叫车。

You can use it as a verb phrase. If you are ready to leave, just say 我要叫车. If you want to ask someone else to do it, say 帮我叫车. It is very flexible. You do not need fancy grammar to make this work. Just drop it into a sentence and people will understand you immediately.

Use it when you are finished with dinner at a restaurant. Use it when you are leaving a friend's house late at night. It is perfect for when you are standing in the rain and desperate for a ride. It works in professional settings too. If a meeting ends, you can ask a colleague if they need to 叫车 to the airport.

Do not use this if you are getting on a bus or subway. Those have their own specific verbs. Also, do not use it if you are driving yourself. It implies someone else is doing the driving for you. If you are hitching a ride with a friend for free, use 搭车 instead. 叫车 usually implies a paid service.

China has moved almost entirely to digital ride-hailing. While you can still wave at a taxi, most people use 'Didi' (the Chinese Uber). Because of this, 叫车 now almost always implies opening an app. In big cities, 'calling' a car with your voice is rare. Your thumb does all the 'calling' now. It is a symbol of the fast-paced, tech-heavy lifestyle in modern China.

You might hear 打车, which is also extremely common. 打车 feels a bit more like 'taking a taxi' in the moment. 叫车 feels more like the action of ordering one. You can also say 网约车 for specifically app-based cars. But if you stick with 叫车, you will sound perfectly natural anywhere from Beijing to Shanghai.