mmarshall

I'm surprised Uber would paint their Camrys black. That just makes them more difficult to see and identify at night....when the customers are waiting for their rides.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Uber doesn't paint their cars black, its just that most uber drivers get black cars. In Manhattan, most black cars are with T&LC plates - mostly ubers, lyfts and private limo services. Tons of them are Camrys and Avalongs, and a good number of GMC SUVs. They also happen to be the worst drivers, bringing NYC traffics to a crawl.

coolsaber

IDK I just thought it had to do with availability, insurance, and havving customers associate their cars with the default Black color on previous Black Lincoln Town Cars that were and still are in some areas the main workhorse of livery fleets.

Aron9000

Uber doesn't own a single car, they're owned by the drivers who are independent contractors for Uber. Allows uber to not pay overtime, provide benefits, insurance, etc. Also allows drivers to be flexible and choose their own hours, or so they say. Some taxi companies operate the same way, drivers are independent contractors who own their own cars, but the way taxi companies operate varies a lot from city to city.

Anyways, getting back to why all the Uber drivers in NYC have black cars, part of it is tradition. I know when I was up there a few years ago(before Uber), you had yellow cabs or black cars(mostly Town Cars or big SUV's at that time). Yellow cab had a meter and smelled bad, black car was usually a chauffer, you called the company and reserved the car, paid a by the hour type of fee thing. So part of its tradition, maybe a status thing as well for some people to arrive in a black car vs a yellow cab. I know Uber offers a service called "Uber Black" where the driver can charge a lot more $$$$ for having a black "luxury" car/suv to pick you up in. I don't know what the stipulations are, but that might be another reason all the Uber guys drive black cars.

mmarshall

Thanks. I haven't used the Uber system and am not that familiar with it. That doesn't surprise me, though.......$$$$$ usually talk.