Private car hire

MartialArtMan

I was wondering if when I replace my car whether it would be worth buying myself a 7 seater people carrier with a view to do some taxiing (sp?). I do not know the ins and outs of such a business but I was thinking a bit of personal car hire may be a bit of an earner. This would be part time as I work full time already but I do get days off in the week and every weekend off. So weekend outings, airport runs etc could all be possibilities, having a 7 seater would allow more scope.

What are your opinions?

MrsE_2

MartialArtMan wrote: »

I was wondering if when I replace my car whether it would be worth buying myself a 7 seater people carrier with a view to do some taxiing (sp?). I do not know the ins and outs of such a business but I was thinking a bit of personal car hire may be a bit of an earner. This would be part time as I work full time already but I do get days off in the week and every weekend off. So weekend outings, airport runs etc could all be possibilities, having a 7 seater would allow more scope.

What are your opinions?

My DH is a private hire driver.

Petrol is a variable - the more you drive the more it costs.

BUT most of the costs are fixed & it would be very hard to make it pay doing it part time.

You would need to work from a licensed office (or be licenced yourself), the hire & reward insurance is very expensive. You have to be licenced & enhanced CRBed by the council/PCO & have a private medical, you have to pay for all that & them to licence you. THEN the car has to be licenced & plated separately, even if its brand new it will be MOTed to be plated.

It can be good, but its unlikely to be worth doing PT. Years ago when you didn't have all the extras it would have been different.

Smamfer

Plus may i add i am about to go into a line of work that i require a crb check for and its been 7 weeks now so dont expect it in a hurry if you do do it

nomoneytoday

It's possible, but the days of turning up and paying the cab office £20 to join up are long gone...

SailorSam

The first port of call for you needs to be your local council licencing office.
They may only licence certain cars, it may be they class a seven seater as a mini bus, don't buy anything untill you find out if it's acceptable.
Next step get in touch with a couple of the local private hire firms to see how much they are going to charge you for a radio. Probably be £ x much a week, so they want care if you do F/T or P/T because you will be paying a set figure for the hire of a set.

I use to drive a hachney, we could work without a radio if we wanted, but on the privates you have to pay for a radio, the council will only plate the car if it is working a recognised system.
It's not as easy as people think, you will find to make a good living you need to work a lot of hours. To see if you like it or not, what i would suggest at least to start with, instead of buying a new car, putting it through a test, and getting it insured. The private hire radio company, will have some 'settle' cars, so as well as renting a radio you rent a car fully taxed; insured; and tested. Drive one of these for a month or two, if you think you will take to it and can make it pay, then buy your own.