Any London / black cab experts here

[George-Roper]

Been offered a 1991 Carbodies London taxi which is a diesel automatic. What do I look for fault wise on these?. Are they a pain to insure for private use etc.

[michael1703]

Odd size tyres springs to mind, 165 16?

 

Don't know if they're easy to get

[londonm]

Put it like this, any London Cab that makes it through to the general public will be borked.

[Pillock]

I dunno, didn't everyone say that about purplebargeken's purchase before he got it?

Didn't that turn out to be pretty damn sound?

[DVee8]

Purplebargeken is the man to talk to

[Albert Ross]

175x16. Choice of engines too. 2.3/2.5 LR unit, 2.2/2.5 BMC unit, Transit (IIRC) and Nissan.... All dependent on age I reckon. I wouldn't mind having a LR 2.3 Diesel with Autobox for a project ongoing in my head. I have access to a convertor plate to fit the lot into a Series LR, and use the transfer box/4WD system as originally intended. I wonder if it would work with the overdrive.. like a "Town and Country" gearbox....

[purplebargeken]

Hellooooo, heard my name mentioned. Love ex-taxi's I do. 

 

Mine had around 300 odd thou on the clock. It wasn't the fastest thing in the land but it plodded along. Motorways scare them, city centre is the best place for them. No-one cuts you up and they keep a respectful distance. 

 

Problems:

 

Rust. Check around headlights, door bottoms, rear 1/4 panels and so on. They can leak around the roof sign but mine was okay. Look around the underneath of the front wings and along the seam where they join. Can be expensive to get replacement panels. Check the separate chassis for rot. Check the sills and just underneath them. They are a grot spot and nearly all will be welded. 

 

Interior: check general condition, some seats can be expensive. The drivers seat is pretty comfy but check it still adjusts properly. Check lecky window happiness and central locking. My CL was a bit odd and I had to be creative getting in the cab at times. I still loved it though. Taxi gubbins still in? Does it work? Has it been removed properly? Check for dangling wires. The drivers section will most likely be filthy, buy lots of cleaning product. Some dash functions defy logic in how they work. You can download manual and handbooks for free. Fuse box is under the dash on the R hand side, it folds down and is so easy to get to. The doors should lock when you step on the footbrake when stationary IIRC (a red light should come on). 

 

Gearbox and engine are pretty long lived, check as you would normally. Same goes for brakes, exhaust, etc. All pretty easy to get to underneath. Budget in for a basic service, oil, filters, etc, etc. The Nissan 2.7 engine is a true workhorse. Avoid the LR one. Oddly bumpers can rust too. Hard to tell if the suspension is bolloxed as it wallows like a pregnant wildebeast anyway, Corner at speed only if you have spare undies. Oddly the lecky mirror control thing is in the overhead console. Took me ages to work that one out. Wipers can be slow and they are diddy.

 

I was uber lucky and got mine for peanuts. It needed a tyre for the MOT which was easy to get hold of and was a part worn anyway. Check the PAS for leaks as mine did shortly after the bloody MOT. Not the end of the world as it may well just be a seal.

 

Buy on condition, not price nor worry too much about mileage. Lots of forums and blogs about taxi ownership. I'd have mine back in a heartbeat tbh.

 

Buy, have fun and watch the world try and hire you. Try not to listen to the doom sayers too much. Mine was pretty bloody decent all considered.

[purplebargeken]

Try Peter Best for insurance. Adrian Fux designated it a specialist vehicle and wanted stupid money.

[purplebargeken]

Oh and don't use the bus lanes. They will track you down and fine you. I didn't do it but the previous owner did and he got a good few fines.

[chaseracer]

Stephen Fry and Phil the Greek won't be happy about that...

[Des]

Worth prodding around for rot, it's not usually a problem with vehicles in that London as even tinworm doesn't like hanging around the miserable unwelcoming hostile place, but cabs do go up and down salted winter airport routes to redress that issue, so even things like the door pillars could be hanging off it. Mechanically they're more or less a Sherpa with MGB suspension, usually extensively rebuilt annually, as a result the cab could be in very good order, or, if these rebuilds were carried out in a half hour by drunken immigrants, as was the fashion back in the day, then not losing a wheel on the move is a bonus. You can spot those awful penny pinching ones by the air chisel gouges on the steering column outer, there may be a smear of sticky black Dum Dum camo, rubber bushes / mounts will have a smear to cover splits / cracks / absence. Brake pedal may sink to the floor, the wheel and master cylinders will be the cabs originals although the rubbers will have been replaced 30, 40 or 50 times, usually working for about a dozen applications or one emergency stop. Fresh looking locknut on top of the kingpin but the visible bottom bit of kingpin old and crusty? That's because the shiney nut is overtightened to adjust play, NO NEW KINGPIN UNLESS CAB LOSE WHEEL! Bits of coke can under prop UJ circlips, NO NEW UJ UNLESS CAB LOSE PROP! One you can't see but should assume if the previous were found is the air chisel getting busy again in the rear hubs to 'adjust out' the spun bearing carnage, NO NEW HUB UNLESS CAB LOSE WHEEL! Worst I saw was on a front damper, they're also the suspension top link 4 big bolts to chassis, drunken chimp sheared off the 2 outers so when reassembling he glued the bolt heads in place. NO NEW BOLT UNLESS CAB LOSE WHEEL!

I'd imagine / hope the bad ones are no longer with us, if you find a good one your life will be richer, they're a pleasant thing to drive.

[George-Roper]

Purplebargeken Your a star cheers. At 350 sniffs it sounds fun for the small amount. Its 2664cc which engine would that be? Have you still got the links to the sites you used for info / manuals etc.

Des that sounds like one of my old bosses lol.

[purplebargeken]

No worries mate. They are a great experience. At that price you don't have much to lose. Good bit of additional info from Des too.

 

I will have a poke around and see what I can link you to later on today if that's ok.

 

Sounds like the Nissan one to me.

[purplebargeken]

Have a look through this:

 

http://autoshite.com/topic/14391-1997-fairway-taxi/?hl=jo+the+taxi

 

http://www.londontaxiclassics.com/info/DH_FairwayDriver95.pdf

[wuvvum]

2664cc is defo the Nissan lump.

 

I'd like an FX4 some day.  I've had several Metrocabs and they're amusing in their own way (and rot a lot less), but they're not as interesting.  Ideally I'd love a proper early one with the Mickey Mouse ear indicators, but would imagine if such a thing came up for sale it'd go for daft money.

[HMC]

My own experiences as an owner last year...

 

http://autoshite.com/topic/12145-taxi-for-sale-brookjms-new-wheels-guvnor-%C2%A3800-long-tt/

[Cavcraft]

Put it like this, any London Cab that makes it through to the general public will be borked.

 

 

Bollocks.

 

I bought Purplebargeken's FX4 and it had done 327,000 miles (or something like that) had probably been worked day and night relentlessly and was still great.

[purplebargeken]

I wasn't going to be quite as blunt as Billy but essentially he is correct.

 

I want my taxi baaaaack, wahhhh!

[Mr Livered]

Me too! I sold mine 5 years or so ago and still miss it. It was a great car, and quite easy to maintain.

 

We took it for a tour of France one summer, and had a great time. Over here it's an unusual and off-the-wall choice of private motorcar; on the other side of the Channel it's very cool and exotic indeed.

[George-Roper]

Cheers for the helpful info guys gives me something to think over.

[warren t claim]

  Lolling at the Fairway love on here. You clearly haven't owned as many as I have over the years!

 

They rot to fuck. Everywhere. If you hear a cracking when you push the tops of the wings down then walk away. The engines are bulletproof but don't expect more than 200k out of a manual or autobox. If it's a Driver spec then some parts won't fit a Gold Silver or Bronze spec, even the windscreens! Steering boxes leak and the metal is so shit it can shear off leaving you with no steering. Brakes are pathetic unless it's a drum brake model then they're lethally shit. 

 

Electrics are a fucking nightmare, expect lots of bodging around the radio and meter area. 

 

Heaters are pathetic. Don't expect more than 22 mpg out of an auto. They HATE bio diesel, let alone veg oil and fixing and cleaning an injection pump is an expensive job. 

 

Anything else you want to know then give me a shout. Decommissioned cabs have never been worth more than £350-500. Don't assume you have a bargain.

[purplebargeken]

I'd still have mine back in a heartbeat irrespective of what potential faults there are/might be.

 

TBH they have no more or less faults than any other sub grand shite out there but they are different to the Suxo, Fucktra, Mongeo brigade.

 

The driving position suited my back perfectly which is a darn sight more useful than more modern shite has to offer comfort-wise. Like anything in this price territory, you have to go in with your eyes wide open. Surely the love for the black cab is also no different for the love on here of old Rover 800's, Maestro's or Princesses. Long may that remain unchanged 

 

Anything can be fixed with a bit of time and effort and of course, cash. Again, no different to anything else on here. At least they are pretty straightforward to work on, or so it seemed to my amateur spannering ability 

[warren t claim]

I'd still have mine back in a heartbeat irrespective of what potential faults there are/might be.

 

TBH they have no more or less faults than any other sub grand shite out there but they are different to the Suxo, Fucktra, Mongeo brigade. The driving position suited my back perfectly which is a darn sight more useful than more modern shite has to offer. 

 

Weird how the screens were specific. Any particular reason??

No idea why the screens wasn't interchangeable.

 

The TX1 uses the same engine and box as the Fairway so if they're healthy then it'll have a value, particularly as drivers are happy to keep a TX1 going as they're more sought after than the Duratorque TX2.  

 

The problem is LTI were incapable of making a reliable and rust resistant vehicle. The TX1,2 & 4 are just as bad. .

[purplebargeken]

Yeah, I agree on the rust thing. I was a bit surprised to see a fair few TX1 and 2's with major rust bubbling through. Pretty naff considering the cost of the things and the fact that they get cleaned properly each year and re-undersealed or whatever. I'd be most unahappy to have spent a large slice only to see it slowly dissolve after such a short time. 

[warren t claim]

A cabs long term survival depends on several things like where it's been worked? Was it owner driven? How many shifts a day? What are the local authority regulations like where it worked? Where was it first registered? An Edinburgh cab is always in better condition than another that's lived in Glasgow. 

[warren t claim]

I had a TX2 auto.Bought it when it was two years old on a 53 plate and I must say it was the biggest POS ever. It had scuttle shake that would shame a TR7 convertible, leaking steering box, numerous electrical faults with the beepers and buzzers, electric window switches that got so hot you could melt cheese on them, corrosion issues, HGF problems, a drivers door that when closed I could still pass a folded up newspaper between the frame and the A pillar,DPF problems... All these issues were just shrugged off by LTI when I wanted them fixed under warranty.

 

Twenty odd grand well spent, if I'd of waited a few months then I could of bought a Peugeot van conversion.

 

LTI. Bankrupt and good riddance. 

[londonm]

I had a TX2 auto.Bought it when it was two years old on a 53 plate and I must say it was the biggest POS ever. It had scuttle shake that would shame a TR7 convertible, leaking steering box, numerous electrical faults with the beepers and buzzers, electric window switches that got so hot you could melt cheese on them, corrosion issues, HGF problems, a drivers door that when closed I could still pass a folded up newspaper between the frame and the A pillar,DPF problems... All these issues were just shrugged off by LTI when I wanted them fixed under warranty.

 

Twenty odd grand well spent, if I'd of waited a few months then I could of bought a Peugeot van conversion.

 

LTI. Bankrupt and good riddance.

 

Explains why all the cabbies are buying Mercs.

[wackywacerwill]

I've been in many over the years and have noted the following.

The are chuffing expensive for a punter to travel in. They have much space and a variety of grab handles so would be well suited to use as a dogging wagon.

[Des]

Just you try to find a cab that's not been used for dogging.

[George-Roper]

Thanks for the help and info offered here. Its no good as its spent 3 years in the weeds / grass and it was blue.