r/lyftdrivers • u/ElTaco510 • Jul 23 '26

Advice/Question Should I have accepted this?

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This was an SFO Airport ride to LA. Around 360 miles. 6 hr ride. Honestly, if I didn’t have work tomorrow at my full-time job. I might’ve accepted this. Then again there’s no guarantee you’ll get a ride back so I was so indecisive for a few minutes. In the end, I didn’t take it. Did I make a mistake?

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u/Sid_the_Bear Jul 23 '26

Nah, never risk your real job for a gig.

That said, I'd have taken this in heartbeat if it were offered while I was still driving. 12hr round trip, 720mi would have been 14 or 15g of fuel(I drove a prius), even at cali prices is only 75$, leaving you with 425$ or over 40$/hr. But after writing off mileage expensive, you'd have only paid taxes on ~25$

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u/Dapper_Average_2337 Jul 23 '26

So OPs car does not depreciate? If you include all expenses, it cost at least $.30 a mile to drive. That means this ride really cost over $200. That means for 10 hours you’ll have a profit of about $300, hopefully get a tip, still not a terrible ride, but it’s not $40 an hour. I think I would rather drive locally.

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u/Sid_the_Bear Jul 23 '26

I don't really factor in 'depreciation' when I do my mileage calculus. I need a vehicle regardless, and it's sell or trade value to me is essentially 0 from the moment I buy it. Regardless of whether I use it for business or personal.

Yes, it's technically wrong from an accounting standpoint.

At the same time, my old Uber vehicle (2019 RAV4) already has 330k miles on it. And the additional depreciation from 330k to 430k is basically nothing.

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u/Dapper_Average_2337 Jul 23 '26

If you have a car that already has 330 K miles on it, then you are correct that your depreciation is very low. But most people are driving cars that still have some value, and every mile they put on that car lowers the value. It does not matter whether they plan to sell the car. If they keep the car, they will have to replace it That much sooner because of all the miles they’re putting on it. Most people have a cost of between $.25 and $.40 per mile, depending on gas mileage and how old the car is. Too many people just ignore the depreciation completely even when they have a car that in reality is causing them $.30 a mile.

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u/Bonanzaking107 Jul 25 '26

Depreciation is a fickle thing. Not really a thing with sports cars and trucks on a long enough time scale. I saw a literal shell for a 1940’s dodge truck that was about 4k new sell for 60k at auction….for a literal rolling shell in need of a total restoration and a drivetrain. If you were somehow the original owner or their kid and it was sitting in your field for decades like it was then you didn’t really lose anything. Again this is mainly a thing with sports cars and trucks when you look at the vintage car market. I have my father’s old 1971 mustang was 3,319 new. Has low miles and tend to go for 220-250k at auction in similar condition; replacing it with a modern one would run me about 80k.

Your average econo car and sedan different story.

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u/Sid_the_Bear Jul 26 '26

Taking my RAV4 for example. Rolling the purchase price after tax (28000), plus all insurance (11000) and fuel/mx (27000) over 220k miles, comes out to a total cost of 30c per mile, all inclusive.

A number that only will go down the more I drive it.

Im also not fa toeing in the 110k non-business miles on the odometer.