Car vs Uber - hybrid working?

ChristopherM87

At the moment I've been only driving into work 2 days a week. I don't use my car for anything else. Would a Uber be cheaper?

My car costs about £5000/year to run. I drive to work about 104 days a year. This works out about £48/day.

An Uber is about £60 return/day.

Ebe_Scrooge

Well taking your figures at face value, if the car is costing you £48 a day on the days you use it, that's cheaper than an Uber at £60 a day.  Do you really not use the car for anything else - at all, ever?

Working out the running costs of a car is a little bit involved, but not difficult.  Fixed costs of tax, insurance, MOT and servicing are known constants.  Fuel - you know (or can easily work out) what MPG you actually get (ignore manufacturers' claimed figures).  The cost per litre obviously varies, but you should have a reasonable idea.  Repairs & maintenance - again, these are variable costs, but you should be able to come up with a reasonable estimate.

Purchase price and depreciation - you can factor these in, though they are not really applicable if you need the car for stuff other than commuting anyway.

If you really do only use it for commuting, I guess the other factor is convenience - do you work set hours, and can you easily get an Uber at the times you need it - or do you have to wait for half an hour?  This is harder to quantify, but worth bearing in mind.  And will you continue to only commute 2 days a week, or is that likely to change?

Grumpy_chap

ChristopherM87 said:

At the moment I've been only driving into work 2 days a week. I don't use my car for anything else. Would a Uber be cheaper?

My car costs about £5000/year to run. I drive to work about 104 days a year. This works out about £48/day.

An Uber is about £60 return/day.

Taking those figures as presented, the Uber is clearly not cheaper plus the car offers the flexibility that it can be used on additional days even if you rarely do have that need.

How does that £5k break down?  Does any of that include monthly cost to finance the car?  If so, could you change the car to one that does not have the ongoing finance cost?  Your outlay will then significantly reduce on the car option.

Herzlos

£5000/year sounds fairly steep for a car, unless you're dealing with a largish finance payment.

As it is, the car is cheaper than Uber whilst also being more convenient, so I'd stick with it.

If you're wanting to reduce the costs, then you'd be best trying to downsize car. Sell it and buy something at half the price, and clear the finance.

motorguy

ChristopherM87 said:

At the moment I've been only driving into work 2 days a week. I don't use my car for anything else. Would a Uber be cheaper?

My car costs about £5000/year to run. I drive to work about 104 days a year. This works out about £48/day.

An Uber is about £60 return/day.

£60 x 104 = £6,240 so no.

Also no matter what you end up standing around waiting around for the uber, so it would be a no from me.

£5,000 is a lot of money for a car per year.  I'd think about getting a cheaper car.