not just a week
Thank you for your hard work on these videos BTB. Really appreciate the time you take to educate us.
so true !
Depreciation matters only when there's an artificially imposed vehicle age limit. When that's not the case, just calculate purchase cost divided by minimum expected mileage lifespan.
You are right ,when you work for uber. ,you become their slave
Need to drive a car that depreciated all the way like an older Camry or Honda suv
Thanks for the great explanation; kinda confirmed my suspicions although having a total stranger getting into my car concerned me as well. It only takes one serial killer. Business like this where they only provide opportunity but no benefits like health insurance is why these entrepreneurs start these types of business. They maximize profit while the employees are suckers. I’ll have to be pretty desperate before I drive for Uber or the like. Great video!
P.s. I hope you were doing this as an experiment; it seems like you’re pretty intelligent and you can make far more money using your brain.
The 58 cents set by the IRS includes gas... You cant subtract gas and the IRS 58 cent per mile... that's WRONG. Other than that, good video.
Yup exactly
That is correct Sir
That’s what I noticed as well. I always suspected that if you crunch the numbers that it would leave very little for profit. Uber and Lyft take it for granted that most people aren’t looking at the big picture. Don’t forget how much you’ll have to pay at the end of the year in taxes
@@JusticeKing1000 you only pay on net profits. If you lose money it could actually save you on taxes through your other job (if you have one)
The depreciation is double counted too.
My dad does Uber. He bought a 5k car and it’s an 08.
That is the best thing to do.
Better hope no accidents happen in the meantime on that leased car; James River and BMW won't be too fun to get to play nice together.
yes, BMW lease has it written in the contract of "no commercial business use"
Its sad about uber drivers not making much money. How could someone working for uber pay for health insurance or anything else. Also a smartphone, rent, food? Its not a livable wage.
unless you live in your car, which I have seen on YT, just cant remember where. The car must smell fantastic! LMFAO
1) You cannot take gas/wear&tear and depreciation as an expense and also take 58 cents a mile - it's one or the other 2) You need an older car that's cheap to maintain with ~100K miles on it - something that has also depreciated already 3) you have to know what days and what hours to drive and where to stage yourself between rides. Each city has an ebb and flow to rides. 4) you have to decline rides with destinations far away when you drive back empty 5) you have to decline long pickups
Sorry, I only took one of the depreciation.
Nobody ubers in a BMW, oil change is expensive. Prius all the way. Cosco gas and your set to go. GIDDY up
i change my own oil
Right.... Some use Audi's or Mercedes-Benz.
BtB! Thanks for a Master's Level class on finance through your videos--well done, well presented. You have a teacher's heart--you want to help people improve their lives by providing great information with which they can make smarter choices. Take care, my friend.
I mean his heart is in the right place but sadly his analysis in this video was very poor, hence he's just spreading false information. He doubled up all his expenses (used actual expenses and an estimate) and as well he used a VERY exaggerated and terrible calculation for depreciation, even though his IRS estimate includes an estimate for depreciation....
I've actually taken multiple college courses on finance and trust me there's a LOT more to it than living frugally. There's all sorts of ratios, calculations, and analysis tools that BTB doesnt even touch on.
It's easy to use math to preach your agenda when the audience doesnt know what doubling expenses is or how depreciation works. By his calculation a 40k car would be worth literally zero after being used in this manner for half a year, sorry but that's not the case. $1,600 a week in depreciation? Ya right.
at end of the day, if you can get by driving for Uber without having to work for a dead end job where you have to be at monday to friday same time same day same a**holes, then all the power to you. Live stress free, work when you want. you are the boss.
Ur evaluation of the IRS per-mile deduction doesn’t make mathematical sense. The 58 cents per mile comes out extremely well for many folks who have to drive their own vehicle as part of their job. It is a crucial factor that increases after-tax earnings more than if you track and deduct gasoline and maintenance expenses (the alternative to using the relevant tax year’s mileage rate)
Depreciation rates much higher in city driving vs highway driving
Not really. It's mileage based. Appraisers don't care if it's city or highway driving, nor could they tell the difference if it's one or the other.
@@scottyhaines4226 I don't think that's the point. City driving is worse on a car than highway. Meaning the maintenance on the vehicle would be more frequent. The depreciation rate could theoretically be higher
@@mikebrophy2583 no it couldn't. Not unless you went about running your mouth to appraisers. Like I said they go by mileage. Where the miles accumulated doesn't matter. 40k miles of city driving is going to look the same to them as 40k of highway driving.
@@scottyhaines4226 In theory like I said. City driving is worse which means more problems with the car. I don't think the original poster was talking about depreciation strictly by mileage. There are other factors that determine depreciation rate. One being condition.
@@mikebrophy2583 city driving is worse on the car but a 40k mile car is a 40k mile car whether or not those miles were driven on the highway. And yes they do go by condition but it's usually physical unless something is extremely wrong mechanically or it's something obvious like a bad serpentine belt squealing.
You didn't lose money, you lost SOME money but the IRS formula is very liberal. I have a similar situation. I travel for work and "make" 57k a year after vehicle expenses including gas maintenance and depreciation of my car ive calculated that I actually make around $47k. However with the .58c mileage formula... After deductions I show my taxable income is only $25k a year I drive about a 334mile round trip 16-20 days out of the month.
You only lose money on the car depreciation if you plan on selling your car. If you own a car that is known as a reliable car for very high mileage, and you plan on driving the car to the ground to make as much money out of it, then depreciation doesn't mean anything. Depreciation only is relevant if you plan to sell your car or plan to extract equity from your car.
Amen
Not only the money is not good but also the liability and the risk that comes with it. Dealing with crazy passengers, people trying to disrespect you, destroying your car, crazy people driving, insurance.
Sad how low the tip column was
Monarch Beauty that was shocking. I imagine it’s much higher in NYC where we have a tipping culture.
@@emiliabolsas exactly what I was thinking.
Yes. That really bothers me.
Fuck y'all. Uber already expensive asf lol. Can't be tipping like that fr
I always tip at least 10 bucks. Pretty sure(well i'm really sure) that was BS.
I wonder how well a "normal" job holds up with the same formulas applied.
I may be the odd person out, but my "normal" job blows this one out of the water. For one, I work from home. So I only drive when I need/want to. Secondly, I get paid $35/hr and have the option for overtime.
@@madeline5175 Yep, not a normal job. Congratulations.
@@madeline5175 doing what? that sounds nice
It doesn't almost lost my home if it wasn't for Uber n lyft
Marilla Anne Worse. Because people ain’t making over $1k a week
I used to Uber and quickly found out that flipping stuff on eBay was alot easier and quicker money after a week. Uber is a thankless "job" that makes you re-evaluate human etiquette and respect. It's not good because you start to saturate yourself in disregard and disrespect which is a false definition of humanity as a whole. For anyone out there, just sell your junk and learn how to sell things from home on your off days.
Don't really agree with using depreciation of a car to calculate your earnings. It's more reasonable to calculate the average maintenance cost per year. You can't "lose" money on future resale value if you don't plan to sell. People in logistics keep their trucks until maintenance cost overruns a new purchase.
Thinking like an employee not a independent business contractor!
I actually was surprised at how good you made out financially on it. I know people that tried it and got about $15 in 3 rides spending 3-4 hours in the car on call. With the car depreciation and miles thing, it really depends on your commute and/or how much driving your job costs you. Most people will drive 60-70 miles each way to work for a 50K job, some people even a 25K job. It really depends where you live geographically, I think in the Bay Area your perspective could be skewed. Then some jobs require driving for sales, etc, too. 50K is high, but 20-30K miles a year with some jobs in some locations isn't uncommon. The average amount per year is 12K for most people. My mother drove 20-30K a year doing auditing at hospitals in the 90s, and my father drives about 50K per year running his own business repairing food service equipment.
This kind of goes to a bigger argument, though, of I believe a lot of times, working essentially almost isn't worth the money. I could give examples (auto mechanics need to pay thousands for their own tools, but salaries top out at $20ish per hour generally) but personally I found any job that didn't pay about $20 an hour I basically didn't make any money, of course everyone's experience and jobs are different, but that range is about my breakeven point, though that was just a rough mental calculation and not something like what you did with Excel spreadsheets/etc.
I like that perspective. I guess there are two way to do this. 1) get a used car, finance let's say $350 per month. Put 100,000 miles on it in 2 years, and sell it. How much could you get. How much would you lose? 2) Same Idea, run the car until dies, what, 250,000 or 300,000 (4.5 - 6 years).
Uber just needs to change the rates. They destroyed the taxi industry, so if they charge even 15%-20% less than taxis, riders are still making out better...
@@johnanderson1149 I've heard now Priuses are sort of becoming the defacto Uber cars for that reason.
2 years UBER - killed my car, and my pockets.
IRS killed me too - i owed
$5,000 back
You can also go to sites that buy cars from the public and put in year make model and mileage to get depreciation estimate. Also when you look at tolls remember you're taking your after tax money and turning it into pre-tax money AGAIN, BAD. I would never wait at airports or train stations because I don't get paid for waiting. I won't travel 20 minutes to pick up someone from a supermarket or laundromat because that is a money loser unless I'm looking for trip count. Once I meet my weekly count I use a different standard based solely on trip distance and short pickup distance. The scourge of ride share drivers are long pickups and short trips.
Who the hell drives Uber using a bmw 3....
Gagaliya just now,i saw Uber driver who driving bmw .silver color 😂
Lots of tesla Uber out there
Right. All these people deserved from me was my Nissan Sentra. Lol
Holy Cow. Gas is really expensive on the West Coast. It runs about $ 2.74 a gallon where I live.
pretty bullet on July 1st we got another tax added to our gas, so yup we pay a sh$* ton! It was already expensive to begin with too! 😭 I ask myself all the time why do I live here ughhh sigh!
@@SomethingAboutVintage The high cost of gasoline was the main reason that my daughter sold her Jeep Cherokee after she moved to Los Angeles. She traded it for a KIA and is thrilled with the gas mileage it gets.
pretty bullet try the uk. £5,90 per gallon. That’s $7,37
he's putting premium in his car... cuz it's a bmw. i know regular is like 2.80 but yes gas in general is expensive in the west coast
@@anshumanSrivastavaHere_I_COME Oh I see. Yes Premium has always been much higher. Premium where I live is somewhere in the range of $ 2.98 to a little over $ 3.00 dollars a gallon.
Fun fact, my 2011 BMW was worth $0 when I sold it at 2016. Religiously had it serviced at the dealer, only put 5000 miles / year for commute, had routine maintenance done always, etc. It ended up developing transmission/oil/etc leaks which cost more to repair than the value of the car. So using BMW for anything is a losing proposition. One other fun fact - even replacing the front angel light cost $300 because they had to remove the tires for that.
After doing over 10,000 ride share trips in Los Angeles, I stopped March of this year. I remember back in 2016 on a busy Friday / Saturday I would pull in $500-$600 per day on a 15 hour day and average up to $40 hourly gross pay... and now the gross pay is right around $20 just like BTB shows.
80k a year in los Angeles is not much at all..
Excellent video.....shows us that driving for uber or lyft...ain't as easy as it seems to make any real money. You really give up your time...big time.
.58 cents per mile is a pretty decent figure to use to differentiate the total cost of running a car. You can cheat that some by doing different things such as choosing a car that gets better fuel economy, cheaper insurance cost, higher resale value. BUT overall running a car is expensive and Uber is taking advantage of people that don't understand that concept.
m ph
Exactly!
By the a fool figures that out, there will be a new fool waiting to take his place
Everything he said was true! This is a hard pill I have to learn when I did my taxes this year. I lost twice as much as I earn. Completely not worth it, my car isn’t worth anything and I still owe on car payments. I thought I made a lot of money but in the end, I did not. I was basically chasing money every single week. Do not do it.
Sweety after all my deductions and credits I barely owed a tax. I think the biggest issue people are not taking into account all the loopholes.
חניבעל אלוה עברי PHAROAH BTL PRODUCTIONS okay sweetie? I’ve been preparing taxes for 14 years. The proof is in the pudding. Also in the numbers. I’m not working a full year for small hourly pay only to see a
Few thousand dollars from it. But good for you sweetie
@@stiarait well seems to me like you're doing something wrong ...Sorry my comment hit a nerve
חניבעל אלוה עברי PHAROAH BTL PRODUCTIONS yeah sweetie your comment was pretty patronizing.sweetie
@@stiarait 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
The column marked cost/mi is actually showing the number of miles per dollar, so each amount actually represents the opposite effect because it is the inverse. So the car that represents "2.30" is actually depreciating at the slowest rate and the car that is "0.47" is actually depreciating the fastest.
Correct. It is wrong in that column but not too far... assume around $1/mile.
You included gas twice (IRS 0.58c/mile includes it already) in your calculation, so its around $10/hour which still falls below minimum wage.
Also, IRS 0.58c/mile includes gas, oil, repairs, tires, insurance, registration fees, licenses, and depreciation (or lease payments) from official IRS page.
Electric vehicle is the way to go, very low maintenance and motor can last 3 x ICE vehicles.
the issue with counting vehicle depreaction, gas, and maintenance is that the average american is still driving close 300 miles a week to work, still paying for gas and still dealing with Vehicle depreciation. How ever unlike Most Americans as a uber driver you can write off a majority of your expenses. Everything from regular maintenance to your spotify subscription
And this is why they have made us not want to drive or treat people right in our car... uber needs to raise pay rates not lower them.
Thank you for the video! I'm seeing more and more, from the videos of UA-camrs, that being an Uber driver is not the same for everyone . The reason I say this is because driving in certain cities or regions of the country has different results .
Looking at your chart and comparing it with me. I say I pay less for gas (about 13-15 dollars each day). And this will last me for forever . I work full time by the way. I use a rental Hybrid car. Each day I work until I get to $150-200. Then I go home. Sometimes it takes me 7 hours, other times it takes me 10, all depending on how much I make per trip. For me, I am seeing some profit out of it each week. By the way, I live in NJ, Jersey City area.
So $20/hr? Subtract the rental cost it's $15/hr? You should average it to see what you really get.
Time is the most valuable thing that you can have in your life. Spending all those hours driving around won't give you any future
Fantastic video! Explains it so well. Mr. Money Mustache says each gallon of gas equates to ~$42. Crazy!
the best time to drive is in the mornings untill 10am and in the evening from 5-7 also fridays and sat in some cities. However it is your business and there is income and expense. if expense is more than income then you adjust or dump that business model. Also note the positive. you list the 58 cents per mile and gas expense as business cost on your taxes.
Good point!
Great video on the breakdown and that helps out a lot! I think this is a great part time gig for now it is helping me and my situation and I really have not had any issues but I'm still seen it as it is your own business and you have to literally grab the bull by its horns and steer it the right direction like any other business. I think it's just a matter of moving around and trying to find out what areas work and don't work for you and focus and concentrate on those areas that make you the more money. if you focus in areas where you're only going to do 50 rides at $4 per ride that's not going to work out too good unless there's bonuses and that's just from where I can see it. Then again I could be wrong but someone like you I can see a huge profit potential in this business for you. Now setting some goals usually helps out and I've done that a couple of times and it's worked out pretty good for me. Some days are great and some days are not so good and then some days are terrible that sounds like a lot of businesses. I think this could work out in a positive way and there's people out there that are making it work for them and sometimes I wish we could hear from them as well. please keep up the good work and don't give up. maybe the next few months will be different
Plus IRL you would need more expensive car insurance to cover your higher risk properly.
Exactly. As a 20something, I find this a prohibitive cost, to get into Uber.
Yeah, BTB never even factored in insurance costs. The picture is even more bleak.
The IRS rate should include gas
It all depends on location, time, surge pricing, vehicle. Last time I drove Uber was 2017, I lived in Grand Rapids MI at the time, and drove a 2010 Prius, I would only drive on weekend nights or during concerts / festivals , etc; surge pricing. My best day there was a beer festival at the ball park, and a concert downtown. Was x5 surge all day. I earned $600 in 6 hours. I would just check the app, if there was surge, I would go out and drive, if there wasn’t I wouldn’t drive.
If you drive an economical vehicle + drive during surge hours, then it’s very worthwhile in my experience. I would never drive without surge pricing or without my Prius.
I would never recommend this as a full time income, but it was a great addition for me when I felt like earning extra and surge pricing was good.
But this was 2 years ago, maybe things have changed since then?
No, it's actually still the same. Friend of mine made $5000 in 3 days on surge pricing. He said he worked till 4 AM every night. But why not? So, driving for 1 week, one can never find out there are ways to make money doing Uber.
Referring to the 58 cents tax deduction the IRS is giving you: It has nothing to do with how much you are making per hour. It is your tax deduction of $34,684 per year. If you make roughly $52,000 per year you will only be taxed on making (roughly) $17,300. Chances are your expenses will be WAY less than 34K / year.
Foolish to Uber in a BMW, need something economical like a Prius or something.
I do uber eats in my civic and I spend little to nothing on gas.
Excellent study on being an Uber driver BTB. I was thinking about delivering groceries for Walmart. Then I think about all the extra costs involved with doing a job that involved my car and concluded I should just get a part time job that I drive to work and get out of my car for a few hours to work and then drive home. No xtra expense on my part involved....)
Gary, good point! I thought the exact same thing. The only benefit I can ever see from uber driving is that you can make your own hours. But even that's not worth it
Uber is sucking drivers’ blood by taking much more than 25% as claimed. Generally, in Los Angeles, the earnings before everything is about 1dollar per mile which means driver is definitely loosing money by driving for Uber after gas, depreciation, insurance, vehicle maintenance. In addition, Uber presses huge stress on drivers by keep delivering orders even when drivers on freeway and indirect ly forces drivers to work longer time, saying 40hours at least, even 80-90 hours per week to make money only enough to put some food on the table. If one driver can break down the earrings per order, they can be much more angry to see how much Uber took, sometimes even more than the driver’s share.