Uber Strikes Deal To Lower The Cost Of Car Ownership For Drivers
1–10 of 17 posts
Re: Uber Strikes Deal To Lower The Cost Of Car Ownership For Drivers
#2When it includes Palm Springs I'll apply.
Re: Uber Strikes Deal To Lower The Cost Of Car Ownership For Drivers
#3Great! Let's encourage drivers who can't afford a car to take out (in effect) a huge loan on an expensive car that they couldn't otherwise obtain, then make their more-affordable repayments conditional on working as a reduced-rights contractor for us. So this is basically indentured service then?
Re: Uber Strikes Deal To Lower The Cost Of Car Ownership For Drivers
#4"Kalanick said drivers could expect to save anywhere from $100 to $200 on monthly payments, depending on the make and model of the car they’re buying."
I'm not from the US, so don't have an idea of car ownership costs, but is this that big a deal?
Re: Uber Strikes Deal To Lower The Cost Of Car Ownership For Drivers
#5"Kalanick said drivers could expect to save anywhere from $100 to $200 on monthly payments, depending on the make and model of the car they’re buying." I'm not from the US, so don't have an idea of car ownership costs, but is this that big a deal?
It's a little difficult to say for sure, there's not enough information in the article to judge (e.g. No info on lease length) Since it is in effect a structured loan, any advantage is better expressed in terms of interest rate improvements over a non-Uber lease.
Re: Uber Strikes Deal To Lower The Cost Of Car Ownership For Drivers
#6Great! Let's encourage drivers who can't afford a car to take out (in effect) a huge loan on an expensive car that they couldn't otherwise obtain, then make their more-affordable repayments conditional on working as a reduced-rights contractor for us. So this is basically indentured service then?
I think we've already seen something like this in practice. One missing piece: let's make money by betting that these drivers won't be able to pay the loans.
Re: Uber Strikes Deal To Lower The Cost Of Car Ownership For Drivers
#7Great! Let's encourage drivers who can't afford a car to take out (in effect) a huge loan on an expensive car that they couldn't otherwise obtain, then make their more-affordable repayments conditional on working as a reduced-rights contractor for us. So this is basically indentured service then?
How is this different from a loan to start any business?
Re: Uber Strikes Deal To Lower The Cost Of Car Ownership For Drivers
#8Great! Let's encourage drivers who can't afford a car to take out (in effect) a huge loan on an expensive car that they couldn't otherwise obtain, then make their more-affordable repayments conditional on working as a reduced-rights contractor for us. So this is basically indentured service then?
How is this different from a loan to start any business?
Um, in many many ways. It's probably easier to compare it to something similar, e.g. An ordinary car lease. Here, you have all the advantages/disadvantages of a leasing agreement, but you're now tied to work as a contractor to Uber, who have no obligations to you. No guarantee of work, no certainty of income, few benefits. Meanwhile, should you stop working for them or if business is not good, suddenly you are on the hook for a lease that you can no longer afford.
Re: Uber Strikes Deal To Lower The Cost Of Car Ownership For Drivers
#9Sounds a lot like Share-Cropping.
Re: Uber Strikes Deal To Lower The Cost Of Car Ownership For Drivers
#10Great! Let's encourage drivers who can't afford a car to take out (in effect) a huge loan on an expensive car that they couldn't otherwise obtain, then make their more-affordable repayments conditional on working as a reduced-rights contractor for us. So this is basically indentured service then?
I think we've already seen something like this in practice. One missing piece: let's make money by betting that these drivers won't be able to pay the loans.
The difference between this and a mortgage for a house is that the value of the collateral will decrease over time, even in the best case.