Taxi Driver Online

Looking to buy my first car for private hire.

Options are brand new seat toledo at @ 14k including extended 5 year or 90k mile warranty.

or 2015 plate hyundai i40 estate with 10k on the clock @ 13k with 4 year unlimited miles warranty.

I've got a good sized deposit and can pay the car over 3 or 4 years.

Any advice would be appreciated.

The i40 will have a warranty until 100,000 miles, that's what they come with, or 5 years what ever comes the quickest

have you checked with your potential insurer how much your premium will be? that's the first you should do, then think what car you can afford... btw. seat toledo aka skoda rapid is way too small...

I've just noticed the Hyundai is 100k so not much difference warranty wise between the 2.

There is very little difference in the insurance so it comes down to which is the better car.

I've driven the Toledo and it's definitely big enough, infact half the local taxis are toledos.

I can highly recommend the Toyota Auris hybrid tourer.

Brand new with a small deposit it's costing me £40 a week (due to halving fuel usage) over 5 years. Had it 9 months now, 35k miles and no problems whatsoever, I can't fault it. All the cabbies round here getting new vehicles are buying them (still buying second hand mondeos and skodas though).

5 year/100k warranty.

for chinese-tall punters or school runs with pre-school kids...

I would go with that then.

At least the local mechanics will be experienced with the faults.

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IDFIMH

Do you do long runs or mostly local stuff? We have the diesel version at the moment but would be interested to hear a proper review of the hybrid.

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Grandad,
To support my charity text MAYORWALK to 70085 to donate £5

Its actually Octavia sized, the rapid is the same size as the original Octavia

Save the deposit for the £5000 insurance

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/skoda/rapid
"Sitting between the Fabia Supermini and Octavia family hatchback, the Rapid fills a gap for Skoda in the compact family hatchback sector..."
you're welcome...

Its built on the mark one Octavia platform

99% local built up area stuff. If you're doing mostly motorway runs I'd say it's not the best, it's smooth and quiet but the mpg drops to 56 on a motorway (still good though) at 70-80mph. If you're prepared to tootle along at 60mph I've heard the mpg hits 75 though ! So for motorways a new diesel is better on fuel.

I'd also say where the economy gets really hammered is going up hills, especially if pulling away on a hill - the engine revs remain high without much progress being made, not through a lack of power but just how the engine/drivetrain managements set up. Talking of power if you really put your foot down it'll beat just about anything else to 40mph, but again wont do the fuel economy any good.

To get the best out of it you have to change your driving style, less heavy on the throttle, brake early and gently to use regenerative braking to charge the battery etc. If your a bit of a boy racer this aint the car for you, it's all about smoothness and steadiness and predicting the road ahead - I'd go as far as to say its made me a better driver !

Youv'e already got the diesel version so you have an idea of what they're like, but the hybrid is on another level completely. Better interior (not as plastickey), smoother drive, very easy to drive, and amazingly quiet - you'd be surprised how much noise tyres, ventilation fans and brakes make. Some of the lads who bought the diesel version aren't impressed (lack of power, noise, economy) and wish they'd paid a little extra for the hybrid. Go and have a test drive and see how you like it compared to your diesel, you wont regret it.

Thank you for that Sasha. most of our work is local stuff so it could be good. I have noticed that the headlights on ours are really crap.

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Grandad,
To support my charity text MAYORWALK to 70085 to donate £5

Is the Rapide much cheaper than the Octavia which in turn, is it cheaper than the mighty Superb?

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most