Crap taxis - enough is enough

Interceptor

Just when I thought we were pulling this country up by its bootstraps and the Celtic Monkey was finally making itself useful, a dipsh1t in a '91 Opel Astra 1.4 'Expression' shows up at my house when I phoned for a taxi. I sit into this appalling heap of junk and he charges me the same amount to drop me to town as the guy in the '04 Galaxy did last weekend. Of all the cheek - and the guy tried to make out it cost the same to keep it serviced and to run as a new car, I nearly exploded.

I know the Carriage office sets rules for hackneys and so long as they have NCT's and four doors then anything goes but this really took the biscuit. There was a manky MkII Golf and an '87 Fiat Croma working in Galway and I refused to take them if I was queueing at the rank, letting the people behind me take them and hoping the next car along was from the current Millenium.

Boycott these chancers, tell your local TD that if the Portuguese can have Merc 320's then you want them too and if a Skoda Felicia shows up to take you to the office party, direct it to the nearest scrapyard and call another.

What is the worst taxi you have seen lately - spare no details...

'c

Tommy Vercetti

apart from all the usual old junk, I've seen a Pug 206 estate thing, there can't be much legroom in the back of those things. There's a few 4x4s around Dublin these days too, which is odd beause it's completely unnecessary, just like 90% of them anyway, they were a Merc ML and a Mitsubishi Challenger.

John R

Is it really that important what age the car is? I don't really get the fuss.

As long as the car is big enough to not be a squeeze and is clean inside I really don't care much what age it is. I'd be much more bothered getting into a shiny new car that some scummy drunk had just puked in.

You must really hate London, some of those black cabs are over 30 years old.

Interceptor

Yip - I really hate London taxis. The old ones have vinyl seats and you slide around in the back like a pea in a whistle. The smell of diesel makes me ill and the drivers usually smoke which makes me get out before I need to.

Every other European city I have been in recently has lines and lines of new or nearly new Mercs and BM's often all painted a uniform colour to aid identification and we have to endure diesel Toyota Coronas with shagged CV joints and 300k on the clock.

Did you hit the nail on the head John R - is it because they get barfed in all the time that no-one buys a proper car? Doubt it.

'c

On mature (yeah, right) reflection this thread should probably be somewhere else - mods feel free etc etc.

lomb

yeah but look what the europeans charge. i paid 30 euros for 3.5 miles from nice airport to nice town centre thats 10euro a mile nearly.
no wonder he was driving an s320cdi(value 105000 here) and it was brand spanking new.

Interceptor

lomb wrote:

yeah but look what the europeans charge. i paid 30 euros for 3.5 miles from nice airport to nice town centre thats 10euro a mile nearly.
no wonder he was driving an s320cdi(value 105000 here) and it was brand spanking new.

Its probably because you are Irish and he was afraid you were going to barf in his nice Merc.

But you see my point - when was the last time you saw one of these being used to carry passengers here? Oh yeah, when the Sultan of Brunei was over buying some horses....

'c

mike65

I hardly use taxis but the variable quality of cars is an issue as is the some of the drivers. I remember once getting a taxi from centre of town to home on a damp but mild winters morning and the windscreen was all fogged up. The driver was about 100 and peering through the miasma when he could have just hit fan speed 4 and opened a window! Dunno how I got home.

There should be a standard taxi but with the cost of vehicles/insurance etc it won't ever be a Merc E class! Not that it need be of course, the Skoda Octavia would be an exellent model. Hackneys are another matter, I guess its always been hirer beware...

Mike.

ps I'm booting this over to Commuting/Transport.

jbkenn

What is the worst taxi you have seen lately - spare no details...

Worst Dublin Taxi experience was the "ball of sh*te" Ford Sierra I took to get to Heuston Station, some years back. He ran out of petrol going down the quays, "no worries" he got out, opened the boot, took out a gallon can, topped up, and away we go again. It was early morning, so, maybe, he did not want to leave petrol in the car overnight, in case it would be stolen, but, you would have to be hard pushed to steal that ball of sh*te.

jbkenn

mike65

I would'nt reccomend a car with a can of petrol in the boot! :eek:

Mike.

Sarsfield

I'm using taxis quite a bit at the moment. The worst are the ones that have never seen a hoover and smell of BO - there's quite a few.

Got a Hiace van home last week. I can't stand any of the van type taxis, but a Hiace? FFS :rolleyes:

And I agree with Mike, a nice clean Skoda Octavia makes for a very pleasant taxi-ride.

fjon

I once saw a FIAT PUNTO witha taxi plate! I couldn't believe it - if you can afford a taxi plate you can afford something better than a Punto. I seriously hope it was being used as a replacement car while his real one was getting fixed.

jetsonx

AFAIK, the merc and beamer taxi you see on the continent are bought
without them having to pay the full rate of VAT. So a taxidriver can buy a brand new merc use it for a year and then sell it on..That is why they are so prevalent...in IRL there is no such scheme.

sliabh

The worst one recently was a Corina which had some sort of many slime on the doors and windows. The driver had the cheek to hold on to my change as a tip until I asked for it.

The best was the guy about a month ago with a 4WD Lexus in Templogue!!!!! Best taxi I have ever had in Ireland or out of it!