A San Francisco Uber driver thought bigger vehicles would lead to bigger paydays. Instead, the strategy left him buried under two car loans, falling behind on payments and asking personal finance expert Dave Ramsey whether voluntarily giving the cars back was the least painful option left.
During an episode of “The Ramsey Show,” Ramsey and co-host Jade Warshaw spoke with Joseph, a 29-year-old gig worker who financed nearly $144,000 worth of vehicles while trying to increase his Uber earnings during the post-pandemic rideshare boom.
The trouble started after Joseph financed a Honda CR-V for nearly $60,000 during the inflated car market of 2022. At first, the income looked promising. Joseph said he was making roughly $2,700 a week driving for Uber and Lyft.
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But when Uber removed a program that boosted earnings for hybrid drivers, his weekly income dropped sharply. Hoping to recover the difference, Joseph bought a second vehicle, an Acura MDX, after hearing from other drivers that larger SUVs generated better fares through Uber XL rides.
That decision turned an already expensive situation into a financial mess.
“You’ve been working for free for Uber,” Ramsey told him. “The gross revenue was great. The net profit was not great.”
The Income Was Real But The Profit Wasn’t
Ramsey said Joseph focused too heavily on the money coming in without fully accounting for financing costs, depreciation, gas, repairs and maintenance.
Joseph later admitted he had not properly calculated how much the vehicles were actually costing him over time.
The situation worsened once the cars started losing value faster than the loan balances fell. Joseph said he was already upside down on at least one of the loans and had fallen behind on payments while earning about $22 an hour at his current job.
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Ramsey appeared especially stunned that Joseph expanded the strategy after the first vehicle stopped producing the income he expected.
“You got financial advice from other Uber drivers?” Ramsey asked. “You just said that out loud. Wow.”
The conversation quickly shifted into a broader warning about how easy it is for high monthly revenue to create the illusion of success while debt quietly piles up underneath.
Ramsey Says Voluntary Repo Could Create A Bigger Problem
As the financial pressure mounted, Joseph asked whether voluntarily surrendering the vehicles would make more sense than continuing to struggle with the loans.
A voluntary repossession happens when a borrower willingly returns a financed vehicle to the lender after falling behind on payments. While some consumers believe it is less damaging than a standard repossession, lenders can still sell the vehicle, apply the proceeds to the balance owed and pursue the borrower for any remaining debt.
Ramsey warned Joseph that the outcome could become even more expensive if the lenders took control of the process.
“If you just turn these cars in, they’re going to sell them for 50% of what you think they’re going to sell them for, and they’re going to sue you for the difference,” Ramsey said.
He added that repossession would likely hurt Joseph’s credit while still leaving him responsible for unpaid balances after the vehicles were sold.
Instead, Ramsey pushed him to sell one of the vehicles privately, increase his income and avoid letting the lenders determine the sale price.
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