The State Duma wants to tighten taxi rules, but deputies are asked to slow down

What if you take a new car to work as a taxi?

Of course, it's nice to drive a new car. After all, it still smells of new materials that were used in the interior decoration. It’s nice to answer passengers’ questions: “Is the car new? Where did you get it and for how much?” Somehow your sense of self-worth increases and your mood generally improves.

But let's look at the issue from a pragmatist's point of view.

So, the advantages of owning a new car for a taxi driver include:

• Presentable appearance of a new car
• High reliability and low risks of breakdown and repair of a new machine
• Warranty from the manufacturer for a decent period and mileage of the car
• More loyal attitude and generosity of passengers who enjoy driving new cars
• The personal pleasure of owning and driving a new car

The disadvantages of buying a new car as a taxi include the following:

• High initial investment. You need to spend a significant amount of your money at once or use a loan, and this is already an overpayment for the car.
• Increased risk of theft of a new car. Car thieves do not sleep and often steal popular models.
• The need for additional insurance (CASCO) to protect against theft

In general, in connection with owning a new car, the owner usually experiences increased nervous tension and anxiety from the danger of theft or damage to the car. Any abrasions, stains and scratches on the body and interior cause concern. With old cars such nuances do not arise.

Criteria for choosing a vehicle for the provision of passenger transportation services

Theoretically, absolutely any car can be used to provide such services. However, there are a number of important factors that should be taken into account in your choice, as they can increase the positive difference between car maintenance costs and net profit:

1. A taxi car should be economical. It is logical that the less the driver of such a vehicle spends on fuel, the more revenue he has.
2. The car must be reliable. Taxi service does not at all mean that a person will only drive along good, central streets of his city. You will often have to travel to production areas, travel outside the populated area, and sometimes ride off-road. Consequently, the chosen option should cope well with such difficulties and require a minimum of capital investments in case of need for repair or maintenance work.
3. The car must be roomy. A significant percentage of people who use taxi services order a car when they need to transport something somewhere. That is, there must be a roomy trunk and enough space in the cabin itself. For example, very often people with small children use such services - the luggage compartment should fit a stroller and bags, and there should be space in the cabin to install a child car seat.

Naturally, when choosing the best car for a taxi, it is important to take into account the comfort level of your clients. Of course, it all depends on the level of services that the person or organization is going to provide:

• Economy class. The simplest and most affordable service, which means that the car interior will be clean and safe.
• Middle class. A more expensive service and, accordingly, more comfort for clients. Such taxis simply must have air conditioning, making it easy to endure long trips in any weather conditions.
• Business Class. One of the most expensive options in this area of ​​passenger transportation services. It implies, in addition to increased comfort in the cabin, the ability to connect various electronic devices, the ability to negotiate in a private environment, and so on.

Taking into account all the above factors, you can begin to search for the best car for taxi work in Russia.

What if you take a used car as a taxi?

Now let's look at the pros and cons of buying a used car as a taxi.

Let's start with the cons:

• Increased risk of serious and non-serious vehicle breakdowns
• Not all aggregators and taxi companies will hire you in your car. Depending on the city, there are different requirements for the years of production of cars.
• The manufacturer's warranty either no longer exists or will expire soon.

The advantages include:

• The car will cost much less than a new one. After two or three years, cars lose a fair amount of value, but are still quite reliable and presentable.
• You don’t have to buy extended insurance (CASCO, etc.)

You can find a used car that is 4-5 years old, with low mileage, which the owner has taken good care of and does not require investment. Such options happen when a car is sold by women or men - experienced drivers of middle and advanced age.

List of modern inexpensive taxis

Today, in order to find the most profitable taxi, you do not need to study the tariffs of all existing automobile companies, call them or browse websites on the Internet and check the latest prices. You just need to download the mobile application , and you will receive all the information you are interested in regarding which taxi is more profitable, in just a couple of minutes. In each service you will have the opportunity to receive pleasant bonuses in the form of promotional codes for free trips. You just need to enter the code during registration, and you can either ride a taxi at a discount or for free .

I suggest that you do not waste your time searching for programs, but use one of my list of the best mobile taxi applications that are available in most major cities. When registering using my links or manually entering a promotional code, you will receive discounts or 1-2 free trips :

• Uber taxi . Promo code - 8e8m3c
• Gett taxi . Promo code - GTMULXL
• Yandex taxi. Promo code - adjzicah

Well, now let's similarly calculate our costs for maintaining and servicing our own car. We will make calculations based on several expense items, including insurance, parking, regular car washing (let’s say once a week) and, of course, the purchase of gasoline. To make everything fair, I decided to make a table with the costs of cars of three classes - budget, family and business. We believe that the average car ownership time in Russia is 3.5 years (42 months) and we budget 5 thousand for routine repairs of a budget car per month. This is what I ended up with:

Let's draw conclusions

Of course, everyone decides for themselves which car to buy - new or used. Depending on your capabilities and preferences.

But when it comes to a car for making money, it is better to weigh the pros and cons more pragmatically.

To work in economy and comfort class, I think it is better to take a car that is as cheap and reliable as possible. Which will allow you to start earning money with the least investment. Tariffs and prices in taxis now do not allow taxi drivers to show off much. And passengers are not willing to pay a lot for comfort.

It is worth considering options for two to three year old cars that have not yet been used in taxis and have low mileage. This will allow you to save a lot on the purchase and initial investment. Because such cars usually already have the necessary things, like an alarm system. And they do not greatly affect the selling price. On a new car you will have to install it yourself.

If you want to work in Business or VIP classes, then the year of manufacture of the car can be decisive.

Passengers in these classes have special requirements for the car and comfort and it may be worth purchasing a car as new and expensive as you can afford.

Sergey Baryshnikov, founder of BigPicture.ru

I won’t say that often, but periodically I hear the opinion that now in Moscow or St. Petersburg it is easier and cheaper to take a taxi than to maintain your own car.

Since I was left without a car, I decided to test this theory and made all my trips, which I would have made in my own car a week ago, this week by taxi. Well, I figured out what was what, of course, not accurate to the ruble, but the order of the numbers over the period of three years.

So, in a week I spent 6,300 rubles on a taxi. I used Yandex.Taxi and Uber. I went to work, from work, to meetings, to the gym and to the doctor with my child. Where possible, I walked. During rush hour (8:30 am and 6 pm) I tried not to drive. Let's assume that the average monthly budget for a taxi for my family is 25 thousand rubles. The total per year is 300 thousand, and over three years - 900 thousand rubles.

Car: I have an ordinary family pepelats KIA Sportage, which I bought new three years ago for 1.1 million rubles. Now, after three years and 90 thousand kilometers, it can be sold for 900 thousand rubles. That is, depreciation is 200 thousand rubles.

I spend 15-17 thousand a month on gasoline, parking, parking in the center and fines. But it would be more honest to round up to 20 thousand, because I’ll either have parking at Domodedovo for a few days, or get tire service, or buy new windshield wipers. In short, twenty a month, or 240 thousand a year, or 720 thousand rubles for three years.

CASCO and OSAGO for three years - 200 thousand rubles and six maintenance services in the amount of 100 thousand rubles.

As a result, the car cost me 1 million 220 thousand in three years. If we add to this another 80 thousand on taxis, which I spent over these three years, then we can safely count 1.3 million rubles.

The difference of 400 thousand is not in favor of a personal car, but if you remove CASCO, then the difference is not that big for three years. And if you add a small child, a dacha a few tens of kilometers from Moscow, and a mother-in-law in another city, then everything changes exactly the opposite.

So, if I were alone, then, perhaps, I could still consider the option of traveling by taxi (but then I would definitely travel on foot more than now and definitely drink more often), but if you have a family and a child , then there’s nothing without a car, both financially and in terms of comfort.

Focus

Do you need a car for a taxi? Buy a Ford Focus. True, we are not talking about the newest models here. On the secondary market you can find a car in almost perfect condition, which will cost you about 300-400 thousand. Reliability, durability, convenience, efficiency - what else can be said about this car?

Well, perhaps we should also emphasize its stylish design. In addition, although the car is not very large, everything inside is done quite competently, so that you can transport 4 passengers with luggage.

What car is good for a taxi?

Based on the above, it is better to buy a taxi car:

• not too expensive;
• reliable;
• economical;
• comfortable for the driver and passengers;
• with a presentable interior and exterior.

There are special taxi car models in the world that meet all these parameters. One such model is the London cab.

Why London Cab is the best taxi in the world

London cabs are known all over the world and are considered the top taxis. The brand of the London taxi car is London Taxi Company, although today it is acquired by the Geely concern.

London cab for taxi

These machines:

• have a classic pre-war design;
• are created for maximum comfort: they are roomy, powerful, ride smoothly and quietly;
• equipped with a spacious interior with a low floor and a high ceiling, an abundance of handles for the convenience of the passenger;
• have space in the back row to freely accommodate three people;
• equipped with folding seats for two more on the partition between the passenger compartment and the driver (taxi drivers do not seat clients in the front seat).

All cab drivers take a difficult test to test their knowledge of London.

Interestingly, the technical regulations for cabs state that their turning radius is no more than eight meters. The fact is that this is exactly the radius of the entrance to the Savoy Hotel, and the cab should be able to turn around in this place.

Lacetti

If you want to buy a taxi car, then you should take a closer look at another representative from Chevrolet. This model is already an order of magnitude higher than the Aveo, however, good technical characteristics are combined with low cost and budget maintenance.

The Lacetti is not very suitable for racing on the highway, but it can comfortably transport 3-4 passengers from one place to another with ease. For city driving, the best option would be a model with a 1.6 liter engine (power – 109 horsepower). The engine is quite dynamic, but it doesn’t take much. And the solid appearance of the car will add status to you in the eyes of clients.

How to choose a car: useful tips from experts

Choosing a car:

• Check the mileage if the car is used. In this case, focus not only on the meter readings, but also on the condition of the interior and control elements. The discrepancy between the numbers and abrasions will help identify a twisted mileage.
• Have a clear understanding of what the transport will be used for. Buy a car that has the right price-quality-capability ratio.

The main parameter of a vehicle in a taxi is reliability. For taxi runs, the car should not require serious investments of 100 thousand km or more.

What criteria should you start from?

Any job requires the appropriate tool. In this case it is a car. But how to choose the right vehicle? First of all, you should think about whether you need it exclusively for work, or also for personal use? Most people are looking for just this option.

When purchasing a taxi, cars should be selected according to the following criteria:

• status and price. Naturally, everyone wants to save money. But cars with too low a status do not attract the attention of customers. At the same time, expensive cars are also not the best choice, because they will take a very long time to pay for themselves. The best choice here is middle management. It’s not a shame to sit in them, and they won’t cost that much;
• fuel consumption. Fuel is the main cost item for taxi drivers. Thus, cars with too powerful engines are unprofitable. Keep in mind that you should start not from the combined cycle, but from the city consumption;
• reliability. A car can travel about 300-500 km per day. As a result, it is very important that the taxi car does not break down every couple of thousand km. Don’t be fooled by the price of affordable Chinese analogues; in the end they may cost more;
• availability of spare parts. The easier the machine is to maintain and repair, the better;
• trunk capacity. Basically, people will be with things. It is not necessary that the trunk of a taxi car be 500 liters; models with medium capacity are also suitable;
• convenience for passengers. The interior should be attractive, the seats should be soft. It is also important that there is enough space in the rear seat even for tall passengers. Let's put 3-door cars aside right away - who wants to make their way to their seat, making their way through the backs of the front seats?

The best taxi cars in Russia: rating

A taxi vehicle must:

• be reliable and cheap to operate;
• have a good level of security.

At the same time, the car should be comfortable for the taxi driver and his passengers.

Volkswagen Polo

The VW Polo is often seen in a taxi color scheme. This is a common model of the German sedan. With a cost starting from 800 thousand rubles, Polo is economical, comfortable and easy to maintain. Therefore, it is the choice of both taxi companies when forming a pool of cars, and private drivers buying a car for work. Versions with manual transmission and automatic transmission are sold: the automatic transmission operates in economical driving mode by default and changes gears very smoothly, which passengers like.

Reviews from taxi drivers driving Polo indicate durability - the car lasts up to 5 years without major repairs, of course, with proper maintenance and timely replacement of technical fluids and consumables.

Volkswagen Polo

Another advantage of Polo is that it was designed specifically for Russian conditions. At dealerships, you can purchase a car on credit or lease under special conditions.

The first sedan models had a “childish” drawback - after 40-50 thousand kilometers, knocking in the engine began. The manufacturer recognized the problem and replaced the piston group under warranty. But in 2013, the deficiency was eliminated. And even despite it, you can still find Polos of those years in taxis with a mileage of 500 thousand kilometers or more. On average, pre-restyling versions last up to 250 thousand kilometers, after restyling - up to 300 thousand kilometers. The Volkswagen Group provides a five-year warranty.

An important advantage of the Polo is its maintainability: spare parts for it are available everywhere and are cheap. Prices for used ones start from 350-400 thousand.

Hyundai Solaris

"Solaris" managed to gain fame as a "people's brand." This is an inexpensive and easy-to-maintain economical machine, a real workhorse. Moreover, the car comes in several versions with different sets of options.

The basic Solaris configuration is not suitable for taxis due to the lack of air conditioning: the version with it costs more, from 500-600 thousand for a used one. But it already offers the minimum level of comfort required for transporting passengers. Taxi drivers and fleets usually choose the Active Plus package: it has air conditioning and a heating package (seats, windows, mirrors).

Hyundai Solaris

The factory engine life is 180 thousand km, but in practice Solaris “run” up to 300 thousand and above without major repairs. Fuel consumption in city mode:

• for a 1.4 l engine – 7.6 l/100;
• for a 1.6 l engine – 7.8 l/100.

Hyundai Solaris is well repaired, spare parts for it are common and affordable.

Skoda Octavia

Ratings have repeatedly called this car number one in the choice of taxi drivers, and for good reason: the Octavia is comfortable, has a pleasant design, smooth ride and reliability.

Skoda Octavia

The machine is convenient to use, it has:

• strong chassis;
• simple and reliable electrics;
• strong body and durable paintwork.

Those working in Octavia taxis travel up to 300 thousand km without serious breakdowns. This set of advantages makes them the cars of choice for taxi drivers.

KIA Cee'd SW

Not the most budget option, but these cars are found in comfort class taxis. The manufacturer guarantees 5 years of operation or 150 thousand kilometers; in reality, those working in a Sid cab travel 300 thousand kilometers or more.

KIA Cee'd SW

SW is a station wagon that allows you to transport both passengers and small loads. For taxis, the optimal configuration is SW - Comfort at a price of 1,124,000 rubles. It includes:

• automatic transmission;
• 15-inch wheels;
• heated steering wheel and seats;
• air conditioner.

Consumption in the city is stated at 7.3 liters per hundred, when fully loaded it actually turns out to be about 9. Drivers praise the reliability and driving characteristics and note that it is more convenient to load luggage into it than into the Skoda Octavia. Another plus highlighted by the owners is the “sharp” and informative steering wheel.

An important advantage is the size of the cabin: it is comfortable even for people with above average height.

Aggregators classify “Sid” into the categories of comfort class and station wagon, due to which the payment for trips will be higher.

Lada Largus

Among representatives of the Russian automobile industry, taxi drivers often give preference to the Lada Largus.

There is a special modification of the Social Taxi car from the AvtoVAZ subsidiary VAZInterService. The car is equipped with a set of options for passengers with disabilities.

Since its release, Largus have found themselves in the transport and commercial sectors thanks to their reliability, capacity, unpretentiousness and choice of options. You can purchase a version with a seven-seater interior for passenger transport or a van for transporting goods. There are almost no alternatives among our brands: mini- and compact vans are mainly represented by relatively expensive foreign-made cars, and Largus is the only budget representative of the Russian automobile industry among them.

Lada Largus

The car is built on the basis of a reliable and simple Renault Logan. Owners recommend choosing a version with a 16-valve engine for taxi purposes as it is more reliable, although it consumes more gasoline.

Additional savings are achieved by installing gas equipment. A CNG package with already installed factory gas equipment is also available.

Why self-driving cars are better for taxis

Technology does not stand still, and cars with autopilot are already starting to hit the city streets. “Self-propelled” taxis have not yet been debugged, but in the future they promise to become a worthy replacement for the usual human-driven taxis.

Autopilot cars for taxis

Advantages of drone technology:

• absence of the human factor - the computer strictly observes traffic rules, is not subject to emotions and does not make driver errors;
• the car will automatically select the optimal route to save fuel and passenger money;
• the autopilot will not cheat and will not hint at “surcharge”;
• all details of the trip are recorded by the on-board computer and transmitted to the central server (in a controversial situation, this information will help a fair analysis of the incident);
• in an emergency, it is possible to connect an operator remotely and switch to manual control.

Also, in an emergency, the car itself will sound an alarm and call rescue services, transmitting the exact coordinates of the accident site.