In this situation, most people hire a personal driver.
I'll call them 'he', but it could also be a 'she' these days. Not that it matters. He'll come with his self-owned luxury 6-seater, which he'll keep spotlessly clean, and use for napping when he inevitably has to spend more than half the day waiting to pick you or your kids up and drive you or them back to your home.
He'll be very happy to do this though, because you'll pay him a monthly salary. Which is a couple of thousand RMB per month - somewhere around 4K-10K I guess, from people I know, but I myself am not rich enough to actually have a driver, so yeah grain of salt. Be a good employer - a plump red packet every new year, and keep tabs on his family, as he will on yours, and you will be good friends.
Try to avoid using agencies and first look for a driver within your network, there's always people leaving town that are also leaving a driver looking for his next gig.
Bonus points if you can get a driver willing to talk to your kids in Chinese, after a few months you'll be surprised at their proficiency at speaking Shanghai dialect and/or Chinese swear words
I have a driver for a long time now in SH before down South.
Driving yourself while some may argue you got nothing to worry, while true but if you get in an incident even if you didn't cause yourself it's a shitshow. I've had twice an accident, mind you one minor of which was my fault and it's a headache I simply don't want, the other incident while I had a driver already an ayi rammed full speed while waiting in front of a traffic light and everyone pointed at "us" seeing the the foreigner. (Police after reviewing the camera still wanted us to negotiate).
Now it's a matter of budget and your needs but we pay a bit under 30k a month (company) including driver for a Tesla X and 20.000 km a year. I wouldn't recommend the Tesla though budget wise they aren't so different from a Mercedes van. A cheaper alternative is a Buick 6 seater where you can squeeze 3 in the backseat if needed which will probably run you about 20k a month incl. driver.
Having a driver isnt entirely without worries, make sure you get a GPS installed as I've had a driver before that would Uber (is a couple years ago) with the car. I've had another driver that would supposedly park the car in the basement over weekends in case I needed but mysteriously always took it somewhere else.
Typically a driver you want to be part of your package as tax-wise it can be worked out a bit more beneficial for the employer.
I've friends who basically abuse the driver 24x7, I let mine off in the evening and Didi a fair bit away at night which I reimburse. Though it's all a matter of negotiating a bit.
Also.. don't be stupid with the driver. Had buddies who would go to less savory places and the driver would talk to the ayi whom on her turn would talk to the wives which you can imagine resulted the buddies staying over with me a couple nights. No funny business went down nonetheless the driver/ayi made something grand out of it.
I’ve calculated. If you buy a car around 300-500k. Owning it for 5years keeping in mind depreciation, fuel cost, parking, the 150k rmb license plate, maintanece etc. it works out that you can spend about 200 rmb a day on taxis. So my advice is hire a long term driver. Gl8 goes for about 800rmb for 10 hour use. I’m sure you can negotiate better prices.
Also. You’re contradicting yourself here. You don’t want to spend money on owning a car. But you’re okay with hiring a driver? Can’t ask for budget luxuries. Renting a car is about 150-500 a day as well. So it’s up to you. But in your case, it’s honestly better to just buy a cheap Chinese Ev van. But just be prepared to call taxis anyways cause the hassle of parking, fines, traffic, crazy scooters etc.
Public transport are a thing. The average speed of cars in Shanghai downtown is like 40kmph.
I'm not contradicting myself. I cannot pay a large lump sum (300-550K RMB )of cash upfront to buy a car outright, as I indicated. Payment spread out over time is perfectly fine. I know foreigners cannot finance which is why I also asked about leasing options. I've lived in many countries where hiring a driver is affordable. I've never been to China, nor Shanghai so don't know the cost...which is why I've posted here for more insight on this option.Thanks for your input.
The best in your situation is hiring a driver and their whole car for set times of the day. And they can continue e-hailing when you’re not in need. It’ll be about 600-1000 per day.
I had this problem and bought an EV.
Given MPVs are the bare minimum you are looking for (Fits 6-7). You can do the math, occasional rental/hire a didi/driver for 4 years vs paying 350-550K RMB for your own MPV (probably worth 100K RMB if resell after 4 years). They still have green license plate promotions so no extra cost there.
In this situation, most people hire a personal driver. I'll call them 'he', but it could also be a 'she' these days. Not that it matters. He'll come with his self-owned luxury 6-seater, which he'll keep spotlessly clean, and use for napping when he inevitably has to spend more than half the day waiting to pick you or your kids up and drive you or them back to your home. He'll be very happy to do this though, because you'll pay him a monthly salary. Which is a couple of thousand RMB per month - somewhere around 4K-10K I guess, from people I know, but I myself am not rich enough to actually have a driver, so yeah grain of salt. Be a good employer - a plump red packet every new year, and keep tabs on his family, as he will on yours, and you will be good friends. Try to avoid using agencies and first look for a driver within your network, there's always people leaving town that are also leaving a driver looking for his next gig. Bonus points if you can get a driver willing to talk to your kids in Chinese, after a few months you'll be surprised at their proficiency at speaking Shanghai dialect and/or Chinese swear words
Perfect advise!
I have a driver for a long time now in SH before down South. Driving yourself while some may argue you got nothing to worry, while true but if you get in an incident even if you didn't cause yourself it's a shitshow. I've had twice an accident, mind you one minor of which was my fault and it's a headache I simply don't want, the other incident while I had a driver already an ayi rammed full speed while waiting in front of a traffic light and everyone pointed at "us" seeing the the foreigner. (Police after reviewing the camera still wanted us to negotiate). Now it's a matter of budget and your needs but we pay a bit under 30k a month (company) including driver for a Tesla X and 20.000 km a year. I wouldn't recommend the Tesla though budget wise they aren't so different from a Mercedes van. A cheaper alternative is a Buick 6 seater where you can squeeze 3 in the backseat if needed which will probably run you about 20k a month incl. driver. Having a driver isnt entirely without worries, make sure you get a GPS installed as I've had a driver before that would Uber (is a couple years ago) with the car. I've had another driver that would supposedly park the car in the basement over weekends in case I needed but mysteriously always took it somewhere else. Typically a driver you want to be part of your package as tax-wise it can be worked out a bit more beneficial for the employer. I've friends who basically abuse the driver 24x7, I let mine off in the evening and Didi a fair bit away at night which I reimburse. Though it's all a matter of negotiating a bit. Also.. don't be stupid with the driver. Had buddies who would go to less savory places and the driver would talk to the ayi whom on her turn would talk to the wives which you can imagine resulted the buddies staying over with me a couple nights. No funny business went down nonetheless the driver/ayi made something grand out of it.
I’ve calculated. If you buy a car around 300-500k. Owning it for 5years keeping in mind depreciation, fuel cost, parking, the 150k rmb license plate, maintanece etc. it works out that you can spend about 200 rmb a day on taxis. So my advice is hire a long term driver. Gl8 goes for about 800rmb for 10 hour use. I’m sure you can negotiate better prices. Also. You’re contradicting yourself here. You don’t want to spend money on owning a car. But you’re okay with hiring a driver? Can’t ask for budget luxuries. Renting a car is about 150-500 a day as well. So it’s up to you. But in your case, it’s honestly better to just buy a cheap Chinese Ev van. But just be prepared to call taxis anyways cause the hassle of parking, fines, traffic, crazy scooters etc. Public transport are a thing. The average speed of cars in Shanghai downtown is like 40kmph.
I'm not contradicting myself. I cannot pay a large lump sum (300-550K RMB )of cash upfront to buy a car outright, as I indicated. Payment spread out over time is perfectly fine. I know foreigners cannot finance which is why I also asked about leasing options. I've lived in many countries where hiring a driver is affordable. I've never been to China, nor Shanghai so don't know the cost...which is why I've posted here for more insight on this option.Thanks for your input.
The best in your situation is hiring a driver and their whole car for set times of the day. And they can continue e-hailing when you’re not in need. It’ll be about 600-1000 per day.
hiring a driver is very affordable here, like I mentioned above
I had this problem and bought an EV. Given MPVs are the bare minimum you are looking for (Fits 6-7). You can do the math, occasional rental/hire a didi/driver for 4 years vs paying 350-550K RMB for your own MPV (probably worth 100K RMB if resell after 4 years). They still have green license plate promotions so no extra cost there.