Uber - Ford Mondeo 1.6 TDCi MK4 (2013)

[GrantD5]

So, first things first, I still have my trusty Volvo S60 D5, it's just going to be driven by my Mum and I will still get a few bits sorted on that and update that thread, I can't let that car go just yet.

Just over a year ago I got hold of a 1.6 tdci Ford Mondeo estate as a replacement for my BMW X1 after it was involved in a crash and I wasn't most happy with the repair. Anyhow I got the car and landed a job where I was doing around 100 miles round trip a day, so that's where I came in with the Passat and let my Mum drive the Mondeo as she was doing a fair amount less miles that I was, so I shedded around in the Passat and enjoyed it. That job lasted around 4 weeks and I returned to Nissan parts, then swapped my car with a friend and I landed with a MK4 golf gti. The list was too long to sort for a car that really wasn't worth the hassle and that's how I ended up with the Volvo, and I love the car.

Moving on, I need some extra money so considering I'm based in London, I'm going to do some Uber'ing. I have been doing a fair amount of research and spoken to a few friends who do the same and some chauffeuring they have persuaded me to get involved. This is where the Mondeo comes in perfect, it's pretty eco, spacious and just works. I can get parts cheap and will pay pennies for labour in the great scheme of things.

My CRB is currently being processed, my medical is on Monday and I will be sending off for my PCO licence following those 2 being complete.

Only photo of said car... Zetec Business Edition, cloth seats but has air con, cruise control , sat nav, DAB heated windscreen etc.



I will get some more photos shortly.

It had a full service using Ford parts a few months ago here at my work before my Mum took it for a drive up to Sunderland.

Now it's coming back in to my hands I have ordered a Gates cambelt kit including waterpump and I am probably also ordering a clutch kit.

I will be having a dash cam installed for Insurance purposes (Private Hire insurance is not cheap!) & changing the seats to half leather half alcantara. The car will be valeted before getting it on the road and I plan to keep a little diary here for the maintenance I seem to come across. More photos and couple of updates in the next couple of weeks before I hit the road.

Disclaimer - If you don't agree with Uber becuase you are a glorified Black Cabbie, don't let your problem become my problem I really don't want to hear it.

[GrantD5]

Jbeale96 said:

Looking forward to reading this as it progresses. I considered doing Uber in the past but my car isn't on the list and I haven't been driving long enough. I like the idea of being able to go for a drive and get paid for it when I have nothing else to do - a Friday night for example

My aim is to religiously work Thursday / Friday / Saturday nights. I will also be testing different times of the day to see what works for me and where the money is. Don't fancy plodding around midday during the week when it's probably not the busiest it can be.

pixelatedJH said:

+1 - Looking forward to the updates, always thought it'd be quite fun to waft around London and get paid to do so. Just a shame that the insurance cost means you can't really do it once in a blue moon.

I did consider doing it part time, but as you said insurance prices make that near on impossible to do so. I'm still on the hunt for cheaper insurance where possible.

BlueHave said:

Cloth seats in a taxi is never a good idea, get a few tins of Scotchgard Auto and spray them or you will be forever scrubbing dirt and or sick out of them

I know a few taxi driver and they say it's brilliant

Edited by BlueHave on Sunday 30th July 00:48

I plan on putting something similar on the seats anyhow to try and protect them. Will be carrying a few cleaning items in the car in case of sick happenings. But I will cover a post to show what I will be carrying in the car..

dme123 said:

That's an extremely large and heavy car (especially 4/5 up with luggage) for that little engine to pull around. Probably efficient while up to speed but is it tragically thirsty and slow around town?

Well hopefully I won't be carrying 4/5 people with luggage around town then, hopefully they need to go on a motorway to an airport destination. IT won;t be ideal but the majority of the jobs will not be airport pick ups. People queue up for an hour or 2 to get an airport job and that's not my ideal way to waste time.

itcaptainslow said:

Good luck with the Uber work. A top tip-those engines when I worked at Citroen were an absolute nightmare for what we termed "engine cholesterol"-the oil ways and turbo feed were small and prone to blocking up with carbon, especially when the injectors leaked (common-if they start leaking, rectify it immediately or they'll weld themselves to the cylinder head!) or when they weren't serviced scrupulously. This really is an engine that's worth doing 6k oil services on, especially with the use you'll be giving it.

Mondeo's are a properly comfy car though and drive surprisingly well for such a large, heavy vehicle!

Yeah it will be serviced regularly, I have heard the injectors on these seem to be an issue, what seems to be a give away that they are starting to fail? I think the car drives pretty well too for a plotting around car.

[GrantD5]

itcaptainslow said:

The injector seals leak allowing combustion gases up past the injector, which collect as rock hard carbon deposits. You'll see this tar like substance, plus hear a chuffing noise & smell diesel fumes under the bonnet and through the heaters. Don't delay in sorting it, as it's hazardous to health and left unchecked will eventually ruin the engine and/or turbo.

I will have a nose around then when getting the cambelt done. I have a noise when releasing the clutch or sitting on the biting point usually reversing up something. Possible release bearing. Need this sorting to, drives fine can just hear the noise but not ideal.

Jbeale96 said:

I reckon that early-ish weekday mornings (6-9am) would be a good one too. Especially Mondays when people aren't so lively in the morning and may miss trains etc. and will have to rely on an Uber.

Also Friday mornings as certainly in my office if not most others, the majority of nights out are on Thursdays and people are often feeling a little too delicate to drive in on Friday morning!

Yeah I will be giving some of the early starts a go also, see how they fair out too, you have the right idea haha

[GrantD5]

bungz said:

These the 1.6 PSA lump?

As mentioned service every 6K with decent oil, if it has some miles on already I would check the gauze in the turbo feed pipe and the sump pick up but depends how far you want to go with preventative stuff.

Good engines but you have to baby them.

I believe its in the mid 40's at the moment but I haven't drove it in months so not hundred percent sure but servicing will be kept on top of, especially being a workhorse.

joshcowin said:

Interested to see how you get on with the Uber experience! Keep us posted

I'll be doing a few blog posts along the way so I will keep links updated in this thread and keep up with general gossip and supply any interesting dash cam footage i pick up

[GrantD5]

Just to keep people updated, the process is moving on. Medical was all passed, CRB has gone through all clear and I have my Topographical test on September 1st.

I borrowed the car for the weekend and the car has just ticked over 47K and the cambelt is being done in the next couple of weeks so a 50k interval is pretty reasonable.

Hopefully some real updates soon.

[GrantD5]

joshcowin said:

This takes a while!

Do uber guide you through this?
What have they been like to deal with so far?

Uber guide you through each step of the way with appointments and booklets and a personal assistant whos a text away.

To be honest, they haven't had to do much for me, but if you need help with filling in forms, renting a car, help for the topographical map reading test etc etc then they can be very helpful.

It also appears over the last few weeks they have started to improve Uber on behalf of the driver, so for instance in app tipping, customers being charged for booking cancellation if driver has been on the way for a certain amount of time etc etc.

I will hopefully get my first blog post up with in the next couple of weeks to start explaining what I've had to do so far, costs and time it has taken. Also what prep I have taken car accessory wise and so on.

Nunga said:

Looking forward to seeing how you get on with the Uber caper!

Me too, feels like its taking forever but in reality its been 6 weeks!

xjay1337 said:

Keep us updated!

Wouldn't have it any other way!

BlueHave said:

Could always go for the old school option... clingfilm

If it's not broke don't fix it. Unless you have a car in readers rides on PH.

[GrantD5]

whytheory said:

Also interested to hear how you get on!

I hadn't realised they now permitted estate cars at Uber

Luckily for me they do, hence making use of the wagon!

pixelatedJH said:

They don't like my Fabia Estate

If anyone's wondering what cars they'll let you drive with: https://www.uber.com/en-GB/drive/london/vehicle-re...

Try contact them, you never know! They accept a BMW X1 which I have previously owned and it's pretty much a 1 series with a big body, soon became to small for me and the family.

whytheory said:

Good to know they'll accept a 2008 or newer Rover 75

I will imagine the list will be updated soon as the new reg comes out it will start knocking some cars off the list etc. I believe it's 9 years old the car can be until it has to come off the road.

Been working on the little website I have put together, just not entirely sure what angle to take totally although it will be mainly for blogging.

[GrantD5]

Got my email on Thursday to confirm I passed my topographical test which is pretty much the last stage before the fun begins.

I now have to wait for TFL to send out my PCO licence, finish getting the car prepped, book an onboarding session at Uber to learn the apps and confirm the rules etc.

Updates can finally start.

[GrantD5]

croyde said:

Uber drivers take a map test? Thought they relied on Sat Nav.

Not taking the pee as I may give this a try as my age starts making my current work my difficult.

What kind of test?

Used to courier and drove a minicab in the 80s. Then it was very good money especially if you knew London by heart.

Correct. All well and good relying on the sat nav but what happens if your Sat Nav is out of action for some reason? They want drivers to be able to read a map to get yourself navigated.

treetops said:

Do UBER drivers actually make a living these days. London cars are working in Sheffield and other cities nowadays due to saturation. Many drivers sleeping in their car as well. Sounds grim.

I know a few people doing Uber in London and earn over double what I earn at the moment after Uber fees. I can assure you I will not be sleeping in the car also. No doubt there are some people out there doing so but that will not be me. I will be pushing a couple of other incomes also alongside with the new flexibility of my time too.

I will mainly work nights, especially weekends and go home to my family. I'm based in the city to so there's no driving 1 hour in to London to get some jobs. I'm a 5 minute driver from Kings Cross / Shoreditch. 2 minutes from Old Street. 10 minutes from Liverpool Street etc.

[GrantD5]

croyde said:

Just had a quick look at their site and now realise that you can only be licenced for certain areas.

Puts paid to my idea of mainly working in London but also covering my home area in Surrey.

Did think that once you were an Uber driver you could work where ever you fancied.

So the topographical test is just map reading. That's OK. I couriered and minicabbed in the 80s. The only way you made good money was by having an encyclopedic knowledge of London and a well thumbed AtoZ of every major town in the UK.

You could always confirm with TFL where you are allowed to work etc. For me I will only really be covering London so..

lost in espace said:

It just occurred to me that the wife has a Nissan Leaf we own so I can do all the miles I wasn, I live just outside north London, and I am looking for part time work to fill the days and evenings between my other business.

£394 to get a licence. How about insurance, how does that work?

You will need insurance that covers you for private hire, it costs more than your personal insurance but depending on the car / area etc as always will determine your expenditure. You also wouldn't be able to carry over your no claims.

treetops said:

What does a full time, hardworking Uber driver take home after tax and costs in London? £25k?

Depends what you class as hard working I guess. I'm in a whats app group chat with Uber & chauffeur drivers and a number of the uber drivers take home around £1000 a week working 5 nights.

I currently earn slightly less than £25k a year at this moment in time..

I'm currently in the motor trade so will get parts discounted and mates rates labour which will help towards vehicle running costs..

Mr Tidy said:

Not much for sure - but the option of a proper job always exists!

BTW is there such a thing as a full-time hardworking Uber driver?

No, there is no such thing.

[GrantD5]

Hi guys.

^ Thanks for the 'concern'. Currently the loss of licence is in appeal. Uber has appointed a new CEO over in America by the name of Dara Khosrowshahi and he was over in the UK having a meeting with TFL and Sadiq Khan. London's Uber manager is supposedly continuing said meetings to come to arrangements of what needs to be corrected and I will imagine ££££.

Anyhow, I am well underway with Uber now, in fact I am going out work in a short while.

I'm still yet to get the cambelt put on but that's being organised along with a new clutch and DMF. This was an issue when I got the car last year that has got worse, hoping to get the parts bought pay day next week. Not ideal but it's a must. Will go into more detail later when the work is carried out.

The car had a new MOT ready for it's vehicle inspection at TFL and passed fine.

I worked Thursday - Sunday last week and cleared £700 & plus I have my £300 bonus from Uber coming for the sign up incentive. I will have blog posts covering in the next couple days but here are a couple of blog posts for now.

https://www.ubergmd.com/blog/uber-sign-up-london

https://www.ubergmd.com/blog/preparing-your-car-fo...

[GrantD5]

whytheory said:

Read those posts with interest, fair enough not wanting to divulge the cost of insurance but would you be willing to say roughly how many times your previous personal insurance it is?

It's inbetween the 2-3 times mark but again I do believe this will differ, this 50/50 crash has not helped me in any form.

GEFAFWISP said:

Very interesting read, thank you for sharing! I've bookmarked the blog and look forward to more.

As a side note, the blog itself looks very good and well written - if Ubering doesn't work out I'm sure you could find work as a journo

Ha I would like to think so!

Anyhow here's another link to another blog post.

A quick summary of my first day.

https://www.ubergmd.com/blog/my-first-day

I will post the link to my first week in a couple of days.

In other news...

The car required a new clutch / cylinder / DMF. This was on the cards anyway just wished it never came so soon. Think the original owner liked to rest the foot on the clutch.

I will start creating a list of maintenance costs and return soon.

[GrantD5]

Rowley92 said:

As above thanks for sharing, It's interesting to see uber from a drivers perspective! Quick question - obviously you get a star rating but does the customer? I've heard they are also rated but I can't see anything with regards to a score on my app.

No problem at all!

Drivers have to rate each customer as soon as the trip is complete. I pretty much give 5 stars unless customer is rude or smelly ha.

If you open up your passenger app, top left there will be a menu button (3 lines) , you should have your name at the top and your star rating just below.

bungz said:

Good little blog there, quite interesting.

Thanks!

Cliff J said:

I had a 2.0L Mk4 Mondeo estate in basic Edge trim, it was a leased company car, I had it from new.
I loved it so much, the car looked good, drove well, was comfortable and unbelievably roomy inside.
For the basic version it was also well equipped.
In the 100k miles I had the Mondeo for, it needed a new clutch, plus a dual mass flywheel, but the biggest failure was the cambelt went at 70mph, outside lane on the M40, with only 80k on the clock.
Ford say the cambelt is due at 120k, so 80k was way off. It needed a full engine rebuild, paid for by the lease company.
I personally would have had Ford replace it for Free, but it wasn’t my argument.
Aside from that, i’d own another without hesitation.
Btw, my dad’s a London green badge Black cab driver, the Uber thing just gives him something different to moan about lol

Ha I have my cambelt kit ready to go on, would of been on by now but had to do the clutch. I'm pretty annoyed, the new clutch / dmf has cured the screeching from pull away but its still knocking so I'm not sure.

You would be pushed to get a clutch under warranty especially at 80k! They will knock it down to wear and tear and try to get away with it.

Some black taxi drivers are fine in London, some won't give way ever, some will just obnoxiously cut you up, some will lay on the horn just because you changed lanes in front of them (not dangerously either). They need to build a bridge imo.

Anyway, a new blog post. A summary of my first week.

https://www.ubergmd.com/blog/my-first-week

[GrantD5]

Jimmy Recard said:

Interesting that the Vauxhall Astra isn't listed as an approved car - my last Uber was a couple of weeks ago and it was an Astra

This is why I mentioned previously to anyone whos car is not listed to maybe contact Uber and see. I think it's a pretty dated list and could do with updating.

[GrantD5]

Hey guys,

Just checking in.

My Macbook pretty much died out on me and I have just bought a replacement mac from a friend of mine.

So I have been racking up the miles, by the end of this week I will easily pass the 56,000 mile mark, I took the car back on 48,500.

I have to admit I am pushing my luck now and my cambelt is still not fitted, it's a must before the christmas period arrives too.

- Clutch & DMF - 49,000 miles - £650.00 - (supplied & fitted at my previous work location)
- 2 x Tyres - £144.00 - (supplied & fitted at a local garage)
- Tracking - £80.00 - (local garage)
- Oil & Filter & Air Filter Change - 54,000 - £25.48 - (bought from Euro Car Parts, fitted for free at work and free oil )

I need to turn this in to an excel sheet really but now I have computer access again I will hopefully free up some time to get it sorted.

I am paying £120.00 for cambelt fitting. I now have a chip on my windscreen, need to get that booked in also, nightmare as the Mondeo has a heated screen so not sure if this will be effected long term if it gets worse etc.

I will now finally get around to updating my blog site too as I also had to step back from that due to no comp.

[GrantD5]

- 2 x Tyres - £144.00 - (supplied & fitted at a local garage)
- Oil & Filter & Air Filter Change - 54,000 - £25.48 - (bought from Euro Car Parts, fitted for free at work and free oil tongue out)
- Rear wiper - £9.00

Ticked over 60,000 this week, December has been pretty busy.

Beginning of the Jan the car is going for a 60k service, cambelt, brake fluid and wipers.

I have taken down the blog site now as I just couldn't be bothered to continue writing posts in my free time. But that doesn't change the fact that I am still happy working with Uber despite the negative press that comes with it.

It is expected for January & February will be quiet, time will tell.

[GrantD5]

Still plodding along although a slight plot twist.

Thursday evening I was rear ended by a VW Transporter.

[GrantD5]

MJK 24 said:

Why did the Mercedes stop? It looks to me like you didn't hit them?

vrtrooper said:

Same here. Did you hit the Mercedes and what about the van that hit you, did they stop?

So the guy in the Mercedes was my 'passenger' from a job at Heathrow although luckily I was only carrying luggage for the customer.

Customer heard a loud bang and saw that I was pretty close to the car, remember these lenses are wide angle so make it look like there is far more room and cars always look closer in rear view mirror although I know he would have felt the knock.

He soon came over to check that I was ok and we pulled over.

The guy in the van stopped and he also pulled over, we exchanged details, my insurance have spoken to him and he has admitted fault and is going through the process.

I have been given a 67 plate C Class 220CD for now. Although it's a nice car its not big enough for me being used to an estate, certainly would need an E class. But it will have to do for now.

[GrantD5]

So I got the car back Saturday morning.

Had it at the TFL NSL Inspection Centre Monday morning and got caught in the M25 traffic, lovely.

Few photos I took outside after I received my pass for accident repair on the car.













Since the accident I have been in and out of a few cars.

2017 Mercedes C-Class 220d - Very nice to look at externally and internally, far to small in the cabin especially for me being 6"6' and I struggled to fit 2 average to large run of the mill suit cases in the boot. Due to this I asked them to change this to a larger car, which the did. I only stayed with the C Class for a couple of days..

2017 Mercedes E-Class 220d - Again very nice to look at, bit roomier in side for the driver, slightly more basic layout for the entertainment system screen etc. I loved the interior lighting and capability of changing the colour. The catch on this car which they warned me about was the AMG trim seats. Unless you are a stick thin sub 6 foot guy / woman you are going the struggle, the seats were so narrow to sit in I just couldn't find my comfortable spot, I was certainly to wide for the seats and I'm skinny fat haha. At first the 9 speed auto was a nice touch but it just drained fuel and I found the gear changes to be very lazy in eco / comfort modes. The bluetooth could be a bit of a pain at times too. It was a car I was excited to drive for a while looking at the prospect of getting on to Uber Exec at some point but this experience put me off, although the Uber X passengers loved it, but they would considering they would usually be picked up in a prius / auris.

2017 Skoda Superb 1.6d - Now the third party had finally got in touch 3 weeks later I had to accept their offer of a courtesy car, I wasn't most thrilled when they told me it was a Skoda Superb but after my hate growing for the E Class by the day I was happy to change. To my distraught it arrived in taxi white. But on the plus side there was far more room up front, in the rear and in the boot. The fuel economy was naturally better than the Mercedes 220d engines and it was a DSG box. The seats were comfier for me but I was getting to the stage I just wanted my Mondeo back. This Skoda (being collected this week) is 1 year old, 30k + miles and has multiple suspension issues upfront with creaking all over the place, the wipers are shot, the glovebox would pop open and had to have some elbow grease to close, O/S/F door car rattled and had an annoying squeak when pressure applied where I rested my elbow, the 12v plugs didn't work (luckily I had a usb port that worked), the DSG clearly needs a service as it would stick at reves while driving and be very sluggish and the car had idling issues and made the car vibrate.

So to say I happy to have my own car back is an understatement, but would you believe someone has reversed in to me (assuming) and scraped my rear bumper, in the exact same place where the crash damage was. That area of the car must be cursed. I will get this smart repaired if it doesn't polish out. Not the worst just annoying. It has certainly made me appreciate my car far more although I have became very fond of Automatic again but no biggie. I still fancy a set of leathers for sure.

Now I have the car back I will have it serviced and FINALLY have the cambelt done!

My insurers passed me on to a claims management team, who I will leave un-named for now but have been pretty useless to say the least, I have had to do all the phone calls and car collecting etc. All they have done is drop me a Mercedes and collect it etc. They were funny from the off when I arranged my own body shop of choice, although I gave their 'garage' a chance and didnt contact me for 4 working days. The third parties insurance took 3 weeks to get in touch with me too and tried making threats about me using another claims management team and my own body shop and credit hire vehicle etc. When I told them for all they knew i could have been in hospital for the last 3 weeks and my car could have been written off on the side of the M4, I was well within my rights to do so, especially as I reported within 24 hours and their party didn't.

For the price I pay for my insurance, I have had to do way too much chasing and driving and will be putting in a full complaint to Acorn / Haven after.

Hoping to get back to full normality in the next week or so now, but with my back pain from the crash and sitting in smallish uncomfortable cars for my liking, it has reduced my working hours a fair amount. I have still earned enough to get by but not the amount I would have earned working more hours, naturally.

But I have now been on the app for 4 months, 1135 trips taken total, 380 trips rated and 358 of those being 5 star, leaving me with an average rating of 4.89 which is pretty good going.

[GrantD5]

Probably the most boring thread ever.

The cambelt was done along with another service.

The gearbox has an issue that the clutch and flywheel didn't change, it knocks unless clutch is engaged.

On that note the car has run spot on, just touched over 71k now, had a few services along the way.

The car was keyed on my drivers door with a mark of around 10 inches which is pretty annoying but in a weird way I only see this as a working car and it doesn't bother me THAT much.

Tyres need replacing on the rear (the ones I put on when I first started driving for uber and have covered around just short of 25k miles of a mix of town and motorway driving, considering they are a mid range budget summer tyre I had no issues with them in the snow and they have handled pot holes like no tomorrow).

Only thing that really needs doing when I next get the car serviced is air con gas refilling to be on the safe side and get the ice cold air con ready for summer.