Sydney (Manly) Taxis

[OzJavelin]

I've been up at Manly on training this week and had to catch a lot of taxis about the place. Overall I've been very impressed with the quality of the cabs about here. The majority are older AU Falcons (and some BAs) but in really good nick ... they have all been very tight, rattle-free, clean, etc.

Most the cabs I've caught in Melb are Falcons too (BAs and a few AUs) and most are generally junk .. noisey, rattle, bad brakes, whining diffs, etc.

I find it hard to believe Sydney taxi drivers care for their cars better than Melb drivers. Is this just the Manly area?

[ .. or AUs better suited to taxi life than BAs ]

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

I've been up at Manly on training this week and had to catch a lot of taxis about the place. Overall I've been very impressed with the quality of the cabs about here. The majority are older AU Falcons (and some BAs) but in really good nick ... they have all been very tight, rattle-free, clean, etc.

Most the cabs I've caught in Melb are Falcons too (BAs and a few AUs) and most are generally junk .. noisey, rattle, bad brakes, whining diffs, etc.

I find it hard to believe Sydney taxi drivers care for their cars better than Melb drivers. Is this just the Manly area?

[ .. or AUs better suited to taxi life than BAs ]

yep Manly cabs are very well run company and only service the Northern beaches area.
I don't find it hard to believe at all, many things are badly run/handled in Gotham City : :

Certain other cab companys here in Sydney are like the bad ones you mention above and I'm told they are ex Mexican drivers : j/k fellas

[pauljh74]

The cab owners pay the drivers bugger all and neglect maintenance to cut costs. Maybe Manly cabs have a certain standard they require their cab operators to keep their vehicles in to protect the company's reputation

A lot of "Combined Taxi" Taxis are poorly maintained, they normally service the inner city and inner west.

A lot of taxi drivers in Sydney are owner drivers, who rent the plates from a taxi company. My uncle does this. I think the problem with Melb taxis is that there disposed of after their service, the colour of them is probably why. So there less likely to have the urge to maintain it. Most sydney taxis are white and after their 6 year stint are used as daily drivers by the owners.

My uncles EF clocked over a million Ks whilst in service, and still uses it as a daily driver today.

[chief]

You can see AU's running aroumd with 800,000km + on the clock. Friend of mine is a Manly cabs driver. This is what he does to the car.

New tyres once a month,
oil and filter change every 5000km
air filter 10,000km
transmission service 20,000
diff service 20,000
power steering fluid 20,000
regas air con 20,000 (need to guarentee that it is cold)
suspension (shocks, spring) 40,000
full suspension 100,000
carries dozens of globes in the glovebox
replaces his bumbers (you now taxies hit stuff, well he fixes the damage)

Theres other stuff, but Manly cabs do do a very good job.