Buying an ex Taxi, Good idea?

LiamSevenfold

A friend of mine just bought an ex taxi.. Its a 2006 ford mondeo 2.0 diesel, Its nice car.. Got half leather heated seats top of the range stereo, air con ect.. you name it. But Ive been told by many people that buying an ex taxi is a bad idea because of the high mileage and they are poorly maintained.

What do you think?

colm_mcm

Depends. Could have been very well looked after.

Wouldn't appeal to me, it's not like a high miler that's spent it's life on the motorway, the doors have been opened and closed a few times an hour, it's had people eating and puking in it, it's likely to have done a lot of stop start driving and be left idling for ages.

mgbgt1978

Your friend could be lucky...the Dual-mass flywheel and clutch could have been replaced recently....the turbo could also be a recent replacement.

On the other hand....

LiamSevenfold

LiamSevenfold wrote: »

A friend of mine just bought an ex taxi...........

I hate this sort of carry on. If he's your buddy and it's bought than that's that. You don't seem to have an opinion yourself so why does it matter what various people off a forum think?

LiamSevenfold

RoverJames wrote: »

LiamSevenfold wrote: »

A friend of mine just bought an ex taxi...........

I hate this sort of carry on. If he's your buddy and it's bought than that's that. You don't seem to have an opinion yourself so why does it matter what various people off a forum think?

No Im wondering why people say its a bad idea.. I was curious why people say this.

Pov06

Simple, some taxi drivers are all about profits so they try and lower their expenses by not maintaining the car.

LiamSevenfold

Pov06 wrote: »

Simple, some taxi drivers are all about profits so they try and lower their expenses by not maintaining the car.

Judging by the comments there are mixed opinions, But I guess youre righ. Plus it might depend on the company or the owner you buy it from. Some are just more looked after than others

Karen23

We had a 01 Mondeo a few years ago and we traded it in with a dealer , he rang us back the same day and said he had just found out the car had previously been a taxi and he wouldn't have given the price for it had he realised , he said we could either pay the difference or bring the other car back and take the Mondeo back. We said we weren't paying any more money as the deal was done. We hadn't used the car as a taxi and had never known it was a taxi until he told us this. He said we sold the car without giving the full history , untrue as we didn't know. Anyway he made us bring the new car back and gave us back the Mondeo as we wouldn't pay any more money than had been previously agreed.

corktina

made you? Id have told him to take a hike!

LiamSevenfold

LiamSevenfold wrote: »

No Im wondering why people say its a bad idea.. I was curious why people say this.

Oh, fair enough, apologies

Gumbo

It depends, some taxi's are maintained and cared for better than some car "enthusiast" owners.

as long as your friend done the normal checks, and bought it knowing it was a taxi, and of course, got a decent discount on it then its fine.

PS. I hope to god the taxi owner taxed it for a year just before yoiur friend bought it €88 tax rules

Karen23

Ye , we called back up to the garage to see what the story was and he said it was pay the difference or take the car back. It was a few years ago and we were both in our early 20's and much more naive , if it was now I know it would be a different story. He told us he'd have us reported for selling the car without disclosing the fact it was previously a taxi and wouldn't budge. We said no the deal is done and he threatened to call the police. We panicked and not wanting to get into trouble thought it was easier to just take the car back. If it happened now I'd have been the one calling the police.

Raging , because shortly after the head gasket went and could only sell it for scrap. Lost a lot of money on that car.

166man

Pov06 wrote: »

Simple, some taxi drivers are all about profits so they try and lower their expenses by not maintaining the car.

Yep they are all about profits but they aim to get longevity out of their car's and as such might be a reason to maintain it better. I do see your point though.

LiamSevenfold

Thanks for the comments all of yas , like I mentioned there seems to be mixed reviews. But I guess it all depends on the service history and the condition. I think what appeals to people about buying ex taxis are the fact that you can get a fairly new ish car for next to nothing. But thats just naive I agree. But the car seems pretty sound exept for the wear and tear that you would expect from buying a taxi like the carpet in the rear foot wells are slightly loose and there is a hole on the boot where the reciever for the radio must have been.. and its only done 85 thousand miles wich it a fair.bit but Ive seen worse on cars that age. Ooh and the steering wheels seen better days its worn down quite alot haha. As long as my friends sattisfied with it then thats the main thing right?

bazz26

It totally depends on how the driver treated it. Some cars have more than one driver if they are on the road all the time. If the driver owns the car then chances are may treat it with greater care than maybe someone who is just hired to drive it.

MuppetCheck

Pov06 wrote: »

Simple, some taxi drivers are all about profits so they try and lower their expenses by not maintaining the car.

Would it not be in the drivers best interest to keep it mobile?

I know a guy that has a few taxis double shifted. The cars are going a large proportion of the day and night and he services them religiously. Not a main dealer but a decent local guy. Once a month they are booked in for a morning usually for anything that needs doing.

The time wasted sourcing another car and getting it fitted out would be greater than the cost of a regular once over.

These aren't pristine examples mind but he usually has his cars a few years at least. His own is a 2005 from new and still seems to be absolutely fine.

mickdw

2006 mondeo ex taxi with 85k miles and showing a lot of wear. Hmmm.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

Karen23 wrote: »

he rang us back the same day and said he had just found out the car had previously been a taxi and he wouldn't have given the price for it had he realised

well thats his fault for not doing a history check on the car before buying it!

ShadowHearth

I personally would not touch ex taxi car. Good few reasOns already mentioned why.
Then again it's a very very dodgy territory you would be coming in to. Some say that those cars would be better looked after then enthusiasts, but would taxi driver sale a perfectly good car in the first place? For them this is a work horse and income generator, not a luxury item. Why would the sell on perfectly good car? My guess ( 90% ) is that they get wrid of the car when it starts to give trouble.
On the other hand one taxi fella who I used a lot had a great Toyota ( can't remember model, but it was 95 and it was like Camry, but bigger and nicer, rare car ), it was spotless and he did said it costed him more then a fellow taxi driver with e200. He sold that eventually due to regulations. Took a brand new octavia

Dirkster

mickdw wrote: »

2006 mondeo ex taxi with 85k miles and showing a lot of wear. Hmmm.

Ya was kinda thinking that as well. That mileage sounds pretty dodgy to me. I know its not fair to make a sweeping statement on it but thats only 17k miles a year. As a taxi thats ridiculous mileage, I'd do that in my own car. The steering wheel should only be worn when there's hands on it. This should directly reflect the mileage on it. I know town driving will have more wear on the steering wheel but still shouldn't be a huge difference over that mileage. Any service history with it?

2qk4u

I drove a Taxi for 10 years and there is only one answer to this question, never buy an x Taxi. They are over used and abused. All the servicing in the world makes no difference when it comes to the type of use it had.
I counted over 100 ramps I went over in one shift, constant stop start driving in not good for the gearbox, brakes and suspension, even if the car you buy looks to be ok now it wont last long.

mickdw

Dirkster wrote: »

Ya was kinda thinking that as well. That mileage sounds pretty dodgy to me. I know its not fair to make a sweeping statement on it but thats only 17k miles a year. As a taxi thats ridiculous mileage, I'd do that in my own car. The steering wheel should only be worn when there's hands on it. This should directly reflect the mileage on it. I know town driving will have more wear on the steering wheel but still shouldn't be a huge difference over that mileage. Any service history with it?

I remember a few years back, I got into a taxi that was practically new - it had that years reg on it. I was shocked to see 80,000 miles on it. Driver said it was 10 months old and that he used to keep them about 4 years and that it would be worthless at that stage.
So IMO if this 06 mondeo was a taxi for any more than a few months, the mileage is lies. In fact, given that its showing wear iniside, I would be pretty certain that the mileage is lies.

LiamSevenfold

Dirkster wrote: »

mickdw wrote: »

2006 mondeo ex taxi with 85k miles and showing a lot of wear. Hmmm.

Ya was kinda thinking that as well. That mileage sounds pretty dodgy to me. I know its not fair to make a sweeping statement on it but thats only 17k miles a year. As a taxi thats ridiculous mileage, I'd do that in my own car. The steering wheel should only be worn when there's hands on it. This should directly reflect the mileage on it. I know town driving will have more wear on the steering wheel but still shouldn't be a huge difference over that mileage. Any service history with it?

Oh I get what youre trying to say.. You youre implying that someones tampered with the mileage?

2qk4u

LiamSevenfold wrote: »

Oh I get what youre trying to say.. You youre implying that someones tampered with the mileage?

A lot of Taxis are clocked, I know drivers who clock their cars before their yearly NCT as its not as suspicious as a big chunk of miles being knocked off at once.
Another scam is they keep their x Taxis instead of trading in and re class them as private cars for a couple of months while their wife/girlfriend or whoever drives it, then sell it as a private car with private NCT and Tax.

Before the Taxi drivers start, its not just Taxi's , private and commercials get clocked too..

keithclancy

LiamSevenfold wrote: »

A friend of mine just bought an ex taxi.. Its a 2006 ford mondeo 2.0 diesel, Its nice car.. Got half leather heated seats top of the range stereo, air con ect.. you name it. But Ive been told by many people that buying an ex taxi is a bad idea because of the high mileage and they are poorly maintained.

What do you think?

Would you marry a prostitute ?
They can look great but can be absolutely riddled with problems

corktina

Karen23 wrote: »

Ye , we called back up to the garage to see what the story was and he said it was pay the difference or take the car back. It was a few years ago and we were both in our early 20's and much more naive , if it was now I know it would be a different story. He told us he'd have us reported for selling the car without disclosing the fact it was previously a taxi and wouldn't budge. We said no the deal is done and he threatened to call the police. We panicked and not wanting to get into trouble thought it was easier to just take the car back. If it happened now I'd have been the one calling the police.

Raging , because shortly after the head gasket went and could only sell it for scrap. Lost a lot of money on that car.

the guys a crook and a bully....

tuborg_man

\i would have no issue with buying an ex taxi (actually driving an ex taxi now) as long as the price was lower than a simular car that wasn't a psv, other than that buy with your eyes open and you could get a bargain,
Lots of drivers are giving up the taxi's now and if there selling the plate with the car then the car has to be 3 years or newer so people are buying a licence number but not the car.