Scotty, I’m looking to buy a used Corolla or Civic to use as a commuter car. I came across a 2018 Corolla LE with over 150K miles on it. Previous owner drove the car for Uber full time. Does this matter? Should I look for cars that have not driven for Uber?
I have watched your channel for months and this is my first time sending in a question. Thank you so much!
Assuming everything checks out.
If the Uber driver did mostly city driving, I would pass.
If the Uber driver did mostly highway/freeway driving, I'd be more interested. Highway/Freeway mileage is about 20% of city mileage.
If it was a mix of both, I'd be 50/50.
Have a mechanic check it out. If you find signs that it is highway miles and the mechanic says there is a lot of life left in it, it could be interesting. Either way you would use the miles as a way to bring the price down. Maybe if it was highway miles you could be only dealing with 30 40k miles of wear, but get the price discount of 150k miles. Maybe the owner consider the Uber car as like a work car and took great care of it and decided to move on. Maybe he wrecked the heck out of it and is getting rid of it.
I don’t like the sound of a 3 yr old car having run 150,000 miles, which I’m presuming are mostly within the city.
I’d pass on this, unless you get it for peanuts because let’s face it, 150,000 miles is ‘high mileage’ no matter where & how it was driven. Who knows what’s wrong with the car & the reason for the sale.
Just find a regular Corolla/Civic which has seen normal use.
As with ANY used car, have it thoroughly inspected by a reputed mechanic, before you buy it.
The answer always depends on the price.
Being an Uber car, the miles will be mostly city driving. But so are most other vehicles. Ultimately it comes down to how well the owner took care of the vehicle. Will he provide the service history? If I were driving for a living, I would keep meticulous records. If he can't provide them, then the car was probably neglected, or he is hiding something, or both. If there are no records, then the price would have to be uber low. 😆 I definitely wouldn't touch this one without an inspection.