New Toyota Corolla assessment

[mercenary for hire]

Don't rule out more extensions RC.A relative if mine got his 141 extended until 2027.The NTA have been kicking the can down the road for a long time on the ten year rule.

[Rat Catcher]

Cunts shoulda given us all a 2 year extension for COVID '19 anall. We were all on the scratcher. I guess I'm probably lucky in that I opted for a newer car with higher kilometeage when I was last forced to change.

[mercenary for hire]

There's always another crisis coming down the road so no doubt there will be more reasons to extend licences further for those that may need them.The ten year rule still hasn't been tested yet.

Done the engine oil and gearbox fluid this morning on Black beauty.First time I serviced it was nearly ten years ago.I think the car is holding up better than me as I'm absolutely knackered.Dunno if I wanna be doing that stuff another ten years from now.

[watty]

I could see the NTA putting their foot down and stopping all this generosity!  Free tests of all descriptions, €15million on EV grants and god knows what on WATs.  There's only so much free money they can give out before they'll want some return on their investment.

It's not just the cars that are getting old - so are we.  Might be easier for the NTA to open the saloon licences again and get new fresh blood and sub-5yr-old cars into the fleet?

[mercenary for hire]

I dunno Watty... todays taxi driver is paying through nose now compared to the lad from twenty years ago who had no real PSV exam to get through and able to plate up any age and type vehicle he wanted..There are lads on here paying more tax and commission per year than any taxi drivers in the history of Irish taxi driving.It's not as much fun with all this card and app work.Waiting for yer wages like an employee every week but with no holiday or sick pay.

After expenses you could probably make just as much doing something else while the economy is relatively strong.I only do it because I can turn up when I feel like it and it's not very hard.

[watty]

I dunno either - I too have my positive and negative days about the taxi biz & the future.  Just thinking about it from the NTA's perspective.  They push bus and taxi driving as rewarding careers and maybe they even believe it 

[mercenary for hire]

I believe the NTA fukked up badly with the mandatory acceptance of card payments.As soon as the current batch of older taxis leave the fleet many of the pensioner owners who need to upgrade will be thinking of leaving he industry too.

If you joined the industry after deregulation you've gone from all cash to mostly cash and now it's mostly card payments.Huge tax bills with the pension makes the job much less attractive.

Hopefully they'll fix the buses and trains and trams so we don't get blamed anymore.

[Rat Catcher]

NTA and the department seem to fuck up everything they touch, MfH. Putting virtually free cars under the arses of pensioners is only going to make them work less, particularly during periods of high demand at night.... while the youngsters / first generation migrants who might work at night face ever-increasing costs of entry. Note, I say "seem to".... we have a habit of thinking we're clevererer than everyone else... maybe there's method in their madness.