Running costs of a taxi

ninty9er

Was talking to the driver on the way home the other night and was just making conversation about how it's viable to run an S-Class or LS400 and he mentioned that he'd had an E240 auto up to last month.

2.6l V6 Petrol auto vs. Honda Accord 2.2 CDTi manual was only €10 extra to run a day....given taxi mileage I'm actually quite shocked by this.

Has anyone else moved to diesel and found little if any saving??

Volvoboy

Its all about driving economically, high 20mpgs are vialble on a LS.

maidhc

ninty9er wrote: »

Has anyone else moved to diesel and found little if any saving??

My experience is that my petrol which does 25mpg costs twice as much to run than my diesel which does 55mpg... Were I to use the petrol on my daily commute of 40 miles it would cost €30 extra a week.

VH

he might be only a sort of casual or part-time taxi driver

unkel

ninty9er wrote: »

2.6l V6 Petrol auto vs. Honda Accord 2.2 CDTi manual was only €10 extra to run a day...

Doesn't surprise me too much, unless he is doing a huge mileage. Let's say he does 260km per day (he works 6 days a week so doing 80k km per year), with the diesel @1.29 and petrol @1.24 (just checked pumps.ie for Dublin) and he gets 28MPG in the Merc and 42MPG in the Honda

That works out at about €10 per day. If I were a taxi driver, I'd gladly pay for the V6 luxury auto comfort executive car over the 4 pot rattle family saloon tbh

peasant

10 € per day doesn't sound like much, does it ...but when you multiply it with the average 220 (or whatever it is) working days it's over 2k per year. That's the family holiday right there.

unkel

peasant wrote: »

10 € per day doesn't sound like much, does it ...but when you multiply it with the average 220 (or whatever it is) working days it's over 2k per year. That's the family holiday right there.

The difference in yearly depreciation between an older petrol executive car and a newer diesel family saloon is easily €4k. So who is going on their holiday and who is staying at home now?

peasant

I'd say on an ex-taxi with high mileage any sort of money on resale is a bonus (for the drinks & such when on holidays )

Gary ITR

Well I'd definately pay the extra tenner a day for the comfort. The difference driving a big v6 petrol and a 4 pot jap box is well worth it

Guy:Incognito

peasant wrote: »

I'd say on an ex-taxi with high mileage any sort of money on resale is a bonus (for the drinks & such when on holidays )

I dont know. I'm sure there are plenty of ex-taxis fetching decent money with the ex-taxi like mileage "disappeared"

The genuine ex-taxis mind are next to worhtless.

I know which of the two I'd like to be carried in. Would'nt be the same as the one I'd like to be the owner of as a taxi.

unkel

peasant wrote: »

I'd say on an ex-taxi with high mileage any sort of money on resale is a bonus (for the drinks & such when on holidays )

Ah sure, you can't even privately sell a mint low mileage 1.4 Corolla atm. Even if you could sell an ex-taxi, it would barely cover the first round of drinks

But on a serious note, the interest in fuel consumption most people have in this country is just irrational as the above example goes to show. People seem to prefer to spend big bucks in changing their car to a frugal diesel (or worse, petrol hybrid) and then reap the tiny fuel savings. Do your sums people before you buy, for goodness sake!

E92

Onkle wrote: »

Well I'd definately pay the extra tenner a day for the comfort. The difference driving a big v6 petrol and a 4 pot jap box is well worth it

As would I. If anything I'm pleasantly surprised that's all it is. Even more reason to drive spiritedly when you get the chance:D!

There is no comparison between 4 and 6 cylinders in terms the driving experience; 6 pots are as smooth as silk and are thus a pleasure to drive in heavy traffic or when you're not in a rush, but when you're in a hurry they make such a great noise and love to be revved, and thus provide for more thrills when required to.

Obviously petrols are superior in these regards too.

ninty9er

E92 wrote: »

Obviously petrols are superior in these regards too.

Let's not start that again:D:D

The only reason he got rid of the Merc was that it was a nightmare reliability wise. The ECU failed, the locks failed, the dash failed etc...

craichoe

E92 wrote: »

Obviously petrols are superior in these regards too.

Jesus .. Did Daddy beat you and drive a Diesel Jetta or something ...

bazz26

ninty9er wrote: »

Let's not start that again:D:D

The only reason he got rid of the Merc was that it was a nightmare reliability wise. The ECU failed, the locks failed, the dash failed etc...

The car being off the road for these type of issues means loss of revenue for a taxi driver which seems easily overlooked here, when part of a taxi's total running costs.

Higher chance of such problems on older cars used as a taxi no matter how many cylinders they have.

maidhc

bazz26 wrote: »

Higher chance of such problems on older cars used as a taxi no matter how many cylinders they have.

Indeed.

I think most taxi drivers look at the taxicab as a tool. They buy the cheapest car to run, with the best reliability and the cheapest maintenane, while still being reasonably big to be able to bring 5 people from the airport.

Hence so many Avensi etc, and they are not changed every year either and often are bought 3 years old or so.

Volvoboy

As much as i'd love to drive a LS or S-Class as a taxi it wouldnt be worth the extra premium.


For about 10K you could by a 00 LS Or S, that means a nine year old car like most cars they have problems (A while back i was looking to trade upto a LS) but they have a array of problems, wishbones at 240€ a corner:(.


The sums didnt justify having a luxury saloon as a taxi, not to mention people eating and drinking in the back of your car, also doing a bit of sniff too.

And just on sat gone i found a empty can of dutch gold on the back.:mad:!!

Nope gonna keep my 12 year old jap box, keep it clean, polish weekly, new airfreshener daily!:)