First time I've ever bought a car in my life purely as an appliance, specifically, a work vehicle. As I've written here before, I drive for Uber part time since '21, (was a great post-pandemic gig), and have worn out my Jetta Tdi using it for the job. I also wanted a newer car that qualifies as a "comfort" car on the Uber platform, they have a list of newer vehicles with legroom that get a slightly higher rate from riders.
While renting cars from Hertz that were comfort cars, I realized that business was a lot better in slower times with those cars. A lot of people choose the option for a slightly higher price and there is less competition since ~90% of the cars working most times are regular Uber X cars. Comfort cars still get Uber X requests but not the other way around. Possibly better healed riders and better tips as well but that's just from limited data on my part.
Of the cars I rented, a clear and surprising winner emerged, especially when price to purchase was factored in. The latest version of the Chevy Malibu. Is it as good as a Camry or Accord? Maybe not but I really liked it for what it was and in an apples/apples comparison for used cars, (year/miles/equipment), it's something like $5k less.
I bought this 2022 Malibu LT w/ 31k miles and a little factory warranty left for $17k from Hertz car sales. The cars they sell are regular rental cars, (not the Uber rentals which are absolutely trashed by the end), and it was the nicest one I found in their stock. Had to drive down to San Diego to get it and I'm a happy camper! It has a great spec with no sunroof, cloth interior and most of the lux features I wanted like Apple CarPlay, heated seats, dual climate control, etc. It also has the 19" wheels which look good, ride is smooth but I'm watching for potholes for sure. I got an alignment and 4 new tires immediately and it drives great, IMO.
All of the cars in this class, (Accord/Camry/etc.), have 1.5 turbo engines and CVT transmissions now. It's incredibly quiet and smooth, performance is decent but mostly I just glide in it. Totally satisfied so far and I think it's kind of a looker. "See the USA in your Chevrolet!"
