Ex-taxis

T_Terror · 05-08-2005, 10:18 PM

Does anyone know anywhere that sells ex-taxis?

I know a few places but not too impressed with their prices.

Im interested in a AUI for around 2grands.

More for AUII or III.

Thanks.

Citric GT · 05-08-2005, 10:20 PM

Oops, wrong state.

**Captain Stubing** · 05-08-2005, 10:59 PM

You might have a few problems there, T_Terror, as the Taxi-owners depreciate the value of the vehicle over a number of years for tax purposes. This might mean you'll have to pay 4,500-5grand for a reasonable AU. In Qld, when the vehicle is six years old, from the compliance plate build-date, that it has to be retired as a taxi, and will then be sold.

T_Terror · 05-08-2005, 11:13 PM

best ive seen is $3500 with all taxi stuff removed and holes n stuff filled.

Have heard from other people in other states for cars goin in the 2grand range.

CitricXR6 can you give me details of that one in Sydney? Im going over there soon, may make the trip back in a car

4Vman · 05-08-2005, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T_Terror

Does anyone know anywhere that sells ex-taxis?

I know a few places but not too impressed with their prices.

Im interested in a AUI for around 2grands.

More for AUII or III.

Thanks.

scrap yard?

Zedjay · 05-08-2005, 11:17 PM

why would you want to buy an EX taxi?????

**Full Noise** · 05-08-2005, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zedjay

why would you want to buy an EX taxi?????

And how will you get the infamous smell of "taxi drivers armpit" out of the interior without burning it?

:

Cheers, Danny

Damo · 05-08-2005, 11:30 PM

EX Taxis are Mad! Wicked on the forums has a nice AU2 ex cab, dumped on AU1 XR 17's.

Apparently AU2 cabs are only just coming off the roads so they're very hard to come by. AU3 are still in commision. I doubt you're gunna find a decent AU ex cab for under 4k.

RED_EL_XR8 · 05-08-2005, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damo

I doubt you're gunna find a decent AU ex cab for under 4k.

I doubt your going to find a decent ex Cab regardless of what you part with. $4k - Dreaming..

Feathers · 06-08-2005, 12:07 AM

I've seen far to many dodgy repairs done to cabs to want to ride in one, let alone buy one...
If you're coming to Sydney though, grab the newspaper. There are usually ex-cabs advertised for sale in the classifieds.

XAGSV8 · 06-08-2005, 12:16 AM

Just had a mate buy and au taxi for $1600 with 850000 km's on it and it runs perfectly. Most taxis are very well maintained and when my pulsar/holden engine dies this is what I will be doing.

HOON69 · 06-08-2005, 01:00 AM

atm in brissy a AU's going price is around 2grand to 3500
2k they aint too shotty bad interior and a few rattles but the good ones are well maintained for sure.
600,000 for 3500
890,000 for 2500 both 5 seater sedans

Yaw · 06-08-2005, 08:50 AM

Mate its not a wise choice to buy an ex taxi.
Having worked at a service station that had a fleet of 28 taxi's based there I got to see and hear about a lot of things that went on.
There is a long time running joke that states if you want to have an accident in a car.....put a hail light on it, its like a "hit me" sign.
Most taxis in their life have had several accidents.
Most taxis have had 3-5 engines and at that cheap and nasty rebuilds.
You need to take it to a licenced gas mechanic for engine repairs/maitenance.
You may think well if a car has 850,000 on the clock and had 3-5 engines the engine must still have some life left in it. Gas has its own unique properties and can in fact wear engines in a different way than petrol does since gas has absolutley no lubricating properties like fuel does.
Futhermore each and every other part of the car like bearings, diffs, autos or moving parts are also in excess of the klms on the clock assuming that it has not "clocked" itself and gone around for the second time.

Racecraft · 06-08-2005, 08:56 AM

I'd wait another 12 months if you can, and you will have the pick of all the AUII and early retirement AUIII's... I wouldn't buy an AUI if I was you, actually we are giving ours away to drivers for the price of redgo, the front end suspension is worlds away in performance and strength of the later series.. And the AUI has the plain, drab grey interior, crappy bonnet and grille...
yuckie! hehehe

bindi · 06-08-2005, 09:08 AM

Hey Yaw, leave LPG alone!

I have had three ex taxis and have found them to be reliable and a bargain to boot. I am an LPG fan and for a bigger car like a Ford I would not run it on petrol if I had the choice.

My first one was an XD with an XF engine, she was pretty good; the next was an HZ on straight LPG, I shed a tear when she left; the last one was an XF on straight LPG, she was pretty reliable too. They come with all the same kinds of issues of any second hand car.

Since most of the damage to an engine is at start up, considering taxis are not turned off all that often I'd say it's a good trade off.

I am more than willing to buy another ex taxi (it may well be our next car in the next few months).

The EA is an ex Boral company car on dual fuel and I've had so many more problems with it than with all three of the above cars put together...

T_Terror · 06-08-2005, 09:31 AM

Nothing wrong with ex-taxis if thats what youre looking for.

For mine, the driveline will be replaced, interior stripped and theres a good chance itll be taking a few hits

Like I said, if anyone knows anyone selling it would be great.

Im not too worried about what series it is ill probably just do a series II brakes conversion anyway. Only real concern is metal fatigue in the body.

TURBOTAXI · 06-08-2005, 09:43 AM

Some Taxis are great cheap cars.
I paid $3800 for an 1999 AU1 14 months ago. Have since then covered 50,000 trouble free k's. 7000 of these have been with a 600hp turbo hanging off the side of it forcing 6psi of boost into it. There have been times that I thought I have stuffed it only to learn that it was a tuning issue or something similar that has been the problem.

I would be happy if you get talked out of buying a taxi, if enough people get talked out of it, that means prices are driven down, and when time comes for me to buy another I will pay less.
The biggest cost in owning a car is depreciation. My $3800 AU is never going to depreciate more than $3800.
I am the worlds biggest tight a$$ so I know what saves money. I think buying a taxi is like buying any other car, sometimes you are on a winner and sometimes you pick a lemon. Check basic things, look at the oil, trans fluid, coolant, take the oil filler cap off and remove the PCV valve and pinch the rear rocker breather, if there are no rattles, and no or little smoke coming out chances are the basic health of the engine is OK. Does the trans fluid look burnt?, does the diff/uni's clunk when changed from D to R? Does the front end clunk when driven over bumps? These are all things that can be fixed.
even if there is a problem, engines with warranty are availabe for about $600-$700 dollars, any of the EA-AU 4 speed auto's wil fit if the original bellhousing is used and they can be had for as little as $300.
There is something liberating about owning a car that you dont have to care about too much, I use mine to round up cows, straighten fences, and commute about 160k's per day. If I wipe it out on a roo or emu and the body cant be tek screwed back together I will just take another trip to Sydney and buy another one.
Regarding where to pick one up, try the base stations. Ring around first to save travelling. These cars are driven by multiple drivers that dont really care about the car, so expect it to look rough.

bindi · 06-08-2005, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TURBOTAXI

These cars are driven by multiple drivers that dont really care about the car, so expect it to look rough.

It depends on where you get it from... not all taxi drivers are shockingly bad with their cars, nor do they have that famous taxi/armpit/vomit smell lol.

Up here in the upper Blue Mountains, the taxi drivers tend not to thrash the cars as much as down in Sydney because they don't have to compete with the same kind of traffic. And also most of them tend to be ok people too... One of my friends was a taxi driver and he loved the car he drove (back then, the car they named The Enterprise was an XE) and it was treated well. (Just FYI for mountains people, this was Lawson

)

TURBOTAXI · 06-08-2005, 10:10 AM

I know what you mean, I am talking about base stations in Sydney or other cities where the car has a different driver every day. hundreds of different drivers through the life of the car. I think cars that are only driven by a handful of people in their service life are a different proposition. I am not saying dont buy a base ststion car - I did! just to be aware that there might be a few more stains and marks that a car that was not in a base station.

chief · 06-08-2005, 11:37 AM

A friend of mine has a Taxi fleet. His cars do over 100k's a day. Has an oil change once a week, transmission service once a month, new tyres once a month, brakes every 6 weeks. His cars are over 1,000,000 k's and still go great.

There is that taxi whine you need to take into consideration though. :hihi:

trick_xd · 06-08-2005, 12:07 PM

I got my 1st EX Taxi about 4 years ago and it was a EF it had 920,000km on it for $2k and the same motor with service sheets that said it had 6 head gaskets done and 1 full rebuild it was a great car to travel in gas worked good auto was good motor was good petrol worked some times . to worse part was the floor it took me 5 hrs to pull the seats and lay some car carpet but after that it was good . i bought this car from the trading post under wrecking/parts

the next 1 i got was the EL that im in now 13,000 km as a taxi and then hit in the front by a tow bar as it was under 1 year old they got a new 1 it was partly striped and i got it for the grand sum of $110 plus towing $78 so for me it was to good to be true i had to replace the hole front end panels . I bought this car through the wreckers in ballarat just over 2 years ago

we went to ballarat again a few mths ago and they had 3 AU sedans 1 wagon but the price that guy wanted for them was stupid i thought 4k - 6k
In the trading post at the same time that i jumped on getting but was to late was a VT Comm ( I Know ) ex taxi that had been resprayed in midnight blue for 4k it would have been the better pic by far and resale would have funded a better falcon
I still get the trading post every week now and keep a eye open for cheap cars and if your looking for a ex-taxi dont just look under the selling part look in wrecking as well . some ppl think that what they have is no good to anyone else . but to ppl like us who is willing to play around and fix a few things or mod them I think its a good place to start ... I hope you find 1 soon and think of a respray when you get it. I painted mine in rapid yellow ( Paint was free ) if i was to do it again i would go blue or silver some thing like that .

Cheers and Good Luck with it

Yaw · 06-08-2005, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bindi

Hey Yaw, leave LPG alone!

I have had three ex taxis and have found them to be reliable and a bargain to boot. I am an LPG fan and for a bigger car like a Ford I would not run it on petrol if I had the choice.

My first one was an XD with an XF engine, she was pretty good; the next was an HZ on straight LPG, I shed a tear when she left; the last one was an XF on straight LPG, she was pretty reliable too. They come with all the same kinds of issues of any second hand car.

Since most of the damage to an engine is at start up, considering taxis are not turned off all that often I'd say it's a good trade off.

I am more than willing to buy another ex taxi (it may well be our next car in the next few months).

The EA is an ex Boral company car on dual fuel and I've had so many more problems with it than with all three of the above cars put together...

I have nothing against LPG, in fact I am considering it for my Escape.
I was simply making a point for a "bargin" type car (making a guess/estimatation that if you have a budget for that you may have a short budget for maitanece). And that not any mehcanic can work on it.

XAGSV8 · 06-08-2005, 03:34 PM

The reason I will be going for a ex-taxi next time is because I hate having a daily driver I have to worry about. Like my current pulsar if it got damaged the only thing I have to worry about is the money to fix it not my emotions as well.

The Mighty Red · 06-08-2005, 03:40 PM

I think buying an ex taxi is a great way to own a later model car on the cheap,
Car parts are not that expensive these days, motors, gearboxes,diffs etc can all be sourced fairly cheap and I would be a lot more concerned about an older car with wear and tear and rust problems than a taxi with 500k+ k's on it,
A 2nd hand engine is cheaper to buy now than it was 20years ago

Duffman · 06-08-2005, 06:44 PM

Au's are so cheap now days better off just buying a non-taxi. I got mine last year with 100,000km on it au2 for $11,000. The guy I went through just bought himself one with 80,000km on it for $8,500. They just arn't selling at the auction. An au1's they cant pass them off for anything. I saw au1 wagons going for 8k back last year and im sure they are worth alot less now.

In the end im sure a small loan would be safer to cover the cost of a non-taxi as im sure the repayments would be less the the money needed to keep it running. It also depends on what car and how well its been looked after of course.

aimzes · 06-08-2005, 07:02 PM

after seeing how cabs are serviced/ repaired id steer clear.

f**kin dodgy.

needturbo6 · 06-08-2005, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yaw

Mate its not a wise choice to buy an ex taxi.
Having worked at a service station that had a fleet of 28 taxi's based there I got to see and hear about a lot of things that went on.
There is a long time running joke that states if you want to have an accident in a car.....put a hail light on it, its like a "hit me" sign.
Most taxis in their life have had several accidents.
Most taxis have had 3-5 engines and at that cheap and nasty rebuilds.
You need to take it to a licenced gas mechanic for engine repairs/maitenance.
You may think well if a car has 850,000 on the clock and had 3-5 engines the engine must still have some life left in it. Gas has its own unique properties and can in fact wear engines in a different way than petrol does since gas has absolutley no lubricating properties like fuel does.
Futhermore each and every other part of the car like bearings, diffs, autos or moving parts are also in excess of the klms on the clock assuming that it has not "clocked" itself and gone around for the second time.

of course taxis are gonna have more chance of a prang, theyre practically on the road 24/7....
most commodore taxis have had an engine or three and had the heads done severel times, though the au falcons get 1 million k's.
yes, gas isnt as lubricating though au engines are pretty good in the durability stakes, and if u can find a dedicated gas falcon, then the motors would be even better.

needfordspeed · 06-08-2005, 07:23 PM

You could consider an EF, I saw an EF GLi at the auctions which went for 2.5K all perfect and running, had something like 190,000KMs. Only thing is you can't take it for a test drive.

What do you want it for?

Quote:

Originally Posted by T_terror

For mine, the driveline will be replaced, interior stripped and theres a good chance itll be taking a few hits

Drifter maybe :P??

ferris01 · 06-08-2005, 07:26 PM

My old man has two taxi licences in Brisbane and when he used to drive one of them he kept it immaculate. After each shift it would get a compete clean inside and out. I know as I used to help him. All the under engine stuff (my tech talk) was checked after each shift and either topped up or replaced. Any major service it went straight back to Ford. Man this taxi sparkled.

Just before he retired he replaced the cab (6 years old) for a new one. Two weeks later a cop car ran up his butt (rear bumper damage only).

The best thing about it was that about a month later he was driving his cab when he got a phone call on his mobile. It was a lady stating she was from Boystown and that you have won the lottery. The lady asked if he could come home as she was waiting there. So the old man dropped the passenger off and went home. The lady was waiting in the driveway with this huge bottle of champange. The old man parked the cab got out to be told all up he had won prizes to the value of 1 million dollars.

He never touched the cab again.

TURBOTAXI · 06-08-2005, 07:35 PM

If you have the knowledge to know what you are buying, and the skills to maintain it, Taxis are great. I want to get an ex-silver service one next. (AU Fairlane ghia)

Even if the Cabs are repaired in a dodgy fashion, they couldnt be as dodgy as I am with a set of tools on what is a hack.

For insurance purposes I dont think they could be too dodgy!