Which non-Diesel Taxi car to buy?

[very_452001]

Hi I am looking to buy a used car for private hire, the requirements are:

- between 3 and 8 years old or under 3 years if depreciated a lot.
- Hatchback rear opening or Saloon with big boot and foldable rear seats
- Reliable
- Petrol or Hybrid engine or hybrid diesel or plug in that has good mpg backed up by good true/real mpg records, (local council/govt and uber slowly banning all diesel cars). Are petrol engines nowadays catching up to diesel mpg's and are good for motorway mileage?
- Has a metal chain for timing/cambelt.
- a luxury brand name no toyotas/skodas etc.
- good legroom and preferably good headroom at the back.
- used parts are not rare/expensive
- Cheap to insure, Is taxi private hire insurance affected by what insurance group the car is in?
- comfortable to drive in and if fun to drive then thats a bonus
- preferably with a lot of stock kit as standard
- easy to maintain/service, no need to take a engine out to change a bulb lol, preferably service interval times are long not short.
- I know modern cars are all electronics/computerised nowadays. Preferably looking for a car that still drives without needing a firmware/software update first lol
- Finally can do 100000's miles easily in its life
- Anything I missed from list above?

[Monkeylegend]

Good luck with the cheap to insure if this is your PH car. You are probably looking at £2k plus for the first years insurance if you have no previous history.

I would go for an E200/250 CGi.

[Mo28]

A lexus ticks all those boxes

[very_452001]

Monkeylegend said:

Good luck with the cheap to insure if this is your PH car. You are probably looking at £2k plus for the first years insurance if you have no previous history.

I would go for an E200/250 CGi.

Apart from diesel which petrol or hybrid engines you recommend for these mercs?

The 250 CGI is 2 door coupe only correct?

[Chestrockwell]

very_452001 said:

Hi I am looking to buy a used car for private hire, the requirements are:

- between 3 and 8 years old or under 3 years if depreciated a lot.
- Hatchback rear opening or Saloon with big boot and foldable rear seats
- Reliable
- Petrol or Hybrid engine or hybrid diesel or plug in that has good mpg backed up by good true/real mpg records, (local council/govt and uber slowly banning all diesel cars). Are petrol engines nowadays catching up to diesel mpg's and are good for motorway mileage?
- Has a metal chain for timing/cambelt.
- a luxury brand name no toyotas/skodas etc.
- good legroom and preferably good headroom at the back.
- used parts are not rare/expensive
- Cheap to insure, Is taxi private hire insurance affected by what insurance group the car is in?
- comfortable to drive in and if fun to drive then thats a bonus
- preferably with a lot of stock kit as standard
- easy to maintain/service, no need to take a engine out to change a bulb lol, preferably service interval times are long not short.
- I know modern cars are all electronics/computerised nowadays. Preferably looking for a car that still drives without needing a firmware/software update first lol
- Finally can do 100000's miles easily in its life
- Anything I missed from list above?

The car you want doesn’t exist, closest one I could think of is a Lexus GS but that’s not going to be very fuel efficient.

If you want something luxury, it’s not going to be cheap and after you use it for a few years, nobody will want to buy it with the mileage you pile on, nobody wants a 200k mike petrol e class but they might want a Prius!

Petrol, reliable, fuel efficient, spacious and easy to work on with cheap parts - Accord/Avensis.

Hybrid, reliable, fuel effiecent and spacious - Prius.

Petrol/Hybrid, reliable, spacious and luxury - Lexus GS300h/450H

Basically if you want petrol and reliable, buy Japanese.

If I was you, It would be either an E220 CDI or a Prius, only taxi cars I’ve been in and they’re more popular than ever, probably because they’re both great at what they do, I’m afraid there is no compromise like there is in the US with Hybrid Camry’s.

[tonyb1968]

Sod the posh car crap, you need something that just does the job, that throws you into Skoda Octavia territory.
As long as the diesels are euro 6 then you will be ok.

https://www.rrg-group.com/skoda/used-cars/8865731-...

For not too much more you can get a new one but in petrol (though not the estate).

https://www.rrg-group.com/skoda/used-cars/8837140-...

These are one of the most used private hire cars out there for a reason, they can do the job well

You could also go posh and get one of these, leather seats easier to clean after someone pukes on them

https://www.rrg-group.com/skoda/used-cars/8882357-...

Edited by tonyb1968 on Sunday 22 July 06:34

[Monkeylegend]

very_452001 said:

Monkeylegend said:

Good luck with the cheap to insure if this is your PH car. You are probably looking at £2k plus for the first years insurance if you have no previous history.

I would go for an E200/250 CGi.

Apart from diesel which petrol or hybrid engines you recommend for these mercs?

The 250 CGI is 2 door coupe only correct?

The E200/250 CGi are both a 1.8 petrol engine and come in 2/4/5 door variants.

The latest Mercedes hybrid offering is the C350E or E350E both based on the 1991cc petrol engine. I think that's the only petrol hybrid they offer at the moment.

[kdri155]

My local licensing recently introduced age limits for vehicles, have to be 5 years or newer and up to 10 years old, existing cars have 5 year grandfather rights before having to be replaced.

Back to your question I've noticed in a couple of local authorities that the Dacia Logan MCV is becoming a popular choice especially in 1.2 petrol form as it uses a fairly old and proven Renault engine

[kieranblenk]

Initially the MG6 popped into my head...stay with me here.

Although it's not a premium badge, MG does have a lot of British sporting heritage. They're dirt cheap due to heinous residuals, can be had with a 1.8T petrol engine delivering 158bhp and should do about 35mpg. It has a big boot with 5 seats in a similar vein to the Skoda Octavia. Plus, they're rare so you won't see one on every corner and stuffed with kit in TSE spec. I also hear they're a good steer. The only sticking point I can think of is parts may or may not be as easy to get hold of as a mainstream manufacturer and I'm not sure if it's chain or belt driven.

This one is 4 years old, top spec for less than £5000.

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

[cptsideways]

Lexus hybrid, the GS/LS & even RX variants tick almost all the boxes. Painless to own.

[jeremyh1]

tonyb1968 said:

Sod the posh car crap, you need something that just does the job, that throws you into Skoda Octavia territory.
As long as the diesels are euro 6 then you will be ok.

https://www.rrg-group.com/skoda/used-cars/8865731-...

For not too much more you can get a new one but in petrol (though not the estate).

https://www.rrg-group.com/skoda/used-cars/8837140-...

These are one of the most used private hire cars out there for a reason, they can do the job well

You could also go posh and get one of these, leather seats easier to clean after someone pukes on them

https://www.rrg-group.com/skoda/used-cars/8882357-...

Edited by tonyb1968 on Sunday 22 July 06:34

I agree with you Tony Its only about making money and thats it I run an LDV flatbed two Berlingos and a Citreon C15 van all with the 1.9 dw8 engine . Everybody else runs new financed and leased vans but Im only here for the money

[sprouting]

Have checked for an insurance quote. First year private hire insurance with no experience started at £4000 and that was mid 90's.

[Helicopter123]

Audi A6?

Depreciates like a stone, but well equiped, reliable and can handle big miles.

[very_452001]

Does lexus hybrid GS have the ability to fold down rear seats?

Isnt the E220 cdi a diesel car?

Councils around the country are slowly banning diesels entering town centres. If a diesel car meets Euro 6 then does that mean new diesel banning regulations wont affect me driving a euro 6 diesel car? When brexit happens next year how will euro 6 still stand in uk?

[snowandrocks]

I’ve run a w212 merc e350 cdi as a private hire for the last few years - now on about 220k miles and had been totally reliable apart from an expensive combination of issues caused by a failing turbo (£2k+ for new turbo, egr valve and a few other bits).

Next car will be a Lexus GS or Camry hybrid if it arrives in the uk in time. Noticeably better on fuel than even an e220, Toyota reliability, very little to maintain and so smooth and relaxing around town.

My Merc doesn’t have folding seats and can’t think of ever missing them.

Top spec Prius worth a look too - easy 65 - 70 mpg around town!

[jeremyh1]

sprouting said:

Have checked for an insurance quote. First year private hire insurance with no experience started at £4000 and that was mid 90's.

You have to know where to go for this type of insurance and it wont be the internet

Internet quote for me £6100 for fleet insurance

Coversure broker £2950