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Prius Taxi report, 1 year 140,000 km

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by lucky1, May 12, 2009.

  1. halpos4

    halpos4 "Taxi"!

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    Hi Lucky1,i've always wondered just how many Taxi drivers are here on PC and keep each other posted with problems that might arise due mainly to the amount of driving and in particilar the mileage covered,
    I'm a Taxi driver here in Dublin with an 06 that just went through 225,000klm and just had it's annual mandatory inspection[NCT]
    I know there are plenty of non-taxi owners here on PC with similar mileage and it's good to hear from them also in relation to problems that might occur,maybe we could compile a Taxi owner/driver list at some stage...just a thought!!
     
    1 person likes this.
  2. PriusLewis

    PriusLewis Management Scientist

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    Lucky and other fleet drivers/managers: have you ever had to replace the main battery, or is it outlasting the car? With the type of cycling you get in such stop-and-go environments it should be a real test of battery life.
     
  3. halpos4

    halpos4 "Taxi"!

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    I've had no issues with the HV Battery to date and there are reports of Prius Taxis in Australia hitting the 500,000klm mark.
     
  4. lucky1

    lucky1 Member

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    ZCAT-- I don't have the guys gas up after each shift so it would be difficult to figure out what their mileage was. I have the guys gas up only if the car is at 2 bars or less at the end of the shift.
    One of the car chip units would not be popular with my drivers, but would tell me about their driving habits. If they don't like it they can go drive for someone else.

    Halpos-- We have to have our cabs inspected every 6 months.You must be loving the gas savings with the price of fuel in Dublin.
    I was in London for the Led Zeppelin concert and couldn't believe that the price of fuel was double what we pay in Canada. Then I see the London cabs that certainly didn't look fuel efficient.say hi to all the Murphy's and Dillon's for me. Relatives came from Wiclo,Clair and Cork county.

    Priuslewis-- I have had no problems with the battery despite the workout it gets every day. The cabs in Vancouver who don't get much winter (Canadian wimps!) have been running at 700,000 km so I hear. By the time I have to replace a battery I will have saved around $90,000 and most likely will have replaced the car by then.
     
  5. BAllanJ

    BAllanJ Active Member

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    Hey, lucky1.... if you're at Amey's, then you are the guys that got me looking at the Prius in the first place! Thankyou. I figured if a cab company was complaining about not being able to buy priuses fast enough, I should look into it, since you guys need to look at "complete program costs" not just purchase price, or not just fuel consumption.
     
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    I resent that! :p


    Tell that to Alberta. They ran a pilot program in 06/07 to see if it'll work in AB. Only 6 companies signed up :rolleyes:. 3 FEHs, 1 Prius and 2 TCHs. Turns out, it saved them money over a Crown Vic :eek:. 2 years later, no new hybrid taxi :confused:. Guess the refineries are too close to home
     
  7. lucky1

    lucky1 Member

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    Ballan-- I have car 15 and car 20 at Ameys--The Black and Grey cabs.
    You might be the person that the owner of the company gave me his number to call because someone wanted some info on the Prius and the owner knew I had done more research than most. I lost the number when I moved to my new house shortly after getting the phone number. Someone on King street had quite a few questions about the Prius and I answered some and then told them about this site, would that have been you?
     
  8. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

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    When we were in Vancouver, BC, we got to ride in Prius taxis TWICE! :p

    The second time, the driver was very knowledgable, and he told us that the taxi companies are getting about 700 to 800,000 KM on their Priuses, before they need "transmission" work... the inverter, perhaps? I wonder if changing the inverter coolant more frequently would help with that.

    Thanks for the report, Lucky!
     
  9. Presto

    Presto Has his homepage set to PC

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    Maybe he force-charges the car a lot. That kills the FE, like no tomorrow!
     
  10. BAllanJ

    BAllanJ Active Member

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    lucky1.... nope that wasn't me. I saw some reports in the paper about Amey's wanting more priuses after they'd used the first couple for a while. I'd heard some of the anti prius myths, so wondered what Amey's was doing. Did on-line research and had my eyes opened. Didn't find this site 'til I was on the waiting list. By the time it got here, I knew more than the salesman. I'm driving the Barcelona Red one around... only mods so far are... black bumper guard, took off the plastic wheel rings, mfd visor, colour matched door bumpers that I havent installed yet. Only have 5.5 Mm on it so far... avging about 5 l/100km and loving it.
     
  11. lucky1

    lucky1 Member

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    Presto-- what do you mean by force charge? i think I know but would you clarify.
    Thanks

    Rae Vynn -- Thanks for the heads up--I have been changing the transmission fluid every 4 months (50,000 - 60,000 km)
     
  12. Presto

    Presto Has his homepage set to PC

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    If you want to 'manually' crank up the SoC of the battery, you can hold the brake down, and floor the gas pedal.
     
  13. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    Does this not break or wear the transmission? I can't imagine it does it any good at all.
     
  14. mtskier

    mtskier New Member

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    we have a prius taxi service in missoula. its the only cab i ever use.

    the only other cab company in town uses buicks and they lobbied the city super hard to shut down green taxi before they ever opened for business. real shaddy.
     
  15. lucky1

    lucky1 Member

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    MTSKIER--- How is your local Toyota dealer for getting you back on the road asap. Not having much luck with my dealer.
     
  16. Ophbalance

    Ophbalance Member

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    My understanding is the transmission is decoupled for that type of input (brake and gas).
     
  17. mtskier

    mtskier New Member

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    local toyota dealer was no help at all. they refused to do any of the body work.

    i had to go to a body shop. the body shop had to order all of the parts (prob through toyota) and then take to car to the toyota dealer to deactivate the electric engine. when the repairs were finished the body shop had to take the car back to toyota again to dial in the electric engine.

    bought the car in june 2006 and accident was in august 2009. dealer would not provide a loaner car.
     
  18. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    You southern folks need to get with the modern times, like us folks up in kalispell.
    :p
    I always enjoy flying into Glacier Int. Airport to get home (rather than drive 1200 miles), now that they have the Prius as a rental car. Still . . . it wasn't until 2009.

    Transmission? you mean the HSD? No ... it's no big deal. In fact in some jurisdictions, this is how smog tests are done, since the Prius doesn't naturally idle, once it's warmed up.
    .
     
  19. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    I shall give it a go later :thumb:
     
  20. lucky1

    lucky1 Member

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    Mtskier---- I can't blame them for not giving you a loaner car that would be used as a taxi. Having three taxi's I keep my Honda Accord ready to be used as a back up car whenever one of my taxi's will be down for more than three days. I hardly doubt any Toyota shop does any body work as it is not nearly as easy to gouge us on body work as they do on repairs. The book believe it or not on changing a wheel bearing that comes on a hub is 3 hours and my mechanic changes it in under 1 hour. Nice gouge job there.