I went out for a drink with a buddy last night. I didn't want to drink and drive so I took Grab there and back. It's a very good experience and so much better than the taxis here. I got chatting with the drivers and they were telling me about driving for Grab.

Working full-time, you can earn around RM300 per day. Of that you have to give Grab 20%. That leaves RM240. Grab also pays out incentives of around RM120 per day depending on where you are etc. We are now at RM360 per day. Around RM60 of that goes to petrol so we are left with RM300. That's not bad for a days work but it does require you to work very long hours. One of the drivers had been working since 6am and was dropping me off around 9pm.

Despite the long hours, you can earn money 'Grabbing'. If you work 20 days a month, you can make RM6k. Not bad.

I also asked them about the mileage they are doing. The driver who dropped me off was doing it full-time. He wasn't sure but he thought he was doing between 8k - 10k km per month. At that rate he'll be doing 100k km per year. Suddenly my eyes were wide open. The normal life expectancy of a car is around 200k km. Perhaps you could maintain it very well and drag it to 300k km but that's still only 3 years of full-time Grab.

If you had to replace your car every 3 years at almost a total loss (who is going to buy a car with 300k km on it?), you are making way less than you think. Based on a Nissan Almera which seems like a popular car for Grab drivers, that's around RM70k for 3 years or around RM2k per month for the car.

If we add in maintenance, insurance, tolls etc, we aren't getting much change from RM3.5k.

Let's look at the working hours again. 20 14 hour days in a month is 280 hours per month. Divide that by 8 hour days and you get 35. To make RM3.5k per month, Grab drivers are working the equivalent of 35 days per month in a 'normal' job.

It's still great money for someone who doesn't have much education and it's a great route to earn for those who are willing to put in the hours but it's definitely not as lucrative as the initial figures suggest.

Agreed.

very interesting analysis. I likey.

I see many ppl doing grab n uber using new cars at my office area (bukit bintang). Always see ppl going in and getting out from the back seats

Just wondering whether they can cover installment, petrol and maintenance if do full time

good analysis indeed

i knew many driver Grab/uber even taxi limo who hav better job before. some working with MNC / banking sector with up 6 figures income. some been retrenched /VSS also surprisingly just quite the normal job for looking less stress job

if got some driver afford to pay rm400/week rent a myvi to do grab/uber... then normal montly installment just too little

Simple....do grab with a cheaper car like Axia or Bezza.

Or buy used.

This post has been edited by dares: Apr 18 2017, 01:59 PM

most of the new cars are owned by fleet. almera cost almost 1k+ to rent a month. bezza cheaper abit. cheapest is myvi

Do grab premium maths, more interesting.

Not to mention the more hours you on the road the higher probability of you meet in an accident, and accidents cost money out from your pockets too.
Driving long hours (8 hours and above) is not an easy task as well (try driving from Hatyai to Johor in a day), you will definitely feel the fatigue on your body at the end of the day when you step out from the car, not too sure hows that going to do to your health on the long run.

I did Grab/Uber for a month (part time) and I really can't add up the math to convince myself ( maybe because of part time i can't really get the incentive..... )

Car still can drag till 6 to 7 years

My companies' Avanza and vans are clocking in 500K and still going. Until one of our vans burned down

A little bit more Grab maths for you.

RM3,500 ÷ 280 hours = RM12.50 per hour

Oh someone did the math for me.

That's what I've been saying when Uber just came to Malaysia and I joined

Here my maintenance log for 230000km axia manual. The maintenance cost including tyre cost was RM0.03 or 3cent per km.
Part cost RM5306 + Labour RM1432 = RM6738

Means if they drive 8k-10km permonth need to keep aside rm250-rm300 per month for car maintenance if they use axia.

*not including insurance, accident, perfume, sunshade, car charger, coil mat.



This post has been edited by Effy92: Apr 20 2017, 07:50 AM

who gave you that figure?

im interested at you bulb replacement interval, im seeing it as too often? no?

The stock bulb which is osram bilux is the longest lifetime so far. Then i tried the expensive philips extreme vision, last me about 20k km or 2 month mix day and night driving. The lifetime same as mr diy bulb only. Also the fake 100watt philips out of focus at lowbeam. Now im on osram nightbreaker unlimited, not sure how long can last. Let see.

All cars are going to differ in how long they last depending on a number of factors but the average is somewhere in that range.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/12040753/ns/busi...ectancy-my-car/

U live in Malaysia and u quote me with some NBC news?



I seriously don't understand you guy's hostility toward grab and uber