taxis.

[Jastel]

Originally Posted by Bevsta007

Makes sense, they are mostly purchased second hand from Auctions (correct me if I'm wrong. at least in Victoria

So the industry is reliant on ex company cars & rental cars?

Nothing stopping anyone putting on a brand new anything...so long as it's on an approved list with transport. The first drunk moron that spews in it or kicks the door in and it will be just like my ex cop car/rental car taxi.

[2011G6E]

Come on...we all know there's only one real choice when it comes to a vehicle specifically designed from the ground up to be a "taxi"...



Nothing else compares...

[ZGM86]

Originally Posted by RB Snake

Everybody here is using the Hybrid Camry's and Prius. They make brilliant Taxis.

Maybe for an operator, not so much for the passenger (Priuses, I mean). I hate it when you're trying to get a taxi and you luck out when a Prius arrives. So horribly cramped and uncomfortable in those things, no matter whether you're in the passenger seat or back seat. It's like squeezing into a sardine can.

[eb2fairmont]

What gets me with taxis, is all the marks on the hood lining.

[GSPSI]

This had a bonnet bulge..

[GSPSI]

Oh and pretty sure alot of you blokes here know this taxi.. Haha

[eb2fairmont]

Looks like the hybrids are winning.

[JC]

There's a Skoda Yeti taxi in Canberra. Draws plenty of looks.

[Boza]

Originally Posted by Jastel

I guess it's what your used to...fixing...driving...whatever.
I suppose I will have to shift to them eventually.

Not sure about heat problems...my ac works fine up here in the tropics it's never off.
The boot is ok, I have LPG in there too, if you have too much crap get a van.

Plenty of people refuse vans and Prius to ride in my cars!
That's why there is more than one type of taxi in most areas.

In melbourne in the winter it's very hot in the cars you probably don't get that as your A/C is always going but trust me everyone even the indian drivers say it's bery hoy inside the cabin I had to help my old man take a car over to the other side of town and I was sweating like a pig got out and was freezing outside never even had the heat on

[Bluehoon]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

What rubbish-the Toyota hybrid synergy drive in camrys and prius is purpose built for tough, day to day, bumper to bumper, stop go driving. It has a minimal number of moving or wear out parts.It is proven in service for millions of kilometres.
Ford on the other and had a car that was adapted to taxi use and was based on the best available tech at the time, if you were to put it up as the next worldwide taxi now, here will will be the checklist:
Substandard Diff-Fail
Substandard-Bushes-Fail
Substandard Bearings-Fail
Substandard Idler-Fail
Substandard Electrics-Fail

Im not pretending all other cars out there are perfect but cmon, falcon is not the be all and end all of motoring.

Did toyota build the prius and camry for Taxi usage??? No.

My point is you can't take failings or shortcomings of a car under the conditions of being used as a taxi as a representation of the quality of the car.

This is where I forsee your arguement as being totally flawed.....

[Jastel]

So turn on the a/c???

Or will it flatten the batteries....lol

Up here the hybrids do destroy batteries as the extra heat and a/c load wouldn't help longevity...the poor little petrol engines are never off on the older ones.

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by Bluehoon

Did toyota build the prius and camry for Taxi usage??? No.

My point is you can't take failings or shortcomings of a car under the conditions of being used as a taxi as a representation of the quality of the car.

This is where I forsee your arguement as being totally flawed.....

Here is where I forsee a problem in your reasoning...

All those problems are ones I have experienced first hand, Ive had 3 Falcons in 5 years, I would do 50-60k a year, hardly huge kilometres and nothing for a taxi.

The comments on here by ACTUAL taxi operators go to show that hybrids are more reliable, and spend less time off the road replacing parts that shouldn't fail when the manufacturer has known about for years but not bothered to fix.

[Ben73]

How old is the average hybrid taxi on average? All the ones I see are only a couple years old at the most.
The Falcons are what, 5 years old the newest ones? When did they stop making BF Wagons?
When these hybrids get 500,000kms on them after several years I would like to see if they are still reliable and cheap and easy to repair.

[tut0r]

Always wanted to get into a prius taxi to see what they're like, seen an F6 and GT taxi, the F6 was a mock up as it had no intercooler dunno about the GT but I'd guess its a fake. Hell if you want odd, talk about the strangest cop cars you've seen....I saw an EVO 8 in canberra and a 98 blue wrx with gold rims....

[T-Pak Addict]

You can stick ya foreign cars and front wheel drive cars where the sun don't shine....
I love my Falcon.... Easy to work on and replacement parts are a lot cheaper...

Try selling a hybrid after its been a cab.....

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by T-Pak Addict

You can stick ya foreign cars and front wheel drive cars where the sun don't shine....
I love my Falcon.... Easy to work on and replacement parts are a lot cheaper...

Try selling a hybrid after its been a cab.....

Yeah, LOL, it will be worth as much as a *AHEM! Falcon taxi.........

[T-Pak Addict]

Worth the same maybe... Business down the road from work sells Xcabs... Funny thing is the Falcons sell within a week... Commodores are still there 3 months later....

[msman]

Originally Posted by Ben73

How old is the average hybrid taxi on average? All the ones I see are only a couple years old at the most.
The Falcons are what, 5 years old the newest ones? When did they stop making BF Wagons?
When these hybrids get 500,000kms on them after several years I would like to see if they are still reliable and cheap and easy to repair.

plenty of guys I know have gone through a the life cycle with prius's all loved them no major work, only did basic servicing + tyres@80K + Brakes@150K. the guys with camry hybrids are the same but don't know of one with more than 300K onit as yet.

We can argue till the cows come home but I will simply put it this way we have regretted replacing the BA's with FG's stupid mistake. the fg is far too weak and has too many issues for this work.

[theunfairadvant]

Originally Posted by Ben73

How old is the average hybrid taxi on average? All the ones I see are only a couple years old at the most.
The Falcons are what, 5 years old the newest ones? When did they stop making BF Wagons?
When these hybrids get 500,000kms on them after several years I would like to see if they are still reliable and cheap and easy to repair.

Only time will tell.

[RB Snake]

Originally Posted by msman

We can argue till the cows come home but I will simply put it this way we have regretted replacing the BA's with FG's stupid mistake. the fg is far too weak and has too many issues for this work.

Fully agree with this.

Every time I drive and test a falcon taxi, there's almost always something wrong with it. 90% of time when I jump in a Hybrid, it's nearly perfect, especially the Camry. I'm no mechanic, but all the management companies here are buying hybrids because less goes wrong and it's only maintenance with these things.

So far the Prius seems to be averaging 800k kms and then coming of the road, not because there's too much wrong with it but because it's reached it's maximum age as a taxi. That's not always the case with the falcons and especially not the commodores.

[deadfish2]

9-12months ago most taxis in town were bf wagon, all the ones I had been in were 200-400k on the clock (I always ask the cabbies bout there cars when travelling) they all had whining diffs, all of them sounded like the front end was gunna fall out of them and probably 50% would have had engine lights on... One bloke was even keeping it stalled up at the lights otherwise it would stall...

Fast forward to today and it's all hybrid Camry's and a few ve commodores, the hybrid driver I was talking to said he finds it ok and hasn't had a drama, this one was a touch over 200k on the clock, only said the drivers seat isn't as comfortable as the commo/falcon, in saying that from my perspective the thing still sounded tight as a drum and nice and quiet.

This driver was saying he shares cars and his other was a ve, he said he finds the seats better than the Camry and they've been pretty impressed with the ve's as cabs...