Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 438 posts

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#201

Post by gglover »

panda888888 wrote: post #103

It's part of the reason I haven't bought a car. I'm in my mid 20s and didn't get my license in high school because insurance would have been too expensive (my parents wanted me to pay for it). I think driving is a good life skill so I got my license in my early 20s, but I still have zero desire to own a car. That said, I live in Seattle, where there is good public transportation. Here are my numbers: Parking (I work…

I'm a 25 year old with a beater car 5 miles from downtown Seattle. Here are my real numbers:

Parking: For me the bus is around 10 minutes slower each way. I just take that most days.

Home parking: Free on-street parking

Gas: $40/month * 12 = $480

Registration: $200 (May be a bit higher now with ST3)

Insurance: $700

Maintenance: $1000 sounds about right

For around $2380 / year. Well worth it for the freedom it gives me imo.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#202

Post by jacquesm »

j2bax wrote: post #191
ihaveajob wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We do have a car and a toddler. The car sits idle most days, maybe once a week we get on it to go somewhere where it's inconvenient by bike or transit. For his first year we didn't have a car. This is in SF and Berkeley. A lot of people, even those with kids, could perfectly ditch their cars, rent occasionally and come out ahead in terms of costs (and lifestyle).

One thing I've wondered is how people deal with car seats with Uber/Lyft/Taxi's. Do they carry their own with them and take the time to install it and uninstall it? Do you just take the bus and not worry about a car seat?

Taxi's are usually exempt, Uber will provide a car seat for a surcharge of $10 in some locations, not sure about Lyft.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#203

Post by ghaff »

carb wrote: post #165
ghaff wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing for me is that, if I were living in that area, I'd be driving into the Santa Cruz mountains, Big Sur, the Sierras, etc. all the time. Which you really can't do unless you drive or someone else drives you.

Renting a car is actually very cheap once you turn 25. Renting a car on the weekends, every weekend is also cheaper than owning a car.

Sure. Subject to the other reasons you may want your own vehicle. But the discussion was about not having a driver's license. I fully agree that, for a lot of people, using some combination of rentals, Zipcar, and ride hail services makes a lot of sense.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#204

Post by dbaupp »

shafyy wrote: post #184
jorblumesea wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire idea is to be low cost, so when you start tacking on all these fees kinda defeats that purpose. At some point you will get to the point where it's the same cost to rent vs own.

It depends on how much you use it I guess. But the average person surely doesn't go out ice hiking every weekend.

And, most people can't: most places, only ~half the year will be cold enough to have snow/ice.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#205

Post by s0rce »

shafyy wrote: post #166
jorblumesea wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would never want to bring a rental car into a snow covered pass or an icy parking lot. Too much liability. Good suggestion, probably good for a day hike or otherwise.

Why not just get the insurance on top when renting to cap your liability?

Usually you can't put snow tires on a rental and you often can't get snow tires either.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#206

Post by ams6110 »

viral007 wrote: post #164
panda888888 wrote: post #103

It's part of the reason I haven't bought a car. I'm in my mid 20s and didn't get my license in high school because insurance would have been too expensive (my parents wanted me to pay for it). I think driving is a good life skill so I got my license in my early 20s, but I still have zero desire to own a car. That said, I live in Seattle, where there is good public transportation. Here are my numbers: Parking (I work…

+ Cost of car, a depreciating asset.

Buy used. Makes the bulk of the depreciation someone else's problem.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#207

Post by cozzyd »

bob_theslob646 wrote: post #142
fyfy18 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it’s only a kilometre why not walk? That’s 15 minutes for the average person.

Would you want to walk in below freezing weather?

Assuming you have proper gear, it's much nicer than walking in 100+ degree weather

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#208

Post by revelation »

geocar wrote: post #152
panda888888 wrote: post #103

It's part of the reason I haven't bought a car. I'm in my mid 20s and didn't get my license in high school because insurance would have been too expensive (my parents wanted me to pay for it). I think driving is a good life skill so I got my license in my early 20s, but I still have zero desire to own a car. That said, I live in Seattle, where there is good public transportation. Here are my numbers: Parking (I work…

Well, if you had a car, you might live further out, which lowers your cost on parking (near your house) and some of your other costs of living.

Think about how much money you could be making on the cost of living arbitrage if you commute 3 hours one way from nowhere to your high paid SF software job. But of course adding time to your daily commute, spent in a car particularly, is a great way to trade off a little bit of money gained from expenses pushed into externalities against general happiness.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#209

Post by s0rce »

nostrademons wrote: post #149
panda888888 wrote: post #103

It's part of the reason I haven't bought a car. I'm in my mid 20s and didn't get my license in high school because insurance would have been too expensive (my parents wanted me to pay for it). I think driving is a good life skill so I got my license in my early 20s, but I still have zero desire to own a car. That said, I live in Seattle, where there is good public transportation. Here are my numbers: Parking (I work…

Really shows how much subsidized parking can affect the equation. I've never had to pay for parking at my residence, and the only time I had to pay for parking was a 20-month stint working in downtown Boston. Cut those out and costs go down by $4500/year, over half. I spent about $25/month on gas (for most of my career, I've worked either 2 miles away from home or 20 feet away). Insurance has consistently been about…

Same here. Park on the street free outside my house and work pays for parking (East SF bay area), although I bike pretty much every day anyways. Basically $100/yr for insurance, car is old and crap so maybe $100 for depreciation now, amortizing the cost over the age (10 years) would be a bit more but that doesn't matter anymore, maybe $1000 for maintenance. Gas for trips. Cost is pretty similiar to yours.

Re: Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

#210

Post by s0rce »

revelation wrote: post #198
nostrademons wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really shows how much subsidized parking can affect the equation. I've never had to pay for parking at my residence, and the only time I had to pay for parking was a 20-month stint working in downtown Boston. Cut those out and costs go down by $4500/year, over half. I spent about $25/month on gas (for most of my career, I've worked either 2 miles away from home or 20 feet away). Insurance has consistently been about…

You're still paying >$5k? for something you apparently barely use at $25 gas per month. That is a lot of dollars to soothe anxiety.

25$/month, assuming 35mpg and $2.75/gallon, is 320mi/month, that's a lot of trips to the grocery store or a trip to go skiing/vacation for a weekend. Might not be cheaper than rentals but depending on your situation it can be much more convenient and not much more expensive.
Post reply on HN