sierraman Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 I was reading a while ago about the Peugeot 404 still until recently plying it’s trade in Berlin, probably clocking up an unbelievable mileage. Any other stories of taxis going on long past their sell-by date? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inspiral_Mondays Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 Not in the same league, but about 15 years ago a taxi I took in Zug in Switzerland was a W126 Merc which, the driver claimed, still had the original petrol engine and gearbox with 1.2 million kilometres on the clock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghosty Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 On the EG Civic collection mission, I got a ride in a 240k mile 55 plate C200 CDI taxi on a Christchurch hackney plate. As far as I could tell he was a one man operation owner driver. He only took cash, and discounted my fare slightly because he enjoyed talking to me! In Rochdale there's a W plate Avensis minicab still knocking about on a quarter of a million miles - I think there are two and the other one is even older, but I've not seen that one for while. Dan_ZTT 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BertiePuntoCabrio Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 2 Christmases ago, there was an Alfa 164 (!) taxi working in Cambridge! phil_lihp, Low Horatio gearbox and 155V6 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddyramrod Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 When I lived in Southport, the loal authority insisted on a maximum working age of eight years old for both Hackney and Private Hire vehicles. Not sure if it still applies... But in Cyprus there were plenty of older Mercs doing taxi work, and to my enormous surprise I found one in Barrow too, which has appeared on my spotting thread; a 1987 Merc 190D. The owner-driver died last year. I've seen the car a couple of times since, but I don't think it's still "on the job." Shame, because it looked mint, it was a credit to its owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniMort Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 Well if you want old taxis there's one perfect place to go: Madagascar... And if that's too old for you, there's so much more in the way of beige French economical motoring... dome, catsinthewelder, Dan_ZTT and 17 others 18 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somewhatfoolish Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 A bit more pedestrian, but wasn't there an Audi minicab of moon miles discussed on this forum a while back? sutty2006, Kringle and warren t claim 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tadhg Tiogar Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 1 minute ago, somewhatfoolish said: A bit more pedestrian, but wasn't there an Audi minicab of moon miles discussed on this forum a while back? Yes, it subsequently ended up in Ireland as flipper fodder. Spurious 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daviemck2006 Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 When I drove taxis a good few years ago the highest mileage one I drove was Peugeot 806 2.0hdi which had done 325000 miles when I left the firm. It was still going about a year later.Sent from my SM-A125F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil clark Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 My old TX1 had 550k on when I sold it to another driver, he carried it on for abit LightBulbFun and warren t claim 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leyland Worldmaster Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 Made me remember this story: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210819-merci-dix-a-swansong-for-moroccos-mercedes-grand-taxis chaseracer, Garythesnail and Peter C 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willswitchengage Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 Book your winter holiday to Morocco. Cheap flights and COVID-easy local rules. Definitely the most Autoshitey country I've ever been to, mainly French stuff but Merc taxis are popular. BorniteIdentity, CaptainBoom, Dan_ZTT and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spurious Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 47 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said: Yes, it subsequently ended up in Ireland as flipper fodder. Did it ever sell. It was languishing on DoneDeal for a long while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tadhg Tiogar Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 4 minutes ago, Spurious said: Did it ever sell. It was languishing on DoneDeal for a long while Seller wanted something up to three times what the taxi driver sold it for. Base 1.8ltr as well. somewhatfoolish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1duck Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 What do they use in Cuba, they have some seriously old chod run by necessity, although I'm not sure that's so true anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 25 minutes ago, willswitchengage said: Book your winter holiday to Morocco. Cheap flights and COVID-easy local rules. Definitely the most Autoshitey country I've ever been to, mainly French stuff but Merc taxis are popular. My taxi upon arrival in Marrakesh was a facelifted Fiat Uno. There seemed to be plenty of those doing the rounds, in assorted shades of beige. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter C Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 https://novacabtaxi.weebly.com/blog/13-million-kilometers-for-mercedes-w124-taxi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artdjones Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 On the old Car Review site there was a 2.0d Omega that had done a million Kms in Holland. As far as I remember the engine was original but the interior had been swopped for low mileage ones a couple of times. somewhatfoolish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldo135 Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 Seen this in Helston, Cornwall in July, forgot about it until this thread appeared! GrumpiusMaximus, twosmoke300, lesapandre and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datsuncog Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 Still plenty of extremely shabby TX1s plying for hire around Belfast, which must be hitting advanced miles. I'm sure I've seen one on an R-plate in the last few months. Best not to ask too many questions about their PSV test status... There was still a Sierra minicab doing the rounds until about 2010 too; unsurprisingly, it was utterly hanging. Every now and again when I'm on the Bangor ringroad I catch sight of a white E100 Corolla liftback with a taxi sign on the roof, but I've yet to snap a pic of it. Think it's on a 1991 reg, so fairly cracking on in years. Low Horatio gearbox, Faker, GrumpiusMaximus and 6 others 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alusilber Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 When I was in Madeira about 5 years ago, a lot of their taxis were still W123s and W124s and still going strong - I even have a Madeira fridge magnet with a picture of a W123 on it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amishtat Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 Don't know whether it's still going but there was a blue J-reg 940 saloon still working around Ipswich until a couple of years ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdmiralRazorBeard Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 My Friend owned a 2006 Avensis D4D (2.0) Estate, that was an ex taxi with 488,000 on the clock, engine and box were still perfect. The rest was starting to fall off somewhat. Needless to say I bought it for £250 to take it over 500k, which I did, I sold it on to someone else and it still going, I believe with around 545,000 on it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tadhg Tiogar Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 2 hours ago, Datsuncog said: Still plenty of extremely shabby TX1s plying for hire around Belfast, which must be hitting advanced miles. I'm sure I've seen one on an R-plate in the last few months.... Given how Covid and Wrath of Khan are getting rid of London TX1s in favour of Chinese electrics, I'd say Belfast will have a near-inexhaustible supply of TX1s in the years ahead. warren t claim and lesapandre 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spottedlaurel Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 5 hours ago, Amishtat said: Don't know whether it's still going but there was a blue J-reg 940 saloon still working around Ipswich until a couple of years ago Sadly, possibly not according to this article: https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/john-winlow-volvo-too-old-ipswich-borough-council-2884276 I recall there being a follow-up piece in the EADT or Star, can't recall what the conclusion was. When I started work in Attleborough in 2000 there was an S/T-reg Volvo 245 still in use as a taxi. Also, in Cambridge in the very early '90s, when many of the drivers favoured Nissan Laurels, there was a BMC Farina still operating. This Carina E, along with a similar dark blue example, was in use in Diss in 2012: Failed its last MoT in 2014 when it'd done just under 280k miles. timolloyd, Amishtat and mk2_craig 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shirley Knott Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 Not the oldest, but about 7 years ago there was an ex taxi Scoda Octavia with the NA 1.9 SDi engine going through an auction in Birtley with just over 550k miles and still running well. I was so impressed at the time it set me on a path of seeking out/buying cars with the SDi engine, a habit I'm still struggling to shift if I'm honest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artdjones Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 10 hours ago, Datsuncog said: Best not to ask too many questions about their PSV test status... Or anything else about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobyd Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 4 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said: I recall there being a follow-up piece in the EADT or Star, can't recall what the conclusion was. https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/ipswich-volvo-taxi-driver-john-winlow-update-2884898 Chap sacked off taxiing to join the 'Cru Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Jetter Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 It may not have moon miles, or have been plying for the longest, but this must be a strong contender for the 'Oldest Working Taxi': http://vintagemotoringcompany.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/01.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tadhg Tiogar Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 11 minutes ago, tobyd said: https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/ipswich-volvo-taxi-driver-john-winlow-update-2884898 Chap sacked off taxiing to join the 'Cru Pity there doesn't seem to be a market for a "classic cabs" service. Imagine: "Thank you for choosing ShiteCabs, the yesteryear door-to-door service...." LightBulbFun and warren t claim 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now