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How many miles do Uber and Lyft drivers put on their cars?
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The Guru Take
Full-time drivers can put 1000 miles a week.
A full-time Lyft and Uber drivers can easily put more than 1000 miles a week, which can translate to over 50,000 miles in a year.
(According to the Taxicab Factbook published by New york's TLC, a typical taxicab drives 70,000 miles a year. However, this is a slightly different stat as this applies to the car and not the driver.)
I will add that how much one drives can vary significantly between drivers. Uber and Lyft drivers are independent contractors and can choose their own hours and work locations. In other words, they can drive as much or as little they would like.
Where and when they drive also will play into how many miles they drive. For example, if they drive in urban areas, each trip will be shorter and they will drive overall shorter distances. This is in stark constract to trips taken from/to airports and in the suburbs. If they work during rush hours, the trips will also be shorter than usual.
Comments
50,000 miles a year?!!!! Normal cars start to rattle a bit at 100K, see major problems by 150K, and break down before hitting 200K. So that's a lifespan of 3~4 years.
that's intensely insane.
I put on 43,000 miles on my Ford last year. My brand new Ford. It's a good thing my insurance company doesn't know, beacuse they'd know immediately I am driving for something no good. ..or Uber. LOL.
When a normal person drives a car, they usually put 100K in 10~12 years, and then the car starts to have problems. With some new parts, some committed few will make it to 150K and 200K until they decide to give it up.
Is that the case with cars used for Uber? or would it last much longer because all the miles are incurred in just a few years.
Yes, sort of. Taxicabs are usually retired after 3 or 4 years of use.
They are known to drive more than 50K miles a year in cities like NYC, where they are being riven all hours of the day. (they have multiple shifts/drivers in a day) I think it is 70K miles or so. So after 3~4 years, that's 210K~280K miles.
So, hey, maybe they do start to break down by around 200 miles, where it quickly reaches a point it no longer is worth fixing and repairing.
Actually, you can buy those taxicabs after they've been discommisioned. I looked into it once. I think one of those crown victorias was like $7000 after 3 years of use.
Yes, I am dating myself a bit with the mention of crown victoria.