Claim's Cabbies Corner. Repo Revenge.

[Uncle Albert]

Sounds like you need a nice, reliable, impeccably engineered TX4.

[Warren t claim]

Sounds like you need a nice, reliable, impeccably engineered TX4.

After investigation, it seems like a small hose has rubbed through on the bulkhead. Needless to say it's in a twatty place that requires plenty of stuff removed to access it and it looks like it's been repaired before.

[Warren t claim]

Current water consumption, 25 litres every 3 hours.

[Warren t claim]

Another thing that's pissing me off is the meter. I took it to Claim_Garage to have a CV joint replaced and when I returned the next day the battery was disconnected. I asked why and was told that when I took it in the meter was running and they didn't know how to turn it off. This was a load of shit as before I took it in I'd been working the PH system and therefore the meter was switched off. I think the truth is that one of the staff has decided to have a play with it and panicked when they couldn't turn it off as to do that you have to press two buttons at the same time. Their prodding means that I can't turn the meter off now and have to have it either on hired, where it's running, or for hire. People now get in the cab on a PH job and wonder why the meter is already on £200!

[Warren t claim]

Back in a rented TX1.5. Deep joy.

[Warren t claim]

I've no fucking idea where to start here.

Last Thursday, my E7 managed to start spaffing its coolant out at a rate of 5 MPG. I was fearing another Fiesta core plug incident, but when I opened the bonnet I could hear hissing which was a slight relief. Upon further investigation on Friday morning, a small pipe at the back of the engine had rubbed itself through against the bulkhead. To add insult to injury, it seems that the pipe had been dodged probably a few years ago. It's in the most inaccessible part of the engine bay and I was rapidly running out of options.

My mechanic couldn't 100% promise that it'd be fixed before Monday meaning that trying to rent another cab short term would IMHO be a safer bet. The big problem was time. It was 10.30am and my insurance broker refuses to deal with any taxi business other than between the hours of 9am to 12 noon Monday to Friday. This left me a little over an hour to source a replacement cab. On my local taxi FB page there was an advert for very tidy TX2 in silver that still sports a Ford motor but the advert didn't have a phone number and I don't have Messenger on my phone and even if I did, I'd be lucky to get a reply within the next 60 minutes.

Starting to panic, I phoned Phil who I rented the black TX1.5 from a month or so ago. As luck might have it, he told me the blue 04 plate TX1.5 with the noisy gearbox is there if I want it. I was in no position to argue so I said I'd have it. The problem was that Phil was just setting off to Derby on his weekly school run along with his escort/child supervisor. He said that the battery was flat on the TX but if I look under the seat I'll find two sets of keys, the first set were for the TX and the others were for his Y plate Freelander that'll be parked outside of his house a couple of miles away with the jump leads on the back seat. I leave my TX at Phil's garage and jump a cab to collect his Freelander.

To be continued...

[Hooli]

Sounds like a challenge Anneka script already.

[Warren t claim]

So I collect the small Land Rover and jump leads. As an aside, have you ever driven an early Freelander diesel automatic? If you've not then I can assure you that you're not missing much. Back at the TX, I connect up the Land Rover defibrillator and give it a few minutes to charge up. Still not as much as the dash lights lighting up. I phone Phil to explain and to ask his permission to borrow another battery from another cab. Another battery on and it fires up first turn of the key. This is when problem 2 becomes clear. Despite being parked up without the handbrake on, the rear brakes are seized on! They're stuck on to the point where the clutch is starting to slip. As most of you will read know, a trick to free off stuck rear drums is to shock them free by dumping the clutch in reverse so I hop out to survey how much room I've got behind me. It looks like I've got about three feet between my back bumper and the Passat CC parked behind me. The reverse trick works without any nasty LTI/VW coming together meaning I could drive away. 

This is when problem 3 manifests itself. The front suspension is clunking whenever the slightest amount of right hand steering input is applied. I once again phone Phil and he tells me that his mechanic has looked at it and cant't find anything wrong. As I'm rapidly running out of money I have no choice but to persevere and treat it gently.

The next port of call is my taxi office to get the details on my driver profile changed. I'm already beginning to worry about the forthcoming weekend so decide to just do enough hours to keep me fed and the lights on at home as Phil says that he'll get another garage to look at the TX on Monday. Now, the calling into the office bit kicks me right in the bollocks. The lad who does our driver change details used to own a fleet of Xantia PH cars back in the day and I thought that he'd given up renting out cars but no, he still has a few, and although I'm not keen on jumping into a PH car after spending the last nine months driving hacks, after driving this TX I'd have happily driven anything else. As the clock has now long since struck noon there's fuck all I can do about it. Out of curiosity, I ask the lad what car he's got free that I could've had and he calmly replies "An MG6 that I've just got plated last week". A FUCKING MG6!!!! I'd have bitten his hand off at the elbow for the chance to work one of those for a week! I know they're shite but imagine the hero status/awesome posts I could have made by working one of those!

To be continued....

[Warren t claim]

Back to the latest TX. It's a TX1.5 which means that it started life as a TX2 but at some point got converted to Nissan 2.7 power. As an 04 plate it must be pushing 20 years old and has spent its whole life working in this area. In fact, I can remember seeing it working when it was brand new. As is normal for a Phil cab, the fuel gauge and radio don't work but at least this cab has a working trip meter so I can work around that and anyway, as the boot opens on this TX I can keep a can of diesel in there in case of an emergency. The radio not working really isn't an issue for me as I have a small Bl;uetooth speaker that also works as a hands free phone that I take from cab to cab. The gearbox whine isn't quite as terrible as Phil described to me. It is noisy when booting it in third along with singing its head off in fifth but I can work around that because this TX is only a 5 seater so I can't see me getting many airport runs.

I hardly worked over last weekend due to the steering clunk. I consulted a couple of wise men who were pretty sure that it was a worn Harvey Price joint/prop mounting. This was based on the assumption that it clunked every rotation and it could be felt in the back. I was told to take it to a garage on Monday for a proper diagnosis. Monday came and went without any time for it to be looked at. I was asked to drop it off on Tuesday at 10.30 am so feeling somewhat dejected I dropped it off at the allotted time and took something called a bus home wondering if I'll ever see it again. A few hours later I phone the garage and I'm told to come and collect it as it's fixed. I ask what was wrong and the mechanic told me that it had a loose front wheel. I'VE LOST A WHOLE FUCKING WEEKEND ON THE LEAD UP TO XMAS OVER A FEW WHEEL NUTS!!!

[Warren t claim]

As it's now fixed I suppose I should let you all know how it compares to the black TX1.5 I recently worked.

The first big advantage of the black TX is that the seat adjusts fully. The black TX had been fitted with an expensive air sprung seat, but the last driver couldn't cope with it being springy so he jammed it in the highest position meaning that I had to stoop to look through the screen, this TX is so much better to sit behind the wheel of. The power steering doesn't judder when quickly spinning the wheel to do a U turn. The locks and interior lights all work as they should. It seems a fair bit more powerful and certainly starts a whole lot easier on a cold day. One downside is that the clutch is a fair bit heavier which means that I'm driving it wearing my Timberland boots rather than trainers.

As it's behaved itself over the last couple of days I thought I'd treat it to a proper valet and this is how well it scrubs up. Not too bad for a 19 year old hack is it?

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