{"id":523534,"date":"2021-09-22T17:08:02","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T15:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=523534"},"modified":"2021-09-22T17:08:02","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T15:08:02","slug":"is-it-cheaper-to-use-uber-and-bolt-or-own-a-car-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/motoring\/523534\/is-it-cheaper-to-use-uber-and-bolt-or-own-a-car-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it cheaper to use Uber and Bolt or own a car in South Africa?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Should e-hailing be considered an option over owning a car? Bolt, the e-hailing service, notes that it offers varying ride categories, including an economy category to help riders cut costs even further. A 15km trip on Bolt costs as little as R131 \u2013 and if you were travelling to work and back just twice a week, your monthly travel costs to work and back would be R2,096, it says.<\/p>\n

Bolt said it crunched the numbers over e-hailing versus car ownership.<\/p>\n

“Over the past few months, the petrol price has gone up, but your salary hasn\u2019t \u2026 and making ends meet at the end of every month is more of a challenge than ever. It\u2019s time to think about things differently \u2013 and taking a close look at your fixed costs is a good place to start.<\/p>\n

“Take your car, for example. No matter how much \u2013 or how little \u2013 you drive it, you\u2019re still liable for fixed costs like monthly instalments and insurance,” Bolt said.<\/p>\n

For instance, if you drive a hatchback with a cost price of R335,000, your instalments over five years would be a little over R7,100 per month. Insurance would likely be around R1,200 per month, depending on your profile.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s R8,300 per month \u2013 before you\u2019ve even put a drop of petrol in your tank, which is probably at least another R1,500 or more per month \u2013 bringing basic car ownership costs to at least R10,000, the group said.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s before you\u2019ve set money aside for servicing and other maintenance costs that may not be covered by a motor plan – if your car has one.<\/p>\n

“Add in the stress of navigating through traffic, the mission of finding parking, and then the burden of paying for parking too, and it\u2019s easy to see why so many people are looking for different ways to get around \u2013 and for ways to save money.”<\/p>\n

When many office-based workers are still working at home most or all the time as a Covid-19 precaution, it may make sense to consider other ways of getting around, Bolt said.<\/p>\n

A 20 minute, 15km trip on Bolt costs as little as R131 \u2013 and if you were travelling to work and back just twice a week, your monthly travel costs to work and back would be R2,096. “Add in a few weekend trips for shopping and leisure \u2013 roughly R2,000 to cover all bases \u2013 and you\u2019re still sitting at less than R5,000 per month, for all your travel costs.”<\/p>\n

Bolt noted that ‘A Women-Only’ category means that you can travel with the added reassurance of being transported by a woman driver \u2013 and if you\u2019re travelling in a group, you can all share the costs of a van or another extra-large vehicle.<\/p>\n

“Bolt is supported by an independent security company that can urgently help if there\u2019s an emergency. With every tracked trip (within legislated privacy laws), you\u2019ve got the same reassurance of an insurer\u2019s tracking device. Someone will always know where you are in the unlikely event that something goes wrong,” it said.<\/p>\n

Making your decision to own a car or ride-hail<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier in the year, insurer, 1Life<\/a> crunched the numbers on whether it makes financial sense to own a car.<\/p>\n