Whats the stoty bout this new 10 year rule

[watty]

I had the cash money for a 2nd hand Prius at the time but couldn't ignore the EV grant...  Like everyone else in a 10yr+ taxi, I was getting twice yearly reminders when my old Octavia was due to die.

Edit:  I'm sure there are people out there struggling - you only have to read the papers to see the country & the world is fukked for the next few years.  But the 9/10/15 yr rule is not new news.  Will extending it another year or two really make a difference?

[John m]

The Big Issue is the Greens .They wont want dirty Diesels left on the Road .They wont even allow the Carbon tax be delayed in the upcoming budget .Strange how reps use to complain about too many taxis and double jobbers now they complain we have not enough of either .

[mercenary for hire]

"Will extending it another year or two really make a difference?"

Hard to know.We're lucky its reasonably busy.The cost of secondhand vehicles are way too high.You'd get yourself something for a few years then you're back in the same situation all over again.

I'm ok with finding the funds.. but other lads might not have the resources after being parked up during Covid.The ten year rule was invented during a time when a new vehicles were 20% cheaper than they are now.That 20%(guesstimate) extra has to come from somewhere.

The fleet is dramatically cleaner than it was ten years ago, even if we exclude all the leccy taxis.

[mercenary for hire]

I just done me tax returns and this time last year I was parked up or getting ready to dip me toe in the water..If Covid never happened we would have been better prepared to change.

It's hard to believe we're only back in business properly less than a year.

[taxi1990]

If they extend the 10 year rule it should be extended by 5 years.

area stickers were a great addition by the way.

[John m]

Merch Operation Friends with No Faces is up and running .To get the Yee Haws out of town from Croker more trains ,Luas dart and Bus have been put on .They have proved that people will use those services if they are available .When Go Bus entered the Irish market they said they would offer a Limited 24 hour service if they could get the Public Service Levy for late night busses at present the levy does not apply to journeys starting after Midnight .The Oireachtas Comittee were told by Taxi Drivers that there was a lack of late night transport .Busses would be economic and less polluting per Km traveled .Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly .Transport committee could be looking for an excuse to subsidize more late night public transport .More busses for Dublin ,Cork and Galway and Rural Hacks for the rest of the country .Lots of votes in more bus services ?

[mercenary for hire]

Here's a few numbers..
In late 2012 I bought a secondhand 2006 Prius for about 6k.If the ten year rule was applied it would have been gone in 2016.

To get a similar spec vehicle now with three years of usage it now costs at least 15/16k.

The vehicle might be worth more at the end but it's still a huge increase in costs before any fuel increases.

That's a big difference that wont be balanced out by any 12% fare increase.

If it wasn't so busy we'd all be whinging a lot more.

[watty]

Putting aside €100/wk for 3 years would get you €15,600.  Belker has more or less posted his life history on here and even he managed to save something like €20k to buy his Avensis for cash.

Most of us have mortgages/rent, a leccy bill every 2 months and a TV bill every month etc.  We don't wait until the money's due before we go looking for the cash.  We plan ahead.  As an EV owner, I know the next few leccy bills are gonna give me a heart attack so I'm putting a few extra quid aside for that.  I know it's coming whether I like it or not!

[mercenary for hire]

I don't think we're all built to plan ahead.That's exactly why we're driving taxis.

There was a time when a hundred a week would have gotten you a rental.There was a time when a hundred was an acceptable days wages in the taxi.But when we say a hundred a week it sounds like a small amount of money.The folks on the dole only get twice that to live on..

The solution is a VRT rebate for new taxis but nobody seems to want it.We have some of the most expensive cars in the world.

[Dr. Martin Gooter Bling]

i think they'll relax the 10 year rule.
a lotta drivers who have a jan, feb, march registered 2012 car will get fucked in to an abyss of uncertainty in the couple of months. remember a few years ago they fudged the age rules and roy on the other website had a fit because he had just hadta gerra newer car. it caused onset diabetes the stress of it.

[watty]

I don't think we're all built to plan ahead.That's exactly why we're driving taxis.

<snip>

The solution is a VRT rebate for new taxis but nobody seems to want it.We have some of the most expensive cars in the world.

I use Google Calendar to remind me.  It's full of reminders about all my bills each month.  My new insurance direct debit starts 1st Oct so I know I need to make an extra €60 next week and the week after until I get into a new routine with it.

Yeah, the so-called reps should be pushing ideas like that instead of just moaning about unfair life is.  It's a win-win for everybody.  Taxi driver is kept off the dole, the customer wins and the environment wins.  And all for some tax the Govt wouldn't get if the driver ends up on the dole. 

At least, we self-employed businesspeople are not getting leccy bills for €20,000/month like some shops and hotels 

[Jack Meoff]

https://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/ford/tourneo-custom/fpa/202209069495588?journey=Search

80k for this Ford.
Pre covid it was selling for 45k abouts
Madness

[silverbullet]

Your representatives informed the Oireachtas Comittee that taxi drivers are terrible business planners and that the Taxi industry does not pay .The Solution to providing a reliable service looks like Rideshare private hire .Your representatives look like they have conceded defeat even with up to 20K available to taxi drivers in Grants they cannot afford to replace their cars .

Your Reps are talking to Committees who have probably never even been in a taxi telling them the Present taxi model is not fit for purpose .Just a thought If I was to Address the Oireachtas Transport Comittee .I would of Asked .

When are the NTA going to put in place a ride Hailing App for taxi drivers that is Commission Free to aid PASSENGERS get a Taxi .The Goodbody Report had aspirations that ALL drivers be aligned to a Dispatcher .As it is Beyond the remit of the NTA or Taxi Regulator to Impose any outside  Commercial impediment on how Taxis Operate .It has always been Taxi Drivers understanding that the NTA was in fact going to provide the Hailing App as infrastructure just a digital Rank not a Commercial implement that would interfere with any other Cost based service provider as the NTA application would not collect or distribute any monies due to the Drivers .

The one piece of infrastructure that would solve the availability of taxis and reduce emissions as the nearest taxi would get first refusal would be a TFI operated taxi hailing App.

My follow up would of been .

Now that ALL taxis MUST accept Credit or Debit cards there is no Commercial interest served by a TFI operated Hailing App so no Existing Commercial Apps can claim undue interference by the TFI in their Commercial Operations .


That is how you Represent an Industry not tell them you and your mates have failed to provide the service you were licenced to do .

You don't mention the lack of EVs available to the Irish market and in particular taxi drivers with €20,000+ to invest, Why?

[Belker]

i think they'll relax the 10 year rule.
a lotta drivers who have a jan, feb, march registered 2012 car will get fucked in to an abyss of uncertainty in the couple of months.....

I don't think they will DMG, I reckon we have had all the extensions that we are gonna get.
The likely NTA thinking being that if we give them any more extensions then it will be the exact same problem when the new extensions run out !
As MFH said; "I don't think we're all built to plan ahead.That's exactly why we're driving taxis".

[Belker]

Here's a few numbers..
In late 2012 I bought a secondhand 2006 Prius for about 6k.If the ten year rule was applied it would have been gone in 2016.

To get a similar spec vehicle now with three years of usage it now costs at least 15/16k.

The vehicle might be worth more at the end but it's still a huge increase in costs before any fuel increases.

That's a big difference that wont be balanced out by any 12% fare increase.

If it wasn't so busy we'd all be whinging a lot more.

You got 10 years out of a 6K motor which you can now use as scrap value on a trade-in and still you complain ??