Taxi!

[Skeeter]

To any taxi drivers on here, or anyone who does a lot of mileage, what would you recommend for a taxi?

Needs to be 5 years old at the most, although preferably a couple of years or something with a few months on it from a dealer forecourt. Must be bomb proof reliable and a diesel, and cheap to fix if it does break. Decent rear space and a boot, obviously, although no preference on hatch, saloon or an estate.

Short list so far is an Avensis, a Mondeo, or a large Skoda.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I recall a thread last year, Skoda Suberb was high on the list?

 

[PMKeates]

I hate the fact that the standard of taxis in this country is so low. We should be like Germany and Switzerland and just rock around in Mercs.

We should have these: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201204444035691/

 

[Skeeter]

If Mercedes offered the same discounts in the UK as they do in Germany I'm sure we all would.

 

[PMKeates]

Couldn't we just use older ones? RVs in the UK mean that they are probably cheaper to buy at 1/2 years old than in Germany after the discount and the spec hit.

 

[Skeeter]

So a Skoda Superb then

 

[Cristian]

I hate the fact that the standard of taxis in this country is so low. We should be like Germany and Switzerland and just rock around in Mercs.

We should have these: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201204444035691/

But the black cabbies are so much cooler! In all honesty I can't believe the standard of those cars. I mean OK - no Mercs - fair enough but for the love of God a 5 year old Octavia will be leagues ahead of those 15+ year old rust buckets with an interior that will make a 10 year old clio look amazing still ride along all day in central London with a small trail of smoke behind them.
Apparently you're good for another 10 years if you managed to get in before April 2012.

 

[Steve2000]

I was in a taxi last week - 02 reg Skoda Octavia 412,000 miles on it.

It had no 5th gear and a clutch that sounded and felt like it was held together with gaffer tape, but it still plodded on. I was fearing for my life a bit when he was on a dual carriageway doing 70 in 4th.

 

[lemonade]

Most Merc's I see seem to be just posh Taxis. They are too expensive to run to use as a regular Taxi/Minicab.

 

[NickXX]

Do we not all use Maybach 62s as taxis?

 

[Frozennova]

I was in a taxi last week - 02 reg Skoda Octavia 412,000 miles on it.

It had no 5th gear and a clutch that sounded and felt like it was held together with gaffer tape, but it still plodded on. I was fearing for my life a bit when he was on a dual carriageway doing 70 in 4th.

In what way did this have no 5th gear, the VAG group stopped producing cars with a 4 speed box about 20 years ago. Unless the gearbox was utterly trashed?

 

[Janesy B]

Reading the post gives me the impression that it was knackered, not retrofitted with a 4 speed box.

 

[Skeeter]

A broken 5th gear will fail the plate test if its a hackney carrage, so it won't be on the road much longer.

If it was a minicab then bah, its got another 600,000 miles to go yet

For those saying about running something 'nicer' than the norm, you dont get to choose the car you have when you call up for a taxi, so it would just be wasted expense on a premium product the customer never gets to choose.

Maybe a bit different if its a private hire vehicle, but this is a thread about a hackney carriage taxi.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Hackney Carriages that are not LTI's or those Citroen things are very rare in most parts of the country. Infact until I saw some a few years ago I actually didnt think you could use a normal car as a hackney carriage

 

[Skeeter]

You can't in a lot of places.

Smaller town or county councils allow normal cars, but they are subject to increasingly strict tests and examinations.