Starting a taxi business, I need opinions on the best cars. Cars that require minimal maintaining...

Starting a taxi business, I need opinions on the best cars. Cars that require minimal maintaining. Also a lemon radar would help.

fleet of ecoboost Mustangs

I run a car service in a European country. Where are you located?

why the fuck would you do this? Use the money for your fleet to finance a year of college.

Prius

geo metros

all depends on where you plan on starting this business.

deisel or petrol?
auto or manuel?
correctly licenced or hire thieving scumbag bastard
how many cars?
expected hires per week?
mainly city work or airport runs or rural?


regardless, you want cheap disposable workhorses.
i ran my own cab company for a while.
here in the UK i used Vauxhall(Opel) Cavaliers(Kadett) or Hyundai Stella (Mk4 Ford Cortina in Korean dress)

you want something you can work on easily, parts are cheap and easy to source.

best place to look for insperation is the main taxi rank at the nearest international airport, whatever those guys are mostly comonly driving is pretty much the car for the job.

oh and grab a couple of estate cars(station wagons) they're bloody handy during the ski season for airport runs

pic related, my personal was the Mondeo Estate

the only reasonable choice cousin

The shitiest thing I found out about the ride services is that they have to have a 7 year old car or newer, some areas 5.

i'll tell you why he should do this,

>be me
>be 1990
>be unemployed as fuck
>apply for taxi badge
>captain nightshift on someones cab
>pay him £130 per week rental
>earning around £500 take home a week
>1991 apply for bank loan
>obtain loan and purchase own taxi licence abd cab
>put some other unemp guy on nights, i drive days
>charge him £130 per week for nightshift
>still earning my £500 take home
>the £130 i saved is now paying bank loan
>1993 loan is paid
>obtain second loan
>buy second cab and plate
>put 1 unemp on days
>one on nights
>each pay £130
>so now i'm earning my £500 per week plus 3x£130 and my original £130 i was paying is still paying second loan
>£900 per week is a lot to bank
>1994
>buy taxi company
>set up finance
>purchase 12 cars
>now have 14 cars
>put dayshift and nightshift on 12 cars
>have a personal and a spare
>drivers now paying me £130 per week rental for cars AND £50 a week radio rental

rest is history mate

It's not 1990 anymore

If you remember the Stellar you must be pushing 60.
A lot of things have changed since then.

Pretty much the only two brands worth buying right now are PSA or Mercedes.
And Ford too, if you want a van.
Nissan/Renault and Fiat too if you want MPVs.


Many companies are switching to MPVs.
Sedans are out and sliding doors are in.

Also the biggest factor is not actually the brand of car, but how big of a deposit you have to put down.

NycUSA Nyc

yeah i know, and i no longer have to work for a living mate

just because i did it 20 odd years ago does not mean its not possible now.

where i bought my cab company still has very limited public transport and at this moment in time no longer has a cab company, if i was young enough i'd start it back up again

so no reason OP couldn't do something similar, right place at the right time etc

That's the exact game plan

>If you remember the Stellar you must be pushing 60.

hence the trip

Mercedes all over Europe want to be seen as reliable, cabbies get huge discounts on new vehicles
Mercedes in the UK are too far up their own pretentious arses they refused to have the brand seen as "just a taxi"

Ford have issues over here so i cant comment on US Fords

Why would you start a taxi business in the age of uber and lyft? The way taxi drivers protest makes it seem like it's the end of days for them

go for it then, and best of luck.

my original plan was taxi's for two years, pass my pilots licence, taxis for 2 more , get my commercial pilots ticket then Seychelles and air taxi.

happy it went the way it did though

because at some point something is going to go very very wrong in an Uber or Lyft car and the whole operation will die over night.
these drivers are not checked the way cabbies are, someone is going to be very sorry the chose Uber or Lyft over a licenced cab

Well I would think everyone would have known it's going to be a uber, lyft business. I'm located in nyc.

It already happens. There are rapes, murders. But no one really gives a shit because it's cheap and with a taxi you're guaranteed a smelly Indian driving a obnoxiously painted crown Vic, Prius or minivan.

I doubt it.

silly old man. You business would fail.

Dont get me wrong, what you did when you were younger sounds amazing but you have to get with the times.

>2016
>buy cab
>get fucked by the government
>uber steals all my business anyway

4 door
full size
spongy suspension
detune already reliable engine for maximum life

My father used dodge caravans and ford freestars. Dirt cheap to buy and fix. He prettt muched used that as disposable cars there so cheap