Car depreciation: The invisible cost that breaks down app drivers
Tires, oil and depreciation. Here's how to calculate the pennies you should keep for every mile you drive so you're not on foot.
The cost no one sees — until it's too late
Imagine you've driven 50,000 miles in two years as an app driver. Your car was worth R$ 55.000 when it started. Today it's worth R$ 38.000.
You lost R$ 17.000 in depreciation — R$ 0,21 for every kilometer driven.
This money "came out" of his estate quietly, race by race, without appearing on any bank statement.
What goes into the cost per km?
| Component | Estimated cost |
|---|
|------------|-------------------|
| Vehicle depreciation | R$ 0,10 – R$ 0,16 |
|---|---|
| Tires (4 pcs × R$ 600, last 40,000 km) | R$ 0,06 |
| Oil changes (every 10,000 km) | R$ 0,018 |
| Filters and revisions | R$ 0,02 |
| Brakes and suspension | R$ 0,04 |
| Foreign exchange reserve and others | R$ 0,05 |
| Estimated Totals: | R$ 0,29 – R$ 0,35/km |
How to calculate the cost of YOUR CAR
| Car type | Estimated cost |
|---|
|---------------|-------------------|
| Popular (Argo, HB20, Gol) | R$ 0,22 – R$ 0,28 |
|---|---|
| Medium (Cronos, Virtus, Logan) | R$ 0,25 – R$ 0,33 |
| Compact SUV (Pulse, Kicks) | R$ 0,30 – R$ 0,40 |
| Electric (BYD Dolphin) | R$ 0,12 – R$ 0,18 |
The practical solution: provision by km
Instead of being caught off guard, set aside a reserve account and transfer to it the amount calculated per km at the end of each week.
If you drive 200 km/day and provision R$ 0,25/km:
200 km × R$ 0,25 = R$ 50,00 per booking day
R$ 1.100/month which are kept for maintenance and depreciation
When the exchange needs to be exchanged, the money will already be waiting.
👉 [Actual Profit Calculator for Drivers — Free](/) — The "Maintenance + depreciation per km" field is already filled with R$ 0,25, but you can adjust it to the value of your vehicle.
