Nine Year Rule

I Was VB

http://www.no9yearrule.com/

I have my own views on this matter, myself being a full time taxi driver.

My car is maintained, cleaned and washed daily, its done 171K miles its a 1996, never broken down.

And is doing a loop of Ireland for Barretstown charity at the August bank holiday (1200km in 3 days).

So what do you think of the Taxi's in Ireland (just the cars)

ottostreet

ridiculous. absolutely ridiculous. im not looking at it from a taxi driver or PSV perspective.

ANY test which condemns a vehicle, because of its registration number, rather than condition, is absolutely....retarded!

corktina

ottostreet wrote: »

ridiculous. absolutely ridiculous. im not looking at it from a taxi driver or PSV perspective.

ANY test which condemns a vehicle, because of its registration number, rather than condition, is absolutely....retarded!

I agree...on a par with a scrappage scheme which has resulted in the scrapping of many perfectly good cars to line the pockets of car dealers

kdevitt

Its about time. Taxis should be up the the highest safety standard possible for passengers, a 10 year old car is not up to those standards no matter how well you take care of it.

ottostreet

kdevitt wrote: »

Its about time. Taxis should be up the the highest safety standard possible for passengers, a 10 year old car is not up to those standards no matter how well you take care of it.

In terms of safety, I agree. But then, all other PSVs and work vehicles should also conform to these regulations. But no...its just taxis!

vectra

kdevitt wrote: »

Its about time. Taxis should be up the the highest safety standard possible for passengers, a 10 year old car is not up to those standards no matter how well you take care of it.

I agree on the point of safety but shouldn't Public transport buses fall into the same category then?

kdevitt

vectra wrote: »

I agree on the point of safety but shouldn't Public transport buses fall into the same category then?

Yep, definitely.

robtri

I Was VB wrote: »

http://www.no9yearrule.com/

I have my own views on this matter, myself being a full time taxi driver.

My car is maintained, cleaned and washed daily, its done 171K miles its a 1996, never broken down.

And is doing a loop of Ireland for Barretstown charity at the August bank holiday (1200km in 3 days).

So what do you think of the Taxi's in Ireland (just the cars)

As a personal car, it sounds like you have a little gem of a motor and fair play to you.

But as a taxi, IMHO I dont think its good enough to be using a 14 year old car, especially from a point of view of saftey first and reliability second.

VB, i do apprecaite you keep your car in great condition but IMO you are in the minority of taxi's, virtualy all of the older taxis are, well being kind i would call them Sh*Tboxes...

persoanlly I think the rules should be changed further, all one colour, and a minmum sized car.....

Cookie_Monster

Taxi's in Ireland are a disgrace, full stop. Most are cheap ****ty low spec small saloons. and taxi fare cost a fortune, I'd expect more for my money.

There should be a uniform colour, preferably one which is very obvious like yellow. There should be a set number of models available, 4-5 inc 1 wheelchair / van type for disabled or larger groups.

If the above were in place I would not see the need for the 9 year rule as such. But the multiple makes and models at the moment means there is a lot of ****e on the road at the moment like all those imported knackered out corollas that really don't meet the grade.

Davidth88

To be honest I am already applying the following when hiring a taxi from the street/rank.

If the car is older than 5 years , you don't get my business. ( unless it's a smart looking Merc or similar )

If the car is dirty , you don't get my business


I will not pay to sit in a 97 Corrolla or similar .

I have been asked on occasion why I didn't take the first car on a rank , my answer is/was

Because that car/those cars are heaps and I am not getting in them.

The market forces should be enough to get these cars off the road

20goto10

Davidth88 wrote: »

To be honest I am already applying the following when hiring a taxi from the street/rank.

If the car is older than 5 years , you don't get my business. ( unless it's a smart looking Merc or similar )

If the car is dirty , you don't get my business


I will not pay to sit in a 97 Corrolla or similar .

I have been asked on occasion why I didn't take the first car on a rank , my answer is/was

Because that car/those cars are heaps and I am not getting in them.

The market forces should be enough to get these cars off the road

The market forces would, if there was not this unwritten rule that you must take the first car in the queue. People will not dare skip down the queue. I've been told a number of times after getting into a car further down the queue that I have to take the first car.

Atlantic Dawn

If these rules had of been brought in 5 years ago it would have been a good idea to limit people coming in to the industry trying to make a quick buck and the industry would likely still be profitable.

Henry Ford III

It's a tough situation financially for owners, but I can see some sense in it from a safety perspective.

Cookie_Monster

kdevitt wrote: »

Yep, definitely.

modern cars are designed to last 10 years so people will buy new ones. Buses are designed to last 25 years +.

And DB's fleet life is 12 years btw, not too far off.

Saab Ed

Davidth88 wrote: »

If the car is dirty , you don't get my business


I will not pay to sit in a 97 Corrolla or similar .

I have been asked on occasion why I didn't take the first car on a rank , my answer is/was

Because that car/those cars are heaps and I am not getting in them.

I think that hits the nail on the head. I wont sit into a pile of sh!te either. Only last Saturday night I passed by 3 or 4 cars on the rank and sat into a fairly fresh Avensis. One of the cars I walked past was a 1996 Almera saloon. At the end of the day its a tenner to get home no matter what I sit into and in fairness im always going to sit into the comfy , safer car .

samsemtex

I dont think it should be a nine year rule as such as that will rule out cars which are very safe in the future. I think they should make the rule that no taxi should be be pre 2001/less than Euro Ncap 4 star. A 2001 reg s-class is still one of the safest cars on the road today and it will still be very safe in 5 years.

I definitely think there should be a rule about minimum size car and a uniform colour for all taxis. Way too many lads in their 10 year old green Nissan Almeras running about the place.

mullingar

IMO, The taxi trade needs a slap-on-the-face.

Come on, for those ridiculous fares charged, you should have a decent clean, washed, air-conditioned, FULL-SIZE car. (Thankfully the taxi regulator has a list of cars that are suitable, but it is not far enough).

I, and I'm sure thousands of others people would use taxi's at least 3-5 times more frequently if the price was halved.

Im sure we have all seen the hundreds of taxi's queuing on ranks that just cant accommodate all the cars and the long queue's of people at bus-stops looking for a cheap way home.

You are just too damn expensive.

Drop your prices by 50% and you will get 3 times the business (not unless you like hanging out at the rank for hours at a time chatting to your colleagues hoping for a fare)

The taxi regulator will allow this 50& off as the fare marked is only the maximum that car be charged.

Why dont taxi's do an experiment and do this for a week to see? and it will also promote the business!

/rant over

corktina

are you going to use an 8 1/2 yr old car then? thats going to be as bad as a 10 or 12 yr old one surely....

Minimum size , yes I agree...in fact black cabs would be best...even my local TOWN in the UK has these.

as for taking the first in the q, no of course you dont have to...if the drivers are refusing you, walk to the back of the q and hail one BEFORE he joins the Q

Gary ITR

I Was VB wrote: »

never broken down.

Not true, I seem to remember you breaking down with passengers on board. electrical fault of some sort iirc (sorry :P)

I Was VB wrote: »

So what do you think of the Taxi's in Ireland (just the cars)

I think your car is the exception to the rule, yours is meticulously maintained by yourself, a lot of the older taxis are a bloody disgrace. Irish drivers in general (not just taxi drivers) are very bad at maintaining and cleaning their cars. I know of a garage on the Southside, the owner also rents out complete taxis, the standard of them is terrible, really really terrible. So if this 9 year rule puts a stop to this then I'm sorry to say I'm all for it

corktina

corktina wrote: »

Minimum size , yes I agree...in fact black cabs would be best...even my local TOWN in the UK has these.

Black cabs are gutless, a few lads tried them around Cork but they couldn't cope with the hills.

I Was VB

RoverJames wrote: »

Black cabs are gutless, a few lads tried them around Cork but they couldn't cope with the hills.

The old pile of ****e Transit diesel engine teamed upto a auto box!

Onkle wrote: »

Not true, I seem to remember you breaking down with passengers on board. electrical fault of some sort iirc (sorry :P)

The Immob tripped out, thing is at the time i didnt know that it was the immob!! So it never really broke down just i didnt know that i had to disingage the immob!!

And besides from that i think its what i would call a reliable car.

Gary ITR

I Was VB wrote: »

The Immob tripped out, thing is at the time i didnt know that it was the immob!! So it never really broke down just i didnt know that i had to disingage the immob!!

And besides from that i think its what i would call a reliable car.

Excuses excuses

I Was VB

Onkle wrote: »

Excuses excuses

Yea yea, me and my beloved Carina will take you and your Honda Jazz (or what ever your driving these days) on ATWR

1600cc of 112BHP!!!

af_thefragile

Well I'm paying 300eur more on my insurance just because my car is a 99 model.
I find it absolutely ridiculous.

I think its just another government incentive to make people scrap their old cars and buy a new car helping the car industry, economy, environment and all that crap.

Gary ITR

I Was VB wrote: »

Yea yea, me and my beloved Carina will take you and your Honda Jazz (or what ever your driving these days) on ATWR

1600cc of 112BHP!!!

It's an ITR I'm driving ya cheeky sod :mad:

I Was VB

Onkle wrote: »

It's an ITR I'm driving ya cheeky sod :mad:

:pac:

positron

I am inclined to support this idea, however I would like to see some more regulation in place to ensure that ALL taxis (irrespective of their age) should meet certain safety and cleanliness criteria to operate out there. Newish reg does not guarantee neither if the driver is a douche-bag!

kirving

As has been said earlier, it should be about safety not a relativley arbitary figure like year of resistration. From a safety persepecitve, I'd much rather a 1999 Focus(4*) to an Almera(2*), even though the two would be a similarly comfortable and may be very well maintained.

The year of registration rule is stupid.

Big Nasty

In '96 / '97 I was working in Germany and 95%+ of the taxis were pale yellow Mercs, at least 50% of them were brand new E Class (that model E Class came out in '96 right?) the uniformity and standard were excellent IMO. I would hate to see the UK Black cab here as much as I would hate to see red buses as it's very much an English thing (no offence to the English), I liked the individuality of the green buses we used to have in Dublin. I would like to see some sort of uniformity in vehicle size, condition and colour of taxi as opposed to a year restriction.

-Corkie-

vectra wrote: »

I agree on the point of safety but shouldn't Public transport buses fall into the same category then?

They do. Any coach thats hired to bus eireann cannot be over 10 years old. Most of bus eireanns fleet is new.

I agree that old corollas and stuff shouldnt still be used as taxis. Just take the euro n cap rating as opposed to a new octavia:p or avensis.

My younger brother has one of those old corollas i get back ache looking at it....

GTE

vectra wrote: »

I agree on the point of safety but shouldn't Public transport buses fall into the same category then?

9 Years is a bit silly considering it puts a 2001 car off the road now for taxi services. I believe we are at the point of diminishing returns in terms of safety until something huge comes in. There have been advances but its not like we are dealing with motoring stoneage.

Bus Eireann have to go by a 20 year rule. 20 years or there abouts. Its just a pity that after 10 years a lot of BE buses are in ****e condition.

Eric Cartman

the 9 year rule is a bit mad as there are still some decent cars on the road, but I would however be in favour of some conditions (cars must have airbags driver and passenger aswell as ABS and random roadside checks on the condition of tyres. Also a stricter form of nct in which simple things like all the windows must opperate correctly, no rips in the seats, etc....

shabbyalonso

My pennies worth.....it's been mentioned earlier.....I understand that it's tough for taxi drivers with the cost of more "up-to-date" cars however I guess you know what the costs are when getting involved with any industry. Not overly sure about a 9 year old rule but agree with the general idea, simply given the business the car is involved in.

The one thing I must admit however is that I always choose carefully (certainly over the last few years given the choice is vast thankfully) when getting a taxi, on the street. I will wait (not at a rank) for a nice, relatively new car to come and take that one - I would pass up an old toyota (no offence to OP), nissan, skoda (a new one is no problem, very plush!) etc. At the end of the day, you're paying the same (well, nearly...!!) for the trip regardless of the car you take. Therefore, if I'm paying for a service, I want the best of the service on offer. A lovely new-ish Merc, BMW, Audi etc comes driving by, sign me up!!! As for waiting at a rank, I'll wait for others to take the car(s) I don't want to take, and get the one I do want. It's unfortunate however that you can't simply pick the one you want, wherever it is in the line - those with the nicer car and in my opinion therefore offering a better service, shouldn't be penalised for being further down a line. Anyway, there ya have it!

Magenta

Saab Ed wrote: »

I think that hits the nail on the head. I wont sit into a pile of sh!te either. Only last Saturday night I passed by 3 or 4 cars on the rank and sat into a fairly fresh Avensis. One of the cars I walked past was a 1996 Almera saloon. At the end of the day its a tenner to get home no matter what I sit into and in fairness im always going to sit into the comfy , safer car .

Exact same here. I look at taxi drivers sitting in their old 1996 Carinas, alongside their co-workers and competitors in nice newer more comfortable/safe Mercs, and I do wonder if they take the competition and profession seriously. Needless to say, they don't get my business.
I mean, you wouldn't show up to the Grand National on an ancient old donkey and expect people to put money on you, would you?

bijapos

Agree the 9 year rule is madness, but they must do something about the size and condition. There are a couple of Kia Rio's doing the rounds in Dublin, this isn't good enough and this evening in Rathmines I saw a Ford Fusion taxi (04 KE) , FFS its a puffed up Fiesta, its not good enough.

Someone mentioned Germany, a lot of the taxis there are 15 years and older, no bother as they are E-Class or W124, you would rarely see a C-Class. I was in a 93 S-Class here recently, as a taxi its a fine motor an ideal taxi as was a 95 W124 I was in. But these are regrettably exceptions to the rule.

I do not believe the taxi regulator has a list of cars that can be used as a taxi, if so its either rubbish or not enforced.

Along with this the cleanliness and condition of them leaves a lot to be desired, a friend of my mothers drove a taxi in London for 30 years, he said they had random covert inspections and if the taxi got dented or scratched it had to be repaired straight away. They could try something like this here.

bmstuff

There are too many taxis in Dublin period, because of that it adds serious delay to city center traffic.

Less taxi is what we all want anyway, and to the taxi who make pinuts from working and can not afford to pay for a newer car, while there are plenty of brand new taxi down here, well you should get a new job, it probably is not worth continuing working here.

Taxi lately are driving like nuts, they are hunting for customers, which I understand, but they would cross lines in a blink of an eye if someone wave at them, very dangerous, I see that regularly.

And the city center of Dublin on week-end nights is just insane. Taxi are polluting the roads and causing congestions on their own. Personally I am disgusted to see all those taxi when I want to go out on a Friday night.
Half of them are just waiting here, with no job. This is just non sense...

keithclancy

They should have a Public Service Vehicle Test.

I've gotten into a 98 320S Mercedes and its was a whole different world to a Toyota Corolla !

Had fold out tables in the back, rear heated seats, tv's in the headrests and the windows were double glazed

Mercedes S Class is a pretty safe car too.

No 10 years rule in Germany AFAIK

Taxis in Ireland are pretty cheap too, 15KM taxi ride in the Netherlands after 8pm is 50 euros minimum.

johndaman66

SARASON wrote: »

My younger brother has one of those old corollas i get back ache looking at it....

How?

mondeo

I would only pay my money to get in a taxi no more then 4 or 5 years old. I just keep walking down the rank until I find somthing decent looking to get into. Not paying money to get into a 10 year old junker of a Skoda or worse.

I think this rule is fantastic from a safety point of view, how does one know an airbag in a 10 yr old avensis is going to pop out in the event regardless what the check light states?

keithclancy

mondeo wrote: »

I would only pay my money to get in a taxi no more then 4 or 5 years old. I just keep walking down the rank until I find somthing decent looking to get into. Not paying money to get into a 10 year old junker of a Skoda or worse.

I think this rule is fantastic from a safety point of view, how does one know an airbag in a 10 yr old avensis is going to pop out in the event regardless what the check light states?

Dont think that matters if your in the back seat.

mondeo

keithclancy wrote: »

Dont think that matters if your in the back seat.

I never get in the back seat, I like a heads up on the route he is taking as I don't like been taken for a fool bringing me the long way around the twist.

jimmycrackcorm

As a consumer, given the amount of money I pay for a fare, I should have the choice to pick out the nicest and most comfortable car in a rank but instead I'm forced to take the first ****ty car in the rank. Get rid of that and we'd soon see market forces at work.

Magenta

Magenta wrote: »

I mean, you wouldn't show up to the Grand National on an ancient old donkey and expect people to put money on you, would you?

Bad analagy really dude, winners of the Grand National tend to be seasoned chasers who have won chases that are over 3 m 2 f long, most horses who ran in a novice chase the year before they run in the national fail to complete the course. So being ancient as you put it is not something to put you off. Why go for the Grand National at the peak of the horses powers when there are Gold Cups etc to be contested ?

I couldn't care less if a taxi is a 1993 Carina or a 2010 E class to be honest.

mondeo

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

As a consumer, given the amount of money I pay for a fare, I should have the choice to pick out the nicest and most comfortable car in a rank but instead I'm forced to take the first ****ty car in the rank. Get rid of that and we'd soon see market forces at work.

who's forcing you to take the first car? They don't tell me which car to take or they will get the "V" sign in the nicest possible way

Magenta

RoverJames wrote: »

Bad analagy really dude, winners of the Grand National tend to be seasoned chasers who have won chases that are over 3 m 2 f long, most horses who ran in a novice chase the year before they run in the national fail to complete the course. Son being ancient as you put it is not something to put you off. Why go for the Grand National at the peak of the horses powers when there are Gold Cups etc to be contested ?

I didn't refer to animals in their prime, I referred to animals "ancient and old".
Try reading my post.
And stop calling me "dude" and "son", I'm a ****ing woman. In case the flower avatar, rainbow and love song signature, and having a shade of pink as a username didn't get that across to you.

Magenta

Magenta wrote: »

I didn't refer to animals in their prime, I referred to animals "ancient and old".
Try reading my post.
And stop calling me "dude" and "son", I'm a ****ing woman. In case the flower avatar, rainbow and love song signature, and having a shade of pink as a username didn't get that across to you.

None of the flower avator, love song sig and shade of pink show on my view of boards (thankfully), also in this day and age I wouldn't presume they meant you were female.

In car terms, 12 year old Carinas do win Grand Nationals

Also I don't recall calling you son either

daveharnett

I Was VB wrote: »

http://www.no9yearrule.com/

www.no9yearrule.com wrote: »

Taxi driver applicants should have had an Irish driving licence for 5 years BEFORE being allowed to drive a taxi

Yep, this site was made by cabbies alright :rolleyes:

I don't disagree with you VB, the 9 year rule is nonsense. Increased suitability/safety requirements would be much better, and I'd expect a looked after 12 year old E or 5 to meet them.

That being said, the 9 year rule is better than the status quo. I made the mistake of sitting into a (fully legal and licensed) late 90s corolla in portlaoise a few months ago. The suspension was so bad that it was genuinely frightening at 100kph.

That was my breaking point btw. Like others, I will now walk down the rank until I find a car I like. I wonder if the reduced waiting times could justify a 2nd/3rd hand S, 7, or Phaeton?

Magenta

RoverJames wrote: »

None of the flower avator, love song sig and shade of pink show on my view of boards (thankfully), also in this day and age I wouldn't presume they meant you were female.

Hmmm. About 50% of the population are female, and about 5% are gay men. I wonder which Magenta is more likely to be? :rolleyes:

RoverJames wrote: »

Also I don't recall calling you son either

RoverJames wrote: »

Son being ancient as you put it...

Well if you can't even read your own posts, I guess it's a bit much asking you to read mine.

Magenta

Magenta wrote: »

Hmmm. About 50% of the population are female, and about 5% are gay men. I wonder which Magenta is more likely to be? :rolleyes:





Well if you can't even read your own posts, I guess it's a bit much asking you to read mine.

That was meant to be a So not a son, I have corrected this spelling error now. To be honest I don't really care if you are male, female, gay or whatever Your Grand National analagy was not very good, I'll say no more on the topic

Max_Damage

There goes that '85 Honda Accord taxi that I occasionally see in the city centre. I'd happily get into it rather than some new bland Avensis or whatever.

Max_Damage

This is typical of the snobby attitude of this poxy country, just because it's old, means it's either unsafe or crap. :rolleyes:

Sooner I'm outta here the better.