[fractaled]

In Seattle, over the last 8 years I've averaged 2933$/year on my car (which I own outright). That includes insurance, licensing fees, parking, gas, maintenance, tickets, rental costs, gps, and tolls.

I don't think you can make a compelling case for a taxi service vs car ownership based on cost -- but rather convenience.

[wutbrodo]

Perhaps not in Seattle. I'm pretty sure the costs you mention are higher in SF (just like everything else...) depending on your circumstances, it can start to approach a no-brainer. Recently, I've probably been spending in the neighborhood of 80 to 100 dollars a weekend on Uber (~$2100-$2600/yr), and the guy above mentioned he spends roughly ~5000/yr on Uber. The cost of owning a car ranges from 5000 to 15000 a year[1][2][3], and it's substantially more expensive in San Francisco because this doesn't include parking, tickets, and tolls, so you can tack on another ~3000 for parking alone, minimum. (at ~250/mo, pretty much minimum)[4]. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to see how for people in certain situations (e.g., no long commute), the cost alone could be more than worth it.

[1] http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/what-that-car-rea... [2] http://www.edmunds.com/toyota/prius/2012/tco.html?style=1014... [3] http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/cost-car-ownershi... [4] http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/prk/

[differentView]

Owning the car outright does not make you immune to depreciation cost.

I owned my previous car for 7 years. It depreciated $11,000 during that time. That's $1,571/year I'd need to add to my cost.