Suggested executive type taxi

[200Plus Club]

Brother in law is currently looking for something specific car wise which would suit the role a little better as he's moving on from normal day to day local taxi-ing and picking up a lot of work on airport door to door and contract work delivering execs to and from work to functions etc.
I believe his age limit for local license is 5yrs old max, he was thinking larger limo or perhaps 7 seater?
I think the concerns are avoiding major recurrent bills given the mileage he can rack up as he's had multiple issues with dual mass flywheel and injectors on his last couple of cars over and above the usual servicing work.

Experiences or suggestions welcome. Not sure of actual budget either as outright buy or lease tbh I don't know how he's planning to cover that as yet.

[Glasgowrob]

Taxi company owner here

Only one choice for exec in this market E class and if he's doing airport work get an estate


Everyone that specs exec always says E class or equivilant it's the industry standard

The taxi shop have a few in cheap atm.

If he wants bigger no matter how many trinkets you fit a transit is not exec no matter how much leather and trim you throw at it.

Only one option for mpv is a V class.

Either of those 2 will get him exec work from any aggregator or third party all day long some are somewhat less picky and will take anything with a bit of leather and some bling.

[200Plus Club]

That's really helpful thanks. It's a pal of his who has picked up more work than he can handle on contract over the last few years and is able to give him a fair bit as and when he wants it really.

[Dan_1981]

I’ve been picked for work by a number of cars, both UK and Europe.

S class / a8 / e class are the typical type and very nice / comfortable.

Couple of weeks ago in Vienna was picked up by a guy in a newish XJ - very nice place to be and a bit different to the regular stuff.

[Monkeylegend]

The vast majority, maybe 90% or so, of executive cars at the London airports are E Class Mercs. That's all you need to know

I had three when I was chauffeuring, they all did over 300k with no major issues. Step up to the S Class, BMW 7 series or the Audi A8 and you are into a different league in terms of potential running costs.

[ZX10R NIN]

I have a leftfield one for you but the fact they're petrol only may not work for your brother, I have sourced one of these to a customer & he's over the moon with it (he does Chauffeuring & most people assume it's an S Class) he's already decided he's having another when the time comes to change, the only downside is they're hard to find.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

It still has two years Manufacturers Warranty left on it plus it'll still have lower running costs than the Mercedes.

If your brother decides to go for the Mercedes then the one to look for is the E300 this is the diesel hybrid one which means you get all the benefits of the diesel engine & avoid any potential anti diesel policies that those in charge may dream up.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Some Guy]

My last airport journey was in the back of an A6 Avant. I must admit, it was a rather peasant experience too.

[200Plus Club]

ZX10R NIN said:

I have a leftfield one for you but the fact they're petrol only may not work for your brother, I have sourced one of these to a customer & he's over the moon with it (he does Chauffeuring & most people assume it's an S Class) he's already decided he's having another when the time comes to change, the only downside is they're hard to find.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

It still has two years Manufacturers Warranty left on it plus it'll still have lower running costs than the Mercedes.

If your brother decides to go for the Mercedes then the one to look for is the E300 this is the diesel hybrid one which means you get all the benefits of the diesel engine & avoid any potential anti diesel policies that those in charge may dream up.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

That's actually quite smart! Tbh I think he's probably be almost certainly thinking Mercedes as the obvious thing but the interior and package look great there.

I had a Santa FE top of the range which was a very nice tow car the for a couple of yrs albeit a few unexpected costly repairs popped up.

[ZX10R NIN]

200Plus Club said:

That's actually quite smart! Tbh I think he's probably be almost certainly thinking Mercedes as the obvious thing but the interior and package look great there.

I had a Santa FE top of the range which was a very nice tow car the for a couple of yrs albeit a few unexpected costly repairs popped up.

The Spec on these is outrageous when I went to collect it I was really impressed especially with the quality feel of the car, if you got out of this & into an E Class it's the Mercedes that would feel low rent, send your brother the link & see if he wants to take a look he'll be impressed.

[200Plus Club]

ZX10R NIN said:

The Spec on these is outrageous when I went to collect it I was really impressed especially with the quality feel of the car, if you got out of this & into an E Class it's the Mercedes that would feel low rent, send your brother the link & see if he wants to take a look he'll be impressed.

I'm seeing him tonight cheers for this

[David87]

I'm not an executive taxi driver, but it would seem that, depending on niceness and size, almost every car of that type is either:

An E-Class
An S-Class
An V-Class

Must be for a reason, I suppose!

[200Plus Club]

David87 said:

I'm not an executive taxi driver, but it would seem that, depending on niceness and size, almost every car of that type is either:
8
An E-Class
An S-Class
An V-Class

Must be for a reason, I suppose!

They do seem popular tbh

[Scrump]

ZX10R NIN said:

If your brother decides to go for the Mercedes then the one to look for is the E300 this is the diesel hybrid one which means you get all the benefits of the diesel engine & avoid any potential anti diesel policies that those in charge may dream up.

Maybe. Who knows what those policies will be, and they may require a minimum hybrid range beyond that of the E300. Either way they should hopefully have plenty of warning.

[200Plus Club]

I no longer own a diesel, and tbh am not upto speed with what will happen, I think he's paying £20 or £30 road tax currently on a fairly modern diesel but obviously everything appears to be going anti diesel at present. I know he does significant mileage maybe 40k pa at present

[Monkeylegend]

Scrump said:

ZX10R NIN said:

If your brother decides to go for the Mercedes then the one to look for is the E300 this is the diesel hybrid one which means you get all the benefits of the diesel engine & avoid any potential anti diesel policies that those in charge may dream up.

Maybe. Who knows what those policies will be, and they may require a minimum hybrid range beyond that of the E300. Either way they should hopefully have plenty of warning.

Be careful with the Merc diesel hybrids, they have a reputation for being troublesome, the battery/diesel drivetrain interface is known to have reliability problems, and Mercedes have very few trained technicians who are able to diagnose and solve these issues. There has also been significant delays/problems with parts supply relating to the hybrid drive system. All courtesy of a friendly Mercedes senior technician.

Mercedes no longer offer the diesel hybrid and you might find the support for one of these is not what it should be.

[stinkyspanner]

Won't the pal who's giving him the extra work be able to tell him what vehicle to get?

[PeteinSQ]

My father does private hire. Mostly airport runs rather than ferrying executives around although he does a little of that.

He has a Skoda Superb estate Greenline edition. This makes sense for him as it is posh enough whilst still being excellent value and also very good on fuel. This is a business remember and you want to make a profit.

so you need to work out what the minimum level of poshness required is. No point in spending more than you really need to.

That being said an E class might still be the answer.

[200Plus Club]

stinkyspanner said:

Won't the pal who's giving him the extra work be able to tell him what vehicle to get?

Yes and I think it's pretty much something smart and with a upmarket interior, Mercedes does seem to be the standard response. Thinking about it we were picked up at Belfast airport in a big E class Merc to do a whistle stop tour of the murals and gaol areas.

[200Plus Club]

PeteinSQ said:

My father does private hire. Mostly airport runs rather than ferrying executives around although he does a little of that.

He has a Skoda Superb estate Greenline edition. This makes sense for him as it is posh enough whilst still being excellent value and also very good on fuel. This is a business remember and you want to make a profit.

so you need to work out what the minimum level of poshness required is. No point in spending more than you really need to.

That being said an E class might still be the answer.

A good point as I imagine about managing costs. I do recall him having at least two repair £1800 bills for I think a Mondeo diesel within 5 yrs to do with wrecked dmf and injectors faults that were not warrantied and put the car out of use for a week or more each time.