In message ,
writes
"Andrew Heenan" wrote in message
...
wrote ...
Mercedes - Benz Vito Taxi approved earlier this year & widely reported
in I don't see what merits the TX4 has over it - other than Britain
manufacturing jobs perhaps.
I thought that the Benz Vito was simply an option, and that there are no
plans to get rid of the standard designs.

Quite right; it's a free market.
Just the Mercedes is probably better, and certainly better value than the
TX4 unless they drop their prices to planet Earth. Which they may well do,
when faced with competition.

The new Mercedes is not priced significantly lower than the TX4. It is a
new vehicle which has yet to have some serious mileages so there is not
yet any data of the longer term, higher mileage statistics for this
vehicle.


A friend of mine had a Merc Vito fitted as a taxi in Brighton about 6
years ago. It was not the present model and did not have the
electrically operated doors, steering, etc so it is not possible to make
a direct comparison. However, his experience was that when the vehicle
was new it was brilliant but after about 2 years he found that it just
wouldn't stand up to the kind of service that Brighton taxi users
subjected it to (Brighton's hills and the out of town jobs along the M23
combine to really test vehicles!) and cost him a lot of money and down
time.

The Mercedes can make U-turns better, one driver told me. IIRC, it is
because the rear wheels can also turn to a degree.

But you have to stop to engage the rear steering and be travelling at
less than 5 mph for it to work - not so useful when you want to get out
of the way quickly to avoid traffic coming towards you in some
instances.

How much is the Mercedes compared to the TX4? I heard that the latter in a
brand new state costs around £50,000, whereas second-hand is about £35,000.

New TX4 around £38k (depending on spec) and a Merc only slightly less.

FWIW I write every month for Taxi "talk" magazine (www.taxitalk.co.uk
for an example) and am often made aware of problems before they become
common knowledge. As far as the Merc is concerned I am reserving my
judgement as there are several items which have mechanical or electronic
operation (electric step, electric doors, rear steering) which have not
seen heavy duty yet. I always have this fear that mechanical things can
go wrong and the ore complicated they are the more time and money they
take to repair.

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England
Interested in American trains real and model?
Look here http://mikehughes627.fotopic.net/

"Mike Hughes" wrote ...
As far as the Merc is concerned I am reserving my judgement as there are
several items which have mechanical or electronic operation (electric
step, electric doors, rear steering) which have not seen heavy duty yet. I
always have this fear that mechanical things can go wrong and the ore
complicated they are the more time and money they take to repair.

Fair comment.
How do you feel about the 'fact' of competition?
Does it look like the first of several?
Will it force a more realistic price for TXs?

In the past, they've always managed to re-assert the monopoly pretty
quickly - but will Merceded hang in there?

And finally, what's the uptake on the Mercs been like?

(that'll teach you admit you have good sources!)
--

Andrew

"She plays the tuba.
It is the only instrument capable
of imitating a distress call."

In message , Andrew Heenan
writes
"Mike Hughes" wrote ...
As far as the Merc is concerned I am reserving my judgement as there are
several items which have mechanical or electronic operation (electric
step, electric doors, rear steering) which have not seen heavy duty yet. I
always have this fear that mechanical things can go wrong and the ore
complicated they are the more time and money they take to repair.

Fair comment.
How do you feel about the 'fact' of competition?

I welcome competition as this should bring a better level of customer
service to the trade - it certainly did when Metrocab brought out the
TTT as it resulted in the Nissan engined FX4 driver which some claim was
the best London taxi ever (obviously pre- Euro 3 emissions regs)

Does it look like the first of several?

Hard to say. There have been rumours that a Hybrid car, based upon the
Metrocab was due to come out, but that has now died down. LTI have
(had?) a couple of 'concept' electric cars in the pipeline but these
have a limited range (100 miles) and a top speed of about 50 mph which
is no good for going along the M4 to Heathrow. They are alo supposed to
be developing some Hyrogen fuel cell based vehicles in time forthe 2012
Olympics. Whether the present economic situation will change this
remains to be seen

Will it force a more realistic price for TXs?

Hard to say. LTI (well the parent company MBH) have signed a deal with
Geely in China. This means that production of 4000 at Coventry will be
increased to 40,000 in China. The Chinese built vehicles will be sold in
China and Asia by Geely while LTI will sell them elsewhere in the world.

It was claimed that production will continue in Coventry but it was
hoped that Chinese made parts would help keep prices down

In the past, they've always managed to re-assert the monopoly pretty
quickly - but will Merceded hang in there?

The only reason that the TX has a monopoly is because alternative
vehicles simply were not bought in enough volume to make a profit. That
was frequently because they had more problems that the FX/TX range.
Whether the Merc will be able to continue remains to be seen

And finally, what's the uptake on the Mercs been like?

They hope to have 150 in service by the end of Jan

(that'll teach you admit you have good sources!)

No problems I just hate to see misinformation which is why I chose to
write for Taxi talk magazine

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England
Interested in American trains real and model?
Look here http://mikehughes627.fotopic.net/

The only reason that the TX has a monopoly is because alternative
vehicles simply were not bought in enough volume to make a profit.
That was frequently because they had more problems that the FX/TX
range. Whether the Merc will be able to continue remains to be seen


Is there any talk yet of issues of recognition/branding with the Vito or
anything else other than TXs? Until now the distinctive
shape of the vehicle has been a pretty good guide to it being a licensed
taxi. (I suppose Prince Philip, Stephen Fry et al may have had to get
used to people
waving at them - or possibly trying to open the doors at traffic
lights.) In contrast there are plenty of other vehicles including many
private hire vehicles which look like the Vito. Will the orange
stickers on the early Vitos be a fixture- so we might perhaps end up
with London [partly] orange cabs in place of the traditional black?

(And while I'm here, I'm sorry my comment "I don't see what merits the
TX4 has over it" was
unclear. I have no view one way or the other really; I intended only to
offer an alternative to the OP's regrets
about losing the traditional style. And, as was manifest, I didn't know
about the prospect of manufacturing going offshore.)



--
Robin

"neverwas" gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

Will the orange
stickers on the early Vitos be a fixture- so we might perhaps end up
with London [partly] orange cabs in place of the traditional black?

That one's long since gone, of course.

In message , neverwas
writes

The only reason that the TX has a monopoly is because alternative
vehicles simply were not bought in enough volume to make a profit.
That was frequently because they had more problems that the FX/TX
range. Whether the Merc will be able to continue remains to be seen


Is there any talk yet of issues of recognition/branding with the Vito or
anything else other than TXs? Until now the distinctive
shape of the vehicle has been a pretty good guide to it being a licensed
taxi. (I suppose Prince Philip, Stephen Fry et al may have had to get
used to people
waving at them - or possibly trying to open the doors at traffic
lights.) In contrast there are plenty of other vehicles including many
private hire vehicles which look like the Vito. Will the orange
stickers on the early Vitos be a fixture- so we might perhaps end up
with London [partly] orange cabs in place of the traditional black?

I have seen the new Mercs being passed by as customers didn't recognise
them as a taxi, but as more appear that will become less of a problem.

There was one opposite reaction I've seen. I was at Heathrow (T2) on
night when someone ignored my offer of help with her luggage (I was 3rd
turn), passed the first taxi without any comment and then went up to the
2nd cab which was a Merc in the mistaken belief that he was a mincab and
would offer her a cheap price to Abbey Wood! She left without a taxi.

(And while I'm here, I'm sorry my comment "I don't see what merits the
TX4 has over it" was
unclear. I have no view one way or the other really; I intended only to
offer an alternative to the OP's regrets
about losing the traditional style. And, as was manifest, I didn't know
about the prospect of manufacturing going offshore.)




--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England
Interested in American trains real and model?
Look here http://mikehughes627.fotopic.net/

In article ,
(Mike Hughes) wrote:

And finally, what's the uptake on the Mercs been like?

They hope to have 150 in service by the end of Jan

Out of, how many licensed cabs is it? 22,000?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message ,
writes
In article ,
(Mike Hughes) wrote:

And finally, what's the uptake on the Mercs been like?

They hope to have 150 in service by the end of Jan

Out of, how many licensed cabs is it? 22,000?

Just slightly under the last time I checked (October 2007)


--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England
Interested in American trains real and model?
Look here http://mikehughes627.fotopic.net/

In article ,
(Mike Hughes) wrote:

In message ,
writes
In article ,
(Mike Hughes) wrote:

And finally, what's the uptake on the Mercs been like?

They hope to have 150 in service by the end of Jan

Out of, how many licensed cabs is it? 22,000?

Just slightly under the last time I checked (October 2007)

I was judging by the fact that they are replacing plate 99999 about now
and must have issued plate 32000 by now because a plate in the high 31800s
expires a year after last week (they start again at 10000 after 99999).

--
Colin Rosenstiel

"Mike Hughes" wrote in message
...

The new Mercedes is not priced significantly lower than the TX4. It is a
new vehicle which has yet to have some serious mileages so there is not
yet any data of the longer term, higher mileage statistics for this
vehicle.

Is there no other data that they can compare it to? Do the Vitos have a
track record within Germany?

A friend of mine had a Merc Vito fitted as a taxi in Brighton about 6
years ago. It was not the present model and did not have the electrically
operated doors, steering, etc so it is not possible to make a direct
comparison.

Can the driver operate the doors for passengers, as in Japan?

The Mercedes can make U-turns better, one driver told me. IIRC, it is
because the rear wheels can also turn to a degree.

But you have to stop to engage the rear steering and be travelling at less
than 5 mph for it to work - not so useful when you want to get out of the
way quickly to avoid traffic coming towards you in some instances.

Fair play.