Taxis - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

PETE_XR6 · 05-10-2002, 17:03

Why are so many Taxis , fords?
Do you think this hurts Ford's public image of the falcon?

XWJG34 · 05-10-2002, 17:23

Simple really... they're built Ford Tough

But that taxi image gets to me sometimes.... i had one guy call my XW a taxi ??? Oh well, at least my car is 30 years old and still going. I'd like to see where that guys Swift will be in 30 years time.. probably re-cycled as a Coke can LOL

Depends on how you take the term really. :s5

Blue EF2 · 05-10-2002, 17:23

Good question ...

I guess it goes both ways,

One could assume that they are cheap and nasty and that's why the are used as taxi's but in reality I would think it's because they are more robust and more reliable than the commodores.

I've seen many EF-EL taxis with more than 500,000 kms on the clock and I often ask the driver (if they can speak English) if it is still the original donk, and in most cases it is.

I also think that maintenece costs on the falcon are much cheaper and that the I6 runs better on LPG than the holden V6

Image wise I would think of it as 'all publicity is good publicity' and that it is a chance to get people into a falcon who would not normally.

strife · 05-10-2002, 18:12

I think it helps ford having an option box to tick taxi pack

3Toed · 05-10-2002, 19:32

I don't see Ford taxi's as bringing Ford's image down. The opposite in fact. It shows that the Falcon is the better car for such a demanding job. Several years ago all you saw were Kingswood taxi's. Now it mostly Falcon's with a few Commodores and Camry's.

Cheap and nasty? I did hear somewhere that a Falcon taxi is much cheaper than a normal Falcon but so what? Like I said above: they are better for the task than whatevery else there is.

I drive a white EL Falcon GLi. People do comment that it looks like a taxi. I don't care. I just remind them of their comments when they need a lift from me!

Irish · 05-10-2002, 20:55

I dont think taxis give ford a bad image. They cant be considered cheaper than the commos considering a stock commo is 3 g less than a stock falcon, but i do know they get fleet deals for buying alot but holden also have fleet deals especially for government agencies. I just think it shows falcons have real staying power. i know a guy who drives a taxi and it has done over 1 mil. Services it every 50 k and no engine replacement or anything.

HP Dude · 05-10-2002, 21:21

Well, what make of car is used as taxis in Germany?? Mercedes-Benz E Class. Why? Because they're tough and reliable. Horses for courses I reckon. The fact that the taxi industry prefers Fords is because Falcons are tough and reliable cars. If it only came down to the fact that Ford offers a taxi pack option, why doesn't Holden do so in competition? If Fords didn't do the job, they'd be driving Holdens, taxi pack option or not. And earlier, Kingswood taxis were more prevalent (especially as those early Commodores weren't very popular with the industry). Let's be honest here, AU's are better built than Holdens (see Joe Kenwright, Wheels, Motor et al). I think the VX has been a large improvement over VT but I still do not think it quite matches AU build quality (when did Ford have to shut down the plant in order to address build quality problems???). And I am not biased, because I do accept that the Holdens are, generally, better looking vehicles. I also accept that the LS1 is, fundamentally, a good engine. I can see good and bad on both sides.

Martin · 05-11-2002, 00:00

I think one thing is because the Falcon engine runs better on LPG than any other car.

I remember reading an article about a Taxi fleet in a area where LPG isnt available there (Darwin maybe?), so they have been using Camrys instead. Apparently some have clocked up 1,000,000kms with little or no trouble at all....

Mr Jucy · 05-11-2002, 00:45

they are reliable & big I think the Commo until the VT was too small & didn't have the 6 seat option so the taxi companies got used to buying Ford & why change

Rodderz · 05-11-2002, 02:41

i guess the reliability factor comes in to this, one night last year we were in a taxi from the pub and the car we were in was an EB ols school. It looked like it'd done the hard yards and the driver informed us it had done over 1 million km's, and had no major dramas apart from major services. Guess it also depends on whether ur a sensible driver or a hack too