Taxi sales

[BENT_8]

Hi people, i was talking to a mate yesterday who worked for Holden's for 25 yrs and still gets a bit of inside info.
He claims that Holden will be heavily discounting its new model commodore to Taxi fleets in the hope of taking away Fords domination of this market.
Rumors say it could be up to 50% discount.
I find this a little extreme, for them to slash prices before a model has even been released yet and with no sales figures to warrant it but considering the new Commy is available with a dedicated gas system there could be truth in it.
Anyone heard anything similar?

[stevz]

I strongly doubt this as Holden have said numerous times that they "don't do taxis" and they don't want their cars to have a taxi image. As Holden have said they will be putting a stronger emphasis on private buyers with the VE, I am inclined to doubt your claims even more.
Taxi sales make up such a small number of new car sales that it is almost irrelevant. The majority of taxis are converted second hand cars.
I have also heard that a lot of cabbies are moving away from ford as they do not like dedicated gas, from what I have heard they much prefer a dual fuel system.

[Bossxr8]

Ford no longer makes a taxi pack, and would sell very few of them new as taxis. Don't believe everything you hear.

[vztrt]

I thought Toyota would be pushing it's cars as Taxi's and not Holden.

I guess we'll see what happens

[BENT_8]

Some good points guys, and i must admit i didn't really believe there was much truth to it, but with the well documented financial situation that the parent company is in, discounting new cars to the point of being a cheaper purchase to say a 2yr old BA Futura would not only give better sales figures, but also provide a greater prescence of the new model on the road.
Lets face it Taxi's stand out from the crowd and how many people have heard how Falcon taxi's do half a million miles+ on one motor.
Surely having a large prescence in a fleet of vehicles that operate 24hrs a day and providing reliability will help boost the image of the Commodore.
Holden already have a market lead in the private market so it would be pointless to keep beating the performance drum and may just be the next marketing ploy to attract potential buyers.
Just a thought though!

[Fairlane]

Taxi's are a doubled edged sword (especially in the older E-series and Au form); old codgers and die hard ford fans will love the fact that the Ford mechanicals are solid and are proven for 800+ thousand kays.

The problem is journo's and non-ford people (ie holden) and people not interested in cars. They get in a clapped out EL Gli or AU forte taxi which most of them seem to be and remember the experience. Then they go to buy a Fairmont or Fairmont ghia and instantly notice the similarities and panic. Some people dont want to pay $40,000+ grand for a car is virtually identitical to the clapped out shoz box you were in the night before.

As for the holden thing ill believe when i see it. I cant see holden chasing the taxi market and even more importantly i cant see taxi owners running to buy Holdens after the disaster of the 3800 buick on LPG.

*Personally the taxi thing doesnt both me and i feel good when i see Fairlane's and LTD's in hired car spec- At least they look good

[EBII Fairmont]

Is it true that Ford engines can last longer on gas than a Hoden engine, or is it a bunch of lies?

[HOON69]

toyota seems to be the new flavour for taxi owners
hence why in s.e.q.l.d im seeing more and more of em every day

biggest taxi buckets on the road atm the AU,some of these taxis should be declared
wrecks,they are truly scary vehicles to ride in (au taxi's)

but i doubt holden would slash any new rides to anyone especially taxi's.
they gave up on taxi's 10+ years ago from memory.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by EBII Fairmont

Is it true that Ford engines can last longer on gas than a Hoden engine, or is it a bunch of lies?

Well i guess there is no evidence to support either side at this stage because the new 3.6 ltr Holden engine is only rescently released and wouldn't have real on road figures to indicate.
What i find interesting is that Holden have gone with the two engine power versions similar to the EA 3.2ltr's/ 3.9ltr's.
Perhaps this is a hint to their interest in the fleet sector.
Does anyone know what the purpose behind the 3.2ltr i6 was in the EA?
I figured it was to draw fleet sales from customers that would have otherwise bought a big 4cyl not needing large capacity motors.

[HLC]

my great grandfather's cousin's nephew's great uncle says that i rule.

[Steffo]

It doesn't really matter if they discount their brand new vehicles. Taxi's are very rarely purchased brand new. They buy the cars very cheap, second hand, an auctions (a BA XT can be had for $7k or so). They convert them to gas and run them to the max of their life cycle (which in NSW is 6yrs and 6months from the date of manufacture).

You'll find most taxi mechanics prefer the Ford 4.0 to any other engine, and extreme difficulty to work with Toyota's 3.0, Mitsubishi's 3.8 and Holden's 3.6. Most operators will look away from the cars for those reasons alone.

Then there is the fact that the other three simply do not last as long as the Henry option does. There's a reason the Fords are so popular in the taxi industry, and its not because they're cheap, you can buy a Magna of the same vintage for half that of a similar Falcon....

[OzJavelin]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

.. i cant see taxi owners running to buy Holdens after the disaster of the 3800 buick on LPG ..

What happened to 3.8Ls on LPG? I'd have thought they were a good candidate with cast-iron block and heads??

[Paull]

As stated above, nearly all taxi's are bought/converted second hand.

However, a point of real concern for taxi drivers now is the BA/BF automatic transmissions. The AU ones were about $2500 to repair and $3500 to replace. However, the later ones are about $8000. I regularly use the same cabbie and it is this problem that has him most concerned.

I then asked what are you going to do, his response, hold onto the AUII for as long as humanly possible and then panic!

Paul

[Steffo]

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

What happened to 3.8Ls on LPG? I'd have thought they were a good candidate with cast-iron block and heads??

They would "boil" themselves. Regularly need a new head/valve job done. New engine at 200,000-350,000kms is generally the norm with Commo 3.8 cabs.

They'd get very, very hot, and wear down quickly. Often they'd burn down their oil and then die due to lack of engine oil, overheating etc. Generally a mess.

[Steffo]

Originally Posted by Paull

As stated above, nearly all taxi's are bought/converted second hand.

However, a point of real concern for taxi drivers now is the BA/BF automatic transmissions. The AU ones were about $2500 to repair and $3500 to replace. However, the later ones are about $8000. I regularly use the same cabbie and it is this problem that has him most concerned.

I then asked what are you going to do, his response, hold onto the AUII for as long as humanly possible and then panic!

Paul

I don't see why this would be, as the four-speed in the AU and BA is virtually the same. The six-speed might be an issue though, but I've heard no such thing from the base my dad drives for.

[Miss_XR6]

i dont see holden given taxi's a good rate but then again in nsw latly alot of taxi drivers have been driving new fords and holdens but i think most of them have been brought privatly first then done up as a taxi

[Bucket]

I've been catching a lot of Cabs lately with work and after talking to the cabbies that own BA's, they all say that Ford STILL do the Taxi Pack...and they are buying them with E-Gas fitted.
If this is true, maybe ford just arent making it known, the fact that they still do taxi packs?

[Steffo]

Originally Posted by Bucket

I've been catching a lot of Cabs lately with work and after talking to the cabbies that own BA's, they all say that Ford STILL do the Taxi Pack...and they are buying them with E-Gas fitted.
If this is true, maybe ford just arent making it known, the fact that they still do taxi packs?

I'm pretty certain only two dealerships in Sydney offer the taxi pack, one of them definitley being City Ford.

Nevertheless, they still make up a minority of taxi numbers, the majority being second hand converted vehicles.

[BENT_8]

Would the idea behind buying second hand cars and converting them have anything to do with capital depriciation on leaving the car yard?

Taxi's are only allowed a shelf life of 10 yrs in S.A. so buying an older car would benefit little as you would have to buy and sell more often.

Selling discounted new cars would remove the depriciation factor because they would already be paying less than a privately owned 1 yr old car would depriciate to in that time.

[Steffo]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Would the idea behind buying second hand cars and converting them have anything to do with capital depriciation on leaving the car yard?

Taxi's are only allowed a shelf life of 10 yrs in S.A. so buying an older car would benefit little as you would have to buy and sell more often.

Selling discounted new cars would remove the depriciation factor because they would already be paying less than a privately owned 1 yr old car would depriciate to in that time.

They're not discounted heavily enough. My dad bought an AUIII Falcon E-Gas taxi-pack in 2002 and it came to $39,000 with all the stickers, roof signage, taxi meter, computor, EFTPOS machine and radio fitted.

It sold in 2004 with ~75,000km on it (he was trying out being an owner driver) for less then $10,000.

They buy a BA second hand for $7,000. They keep that car for approx 4 years. There's no way Ford could discount a new model heavily enough for it to be cost effective, even though they can use it for 6 years since they own it brand new.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Steffo

I don't see why this would be, as the four-speed in the AU and BA is virtually the same. The six-speed might be an issue though, but I've heard no such thing from the base my dad drives for.

Especially because you can't get a 6 speed auto with E Gas. Should be exactly the same as AU/BA as the BF isn't much different.

[Steffo]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Especially because you can't get a 6 speed auto with E Gas. Should be exactly the same as AU/BA as the BF isn't much different.

I'm aware the 6-speed isn't available on the E-Gas cars, however, do they plan on eventually phasing the 4-speed out?

[csv8]

SSANG YOUNG Stavic are becoming popular with taxi drivers. Diesel engine and loads of room. They ignore the ugly heap of it is.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Steffo

I'm aware the 6-speed isn't available on the E-Gas cars, however, do they plan on eventually phasing the 4-speed out?

Perhaps the reason they have maintained the 4sp is for fleet sales and Ford may choose to follow Holdens lead for this market.

Oh and those that think a few thousand taxi sales in a new market isn't worth the effort should speak to a fleet sales man.
I've never seen them knock back a deal especially if they can get a huge contract on their books with manufacturers support and backing

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Steffo

I'm aware the 6-speed isn't available on the E-Gas cars, however, do they plan on eventually phasing the 4-speed out?

Yes the 4sp will be phased out but the 6sp woint become standard.