Anyone own a taxi? or recomend simmilar

[jaycey001]

Hello

Well the sherpa is off the road now for the winter, and my ultra reliable 87 volvo 740 is so reliable im getting a bit bored with it, It wafts up and down the motorways without any hessitation,starts first time, and i have spent a small fortune getting it up to scratch! its a lovely car. Unfortunatly i just cant help myself in lusting after somthing else. (why do i suffer from this affliction?)

Well i have always fancyed an old taxi for years, and i figure to keep fuel prices down i could fit a twin tank veg oil conversion? the only thing that puts me off is how will it behave when im joining a busy motorway (these were out of bounds for the sherpa!) and how will i feel after my weekly 300mile comute, Any one got any experiance driving these?

Any other recomendations will be considered, preferably diesle or economical petrol.
If it can be tax exempt aswell id be in heaven:-)

cheers

James.

[suffolkpete]

If you're looking at the classic London FX4 taxi, I suggest you read the recent article on living with one in PC. I haven't driven one, but I've ridden in a lot and I suspect that at motorway speeds it would be extremely noisy and rather sluggish, they're not geared for main road cruising. Probably a bit thirsty as well, given their weight.

[MG Mal]

The early 90's FX4 with the Nissan 2.7 TD engine is actually quite good on motorways.

The only problem is that 99% of them have such galactic miles on them that any up for sale are pretty much ready for an engine rebuild.

My dad ran one for years and did long distance runs, taking a blind couple of holiday as well as the mundane day to day taxi rank stuff.

Mal.

[bent8rover]

We had one..
..or rather my Dad had one to minicab in after he was made redundant circa 1995.

It was an eighties one fitted with the LR diesel 2.5. Took the governor off and used it plenty but it was far from economical and frankly dangerous at dual carriageway speeds because you couldn't overtake without planning, but you could about-turn within two lengths of it. With 300k+ declared miles on it is was a very clean and had been looked after well enough so after some cutting and polishing it was ready to use for my sister's wedding.... in France. Yes, your truly drove it all the way there with the bridesmaids pished in the back. Pretty cramped up front, looking into an Allegro dash instument cluster. Roundabouts? Don't push them, I lost it once or twice.

The Nissan engine gave better but still drove like a 1950s car - which is what it is.

Buy a 1999 Multipla JTD instead!

[mach1rob]

They're a bit like the Sherpa, but worse! You may also want to rip the seats out and put something more comfortable in, some milk crates, packing cases, that kind of thing.

[mr rusty]

One of my mates drives one for a living as a London cabbie, they're all dog slow on the motorway, whjatever spec you buy, and noisy too. They're designed to do just one job well and nothing else, and apart from the easily identifiable iconic look most cabbies don't particularly like sitting in them all day. Ask a London cabbie and they'd tell you that if TFL said they could have a Pug E7 instead they'd have one like a shot, half the new price for a start! It's also hard to find a used FX that isn't totally shagged out.............. one further consideration , my friend can't leave it locked at night : lowlifes constantly think there'll be money in it and break in-it happens particularly at bank holidays, christmas, and new year.

We've been out in it on a few jollies, because on the plus side five of us can pile in the back, go on the lash,and it can be left parked on a rank for hours We can all tube it home and it'll still be there next day with no tickets or anything But really, most cabbies will have another car for private use-better on the fuel and comfort.

[OneCarefulOwner]

If you look back a few months I had a thread about classic people carrier alternatives, I got a lot of dissenting comments about owning a taxi as a mile muncher. That said, I still entered the competition in the August mag!

[rich.]

i didnt enter as i could not face cutting up my mag... note to pc towers photocopies or on pages with the endless ads please!!!!
as an ex taxi driver try the c4 picasso, modern but the best car ive driven.. i prefer the french stangeness to rolls or overrated jags any day