tell me about london taxis

[pirate]

for some reason i want a london taxi. don't ask why as i don't know.
anyone here owned one?
whats the differance between em? carbodies fiarway etc
mpg?
what do they drive like?
id like to give one a rat look.

[ThePollitt]

[tri]

Very good mpg, amazing turning circle.. that's all I know, and that's just through someone who used to know someone who had one... Think they're very expensive to buy though.

Chris: That's fecking awesome!

[Nathan]

They can rot baaaaaaddddd, and most have starship mileage.

[Nathan]

The most produced, British made vehicle. And pretty cool ;D

Check the 'pimp my ride' episode where they pimped Bez's (from Happy Mondays) LTI.

Pretty reliable I presume with those Nissan Diesel engines...

[paulmi16]

Prince Charles owns one apparently

[pirate]

lol i have heard celebs are buyin them to blend in.
i hate pimp my bride with a passion, it might just be tim westwood but i hate it, and i don't like bez or his taxi.
id like to rat one, been offerd one fairly cheap with tax and mot, body is where it needs atention, but goin rat would help this lol
not sure what to look for tho, weaknesss' etc.

[lawnmowerman]

suicide doors.
sound proof screens between you and the kids
stephen fry owned one
you can probably get away with driving in bus lanes with them
add a passenger seat and you have a 7 seater much cooler than a Zafira
supposed to have a good service history due to stricter testing

I saw a 300k one going for £500 a few weeks ago. I've been sowing the seeds in the wifes head about getting one.

[ThePollitt]

Camper conversion FTW....think about the space, it's basically a curvy van.

[dubzi]

My wife drives one.



They do rust, and then they rust a bit more after that!

The chassis is usually OK as they get undersealed every year but the bodywork is just blown over frequently to keep it looking shiny. Rust comes through after a while and I've found some bits are wafer thin rusty metal and 1/2 inch of filler!

That said it gets people looking at it wherever we go (they don't "blend in" in Somerset!) and it's a very practical vehicle. The turning circle is incredible and there's tons of room in the back. I found out recently you can fit all the seats and door cards from a Ford Scorpio Estate in the back and still have room to sit on the back seat!

Most of the Fairways (what ours is!) have 2.7 Nissan Diesel engines in there that go on and on forever so the intergalactic mileage isn't really a problem. Very early Fairways (around D & E reg) still ran landrover 2.5 diesels like the original Austins (v. expensive & rare). Most of them are autos but manuals can be had. The drivers position seems a bit cramped, but it's actually quite comfortable. I'm 6'2" and don't find it too bad as you sit quite upright so your legs aren't at some strange angle or wedged under the dash like in some cars.

You can get them for less than a grand but there aren't so many around now. A year or so ago they were all over Ebay as Red Ken's emissions policy meant loads were coming out of service. Later ones (L reg on I think) have macpherson struts and discs up front, ours is drums all round and lever arm dampers so it can be entertaining on muddy lanes! It also tends to rattle and bang quite alot in the front but you don't notice it too much in the back.

Metrocabs run the 2.5 Transit engine but they just don't cut it in the looks department, I reckon.

Here is a good place to start: www.londontaxiexports.co.uk/ or you can monitor Ebay.

[milfordcubicle]

I think they're ace! I went to test drive a fairly shonky one the other night, seller wanted £1200 unfortunately. It had 1,007,250 miles on it (if the speedo was original - no history) but still drove well, radiator full of rusty coolant, and the bodywork a bit tatty but not irredeemable.
Can you still get decent ones around the 'several hundred pound' mark?

[bruisercapri]

Jun 11, 2008 22:23:38 GMT dubzi said:

the door mirrors on these are very similar to mk3 capri and electric aren't they?
anybody know where i could get any? or what to type in the searches on evil bay? ;D

[tri]

..a million miles? O.o

[moose]

a friend has one and just got back from driving 1600 miles to and round ireland in it,nothing wrong the whole way

[milfordcubicle]

Jun 11, 2008 22:59:09 GMT tri said:

..a million miles? O.o

Yeah, the six-digit mileometer was reading a mere 7250 miles, so I assumed there was another million behind that...
Quite easy for taxis to rack up around 100k a year, and this one was 13 years old.

[pirate]

the one ive been offerd for £600 is ex local authority and only on 130k with history I'm told.
so its barely run in if its correct.

[simes]

Spotted this in Windsor last year - it's on air

[misteralz]

That's fab. Slightly OT, but did anyone clock the London Taxi in Heroes the other night? Outside a pub in Cork, with British plates. Hmmmm...

[tri]

Jun 12, 2008 7:54:10 GMT simes said:

Spotted this in Windsor last year - it's on air

With a 502 in it by the looks of things. Awesome! I'm in love

[psycho83]

you can do this to em'



mine had a perkins diesel, which was pretty good until I killed the poor thing. I'm currently in the process of putting in a 2.9V6 .
they can rot badly, but not if they have been well looked after , Mileage will indicate that it's been to the moon and back a number of times, but looked after and serviced well it should keep on going. Cant tell you about turning circle as mine has had the front axle changed but It's supposed to be legendary.