an even worse than SteveH's Oh Bugger

A bit of research and diggin around the web says I can have a Merc E class

or same price as the passat a Volvo S20 D5 Lux with 163ps :)

or a fiver a week less than the passat a Jag X type 2litre Diesel

I couldn't wait to get ride of an E320, so I can't imagine how bad an E220 would be. TBH I thought it was the worst car I've had in recent years.

Don't forget to buy a cardigan with patches on the elbows.

Run away, run away. It's a Mondeo.

Well, taxi of choice would be E220Cdi Auto or BMW 520d auto, but failing the budget for either of them

I'd go with the toyota from the list above, reasonabl parts prices, good build quality.

S20? Is that meant to be an S80 or S60? S60 rear seat space is a bit tight for taxi I would think but S80 good. Parts prices will make you cry.

Although it goes against all reason, I would be going for a diesel Avensis, estate. The D4D 2.2 T3S. It's an incredibly dull and ugly looking car, but having had one on hire it does the job OK, uses next to no fuel and it handles enormously long journeys without a hiccup.

I got from Italy to a meeting in Namur, Belgium faster than I had done the journey in the Jag in the past. The main reason was that in the Avensis you don't need to stop. IIRC it did the journey without stopping to fill up.

I wouldn't touch a Zafira with a bargepole. I've had several on hire, nasty. The Mondeo I would only have in the STTDCi form and I wouldn't buy one new.

And the Passat is for reps working for German companies.

what caused it?

I had a octy 1999, and that munched up well. It was a cotter pin on the dif. its retainer failed and punhced out a big crack in dif and lots of little bits in all the cogs n crunched about a bit.

Is this a MK2 "new" A5 platform Octavia? My mate is a qualified Skoda Mechanic and the last dealership he worked in was getting them coming back by the handful, mainly the DSG models, but a fair share of standard manuals too.

Not bad for a Taxi then.

No this would be my 55 plate workhorse A4 platform estate So i'm now driving the spare Octyshed

"Rob" wrote in news:s7cei.5289$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe6-win.ntli.net:

I've heard from our local taxi boys that the Octy makes a good taxi, but they are finding that the gearbox is a weak point at high mileage. I'll be interested to see what the next flavour of the month is for them.

I can't remember if Rob's is a TDI or SDI.

Most minicabs seem to be SDIs and rarely give problems, mainly because the engine barely has enough power to provide anything that could be remotely described as 'progress'.

I don't think even Rob could kill a gearbox in an SDI.

Unless he's been taking angle grinders to things again.

not making funny power here either

only a 110 octy with a tuning box so nothing out the ordinary