My First Uber Ride in Mexico

Updated January 2022

Even the smallest things take on the aura of a great adventure when you’re living in another country. In this case, it was my first Uber ride in Mexico.  

How Uber in Mexico is different from in the U.S.

In Mexico, the Uber ride-share cars only carry a discreet $ sign on the dash, if that, to indicate they are Uber cars. Largely they rely on flashing their lights to let you know they're looking for you rather that the signage U.S. card sharing services display. Should cars no be available, there’s an alternate ride sharing service app called Didi. I have used it only once. My Mexican friends use it more and tell me it’s less expensive.

LC.I. Jorge Arechiga Perez, also an insurance agent. Nice sedan too!

If you are planning to use Uber in Mexico, remember that Mexican addresses are written very differently from ours and tend to be longer. Make sure you check them carefully as you type them completely into the app.

Collect business cards or create your own for the places you might be frequenting often (Don't forget to keep a card of the address of your own place.)

Just like at home you will receive an email receipt and opportunity to rate your driver after the ride. They rate you as a passenger too. Tipping in cash plays a bigger part in how they rate you as a passenger here. When a few of my first drivers didn't get a tip (It took me a few rides to figure out the tipping option on the app), my passenger rating immediately went down.

Pay in cash in Mexico.

You have a choice between paying with credit cards already have on file with Uber like at home  or en efectivo - paying in cash. Mexico is more of a cash country than ours. Mexicans are less able to “float”, that is to say wait until the end of a pay period to get paid. Uber drivers in Mexico want cash customers.

More and more of them ask me how I am paying before even accepting the ride (even though that’s against Uber policy). Or worse, they accept the ride, then text me asking how I’m paying. If I say by credit card, they are more likely to cancel the ride. If you see your wait time is getting longer, it might mean they have decided on a cash customer before picking you up.

If you're not in a hurry, go for the option of sharing the ride if it’s available. You save money and get to see a little more of the city as its inhabitants as they pick and drop people off nearby. I did this in Guadalajara and saw several new neighborhoods. It was like a mini-tour.

Uber vs. cabs

The vote to allow the ride-sharing service in Mazatlán passed in 2016, my second year in Mexico. When I learned that my ultra conscientious friend and mother of three allowed her 17 year-old daughter to use Uber, that was good enough for me. Among all Mexicans I know, they seem to feel that Uber is the safer option when compared to cabs. 

Unlike many cabs, Uber cars usually have the windows up and the air conditioning on when they pick you up (which on a Mexican summer day feels like a blood transfusion). Cab drivers try to drive as much as possible without turning on the air. You have to ask them to turn on the air and roll up windows. After a time, especially if you’re a woman dressed up, made up and coiffed, that gets old.

Uber cars in Mexico are much small than the US because of the higher price of gas. Cabs are better to hail for returning home from big grocery runs. They have the trunk spaces and will help you unload (tip accordingly, at least 20 pesos), which most Uber drivers will not do. In very popular areas of a city, cabs can be easier to hail, as they cruise these areas more while an Uber driver who has difficulty in finding you in the crowd will cancel if they don’t see you right away.

Uber drivers are also sometimes not allowed to enter fraccionamientos, neighborhood gated communities, without the passenger present. You may take one in as long as you have a security code, but you will need to call a cab when you leave the party. Always keep the number for catching a cab in case of unforeseen restrictions, such as exist at most airports.

More former cab drivers are Uber drivers in Mexico. (Former cab drivers have told me that Mexican taxi sindicatos are so corrupt they much prefer working for Uber). An alternative to cabs, Cabify, is available in 38 cities in Mexico.

How is your Spanish?

Far fewer Uber drivers speak even nominal English, although their profile might say they do. Cabbies are used to communicating with English-speaking tourists and their communication challenges. From experience they can intuit your needs. If you don’t speak any Spanish at all, you may want to stick with them.

The first ride was so positive, I decided to go for my second. Jonathan, I learned, reads Kafka's "Letter to My Father," to his 10-year old daughter to try to help her understand why loving parents sometimes have to be strict.

If you speak some Spanish and like to practice it, Uber drivers tend to be more interesting conversationalists. Like in the U.S., many have other jobs and driving is a way of getting out as well as earning extra money. I’ve talked to them about politics, music, differences in culture, just about everything.

I’ll always have a fondness for the taxi drivers here in Mazatlán and still take cabs at frequently, even when I might save a few pesos with Uber. Certain situations, however, call for the anonymity of arriving to your destination in a street car. It’s fantastic to have the choice.

Hiring Uber drivers off the books

If an Uber driver gives off a particularly good vibe, you might be able to hire him off-the-books for several hours if you need to run a number of errands.  A few hours of errands generally costs about 250 pesos ($15 U.S.).

Since I don't have a car in Mexico, some Fridays mornings I line up errands and call one of several I keep on file. If I think I might be more than a few minutes in a place, I send them off nearby for a coffee or a smoothie. They couldn't be happier.

Uber. Just one more reason every year gets easier in Mexico

Next up:

Botanical stores are a great place to rummage around in Mexico.

About the author:

Hola! My name is Kerry Baker. My book "If Only I Had a Place" presents a guide to renting in Mexico luxuriously and inexpensively year after year.  More than a how-to, it provides a system to help you build the best possible foundation for living in Mexico  My second book is “The Mexico Solution: Saving your money, sanity, and quality of life through part-time life in Mexico.” Most recently I co-authored a cookbook, The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico.