Does anyone think this has been a taxi?

eBay.co.uk: 2005 55 SKODA OCTAVIA AMBIENTE 1.9 TDi DIESEL NEW SHAPE (item 110082324902 end time 24-Jan-07 21:15:27 GMT)

I think so

Looks like you can see a mark where insurance docs. might have been taped to top left of windscreen - is there other evidence (apart from mileage)?

Looks like you can see a mark where insurance docs. might have been taped to top left of windscreen - is there other evidence (apart from mileage)?

The backseats look like they've been puked all over! For a motorway rep mobile I would expect the backseats to be spotless. Both the front passenger seat and the back seat have scuffs on the plastic trim as well as marks on the upholstery. Either its had a crap valet or those marks really won't shift.

With such tatty interior - bound to have been !

try ask the seller about being a taxi and the condition of the interior, see if you get a reply, I never !

The backseats look like they've been puked all over! For a motorway rep mobile I would expect the backseats to be spotless. Both the front passenger seat and the back seat have scuffs on the plastic trim as well as marks on the upholstery. Either its had a crap valet or those marks really won't shift.[/quo

normally there would be holes in the dash where the meter has been mounted, fire extinguisger possibly?

It would be unusual for a cab driver to sell up with such low mileage, however it's not unheard off, usually another cab driver will buy though.

Contrary to popular belief ex taxi's actually make very good buys as they will have been serviced on time every time, they udergo a much stricter MOT from day 1 rather than 3 years old and anything that needs attention will get done almost straight away, It's a workhorse to earn a living, you cant afford for it to be unreliable so everything gets done.

The only things that make this appear to have been a taxi are the levels of wear around the footwell areas, providing no holes have been drilled these are the only areas that will give the game away as people drag there feet over the sills and scuff the plastics around the seat bases, also the carpet wears on the rear transmission tunnel, skoda plastics and carpet (being of such poor quality) wear very fast and show any marks, as does the seat fabric, a stain on the seats does not necessarily mean it's been puked on, it could just have been raining when someone opened the door!!

normally there would be holes in the dash where the meter has been mounted, fire extinguisger possibly?

Generaly not, very very rarely do taxi's have holes drilled for anything, the meter will usually fit in a space under the stereo thanks to all these double din holes with single din stereos! the fire extiguisher just needs to be in the car somewhere so will normaly just be in the boot with the first aid kit, for example -

My Mondeo has a mirror meter so if its turned off you wouldn't know there was a meter, the CB is mounted under the seat so is effectively invisible, and the data head (computer screen) is on a bracket on the drivers air vent and simply unplugs when not needed.

If I de-cabbed my Mondeo tommorow and sold it, no one would ever know unless they checked the gala pulse wire to the stereo and noticed that it had been tapped into. they wouldn't even recognise the number plate either as I'd take off my private plate, most cabs now also use MOGO licence plate holders to hold the council plate (that states number of passengers) instead of riveting them to the back of the vehicle!

I wouldn't have thought it were a taxi based on what I can see there, just a well used car.

As John says it seems a bit young for a taxi driver to be selling.

how much do you think its worth?

Provided it hasn't been used for private hire then it still has 8 months of warranty left on it which is worth something. Of course it may have been used for private hire, developed an expensive fault which SUK won't fix under warranty and the owner is cutting losses ....

Provided it hasn't been used for private hire then it still has 8 months of warranty left on it which is worth something. Of course it may have been used for private hire, developed an expensive fault which SUK won't fix under warranty and the owner is cutting losses ....

I thought the warranty only ran for 3 years, or to 60K whichever is sooner?

I thought the warranty only ran for 3 years, or to 60K whichever is sooner?

That is correct, it will be out of warranty due to exceeding 60k

Pretty sure it is 2 years unlimited OR 3 years 60,000 whichever sooner. Check out the sticky on this site.

Contrary to popular belief ex taxi's actually make very good buys as they will have been serviced on time every time, they udergo a much stricter MOT from day 1 rather than 3 years old and anything that needs attention will get done almost straight away, It's a workhorse to earn a living, you cant afford for it to be unreliable so everything gets done.

You've obviously not been in some of the ratty heaps of tat that pass for taxis by me then.

The only time they get sold on is when they have dropped dead in the road

Doubt it taxi drivers don't usually go for alloys etc, just the more basic models.

I would thik it's just had a bit of a run out over a year, I know of people who put 60k on a car in a year and then sell it as they need their car to be 100% relieable as otherwise they loose

I think you'll find it's 2 years unlimited and the third year is subject to the 60k limit.

Being a taxi (or private hire) makes no difference to the warranty, the 2 years unlimited milage/ 3 years or 60k still aplies.

You guys must have some well dodgy cab firms where you are, no doubt run by some of our Asian friends (nothing racist in that comment BTW), all our cars (130 of them) are decent specs with alloys A/C etc, hell, my own is a Mondeo ST!! we have C/E class mercs, jags, toyotas, BMW's Skodas etc etc and we have among the cheapest fares in the UK!

Being a taxi (or private hire) makes no difference to the warranty, the 2 years unlimited milage/ 3 years or 60k still aplies.

You guys must have some well dodgy cab firms where you are, no doubt run by some of our Asian friends (nothing racist in that comment BTW), all our cars (130 of them) are decent specs with alloys A/C etc, hell, my own is a Mondeo ST!! we have C/E class mercs, jags, toyotas, BMW's Skodas etc etc and we have among the cheapest fares in the UK!

Yes. my son refuses to get in a taxi any more, the last one drove like a lunatic and one of the rear seatbelts was broken. Reported:mad:

we have C/E class mercs, jags, toyotas, BMW's Skodas etc etc and we have among the cheapest fares in the UK!

:eek:

Don't get that in manchester. I was recently in taxi (12 year old toyota) where the seats had been amatuerly retrimmed in some dayglo patterned velour you get on the local buses. Only had 260K on the clock. Now I think about it, that one on ebay is in too good a condition to be a taxi round here. Just had an idea for a future thread... :rubchin:

Age limit here for taxi's is 7 years old, or extended to 9 for prestige vehicles used for weddings etc provided they are in exceptionally good condition.

Most cabs here are replaced every 3 years when they will have approximately 120,000 / 150,000 miles on them, not many keep going after that as the running costs become too high, all these guys running round in million mile cabs are on a false economy, fuel consuption gets worse, repair bills escalate etc etc, you'll never make much money running an old sh*tter, and you'll never get any long distance work either!

Our local ones have all sorts of cars from 56 plate Mk1 octys , 03 plate 3 series BMWs and some right old sheds - J plate Toyota Carina for example.

The only criteria is that it's white......

I was in a taxi the other night: black mkII Octavia - very clean and even had

electric windows in the rear. The driver was well pleased with it. On the way back

we had a crap Ford with shot rear shox.

The only criteria is that it's white......

Ours used to have to be white, but 2 years after the council making that decision they realised there mistake and told us we all had to change to any colour except white? (white cars are not easy to come by these days, and they look dirty very quickly)

You can imagine the response they got from a bunch of cabbies, having all either bought white cars or had our existing cars re-sprayed, the council meeting resembled something from a carry on film or benny hill, with cabbies chasing councillors round tables and stuff.

The council thought they had won in the end untill they realised that if none of us obeyed the rules and changed our cars (again) that they'd have a major transport infrastructure problem on their hands, so a compromise was made, we could keep our white cars but when we buy our next car it must be any colour except white, we all decided amongst ourselves to unofficialy adopt silver as the new colour and not allow any other colours on our fleets.

I have to say, Eastbourne has a beautiful fleet of taxis and private hire vehicles with no sh*tters at all really, and it's absolutely no thanks to the council either.