Taxis - High mileage, but still running well

[inlinesix]

300-400k - i take the max of 400k

none were newer than 8 years old and many older than 10 - I take it as 11 years

 

400k / 11 years = approx 36,363 km per year

36363 km per year (52 weeks) = approx 699km per week

 

(EO) changed every 2 - 3 weeks - I take it as 3 weeks

3 weeks = 3 * 699km = 2097 km

30,000km / 2097 km = approx 14 times per year - I take it as roughly about once a month

 

Automatic transmission fluid was apparently changed every 2 - 3 months - I take it as 3 months

3 months is about 12 weeks = 12*699 = 8388 km

30,000km / 8388 km = approx 3.6 times per year - I take it as roughly about every 3 months

 

I hope I understand and calculate correctly.

That's because MINERAL engine oil is used.

 

Do you use MINERAL engine oil?

[Kklee]

It does seem that your calculations are right! 

 

Then either the mileages or age of the taxis are wrong. I don't think an average taxi only clock 699km a week, or 100km a day. Can't make money like that...hehe! Local SG taxis run between 250-450km per shift, or 500-900km a day.

 

At an average of 700km a day, SG taxis need to be serviced once every 2 weeks. 

 

I speculate that the odometers on these old Crown Comforts have only 6-digits, and the 400k km may well be 1.4m km or 2.4m km....

 

Seems logical too.

Eh....got any taxi driver here?

I always wonder if PHV keeps to the 10k or 6 months OCI.       Any PHV care to comment?

That's because MINERAL engine oil is used.

 

Do you use MINERAL engine oil?

 

You mean mineral oil can only last 2,000 km?

My AD don't use mineral oil.

BTW,  the ATF also mineral based huh?

Edited June 5, 2018 by Kklee

[Citros]

I happened to hear the same thing from a taxi driver.  In fact, he said it's common to hit 1,000,000 in his Mercedes after which the AD would reset his Odometer.

Interesting that this came up for discussion.        This just means that our ride is totally underutilised, given the spare parts and maintenance, a loved car can go on and on for more than 10 years.     Sadly, the spare parts would be the only factor to stop anyone from keeping his car going on and on.    replace parts that are worn, no issue.   Some cars, like Merc are built like a horse and can last many years, beyond the 10 years we look to as limit.  In fact, there's no limit.   As long as there are parts available. 

Edited June 5, 2018 by Citros

[DACH]

I happened to hear the same thing from a taxi driver. In fact, he said it's common to hit 1,000,000 in his Mercedes after which the AD would reset his Odometer.

Interesting that this came up for discussion. This just means that our ride is totally underutilised, given the spare parts and maintenance, a loved car can go on and on for more than 10 years. Sadly, the spare parts would be the only factor to stop anyone from keeping his car going on and on. replace parts that are worn, no issue. Some cars, like Merc are built like a horse and can last many years, beyond the 10 years we look to as limit. In fact, there's no limit. As long as there are parts available.

Yes, especially the W124s.

[Toeknee_33]

I happened to hear the same thing from a taxi driver.  In fact, he said it's common to hit 1,000,000 in his Mercedes after which the AD would reset his Odometer.

Interesting that this came up for discussion.        This just means that our ride is totally underutilised, given the spare parts and maintenance, a loved car can go on and on for more than 10 years.     Sadly, the spare parts would be the only factor to stop anyone from keeping his car going on and on.    replace parts that are worn, no issue.   Some cars, like Merc are built like a horse and can last many years, beyond the 10 years we look to as limit.  In fact, there's no limit.   As long as there are parts available. 

 

Well, yes and no.

 

The Crown Comfort was specifically designed to be a taxi, with a large unstressed petrol (HK/JPN) or diesel (SG) engine with low power outputs. Mechanicals were kept simple (eg live rear axle) for ease of maintenance and durability. Electronics were minimal. They are expected to rack up many many uneventful miles.

 

I don't think a BMW 5-series, for eg, will take this kind of punishing mileage. You hear many VAG engines losing power and compression after 80k km. Not to mention GB failures. Older Mercs (W123/W124/W126) are known to be over-engineered and could last a long time.

 

Our hot and humid climate doesn't help, but still an average car should last about 250k km I reckon.

[inlinesix]

You mean mineral oil can only last 2,000 km?

My AD don't use mineral oil.

BTW,  the ATF also mineral based huh?

 

Mineral oil last about long mileage.  Moreover, very likely these companies bought cheaper mineral oil in large barrel.

 

I am not sure whether ATF is mineral based or not

[inlinesix]

Well, yes and no.

 

The Crown Comfort was specifically designed to be a taxi, with a large unstressed petrol (HK/JPN) or diesel (SG) engine with low power outputs. Mechanicals were kept simple (eg live rear axle) for ease of maintenance and durability. Electronics were minimal. They are expected to rack up many many uneventful miles.

 

I don't think a BMW 5-series, for eg, will take this kind of punishing mileage. You hear many VAG engines losing power and compression after 80k km. Not to mention GB failures. Older Mercs (W123/W124/W126) are known to be over-engineered and could last a long time.

 

Our hot and humid climate doesn't help, but still an average car should last about 250k km I reckon.

 

Crown comfort in HK and Japan runs on CNG.  Since introduction of Toyota JPN Taxi, Crown comfort no longer in production.

 

I believe you still can see a lot of 5 series prior to E60 in Malaysia. 

 

[Opel17]

Seems logical too.

Eh....got any taxi driver here?

I always wonder if PHV keeps to the 10k or 6 months OCI.       Any PHV care to comment?

 

You mean mineral oil can only last 2,000 km?

My AD don't use mineral oil.

BTW,  the ATF also mineral based huh?

When the mileage due for service as shown in the windscreen sticker is due, I will make service appt with rental co. Done 1 service already.

Changed 2 front tyres today at the rental co, because already worn out to wear indicators. Can see that the tyres are not brand new ones, obviously. 

[Dadiao]

Sent car for regular servicing. Took a cab to collect my vehicle. Smooth and comfortable ride. I peeked at the odometer and saw it is 400,000 + KM.

 

Taxi uncle shared with me that the vehicle will run fine if:

 1. Stick to the servicing schedule, for cabs, they have to send car for servicing at least once a month.

 2. Immediately repair or replace faulty or dying parts. "Mai tu liao". The longer you drag, the more related parts it will damage.

 

I thanked him for his advice.

 

Any truth to what he said?

 

Just curious, which car model is so reliable ?

[Bicolor]

It does seem that your calculations are right! 

 

Then either the mileages or age of the taxis are wrong. I don't think an average taxi only clock 699km a week, or 100km a day. Can't make money like that...hehe! Local SG taxis run between 250-450km per shift, or 500-900km a day.

 

At an average of 700km a day, SG taxis need to be serviced once every 2 weeks. 

 

I speculate that the odometers on these old Crown Comforts have only 6-digits, and the 400k km may well be 1.4m km or 2.4m km....

 

Actually the taxis in HK do clock varying mileage, and you'll be surprised, sometimes less than in SG per day. There were times I drove 80km or less in a day. The reason being that I drove a New Territories taxi, and in the small district I operate in, most of the trips are very short on weekdays, mostly less than 2km and some less than 1km! It was easy to tell because the meter only starts jumping after the first 2km, so there were many days when more than 90% of my trips were HK$16.50 trips (the flagdown rate at that time).

 

In the screenshot you can see two of the most common destinations I would often take passengers to. One is only 700 metres, the other about 1.3km to 1.7km (if they dropped at the upper area).

 

It sounds weird for so many people to take taxis for such short distances, but in my district, many people's homes were that close to the town centre but in rather inconvenient locations (rough terrain, on a hill and buses don't go in), so taxis there act as a kind of shuttle between the town centre and those villages. Only on rare occasions would I get a passenger going to another faraway location, and when I did so, I would ply in that area till another fare took me somewhere else or it was time to end the shift.

 

The head mechanic of the company I rented from told me that some taxis did hit over 1 million km, but these were rare and would usually have been through an overhaul by then. These are usually driven by "airport specialists" who already have regular passengers such as flight attendants or airport staff who work the night shift, so they go in and out of the airport several times a day.

[Ake109]

Well, yes and no.

 

The Crown Comfort was specifically designed to be a taxi, with a large unstressed petrol (HK/JPN) or diesel (SG) engine with low power outputs. Mechanicals were kept simple (eg live rear axle) for ease of maintenance and durability. Electronics were minimal. They are expected to rack up many many uneventful miles.

 

I don't think a BMW 5-series, for eg, will take this kind of punishing mileage. You hear many VAG engines losing power and compression after 80k km. Not to mention GB failures. Older Mercs (W123/W124/W126) are known to be over-engineered and could last a long time.

 

Our hot and humid climate doesn't help, but still an average car should last about 250k km I reckon.

 

The Crown Comfort... only thing missing is ladder chassis and leaf spring suspension.......

[Frankloh]

Mineral oil last about long mileage.  Moreover, very likely these companies bought cheaper mineral oil in large barrel.

 

I am not sure whether ATF is mineral based or not

 

If you include the labour and taxi downtime, a mineral would overall cost more than a fully-synthetic oil.

[inlinesix]

If you include the labour and taxi downtime, a mineral would overall cost more than a fully-synthetic oil.

 

That 1 you have to ask @bicolor liao.

[Toeknee_33]

Crown comfort in HK and Japan runs on CNG. Since introduction of Toyota JPN Taxi, Crown comfort no longer in production.

 

I believe you still can see a lot of 5 series prior to E60 in Malaysia.

 

Well, its actually LPG. Whatever the fuel type, it's still a spark ignition Otto cycle internal combustion engine, no different from a petrol engine. The point is that they are large capacity and low powered to ensure durability and longevity.

[Jamesc]

Taxis are mostly diesel and diesel engines are built for really high milage.

 

[t0y0ta]

Actually the taxis in HK do clock varying mileage, and you'll be surprised, sometimes less than in SG per day. There were times I drove 80km or less in a day. The reason being that I drove a New Territories taxi, and in the small district I operate in, most of the trips are very short on weekdays, mostly less than 2km and some less than 1km! It was easy to tell because the meter only starts jumping after the first 2km, so there were many days when more than 90% of my trips were HK$16.50 trips (the flagdown rate at that time).

 

In the screenshot you can see two of the most common destinations I would often take passengers to. One is only 700 metres, the other about 1.3km to 1.7km (if they dropped at the upper area).

 

It sounds weird for so many people to take taxis for such short distances, but in my district, many people's homes were that close to the town centre but in rather inconvenient locations (rough terrain, on a hill and buses don't go in), so taxis there act as a kind of shuttle between the town centre and those villages. Only on rare occasions would I get a passenger going to another faraway location, and when I did so, I would ply in that area till another fare took me somewhere else or it was time to end the shift.

 

The head mechanic of the company I rented from told me that some taxis did hit over 1 million km, but these were rare and would usually have been through an overhaul by then. These are usually driven by "airport specialists" who already have regular passengers such as flight attendants or airport staff who work the night shift, so they go in and out of the airport several times a day.

 

Thanks for your insights. I just took taxi in Chai Wan area last week... flag down rate is now 24HKD.

 

Just curious, there are like a zillion red taxis on HK streets, and majority of the population seems to be queuing for MTR or bus, how do the individual cab drivers make money?

[Banz86]

My dad is a taxi driver and he has driven old Toyota Crown, Hyundai Sonata and now the Hyundai i40.

 

He really loved the Crown as quoted "bullet proof" and the regular maintenance helps a lot. He drove that for 11 years, 1st car was 4 years old while his 2nd crown he drove from new (7 years).

 

Sonata (8 years) was more comfortable and powerful but requires a lot more maintenance for him. That irritates him a lot as there was a lot of income loss while wait going for servicing. He mentioned that he went to the workshop 20 to 30% more frequently than when he was driving a crown. 

 

Now he has moved to an i40 and of cuz, it's powerful. His common complain is still the frequency of issues where the warning lights seems to come out more.

 

Due to costs saving, our biggest taxi company tends to drag on for parts that do not need replacement. Meaning for suspension, they will tell the drivers to go longer before they will replace that part. It's more profit driven rather than providing save transportation.

Edited June 6, 2018 by Banz86

[Bicolor]

Thanks for your insights. I just took taxi in Chai Wan area last week... flag down rate is now 24HKD.

 

Just curious, there are like a zillion red taxis on HK streets, and majority of the population seems to be queuing for MTR or bus, how do the individual cab drivers make money?

 

It's quite tough for most actually. One who works hard at it can still make an income, but this isn't high at all in relation to the time on the job and the high cost of living in HK.

 

Besides the fact that I lived out in the New Territories, the reason why I chose to drive a green taxi is that the income, though meagre, is stable. Was told by other friends who were also driving taxis that with red cabs, some days you might make quite a bit if lucky, while some days you might have trouble even covering your rental. With green cabs, at least in my district, one would make roughly the same amount every day, so it was considered stable.

 

Many cab drivers also join a group or network or use a booking app to be able to offer discounts of up to 80%, or offer discounts to people going on a regular route frequently, so that people are more likely to book their cabs for longer journeys. And some go the illegal route of touting and overcharging tourists or operating as a "shared taxi", meaning waiting at a known spot for five passengers who are strangers to one another to board the cab. The cab will leave once it's full, and say the fare is $100, each passenger pays $20. But the police launch sting operations against these illegal acts all the time so they aren't as common nowadays and they just don't pay, as jail terms and disqualification of licences are among the penalties.