Best Car for a Taxi?

pappyodaniel

Can anyone recommend what car would be best suited for a taxi. Taking things into consideration such as fuel efficiency (mpg), reliability, comfort, boot space etc.

I'm seriously looking into getting a Skoda Octavia or Superb as I have heard they tick all the boxes. I was more interested in getting a Toyota Avensis D4D but a few people have told me they are heavy on juice.

Btw, I'm looking at 2nd hand cars in or around the 2005 mark. Oh and you can leave out suggestions of Hybrid cars like the Prius because it's boot space isn't big enough.

Thanks in advance.

Terrontress

A professional taxi driver would probably tell you something different to a fare paying punter.

Personally speaking I reckon a Skoda Superb is right on the money. Comfortable, reliable and roomy. A lot of the taxis in Belfast from the big companies are Superbs.

biko

I'd say Toyota seems to be the ticket.
Just stand on a corner for 20 mins and counts the number of Toyota taxis you see. It's a lot.

triple-M

as someone who has a few taxi driving relatives i'd totally recommend the skoda superb/octavia both great cars with very little trouble,although it would be advisable to check that the one your buying is not an ex-taxi with altered mileage as this does happen quite alot ,happened to me before I bought an old octavia 1998 with 120,000 miles on it turns out it had been serviced with 180,000 miles on it only months earlier!only cost me 500 quid and it still drives perfect tho and its only a 1.6

com1

Might be worth a look at this before you shell out any cash...

http://www.taxiregulator.ie/files/Model_Report_Database_22-10-10_PDF.pdf

pappyodaniel

Cheers, I'm currently driving an Avensis but it's petrol and I'm putting about €160 of the stuff into it per week. I have to bring my costs down. I've put about 100k miles on the clock in the last 2 years and I've never experienced any problems, mainly because I service her about 5 times a year.

I would prefer to stick with an Avensis but the mpg might just swing me in the direction of a Skoda.
Sound for the replies.

ToxicPaddy

A relative of mine is in the taxi business and he swears by the Octavia.. One of the cars he had had over 300k kms on her and was driving like a dream until it was crashed into one evening and written off..

Comfortable, solid, reliable, great on diesel and relatively cheap to service too apparently..

Tox

coylemj

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

One of the cars he had had over 300k kms on her and was driving like a dream until it was crashed into one evening and written off..

And no doubt he claimed it was worth 10k for insurance purposes.

EPM

coylemj wrote: »

And no doubt he claimed it was worth 10k for insurance purposes.

I actually hope he did. Wouldn't be nice to be out of pocket waiting on an insurance claim to go through to restore someones livelyhood.

greenermetals

i had a 2003 avensis 2 ltr d4d the very first of the new type. she was getting over 50mpg rural, and i never had to put a spanner to her excpet for servicing for 50,000 miles

henke

personally i dont think the avensis since 2003 are even half the car of the 98-02 avensis or the carinas beforehand which were all very reliable cars. i wud prob go skoda nowadays

blahblah06

i drive a 407 and its the best car out there for juice. 1.6 hdi ya cant beat it. u will need to buy the estate version for it to pass the suitability test however

Idbatterim

what about a bmw 525d or 530d?

Matt Bauer

Skoda Ocavia or Superb. Toyota was yesterdays news.

pappyodaniel

Thanks lads, I got this

Nothing fancy, just a good solid car. No mechanical problems, only a minor thing like the driver's door doesn't lock with the central locking, an easy fix.

I got her for €5200. I think I got a bargain.

pappyodaniel

pappyodaniel wrote: »

Thanks lads, I got this

Nothing fancy, just a good solid car. No mechanical problems, only a minor thing like the driver's door doesn't lock with the central locking, an easy fix.

I got her for €5200. I think I got a bargain.

Nice bus for the job, I'd have gone auto though to be honest.

Fey!

Best of luck with it.

Love the VW alloys!!


On that list from the regulator it's interesting to note that the estate versions of some cars fail on luggage capacity, wihle the saloons pass (an example is the Honda Accord.

Also, I'm sure that there's a Ford Fusion doing the rounds in Galway, but the list has it as a fail. The Jaguar X-Type is also a fail!

Finally, why do some cars pass as hackneys and fail as taxis, or have different seating allowances?

Spook_ie

Fey! wrote: »

Best of luck with it.

Love the VW alloys!!


On that list from the regulator it's interesting to note that the estate versions of some cars fail on luggage capacity, wihle the saloons pass (an example is the Honda Accord.

Also, I'm sure that there's a Ford Fusion doing the rounds in Galway, but the list has it as a fail. The Jaguar X-Type is also a fail!

Finally, why do some cars pass as hackneys and fail as taxis, or have different seating allowances?

X-Type does pass, S doesn't
Fusion won't (shouldn't) be around Galway after 2012
Can't find any size specs for the Honda but the range was revamped in 2008 ( I think ) so there's probably going to be a fail on the 2008> saloon when they get one in ( Welcome to the world of trying to figure out if the car you intend on buying does/doesn't fit the bill, unless it's a std passat/octavia thingy!!)
Hackneys are exempt from the seperate luggage space requirement, so don't expect your luggage to fit in if you get a hackney to the airport