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Slightly surprised.. saw a silver MG ZS on an 18 plate as a taxi., but see no reason why not...
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Seen stranger things with taxi plates but it’s not what I’d buy for the job. A used Honda Civic 1.6 diesel would cost vastly less to run over such high mileages and would be more likely to stand up to it. Even the 7yr warranty wouldn’t help much as it is limited to 80,000 miles. Great for a private low mileage owner however, especially bought used or new with big enough discount.
Edited by SLO76 on 15/01/2019 at 18:58
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I've seen a Dacia Duster taxi on my travels around my work area. Like the MG, not an obvious choice, but hey ho, up to them innit!.
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I've seen a Dacia Duster taxi on my travels around my work area. Like the MG, not an obvious choice, but hey ho, up to them innit!.
The 1.5 dci Renault diesel has been tested to destruction across Europe as a taxi for many years both in Dacia’s and Renault’s however and with proper care it’s economical and very robust. The MG is a bit too thirsty to be a good taxi in my opinion and will quickly wipe out any initial saving on purchase price.
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Dacia duster dci 115 prestige pre-reg £17995... we buyanycar £12640..
They ALL lose.
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Would be nice to see it after 3 years and 150k + still cabbing...
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It surprises me how few 'Crossover' type cars such as the MGZS, Duster, Qasquai etc are used as taxis.
They have much more space in the back seats than the typical medium hatch, and not really any more expensive these days for the base model versions.
I don't know how much that is down to the drivers not choosing them, and how much it's because of licensing authorities specifying ''Saloon Car" though.
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Here in Colchester, I have seen, Jaguar XF and XJ taxis, Dacias, all of them! sanderos, logan, stepway and Duster, Hyundai IX35, and just about everything else, plus Astra hatch and estate.
I think there are a lot of cars usable as taxis, but a bit left of field.
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Saw the MG ZS taxi again, 4 new wheel bearings recently and dealer replaced the infotainment system that they damaged while it was in for a service. He won't use them again...
He is off to get 4 new tyres later today.
Now 70,000 miles, otherwise no problems.
Edited by oldroverboy. on 22/01/2020 at 11:48
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Spotted a Skoda Fabia estate running as a taxi in Glasgow the other day. Plenty of Dacia Logan’s too. Wouldn’t have either of them or an MG as a private hire myself. I’d favour a good used Toyota Avensis or Auris possibly a Honda Civic 1.6 DTEC estate. There should be a limit on size and superminis shouldn’t be used. A Fabia is too tight in the back for a taxi, certainly our Polo is very tight for 4 adults.
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I've seen three fairly exotic taxis here in Bilbao - a Tesla, a Jag XF and a 5 series BMW. None of them really look "right" in white IMHO. We are often thought of as showoffs here, as proved by our local police pootling about in B class Mercs. Curiously, very soon after delivery, complaints piled up from tall policemen who found them to be very cramped. (The plexiglass screen doesn't help, of course, a detail someone in Procurement must have overlooked.), so a lot of decommissioned C-Classes were hauled back into service as a stopgap for police drivers measuring over 5'10"!
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Would be nice to see it after 3 years and 150k + still cabbing...
96000 miles and still going..
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There is a difference between a hackney carriage and a taxi. In most areas the rules on what can be used as a hackney carriage are far tighter than a taxi often specifying such things down to the colour.
It varies by authority but generally anything can be a taxi (minicab in old terms) as long as it meets the age criteria the local authority has set.
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Would be nice to see it after 3 years and 150k + still cabbing...
96000 miles and still going..
Quick calculation based on approx current fuel costs and average mpg figures on HJ for the MG v a previous gen Honda Civic 1.6 DTEC 42 v 65mpg respectively and it’s cost him just under £4,000 extra in fuel so far plus many thousands more in depreciation as the MG is worthless at 96k while the Civic will still fetch reasonable money. This excludes any extra costs from the MG’s lower build standards as the warranty may still be valid assuming he’s maintained it at the main dealer but then I very much doubt this as few taxi operators do. It’s an unwise buy as a taxi, a nearly new Civic, Auris or Avensis would’ve made much more sense.
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Quick calculation based on approx current fuel costs and average mpg figures on HJ for the MG v a previous gen Honda Civic 1.6 DTEC 42 v 65mpg respectively and it’s cost him just under £4,000 extra in fuel so far plus many thousands more in depreciation as the MG is worthless at 96k while the Civic will still fetch reasonable money. This excludes any extra costs from the MG’s lower build standards as the warranty may still be valid assuming he’s maintained it at the main dealer but then I very much doubt this as few taxi operators do. It’s an unwise buy as a taxi, a nearly new Civic, Auris or Avensis would’ve made much more sense.
Not serviced by dealer anymore...
He is happy with it, and as I have said many times before we are all different. Why have a BMW 5 or 7 series taxi? or an XF estate.. or a Duster, Audi A4 or 6 , all local/
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“ He is happy with it, and as I have said many times before we are all different. Why have a BMW 5 or 7 series taxi? or an XF estate.. or a Duster, Audi A4 or 6 , all local”
Variety is good but I’ll wager he simply didn’t do his sums on this and went for it based on the relatively low price. But as you say, he’s happy enough and I find it interesting chatting to taxi drivers who’re running something different to find out how it’s standing up.
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Taxis do many different things. Some go for airport runs and "executive" more upmarket transport and have contracts with various companies.
Not everybody wants to be picked up from the airport in a 2008 407 smelling of sick.
Alternatively it may be owner of the company who has something they prefer driving plated up. Motoring isn't just about what costs the least money, they may prefer driving a 7-Series or a XF than an Avensis or sick smelling 407 with a rattly DMF.
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