Car has extra aerial and Nokia Car Kit... Taxi?

w211

I would doubt a taxi/private hire owner-driver would go through the expense of having a hands-free kit professionally fitted (especially with the glass mount aerial - I believe that's extra), besides most use radios or PDAs to communicate with the office, and would rarely need to use a mobile phone on the move.

Also most wouldn't necessarily go for the luxury Ghia X spec for taxi work (though some do).

MX5huggy

Any evidence to back up the mileage? What do the old MOT's say? Check out the MOT's on-line.

lucifersangel87

Thanks for the messages guys.

The seller has just informed me that the car was an airport private hire vehicle in a previous life and had one undisclosed owner before that.

I will be staying away from this one.

harveybobbles

The Nokia button by the handbreak is just the handsfree button to answer your phone. Turn your phone blutooth on and pair them up. The code will probably be 1111 or 1234. Then you will be able to use your phone in the car hands free...

Flywheels will go on the lower powered 115's too, not just the 130's.

w211

Airport private hire vehicles tend to have a better life than a vehicle used as an inner city taxi anyway.

Often used for longer motorway runs, rather than the stop-start journeys of a local taxi. Private hire means the car is often pre-booked for such airport trips, and would have been unlikely to be used for pub and club work on Saturday nights.

However if it was used as such, the mileage does seem on the low side - airport cars generally do at least 40,000 miles a year plus.

The phone may have well been fitted by the undisclosed owner, or by the private hire driver themself (taking back what I just said ) - they may do journeys outside the radio range and regular contact is more likely to be needed with the customers for airport pick ups and flight updates. The Ghia X spec may have been a worthwhile investment for the driver since they are more likely to be spend longer behind the wheel.

Still the mileage and age doesn't add up (I bought a car with 138k on the clock and used that for airport private hire and sold it a year and 4months later with 217k).

s_b

lucifersangel87 wrote: »

Thanks for the messages guys.

The seller has just informed me that the car was an airport private hire vehicle in a previous life and had one undisclosed owner before that.

I will be staying away from this one.

why?
it is better than buying a clocked out low miler lier surely shirly?

w211

Actually I'm thinking that one could have been clocked. Used as an airport private hire vehicle, for trips for at least about an hour or so, the interior and mechanicals would still be in a reasonable condition - people (as well as the driver) are not constantly in and out the car.

My 217k mile car which I had, I found it on eBay a week later being sold with 95k on the clock for twice what I sold it for! Funnily enough I've seen it twice since in London again still being used as a private hire car! As the mileage is recorded when it's MOTd and when it's licensed by the Local Authority it manages slip past.

Notmyrealname

lucifersangel87 wrote: »

Hi all,

i'm looking at buying a new car. (My old one is giving me about 26MPG and I want something of similar size with better economy).

I have been looking at a Ford Mondeo Estate 03 Reg Diesel - Ghia X spec. Looks gorgeous on the inside and on the out. No signs of any damage. The engine sounds sweet as a nut, and it's got just over 100k on the clock.

But one thing really bugs me and is giving me second thoughts about buying - And that is that there is a Nokia Hands-free kit wired directly through the dash (as in, big cables slipping between dash panels and a "nokia button" seperately closer to the handbrake and gearstick. On the back quarterlight there is also a seperate glassmount aerial.

Is there an innocent explanation for this, or is it a dead cert that this car has been used as a taxi in a previous life?

Thanks in advance.

Martin

My MK3 Mondeo had that. It had been a company directors car. Believe it or not, some people do fit car kits for phones.

Taxis use 2 way radios in the main, not mobile phones.

Notmyrealname

vax2002 wrote: »

Is this a 130 or 110 engine, if it is a 130 then it will be needing a dual mass flywheel any time soon unless it has paper work for a new one already.

Based on what? The one in the one I sold last month is now on 166,000 miles.

Notmyrealname

vax2002 wrote: »

The 130 tdci is a menace for bending the clutch plates and flywheels

....only if its spent most of its time driving around town.

Ignore this muppet - Mondeo DMFs seem to be a bit of knowledge he's picked up which he feels the need to tell everyone he knows at any opportunity. There are thousands of Mondeos with DMFs that have done just fine such as mine.