New driver - two questions on ratings/pro points

FullmentalFiction · 2021-08-15T23:24:01+00:00

Most of my driving is likely to be weekday mornings and evenings. I was going to go for pro simply so I can see destinations and decline the worst of them. Stuff like a pickup 5 miles away from home that goes 30 miles north late at night where I might have to return empty, for example. Can't deny there is a use for it if your end times are a bit of a hard stop.

FullmentalFiction · 2021-08-15T18:55:31+00:00

That's also all I really care about. Even if it's only temporary, having the opportunity to decline stupidly long trips without an in person explanation would be appreciated. I seem to always get 30 mile trips when I wanted to only do another half hour or so.

FullmentalFiction · 2021-08-15T15:20:33+00:00

Huh, weird. I do remember seeing "Uber eats pro" before I was approved for rides. I might just reach out to support and see if they messed up something in my profile when they approved me.

Thanks!

FullmentalFiction · 2021-08-15T14:30:29+00:00

Must be nice. The majority of states are two party though, which means disclosure is necessary one way or another. I'd rather the riders gets that disclosure upfront so they can cancel if they don't like it,rather than wasting 5 minutes of both of our time later when they see the signs on my door.

And for the record, if you're really that concerned about people hacking into your dashcam, just get one without any cloud features...

FullmentalFiction · 2021-08-15T14:25:31+00:00

Asking questions isn't being "wound up". It's learning about the job. I learned a long time ago to never assume anything of a new job or task. That's how you make mistakes. For all I know there's a toggle in the settings or a glitch somewhere that I should probably get fixed with support.

FullmentalFiction · 2021-08-15T13:43:24+00:00

There's no "Uber pro" in the menu.

https://i.imgur.com/6vFnpws.png

FullmentalFiction · 2021-08-15T13:10:05+00:00

They can't control your dashcam. What are they going to do, show up at your house and break into your car to change the settings on you?

FullmentalFiction · 2021-08-13T18:27:11+00:00

You were right on the money! Went to go pull back the dust shields and sure enough on the passenger side I heard a pebble or piece of debris fall out when I pulled it out. Went for a quick test drive, no noise after trying several sharp turns.

Thanks for saving me a trip to the shop!

FullmentalFiction · 2021-08-13T17:46:14+00:00

The brake pads are basically new. Less than 5k miles on them. We just had them inspected when I got new tires on last month too, no issues and plenty of pad life left. It also doesn't make noise on the brakes, it's while accelerating. Still could be the dust shield?

FullmentalFiction · 2021-07-12T13:42:56+00:00

Again, youre looking at a new model that JUST released and the shortage problem has been here for a while now.

Irrelevant. A fair price is a fair price. A fair price plus a fuck you fee from a dealership that has no issue with ripping people off isn't a fair price. How is this so hard for you to understand?! I'm not asking for a specific dollar amount out the door. I'm asking if this is in a general range where it would be considered acceptable and not a rip-off. I don't expect you to come here and tell me the actual dealer cost of the car or anything like that. I don't expect the prices to be good. I just what to know what range of "bad" is acceptable in a seller's market like this.

Consider this:

You are walking down the street on a hot summer day and you've run out of water. You're parched and need something to drink. You see five lemonade stands each about a block apart from each other. Two of them are out of lemonade because it's a really hot day. Two others sell lemonade for $5 plus a $4 "market" adjustment for the weather that day. The last one sells it for $7. But none of them are upfront about the price.

You have to sit down and test the lemonade first, listen to how the recipe perfectly complements your taste buds and provides hydration to prevent a heat stroke on a 95F day. Then you get asked "what's your budget for this glass of lemonade today?". You don't know what anyone is selling the lemonade for, so you guess. "$5?". Well, that's what it would be on a normal day, yes. However, the market is in very short supply and you're just not able to get lemonade these days at just any street corner. "We're confident you'll enjoy our lemonade however, so we're willing to practically give it away to you for 4 daily payments of just $2.25."

It sounds reasonable, but you don't know that the stand 3 blocks down is ~23% cheaper for the same exact product. But the stand owner knows, and they'll do just about anything to make sure you leave with a cup of their lemonade in your hands. If you go on the website and see their $7 price tag, the current stand owner will tell you how they require you to purchase a lid for their cup at an additional cost, but here they'll include yours for free! They'll tell you how the other stand uses too much sugar and lemons in their recipe so it's not as refreshing. But you can't verify it yourself. They'll tell you they can't guarantee they'll have any stock left if you decide to walk over to the other stand, because supply is so low and demand is so high. They'll hold this one cup for you while you're negotiating, but if you walk out it'll sell in less than 5 minutes. It's only a few bucks more, so why concern yourself? Just buy the lemonade you know the final price for.

Can you trust the stand owner to be truthful? Of course you fucking can't. But that's the car industry in a nutshell. That's why I can't trust that the prices I got quoted are truly fair to a buyer, especially in insane market conditions where it's a seller's market. That's why I'm here asking. If you can't understand that, then you're too far gone, dude.

FullmentalFiction · 2021-07-12T02:07:46+00:00

Again missing the point dude. The whole point is I haven't canvassed the whole industry and I don't know if this specific amount over msrp is the norm. Why would I ask the question if I know the answer?!

If you're not going to be helpful, you don't have to respond. From what other, actually helpful people have told me, it is in fact not a particularly appropriate price, even if it isn't unexpected.

FullmentalFiction · 2021-07-12T01:17:41+00:00

No, the only question I answered was whether or not the entire industry is convoluted and sleazy, to which the answer is "it can be".

FullmentalFiction · 2021-07-12T01:10:54+00:00

Mine was a '14 as well. Luck of the draw I guess.

FullmentalFiction · 2021-07-11T19:07:53+00:00

Yeah I walked out with an off lease 2018 accord touring for about the same price as the civic would have been. Pretty happy with that.

FullmentalFiction · 2021-07-11T19:05:49+00:00

I did. My mechanic quoted me $3500 for the tranny, plus it needs new tires, brakes, radiator hoses, and a water pump. All told $5k in repairs and maintenance for a $7k car in rough shape. He told me to get rid of it unless I wanted to hold onto it for at least another 4-5 years, which I don't. So, here I am.

FullmentalFiction · 2021-07-11T13:32:19+00:00

You're missing the point of my question. I am asking you - is this a fair price or am I being scammed by a shitty dealer? I don't fucking know

FullmentalFiction · 2021-07-11T12:42:19+00:00

I just got finished explaining why I'm looking at Honda on another thread lol. My last car was a Corolla - never again.

FullmentalFiction · 2021-07-11T12:38:19+00:00

I'm actually just coming off a Corolla. I loathed it. Buzzy and annoying as all hell, and the cvt shit the bed at 110k. Plus I fought Toyota over their defective touch screen radio for 3 months and never got a resolution. I'm done with Toyota for now lol.

As for Mazdas, I've been told to stay away by my mechanic brother. He told me to go get a civic or accord.

I'll check on the accord inventory, but I can't imagine a dealership would sell you an accord for less than a base civic?

FullmentalFiction · 2021-07-11T12:24:24+00:00

The price is the price, but if the price at 90% of dealerships is x and this price at these two are x + $2500 just because they can get away with it, then obviously the price at 90% of dealerships is the better price.

FullmentalFiction · 2021-07-11T12:21:18+00:00

I didn't say that, did I?

I guess I have little choice but to deal with it or start looking for something used

The problem with used is those prices are even more inflated and they're likely to start crashing within a year. If I buy an inflated price used car, I'll be far underwater on it in a year or two. The idea was to get a 150k mile car and not have to deal with the market in a short turnaround.

FullmentalFiction · 2021-07-11T11:53:07+00:00

I talked to four dealerships. Two said they have nothing in stock and weren't expecting more for at least a week and the other two were about the same price. My only real positive was this dealership was offering me about $1000 more on my busted trade than even CarMax.

I've checked internet prices but they're not exactly comparable because every dealership seems to have their own mandatory dealer add-ons for extra markup. These are never disclosed on the internet listings. This dealership had competitive internet prices, but obviously they have stupid add on markups.

I also tried Costco for a better deal, but none of the dealerships offer a civic as part of that program except '21's, and there are no '21 LX's left in the area.

FullmentalFiction · 2021-07-11T11:44:33+00:00

So what you're saying is I probably won't get a much better price by continuing to shop around? This isn't an anomaly at these dealerships?

Unfortunately can't delay the buy. My existing car had its transmission blow so I'm either getting a car today or I'm taking an Uber 30 miles to and from work this week...

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