Thinking of buying old Escalade

Drivers Vehicles
#1

Hi all,
I’m thinking about purchasing a 2005 Escalade that my friend is selling really cheap and is in excellent condition. I know the gas is terrible but I could do UBER XL with it. I would also use it to shlep around my spouses family who don’t have cars since we always have squeeze into our 5 passenger vehicles so I would get 2 uses out of it.

Does anyone drive those older Escalades, Yukon, suburban’s etc. and still come out on top considering the mileage?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!!

#2

Escalade is not the right investment for Uber XL. You would be losing money or making very little because mileage rate of XL is low compared to the gas mileage of escalade, which is around 15 - 18 for '06 models. UBER XL is meant for mostly van type of vehicles. Also, in most cities Uber allow vehicles that are ten years or newer. So, '06 model isn’t going to fly with them.

I used to drive '08 Yukon but I was doing UberBlack and UberSUV, the premium services with much higher mileage rate. I was making OK money doing it. The expenses pile up fast as everything related to these vehicles is expensive, such as licensing, insurance, maintenance, etc.

I would recommend buying a reasonably priced van with good gas mileage if you want to do UBER XL. Look for a car that is five to six years old. You will not only save money on the initial cost, but it will also save you tons of money in the long run.

#3

Not looking to spend newer car kind of money. My friend just happened to be selling his caddie so I figured, why not? My city allows 2003 cars or newer so I would get at least 1.5+ years of driving out of it. I would do mostly airport runs I think to get the most out of it. Even if I broken even doing XL and really only making UBER X kind of money, I would be fine with that. I also want this caddie because I want the space and something cool to drive. Mini vans aren’t exactly cool for a 27 year old. Hahahah. Insurance is only an extra $40-50/mon so it’s not too bad.

#4

Do you know what Uber pays per mile and minute in your city? Compare your per mile expenses with the fare per mile that you’d make. It would give you a rough estimate on what you can expect to make at the end of the day.

#5

Worst case scenario, it cost me 20 to 25 cents per mile. About 1 dollar cost for a 5 mile ride. $10-11 profit after gas. Seems worth it. And that’s just for UBERX, not XL :slight_smile:

1 Like
#6

I recently started driving for Lyft and Uber. I wanted to purchase a vehicle that could do the XL / Lyft Plus. I ended up getting a 2013 Town and Country. Here’s the important point. The Town & Country is rated for 17 miles per gallon City and 25 Highway. what I have found is that by driving it easy I can average over 25 for all my driving. if you do easy starts and drive slow when you’re not carrying passengers you could really increase your mileage and they are for profit even though you’re using a vehicle that might be considered more of a gas guzzler. You might want to consider a minivan instead. They hold more stuff in people. But if you buy that SUV from your friend you should be able to get a lot better mileage then you think if you drive it easy.