London minicab company Addison Lee is retailing its cars.
Not much choice, either a Merc E class or a VW Sharan, all autos, and any colour so long as it's black.
Seems they service the cars themselves and knock them out after about three years with around 115,000 miles on the clock.
The history includes 'every nut and bolt that's ever been touched', according to the website.
Curiously, same as Tesco, there's mention of a one month warranty.
Looks like around £10K for a Merc, and about £6K for a Sharan.
Good deal or not?
www.addleecarsales.com/
Last edited by: Iffy on Thu 7 Apr 11 at 09:33
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The Sharans seem like excellent deals. I'll consider one if I want to replace my Galaxy in a few years time.
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I thought they had Galaxys as well?
AL cab drivers are not London's most cycle aware drivers and a get a couple of close quarter views of their machines every month.
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...I thought they had Galaxys as well?...
Quite possibly, the website says their workshop is 'Volkswagen and Ford' approved.
Addison Lee looks to be a very big operation now, they claim to have 'over 2,400 premium minicabs' operating in London.
They are buying 100 new cars a month, so it follows not every car they get rid off is being retailed.
www.addisonlee.com/
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Actually, I wish I'd known about this when I bought my Galaxy last November. I paid a similar price (about 500 notes less) from a main dealer for an older vehicle.
Although my car did have 30-40k fewer miles on it. Still, these Sharans look a better buy. Rats.
Last edited by: Alanović on Thu 7 Apr 11 at 10:35
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Cab operators around the rest of the country will be taking a keen interest - ideal vehicles for the purpose (obviously) and cheaper than retail forecourt vehicles due to the high annual mileage and perceived London minicab abuse.
Addison Lee used to run FIAT Ulysse 7-seaters, all first registered at the Shrewsbury VRO with a DU or DV prefix. A couple of almost certainly ex-AL ones for sale here:
bit.ly/fQRziI
bit.ly/emF0Lp
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Won't all these be battered because of the 115,000 miles would have been in tough city driving and not on the motorways?
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...Won't all these be battered...
Not really, you don't pick up many stone chips in London driving, and provided you don't hit anything the bodywork will remain in good order.
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>> Won't all these be battered because of the 115,000 miles would have been in tough city driving
The standards for Private Hire cars are pretty high - they will fail the annual test if there's any sign of body damage or mechanical problems, and will be taken off the road if seen with damage by an inspector on the street. Bollard scrapes, broken lights and so on will have to be repaired ASAP.
Next time you see a minicab sitting in Manchester somewhere Rats, do a quick walk-round to check it for damage, guess the mileage then take a peek at the odometer to see how far out you were. People, when asked, used to underestimate the mileage on my cabs by a factor of 5.
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi {P} on Thu 7 Apr 11 at 12:14
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I think Rattle's point is that the cars have done a high mileage, mostly in stop start conditions, which may have detrimental effects on the engine and other mechanicals - auto gearboxes and brakes for example.
It would probably be a widely held belief on here that a newish car that has done 100k on the motorways would be in better mechanical order than one which has done 100k in London. Perhaps proper maintenance and service history would negate the difference?
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...Perhaps proper maintenance and service history would negate the difference?...
I'd be reassured by that and the auto box - less wear and tear on the drivetrain.
Most of the driving would be done while the car is warm, and a firm such as Addy Lee has work all over, so the cars would get the occasional blast out to the airport or around the M25.
They say they have 2,000 Sharans, so as Boxterboy says, their service manager could give a good insight into reliability.
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>> Addison Lee used to run FIAT Ulysse 7-seaters, all first registered at the Shrewsbury VRO
>> with a DU or DV prefix. A couple of almost certainly ex-AL ones for sale
>> here:
>>
I like the way the first one says factory-fit sat-nav, when it is clearly an after-market portable jobby!
I think AL had a falling out with Fiat over the reliability of the cars - could be wrong. I always think it would be interesting to get an insight as to how well (or not) cars that do high/tough mileage on large fleets such as these fare. (sorry, no pun intneded there!)
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I would never buy an ex-minicab. They age very quickly in daily use. It isn't the mileage of course, it's the savage wear on all components in constant urban traffic.
I guess one that had always lived in the country might just be all right if you knew its former driver/owner.
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>> I would never buy an ex-minicab. They age very quickly in daily use. It isn't
>> the mileage of course, it's the savage wear on all components in constant urban traffic.
That's the received wisdom I'm talking about. If all the fluids, filters, pads, discs etc have been changed regularly and properly, why would there be any more savage wear than an ordinary car?
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>> why would there be any more savage wear than an ordinary car?
It's true I suppose that minicabs these days are driven slowly. They're often in the way anyway. But it isn't just the way they are (or used to be) hustled along in the interests of customer satisfaction and higher earnings. It's the urban landscape, all twists, turns, potholes and kerbs, and these days of course those accursed speed bumps. All suspension, steering and transmission parts get more of a hammering than they do in someone's private jalopy.
I did do two three-month stints as a South London minicab driver in the seventies. It was slightly better paid than what I normally do, but much harder work and bad for one's physique and personality (all those pies on the run, cigarettes, two long rush hours a day - night work was easier but less money - and of course traffic and black cabs getting in the way winding one up all day long). And those six months aged the car five years at least.
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Suspension, wheels and tyres will take some hammer.
But I don't know that 120,000 cab miles in London is much worse than 120,000 yummy mummy miles in London.
Same roads, after all.
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>> Suspension, wheels and tyres will take some hammer.
>>
Also, these vehicles get full services every six weeks, so suspension, wheels, tyres, will be checked and repaired whenever necessary.
Can't see a downside with these cars to be frank, and I am a bit fed up I missed out on getting one last year. Damnation.
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Would you (or anyone) pay £4k more for this, AC?:
tinyurl.com/3m7az8u
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The car in Alanovic's link is a year younger, but still very expensive.
Wide range of Sharan's on Autotrader, including the Addison Lee cars.
Most of the others in the £6K price range are lower mileage, but years older.
To me, the Addison Lee cars are much better buys.
tinyurl.com/3ebmlm5
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>> The car in Alanovic's link is a year younger, but still very expensive.
It's an 08, as opposed to a 57 at AddisonLee. The difference in registration date could be from 1 day to 6 months. But not a year.
I agree the AL ones are the better buy, which is why I'm so annoyed now at having paid not much less for an 03 car. I could have had a 57. And the wife would have been happier from a brand perspective, and Sharans have double DIN apertures rather than the poxy Galaxy DIN and three quarters which his no good to man nor beast. Bah.
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I can see these van-like people carriers have their practical advantages to a minicabber, and I understand some of them are brisk, safe and refined, but it would take some very serious arm-twisting, an offer I couldn't refuse, to make me buy one of any make at any price even if I had any money. I absolutely hate the things.
I don't mind vans at all, indeed like some of them a lot. Feel differently about those gauche-looking crossbreeds though.
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>> "aesthetic wimpery" there
Heh heh...
but we all have our prejudices. Note though that I didn't say I would be too embarrassed to drive one. I just wouldn't buy one.
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Don't know if these will be subject to the rigorous care maintenance that black cabs are?
In my former life i used to deliver truckloads of LTi black cabs, and collect used examples, both from London and other cities.
Huge difference between London's used examples and those from Manc, the northern ones were to put it bluntly sheds, where the London vehicles were from every aspect in far better condition, especially bodywork, driver abuse, professionalism?, may account for some differences.
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I would guess that if they have thousands of these vehicles, then they have the experience to know exactly when to get rid of them before the bills pile up????
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Won't be on our local private hire services up in Manchester.
Wrong colour !
Only white and silver allowed !
Ted
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I see the AL mercs parked up in the city waiting for clients all the time. They always look immaculate and I bet most of the trips they make are not stop start (except for the traffic), out to Heathrow or similar - if the exec client is just going to another meeting or back to the hotel they use a balck cab.
On the other hand I bet the Sharans have a much harder life.
Working at home at the moment so I don't have a commuter but if my next contract is some distance away I will certainly check what AL have available.
MPZ
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Just been on a run to Luton Airport to pick up the MIL, saw a few AL Ford Galaxies up there. These are the current shape, post 2006 MK3 Glaxies, not the same shape as the Sharans they're selling off at the moment.
I wonder when they switched from Sharans to Galaxies, and why?
Last edited by: Alanović on Fri 8 Apr 11 at 12:47
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>> I wonder when they switched from Sharans to Galaxies, and why?
Better Ford discount?
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>> >> I wonder when they switched from Sharans to Galaxies, and why?
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>> Better Ford discount?
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Better car, the new Galaxy is superior to the old Galaxy/Sharan/Alahambra.
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>> >> >> I wonder when they switched from Sharans to Galaxies, and why?
>> >>
>> >> Better Ford discount?
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>> Better car
...but is it a better cab? (No idea.)
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>> Better car, the new Galaxy is superior to the old Galaxy/Sharan/Alahambra.
I had been wondering if that was the case, and to what extent. I mooched around a new Galaxy Titanium X the other day in a showroom, and, much as it was a very nice vehicle, I just couldn't help thinking the old model has superior sized seats (all are 100% full size), and that the new style foldaway seats compromised the load area when using it as a laod carrier, and just aren't as comfortable or capacious as the old removable style. Not to mention the ease of replacement in case of wear, and cleaning access the old model's seats offer.
I'm sure it's a better drive, but I don't drive one of these for the pleasure of it, I have one for practical reasons. And on that score I can't help thinking the current Galaxy is a retrograde step.
I like the sliding doors on the Sharan/Alhambra, but I expect it suffers from the foldaway seating fad too.
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...I wonder when they switched from Sharans to Galaxies, and why?...
Might have been what they could get at the time for the best price.
The chairman has done a few interviews and in one he says Addison Lee is the biggest buyer of Galaxies in the world.
That was a year or two ago.
Last edited by: Iffy on Fri 8 Apr 11 at 13:10
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Regarding getting rid at three years old, this is because a lot of their corporate clients require vehicles to be 3 or younger... I have recently been and had a look at the sharans and they seem to be in quite good condition. Apparently as part of the service regime, they have the auto transmission fluid changed every 20k miles.
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They've been running new-shape Galaxies since they came out, in tandem with Sharans. Haven't seen any new-shape Sharans or Alhambras on the fleet yet.
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Before the Sharans there were others; my former neighbour had a 2001 Fiat Ulysse, and in bright sunlight the residual imprint of the AL sticker was clearly visible in its rear window.
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This car's been cabbed - Alanovich
