Getting ready to purchase my very first vehicle, and friends have already done this.....what do I do?

Question

I'm getting my first car next week...and my friends have already started requesting that I pick them up from work, and other places. I have no problems with this, because that's what friends are for. However, one friend is starting a new job, and is going to be working over an hour away from where we all live. She has to be at work at 9, and will get off at 5. She's already suggested that I take her and pick her up from work, because otherwise, she'll have to rely on the public transportation...which are buses. We live in Houston, and the buses are slow....and the schedule is unreliable. I'd hate for her to have to be late to work and stuff because of this, so i've already agreed. My question is, would it be appropriate to ask for gas money? It's an hours drive,&I don't know if i'll be able to afford to pay for gas to do this regularly,but I also don't want my friend to think i'm being a b*tch for asking..I know friends do these things for one another.

Answer 1

Ummm....I would say NO, immediately. Or you are going to be doing this forever.

What kind of friends ask for this kind of favor?

Dump these losers and find friends with their own transportation.

Answer 2

I strongly advise you NOT to do it. You don't know what other future problems you are getting into for doing it some examples would be.....you will be tied to a time schedule to pick her up. It will make you feel like you are at her employ because picking her up will become a responsibility you have to keep to no matter how you feel on any day. No amount of money she is reimbursing you will buy the sense of freedom you will get from not picking her up.
Tell her and the others that you won't be ferrying anyone anywhere. You buy a car for your own convenience, not for being someone else's driver. She's a freeloader, a sponge. What does she think you are? Her unpaid driver? Don't even ask for gas money. Just say "no, I can't do it." Asking for gas money and doing it is equivalent to selling off your soul. Under such circumstances, owning a new car is not a happy event, it's a curse. If she's unhappy about it, so much the better. Better if she no longer considers you a friend. You can do without such a "friend".

Answer 3

First, you get out of the promise you've already made by telling your friend that your insurance company won't permit you to use your vehicle as a livery service. That is actually true. If they find out what you're doing, they'll drop you immediately. Particularly if you do it regularly or charge a fee for doing it. How will they find out? When you get a ticket or have a fender-bender. Let her know as soon as possible so she can make other arrangements. Be firm. Remember transportation to and from her job is HER responsibility, so don't be guilted into doing it. (Houston transportation isn't so bad. I live here, too.) This goes way beyond favor and deep into usery--even for a best friend.

Why am I even bothering here...?...when you've filled your gas tank a few times at $50.00 a pop, and paid insurance premiums and cleaned up your car after your friends make a mess and paid for a few repairs, you'll quit letting your friends take advantage of you.

Answer 4

You could ask how much she'll save by not riding the bus and ask her for that; you can tell her you won't be available on some days and she may need to take the bus after a moments notice; or you can simply tell her it is too much to ask. How are you going to have a life spending 4 hours a day on the road for her?

Currently the rate for using a car is 44.5 cents per mile for gas, wear and tear, maintenance. And that is understated. Two round trips sounds like close to 200 miles a day. Can you afford $89 a day on this so called friend?

Sorry, she's not being much of a friend.

Answer 5

I would never ask a friend to drive me to and from work unless we worked at the same place or really close and then I would offer to pay for more than half the gas because their is a lot of maintenance that goes into keeping a car running, licensed, inspected, insured, the gas tank filled...........you get the point. She's a freeloader and you need to get yourself out of this situation ASAP or you will be sooooooo sorry.

Don't ask for gas money. Just tell her you have reconsidered and don't see how it would be possible for you to do this. Friends DO NOT expect friends to do this sort of thing on a regular basis. In an emergency, yes, but not on a regular basis.

Answer 6

If you are going to do this, you might as well paint TAXI on your new car. As to asking for gas money, don't. Not because you might be considered a bad person, but because if you accept money from people, and have an accident, you are then operating as a commercial vehicle. Therefore your insurance will not cover you, when they find out.

Answer 7

Say that you can't do that unless you get some gas money first. Being a friend is one thing, being used is another. It's your friend's job NOT your's.
You just can not be a taxi driver. When my nephew got his first car, he put up a sign on the ashtray - GAS MONEY HERE
I think it was a good idea.

Answer 8

I wouldn't ask for gas money because I wouldn't need it. I would have told her no from the get go. If you agree you will be doing this FOREVER! Tell her that no matter how slow, there is public transportation that is available for her to take to and from work.
Suggest that she save some of her own money and buy herself a car with it also.

Answer 9

Sounds like your friend is really using you. If I were in her place I'd offer you gas money. It is common courtesy.You should ask her for gas money. It doesn't make you a *****

Doesn't driving her to work that starts at 9 get in the way of your work?

Answer 10

Getting your friends to and from work is not your responsibility. How did they get from place to place before you got a car? The way they got to work last week should be the way they get to work next week! If you decide to drive your friends to and from work then it is totally acceptable to ask for gas money! It's your car - you paid for it! You're not a taxi service! Real friends don't expect friends with cars to drive them to and from work one hour each way for free! Don't let your friends take advantage of you.