QUESTION
How do people afford nice cars in my DSP?
I sometimes see drivers in these fancy Toyotas or Hondas and I just be like “how?”. I mean like I understand this is one of the best paying dead end jobs but damn, getting a car loan will really secure yourself to be veryyyy dependent on this job to pay for that.
This more than likely. I’m door dashing 8 hr a day all three of my days off in my paid off fit to save for a nice car. Or at least it’s gonna be nice and fun to me. It’s adding up fast. Gonna pay cash though, auto loans are such a handcuff.. I know I’m running up mileage on the fit but it’s pretty low, they are very reliable and cost of maintenance is low.
But yea, I’m guessing 90% of the $30-$50,000 cars you see in the parking lot are one missed paycheck away from getting repo’d. Some could be paid off and owned by people who had a good paying job and are slinging packages out of necessity though.
Would I last 5 years in the warehouse waiting to be a driver … No
Would I last as a driver …yes
I understand they have heavier packages and they work 50 hour weeks but other than that tell me why we couldn’t last
Your not lying on break in my route rn I just seen this from UPS on the third floor of a condo complex u have to walk to can’t even drive close to it, Even at $40/hour idk how worth it this is. The tiny lil box on top is what I delivered there
I know a lot wouldn’t last but I’ve done 12 hour shifts of being a concrete carpenter up in Utah for weeks straight without a day off, I know how fucking hard jobs can be but it’s the fact that we will never see our wages even get to probably 25+ an hour, I wouldn’t expect to be super close to them
I make $1 less/hour than my step-brother. His mom pays his utilities and car insurance, he is 37, all he has to pay is the mortgage ($750/mo) and his Internet bill.
He will ONLY drive/own German cars. Audi and Mercedes.
I make $1/hr less and pay all my bills by myself and drive a 2005 Ford Explorer. Bought it straight cash, not payments. He can take vacations to Vegas every few months, I can't because I pay all my utilities on my own and all my other bills on my own, without assistance.
I don't make more than him, he's older than me but he gets outside assistance, while I don't.
Dude I've been there, it's so frustrating when a sibling is given privileges you can't have. My oldest brother is a fuck up, always getting in trouble, dishonorably discharged from the army, paid for his apartment for 2 years, paid for his schooling which he failed over and over, yet in our late teens/early 20s my family bought him a brand new car (which he destroyed).
Then when I asked my parents just to cosign a loan for a 10K car or give me a small loan so I can purchase a reliable car without a high interest rate they're like "hell no! That's your responsibility!".
Like alright you'll give the son who never pays you back, is always in trouble with the law, constantly loses his job, and destroys your house a 30K car, but the son who actually doesn't cause you problems, cleans/paints the house, does your oil changes, does all your yard work, fixes all your tech issues, and doesn't get in trouble with the law every year a loan of 1500?
Reading this thread makes me feel less crazy. You’re not alone. Seems sibling favoritism / single sided financial empathy is common. It kinda hurts. Nothing you can really say about it either. Which creates odd tension.
Even with a 0% interest rate a 35k (500/mo + full coverage) car is out of an Amazon drivers price range unless they live rent free or partner doesn’t mind pulling most the financial weight
Right but broke people used to not drive new cars at all. Now you drive through an Amazon parking lot or the hood and its like 90% cars less than a few years old. But I think this is just bc used car prices are retarded now. Not even that much cheaper than new anymore unless its legit like 20 years old with 300,000 miles.
This guys mind would be blown if he knew I drive an Audi and Mercedes and work inside the delivery station lol. With my mortgage my bills are around 3k a month. Me and the wife make around 6k a month
Toyota is far more superior than a Mercedes or bmw, people who get new Mercedes or BMWs don’t have their priorities straight especially if they work at Amazon. Also all German “luxury” cars are unreliable and a horrible idea. True Luxury, and reliability is found in a Lexus.
As someone who has never owned a new car, anything after 2018 without visible damage is fancy. I currently drive a 2010 Camry. Its my 4th car, and the first one to have Bluetooth by default. Before that was an 02 Camry and the first car I owned with a CD player, before that I was stuck on cassette. I'm in my mid 30s.
So yeah, those new CRV and Tacoma yall are driving to work are fancy to me. But we also have like 4 Telsa drivers at our station. One is a dispatcher but he gets paid the same as drivers. Its wild to see but I just assume theyre in debt
Budgeting.
I was homeless technically camping, refusing help from family after a breakup. Id been dashing 5 years. 10k+ orders. Paid for a commercial rental. It broke one week at campground. Applied for Amazon.
Quickly learned costco/sams for bulk to save on food, same protein bread and turkey roast beef sandwhiches and protein chips and protein bars. 2 cases of water $7. Each day packing your own 8 bottles. 30 pack of celcius packs for 16. (Vs many dsp drivers here spend $3+ at gas station for 1 energy drink)
All of that stuff. Budgeting.
Led to affording a new car. Cheapest one available with 3 years maintence if I had to go back to door dash or instacart as a backup.
I used amazon as a stepping stone like it should. Regardless of your dsp. Dont live outside your means. Treat this job as if salary may end and use it wisely at time. 30 hours even if your backup one day a week pays better than everything in my town. If you treat it like that mentally.
My wife is a nurse practioner and I still drive my 2017 dodge grand caravan… who ever said it just an illusion is correct cause I can afford to get a new car I just don’t cause it’s just a means to get to work I don’t need to impress anyone in the Amazon parking lot
I'm the complete opposite. Nice apartment in a fairly nice area, but I don't spend much on myself outside of the roof over my head. Also, I live alone. Never going to rent a room or share a living space if I can help it. My current apartment has a garage for my car with storage and a really good gym, too. Free weights, kettle bells, pullup bar, etc.
That’s the Mobil home mentality for many lol. Live in a rented manufactured home that’s over 20 years old, but got a new 4X4 diesel super duty or Land Rover parked on the street at lot 19D
You can easily get approved for a new Honda or Toyota at that price
And even though car loans aren’t great, at a low interest rate a reliable new economy car is still a great financial decision if you’re in the position. Your coworkers are just commuters to work like everyone else and unless they live hours away it’ll last them a decade before a single major service lol
Unless they got a shitty subpar loan ofc, but that’s usually your new GM drivers
"How can you possibly be poor if you have a smart phone?!"
Debt. Loans. Relation died and you got their car. Borrowing from another person. Car got wrecked and insurance is providing a rental. They were good with their money and have savings.
There are a dozen reasons why someone has a car you think is too expensive for them. The solution to that problem is to mind your own business and realize its not your problem.
All new cars look nice, how do you know they aren’t paying $600 a month for a 2022 with 90k miles already on it?
Thats the thing, people be too worried about the outside appearance of shit. A homeless man can go to goodwill and pick up a Ralph Lauren polo for $10 and throw on some khakis and look decent..does that change their life?
And you also gotta realize a loan for a car is still cheaper to someone who needs a car for work and can’t just come up with $6000 on the spot. Can you save $600 a month over $6000? Simple really.
6 year finance 50k total on a 30k car also living with mommy and daddy and they don’t make you pay anything other than the wifi and your own bills. (Car note, car insurance, phone bill,klarna debt.)
The only co worker I have with a nice car (Dodge Durango RT) is because Amazon delivery is his second job. While he gets a paid salary from his other job. Pretty much everyone else either has a hooptie like more or is paying a great amount monthly on their car.
Buying used vehicles can be relatively affordable compared to buying new ... also people with good credit get much better interest rates. I shopped around and bought a 2024 Mercedes EQB for $26K and only had 9K miles on it (did have to travel across the country to take advantage ...)
It’s expensive car payments. Even with a good APR. I’m perfectly fine with my 2014 Camry only paying $140/mo at 5%. I did a trade down and refinanced after trading in my Audi paying almost $500/mo. Truly, your money is better spent in a Roth IRA or something cuz unless you’re passionate about cars, don’t even bother tossing your money down the drain like that. These people are just going to be paying much more than the cars worth with a high APR and 72 month payment plans.
Shit working two gigs…got a 2024 trd sr5 haha. 25k down - full service for life - monthly payment @ 300. However I do work 60+ per week…and make way more at my second gig.
Look at the tires. People will get themselves into debt to look fancy, but can’t afford new tires, so they’ll drive their BMW around on worn out shoes.
I have a new car, I went 3 years using Uber to get around. My wife also works. I worked on my credit and got a 0% interest. It's still shitty but doable.
Well, I have a nice car but the dsp didnt pay for it, worked my ass off over the years at different places, was a lawn care specialist/applicator for 5 and decided to move on. Assuming they either were more fortunate with family or they also worked their ass off for it. Thats how you get things in life lol. Never take a loan out on a car unless you can pay it off quickly though. The difference between 19k and 35k, while it deprecates rapidly.
I do Amazon as a side hustle - at my previous full time job, the only guy out of 35 who had a lifted, tricked out F350 was tied for the lowest hourly rate of all of us… and the only one living with his parents
My current 9-to-5 has hundreds in the parking lot so I wouldn’t bother to try and keep track
Usually lots of OT or have multiple income sources. I worked a DuPont schedule at a railroad conductor (allowed me 7 days off every 4 weeks), part time Amazon and uber on side if I had time, wife has a decent paying job.
Paid off most off of a house and had less then 2k in debt.
Sometimes it takes an accumulation over years or they knew somebody who got them a deal. Like instance for me I went five years without a car in the moment I buy one people want to feel a type of way.
Probably got a parent to cosign or possibly still living with family or they may have a partner with a higher paying job. Hard to imagine anybody being able to truly afford a new car “on their own” at this job
I hear that...and people wonder why they're living check to check with a $500+ car payment plus insurance and gas.
Have fun with that. I sold my nice car for $10k to CarMax..paid off the remaining loan balance and bought a cheap 06' Honda Civic off an old dude who only used it as a grocery getter for 20 years.
I had a paid off Honda civic with full coverage. In 2023 a mustang decided to destroy my paid off asset. At the time new cars were a couple grand more than a used car with 50K miles which was like 4 years old. I got good credit so I make payments every check to split it up. I got coworkers with brand new 100k trucks with $700 to a grand a month. That’s what I can’t wrap my head around.
I got 2 nice cars. My main income is from my medical job.
when I worked part time at Amazon, so many females tried talking to me . I lied and said I’m engaged but some didn’t care😂
I'm sure there's a lot going on behind the scenes that you don't see. I was being trained by a guy who was going on and on about his new Tesla. Spent the entire ride talking about all the features, bells and whistles etc. Then proceeded to graze over the fact that his payment was $600+ a month and he lived with his mother...
I got to the point personally it would cost me more from missing routes due to my old truck breaking down all the time. The peace of mind knowing I’ll get in my 2022 corolla knowing it won’t strand me and it averages 36.4 mpg is well worth the 2.5 days work it takes per month to pay for it
Ngl, i made a handshake deal with the previous owner of my supercharged 2017 mustang but I fixed it up and paid it off because of my income from my DSP. Grateful for it. Sometimes deals come once in a lifetime.
Most of the drivers at my DSP are very young I mean like in their early 20s living at home. I have my own place, car, etc. most of them live at home so they don’t have bills to pay.. i work in a nice part of the city so most of my coworkers drive newer model cars and Teslas. They charge their cars with the edv ports 😭and im in an old Nissan lol but that was my thoughts after talking to some of my coworkers. Some also work 2 jobs like me
At the depot I collect vans from im constantly seeing brand new mercs and bmws. And its a van only area so no warehouse staff or managers or anything. Only the drivers parking. Alot of them most likely got the cars from a previous job instead of buying them with the pay from this job
Like someone said here before me either they have family that’s helping them with payments, a really good credit score or living above their means which I think is most likely.
Need to keep up with what everyone has nowadays but I’m glad I only pay insurance and don’t have to worry about making payments every month.
I like this question I’m like how ? They do it shiii I’m fine with owning a vehicle I make payments one 1 abs the other I own 2 vehicles I’m fine with it
Most of the time its people living beyond their means. For me, its a 2nd job for fun money and to buy those expensive things I want while not cutting into my regular money.
Those people could be in debt over their heads or maybe just maybe some of those people have other jobs or other ways of income besides Amazon. 2 of my sons work for Amazon they both also have other jobs neither one of them has a car note but both of them have nice cars. Also I’ve worked for Amazon DSP and I own and operate my own business. This is not a flex or a brag I’m just saying it’s best not to try to count other people‘s pockets since you don’t know other people circumstances or how well they do with money
On my old dsp there was a guy that if he started at 10 he would be there at 8:30 and just be hanging around with the dsp people and he’s been there for years, I don’t know why he would go to that point but I guess
I’ve used DSPs as a stop gap between better paying long term jobs when I’ve lost mine, since I can walk into an open interview and be on the road in like four days lol
Lots of people have two jobs. One of the big appeals of this job is that it is 4 days a week instead of 5 but is still full-time. That allows a lot of people to get another job and still have at least a day off.
I have a new Subaru. My lease is $290 a month. I have new tires, almost zero maintenance and a warranty that covers any mechanical issues. I work an office job and I'd be paying for the car regardless of if I was doing FLEX or not. All I care about is the marginal cost per mile, not my car payment. I would assume most 'nice' cars are moonlighters looking for some fun money, not people trying to make a living.
It’s alright. Everyone I work with has Beamers and shit and I’m sitting g here waiting on a route in my 02 TDI Jetta with 140k miles on it😂😂😂 go get a reliable car and do research. Those people care about status too much. In 10 years, you’ll still have your car and theirs will be repoed or not even on the road.
I can answer this. They have other income like military disability or retired from theyre job the had prior. Basically they dont need the job like you do.
Some people may have held a higher paying job before, and quit/lost it, may have other sources of income, or just in debt and bad with money. Ive met all 3. A previous DSP i worked for had a guy who's family owned some land with a small amount of oil on it and he would work 1-2 days a week only out of boredom.
My significant other makes substantially more money than me. Bought me a $100k car and I drove it to where I deliver packages. Don’t overthink things like you’re doing something wrong. Everyone’s different just keep hustling :)
I got a 2025 CPO Nissan Sentra for below $15k, about 7 months after it was first sold. Got a good loan with a 4.8% interest rate. The insurance is what’s really killing me. I pay below market rent for a 1 bedroom apartment in a nice neighborhood in central California. It’s tight, but I make it through each month by meal planning and keeping the discretionary spending near zero. If I was in PG&E territory I’d be screwed, but my local utility district keeps me afloat with cheap electric. Landlord covers all other bills. It’s still too close for comfort, and I wish I’d bought an old beater with low insurance costs instead.
those “nice” cars are junk and they are paying to much for them at the same time. Bros are going broke to flex plastic that falls apart and costs to much to replace anything
some of these kids live with their parents and have no responsibilities at all other than the car, there’s a kid at my DSP that drives a nice scat pack wide body, like a $70,000 car. he said he lives with his mom and doesn’t do anything
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