Becoming a taxi driver to pay off all my debts and avoid bankruptcy, my diary

JPS29

First annoying thing today was an email from paypal saying they had put funds from one of my sales on hold while they investigate the transaction and strongly advise not to post:mad: . Think its cos the ebayer was registered in France but says he now lives over here. Fishy????

Anyway, went to licensing office feeling chuffed with myself, all forms filled in, chequebook, passport, character reference, photo card license, ans typically couldn't find the paper part, obviously assumed this would be okay as they can check with DVLA, easyjet do this when you hire cars, takes 2 minutes. Not a chance:eek: .

Told in no uncertain terms to turn the house upside down for license as they cant even send the CRB for off without it. Finally found it at 6 oclock tonight so will go back tomorrow and hopefully get the ball rolling.

Found a very nice Vectra diesel on a 53 plate, company owner, FSH, leather seats, easier to wipe wee off:D , full elecs, built in sat nav, bluetooth, ipod and DIESEL.

In for full service. MOT and Valet today so I'm viewing this tomorrow. Will use this for the first year or so then upgrade to a newer car, just want to try and keep my outgoings as low as possible and I figure that as long as i get a reliable second hand car, that looks smart and does the job I should earn the same as in a brand spanker.

Canceled Sky today . Will be hard without it but thats £55 a month better off. Still got Freeview and Lovefilm though so isn't that bad.

Also paid the tax man £500 to keep him sweet. Again got him to confirm they wouldn't force the issue on me as long as I was making regular payments and keeping in touch.

Really annoyed with quidco. car insurance due but as I live in a relatively new build only half the streets postcode is listed on the database of addresses. Cant complete the transaction wholly on line so not eligible for cashback, would have been £100 too:mad:


Tasks for tomorrow:

Go to licensing get that sorted
Go and view/maybe buy car
Contact car finance and loan company to see if can reduce payments while i am skint.

Will update tomorrow.

AmIdone4?

Hi ITBS,

Excellent that things are still going well...(Why did I expect anything less:rolleyes:). It is a real pleasure reading your diary mate, glad you haven't lost any determination.........

I think leather type seats are a good idea (easy to clean as you say:D), I'd opt for some sort of carpet protection too? Has the Vauxhall got electric windows (presume so), you know, for emergency blowing chunks senario's, etc...:D Sound that the course is gonna be over much quicker too... Earning that bit earlier...;)

Anyway, Just wanted to say alright and hope all is going well.

Cheers:)

AID4

JPS29

Hi,

Did you ever doubt me:p

Just kidding, thanks for the support. Yes electric windows all round.... Ejector seats would be better though:rotfl:

Re the carpets I have friends in the furniture industry so I can spray the carpets with Guardsman/scotchguard. i know i wouldnt have the guarantee with it but I can literally soak them in it so any spills just sit on the top and dont absorb.

Good point that mate cheers, never even thought of the carpets:doh:

Persolv0

Hi mate
quick question for you
Like you id want to work for myself and not for a company.

what im wondering though is how you plan on drumming up business?(through local papers...yellow pages etc??)

good luck once again and still following your diary

John51

Are you planning on doing days or nights?

Nights is more money short term but you just can't do 7 nights a week for more than 3 months. You'll get stale and the income will be the same as if you do 6 nights a week.

For the long haul, the disciplined day drivers have it sussed. On the Liverpool circuits I worked, they'd start at 5.30am and work till 6pm weekdays with a lunch break. Tuesday or Wednesday off, work till about 8pm on Friday and maybe up to 10pm on Saturday. For Sundays some would work till noon. They'd stay out and work their hours no matter how dead it was and would return to their families at the expected time no matter how busy it was. I never quite learned that trick lol.

It does sound a lot of hours but taxi drivers count all the hours they're out of the house as work, some office workers leave their home before 7am and don't return till after 7pm.

foreign_correspondent

I would go for a second hand car, even a low mileage model will be considerably cheaper than brand new - they depreciate so much as soon as they are used.

To the person who suggested a Merc - personally, after working in a merc dealership for a few weeks recently I would now not touch them with a bargepole at the moment - the amount of new cars being returned to the dealership because of electrical problems was phenominal, as was the amount of times individual cars came in with recurring faults. (ie, many people were in and out with ther cars 4 or 5 times in a few weeks, each time believing it had been resolved, only for it to go wrong a few days later!)

Many irate customers!!

kammyk

Hiya,

Shouldn't you wait untill you have got your Private Hire badge before purchasing a car? I think the CRB can take between 5 and 8 weeks. You should allso check with your local council to see how old the car has to be when first licensing it In my area it has to be at least 3 years old or 5 for a Mercedes. The type of car you have does not really matter unless your aiming for "high end" customer's but even then you can get away with it as long as you dress smart, have a clean car and allways be on time! have you not considered a 2004 VW Passat? It looks smarter than a skoda - even if it is just because of the badge! It is allso really reliable and quite good on fuel consumption, boot space is quite good.

How about a people carrier? these are in huge demand on the weekend and I think you can charge customers extra for them too! addison lee (biggest cab firm in London) are currently getting rid of all their vw sharans 2004/2005 models, you could google "addison lee car sales" and allthough their website is not updated, just give them a call and ask what they have available, most of the vehicles have less than 100k on the clock and have a full service history. I think they will be selling some of their Mercedes fleet this month as well.

Which council are you going to be licenced with? Will you be working for a "firm" or setting up your own. (setting up your own would mean having to get an operators licence which costs about £250 a year. To get your car "plated" you will need to eiether have an operators licence or be working with a company.

If your going to be setting up your own I would advice that you try building relations with other taxi drivers, because at times you will need to subcontract the work. You may allso want to try contacting some smaller taxi companies to let them know you would be happy to cover their jobs at busy periods.

If you could provide more info about wheather you will be setting up on your own, working for a firm. They type of taxi work you want to do (small or long journeys) etc etc.

JPS29

Hi All,

Persolvo I think you might have misunderstood me, apologies. When i said i plan on working for myself I meant that I would not be "employed" by the taxi office or settle a car from them. I will be using one of the local taxi office as they are well established here, there is great demand, and I know the bookings are there.

The only thing i have to pay the taxi firm that gives me the booking will be the £70 or so for the data head/meter each week.

I have weighed this up with going as a one man band and tbh it seems more favourable to me as the client base is already there. I will still be working for myself as i can decide when I want to work, and whenI don't.

John 51, obviously i will get to know the busy times but I was thinking. Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun nights as these are all really busy here ( I know this from my time as a bouncer in the town) Mon Tues wed days. I was also hoping to get an established school run, same family each day, poss social services etc???? This would give me a bit of "guaranteed" income. Re the hours....

I am used to working 7 days a week, leaving the house at 6 am most days and coming in at 10pm or later so the cut from 100 hours a week to 70 is welcome. LOL

FC, wouldn't have used a high end car anyway tbh. as long as my passengers and myself are comfortable then I'm happy with a smart second hand car.

Also when you have a high end car the service/repair costs seem to be multiplied by 4 as soon as you tell the garage the make (I have an X5)

Normally followed by the intake of breath, "ooohhh, it's not gonna be cheap"

Thanks everyone and catch up with you later

JPS29

kammyk wrote: »

Hiya,

Shouldn't you wait untill you have got your Private Hire badge before purchasing a car? I think the CRB can take between 5 and 8 weeks. You should allso check with your local council to see how old the car has to be when first licensing it In my area it has to be at least 3 years old or 5 for a Mercedes. .

Hi Kammy,

Problem is I know if I leave the money sat in the bank it will keep getting dipped into and my 5 grand fund will turn in to 4 and a half, 4 , 3 and a half etc.

Also this way I get to drive the car for a few weeks and get comfortable with it and make sure any faults (which it shouldn't have, but hey its 2nd hand) are rectified to save delays in earning.

Local council are fine with car as long as it passes their own vehicle test. There are R reg cars on the road and also brand spankers.

CRB will not be a problem as I have been a licensed doorman and haven't been in trouble since this check was done. I just like to have everything done and dusted. I don't want to get my license and then go looking for a car. Day 1 when i get my license i will be out there coining it in:D

Snafflepants

Hiya,

Can't offer you any advice but just wanted to say I've been following your posts with interest and sounds like you are making such great progress!

Best of luck with the rest of your course and hope the eye feels better now! :j