I’ve been posting shots of Eugene’s Previa taxis for way too long. And the last couple of times, I assumed they were the last one, as these are now between 20 and 25 years old (1991-1997). But there’s still one (or possibly two) at it, and I’ll keep shooting them until they’re truly gone.
And why are these ancient vans still at it? Because our city council chased Uber out of town two years ago, giving the taxis have their monopoly again. Why bother replacing a quarter-century old taxi, even if it is the most durable minivan ever built?
Why did Uber get the boot? Because Eugene wouldn’t let them operate unless they met all the same specific requirement thta the taxi companies have to, including background checks by the police (instead of an independent third-party as Uber uses), and also mechanical inspections. Uber cars are generally no more than a few years old, so they don’t want their drivers to have to do that. The key is that Uber drivers get rated by their customers, so no Uber driver would ever drive a 20+ year old van like this Previa. Uber requires that their drivers’ cars be no more than 10 years old (2008).
Having ridden in one of the Previas to the airport a couple years ago, their interiors are definitely showing their age some. The fact that the Previas pass the mechanical inspection probably says as much or more about the Previas than the rigorousness of the inspections, but there’s no denying that riding in one is now a vintage experience.
Recently the Eugene city council decided to revisit the rules for ride-hailing services like Uber, undoubtedly because there’s been a lot of vocal unhappy former Uber users forced to ride in ancient Previas.
And what are the Previas being replaced with? Gen1 Siennas, which are a mere 15-20 years old.
Most of the remaining taxis in my area are newer Camry hybrids, which replaced the ancient ex police Crown Vics they used before. I haven’t seen a Previa on the road in at least a decade, but then they were never that common even when new. I suppose they lived hard lives like most minivans.
I think that Uber should be forced compete on a level ground with taxi companies. Internet companies should not get special privileges for simply being on the Internet. I could understand this special status back when the Previa was new, but now in a world owned by Google, Facebook and others, this seems like it is creating more harm than good.
I suspect that the Uber users are not upset about riding in old Previas, but about the loss of the convenience that Uber (and Lyft) offer over that of a taxi. Does the taxi company allow you to hail the taxi on a phone app? Does it show you how far away it is and how long it will be before it gets to you?
And then there are the rates. They are hard to read in the picture, but I looked it up – $3 up front plus $2.25/mile (billed by the 1/9 mile) plus a $125 “fuel surcharge”. The last Uber ride I took was a lot less than that.
I understand that Uber has become the poster child for bad corporate governance recently, but taxi companies wouldn’t be hurting if the ride sharing services didn’t offer a price/convenience benefit that the taxis cannot match.
I suspect that the Uber users are not upset about riding in old Previas, but about the loss of the convenience that Uber (and Lyft) offer over that of a taxi.
The condition of the elderly taxi cabs in use here has been brought up repeatedly in public forums on the subject. There’s no way an Uber driver would show up in a 25 year old car. And ironically, I seriously doubt Uber would let them.
Update: I just checked: Uber cars have to be 2008 or newer. No more than 10 years old.
I haven’t paid attention lately because most communities around here now allow Uber, but the main issue municipalities have with them are related to regulations and licensing, correct? I know some taxi drivers were an issue a while back since they refused to transport things like alcohol or guide dogs. I’m not sure what if anything Uber has done to ensure their drivers do not discriminate. I’m not against Uber, so long as they meet the same requirements taxi companies are required to, with legal ramifications for not doing so. There are good reasons taxis have been heavily regulated.
I may just be out of date on my information.
I live in an area sans Uber, although it, or some other iteration can’t come soon enough. I haven’t ridden in a taxi of any form in some time, but I would like to see ride sharing come for one simple reason only: It would FORCE the crap shoved at the public as a “taxi service” to be upgraded and brought into some level of reasonable spec. The trash foisted upon locals here in the way of 25 year old Panthers and Gm U vans would vanish overnight. I cannot overstate just how disgusting and demeaning these monopolies p me off. There has been many times I could have used some form of hire car service to pick up or drop off relatives or ourselves travelling to the local airport for example, as it would have made total sense, but given the local state of the art of livery service here, not a chance.
About 1 1/2 years ago I was part of a group that got an Uber in St Louis and it was a clapped out old U van that had been retired from taxi service.
Although many uber markets have a 10-year limit, Uber (uberX) definitely allows 15 year old cars in many other markets, either by way of a requirement stating 2002 or newer, or stating no older than 15 years. I had a 4th gen taurus UberX in Albany NY earlier this month (slim chance it could’ve been an ex-fleet 2007 model, i forget the year which is listed on the app)
just a sample of 15-year-old-eligible Uber markets, assuming its website it up to date:
https://www.uber.com/drive/chicago/vehicle-requirements/
https://www.uber.com/drive/la/vehicle-requirements/
https://www.uber.com/drive/boston/vehicle-requirements/
https://www.uber.com/drive/atlanta/vehicle-requirements/
https://www.uber.com/drive/pittsburgh/vehicle-requirements/
https://www.uber.com/drive/detroit/vehicle-requirements/
https://www.uber.com/drive/cleveland/vehicle-requirements/
https://www.uber.com/drive/phoenix/vehicle-requirements/
https://www.uber.com/drive/charlotte/vehicle-requirements/
https://www.uber.com/drive/sacramento/vehicle-requirements/
https://www.uber.com/drive/austin/vehicle-requirements/
https://www.uber.com/drive/richmond/vehicle-requirements/
https://www.uber.com/drive/indianapolis/vehicle-requirements/
https://www.uber.com/drive/memphis/vehicle-requirements/
in fact in philadelphia there appear to be no age limits for vehicles, but the car must pass an annual inspection
https://www.uber.com/drive/philadelphia/vehicle-requirements/
can most folks tell the difference between a well-maintained 15-year old car and 25-year old car? to the extent people are making an issue of age, i think they key is the condition (cleanliness) of the car, and road-worthiness, not its age itself.
Does the taxi company allow you to hail the taxi on a phone app? Does it show you how far away it is and how long it will be before it gets to you?
While you’re probably talking specifically about Eugene’s taxi company, I was next to a Yellow cab in traffic a few weeks back that had an ad on its roof advertising Yellow’s own ride hailing app. So it appears some of the taxi companies are trying to evolve to compete with Uber/Lyft. You’re probably right about the rates, though.
It is certainly not universal, but yes the company I work for has an app that does all that, as well as a human being who answers the phone if you want to do it that way.
From what I can tell, our rates are probably a little higher than Uber for a short trip, but less for a long one, and they are constant. We don’t charge double or triple when it gets busy.
“We don’t charge double or triple when it gets busy.”
Nope – you just can’t get a cab at all at those times. The surge pricing gets more drivers out at busy times.
FWIW, here in LA and Orange Counties, I only rarely hit surge pricing anyway. Don’t try traveling around on NYE! That’s what house parties are for.
My experience with Uber is somewhat limited – perhaps a dozen rides or so, but so far, they far exceed my experiences with American taxi service (Japanese Taxi Service can’t be beat). Uber drivers are -eager- for your business and your good rate and act accordingly. I’m done with taxis here where the vehicle of choice seems to be an old Chrysler mini-van.
My best experience with Uber was a few months ago as a tourist in Rome. It was close to midnight, we were walking some miles away from our hotel, and it suddenly started to rain quite hard. No taxis were in sight, and I would have no idea on how to call for one in Italy. I remembered that I had the Uber App on my phone and in less than 10 minutes we were speeding back to our hotel, comfortably confident that we weren’t being overcharged.
My experiences are definitely apples and oranges, but go like this. My last taxi ride was when I flew into an airport in Terre Haute, Indiana in the early 90s. I needed a ride to the courthouse and back to the airport. I waited something like 30 or 40 minutes for the cab, a rickety late 70s Caprice with an engine knock that made driver explain how he couldn’t hurry because he had to baby the engine. I had to agree to pay for the other passenger’s ride (he had called first) so that I could get to the courthouse before closing. It was expensive, it was slow, it was inconvenient and it was a miserable worn out car.
My only Uber ride was the need to go from my house to a auto shop to pick up a car that had been repaired, It was a weekday with slick streets and my Mrs. does not like to drive in bad weather. Uber was to my front door in 5 minutes, the car was as nice as anything I own and he got me right there, quickly and pleasantly. It cost something like $4. I saw immediately why my kids use Uber so frequently.
I saw this Previa in mars in Genève
This one belongs to one of my neighbors, although based on the cobwebs around it I suspect it’s not actually drivable. I does appear to have moved recently, though; it’s pointing the other direction now.
Edit: I have no idea why the thumbnail appears upside down.
Why upside down? Because that’s the Australian model (badam-tish).
Man, it really moved. And they couldn’t have made it point the other direction any harder!
Google says there are 6 taxi companies in Eugene. That’s not a monopoly. Eugene didn’t run them out, Uber chose not to operate there because they didn’t want to follow existing regulations, which to me are not a high standard:
Driver background checks
Adequate insurance
Vehicle safety inspections
Am I missing something here? Seems ridiculous that Uber can’t or won’t meet those requirements.
Uber feels that rules/regulations are for ‘the other people’. If you don’t let them play by their rules, they take their football and go home. Many (if not most) Uber drivers don’t have the proper insurance for commercial vehicles, and their background checks are a joke. That, combined with Uber’s “f*ck you, we’ll do things OUR way” attitude, is why I won’t use them. Yes, I’ve ridden in some pretty lousy cabs, but start searching for what happens when Uber crashes, how without recourse the riders are.
Thanks, I did look that up. Hard to believe it’s not a larger issue. I guess a lot of people, and politicians, just don’t think things through anymore. The cabs around here suck too, and the service is not great, but at least they give me basic consumer protections that everybody should be demanding. Uber puts all the liability on the drivers. That’s not an organization I want transporting my family, thanks again for the insight.
When you’re injured in a wreck while riding Uber, and your lawyer discovers that the driver wasn’t carrying commercial insurance, you pretty much have no recourse against Uber itself for not requiring that their drivers carry proper insurance, since their drivers are contractors.
Better hope your driver has enough insurance to cover your injuries/permanent disability!
“Uber is the only income I have,” he said. “I found another insurance policy, I’m keeping my mouth shut and I’m hoping I drive safely enough. I can’t pay $800 a month for commercial insurance.”
“Better hope your driver has enough insurance to cover your injuries/permanent disability!”
No matter how much insurance the driver carries, most insurance companies will deny claims made if the vehicle is used in commercial service, and clearly state that in their policies (well, as clearly as anything is written in an insurance policy).
Not a taxi, but speaking of aged livery use, I remember a rental car company on Vancouver Island that would rent older cars. Econo I think was the company name. I remember they had a 1969 Plymouth Fury that they had in their fleet for 20+ years.
Brand new:
It makes no economic sense whatsoever to put a new car into taxi service; that happens only where regulations demand it. At least that’s a stock minivan and not some “purpose-built” monstrosity.
It’s very common here that “official” taxi companies put brand new vehicles into service and then use it for a longer time, ending their taxi-duty with an astronomical number on the odometer.
Sedans (Mercedes-Benz E-Class, the archetypal taxi), wagons (like the Skoda Octavia or Superb), minivans or taxibuses (Ford Transit, MB Sprinter).
But as you say, the starting point is always a stock / mass-produced model.
The Toyota ProAce Verso above is from Germany. Its color, for taxi cabs only, is a giveaway.
I just found a rather extreme example of an astronomical number on the odometer of the archetypal taxi, the Benz E-Class (turbo)diesel.
Here’s a Belgian cab driver and his 1998 W210 250 turbodiesel.
1,249,081 km on the clock, original engine.
MB’s HQ in Stuttgart asked him to come by. They wanted to have a look at it.
Source: https://www.hln.be/auto/1-249-081-km-op-de-teller-dat-willen-ze-zelfs-bij-mercedes-eens-zien~add9c320/
I’ve had fair experience on both sides of the coin. When living in the Twin Cities pre-Uber, I became friendly with one particular cab driver. I’ll call her “Michelle”. She drove me and a group of friends downtown, and had an i-pod loaded with all types of music you could imagine at your disposal. We LOVED it. So much so, I tipped her a very nice sum, and she proceeded to give me her mobile number for the ride home. I used her exclusively for like 3 years after that, just give her a ring and say when you need the ride, done. If she wasn’t able, she’d contact a friend who would do the same. It was great.
Then I moved to Chicago. Uber was indispensable, cheap, and sorely lacking in customer service. The contrast is stark, but as is all in life, you get what you pay for.
Turns out “Michelle” was interviewed by the local TC paper after I moved. A friend sent me the link. She used to work corporate finance before the big crash, and turns out driving cab the way she did payed WAY more than the 9-5. She was such a good person she actually drove back to my house one night and left my new and very expensive i-phone in the doorway when it fell out of my pocket in the back of her cab.
I’d gladly pay “Michelle” her rate any day for that level of detail and attention, but that sadly is sorely lacking in the cab world. She networked like a champion with good riders, and was rewarded handsomely. 95% of cab drivers couldn’t be bothered. Uber makes a lot more sense when you understand that.
Regarding the phone app, there is a product called icabbi that allows cab companies to have their own app.
Here in Bend a lot of the cabs are Dodge Caravans with the occasional Prius, plus a specialist company that has 4x4s outfitted with bike and ski racks for folks who need a ride to the trailhead.
Interestingly, in Portland the dominant player, Radio Cab uses a lot of 2nd generation Scion xBs backed up by Caravans for larger groups or wheel chair access.
Personally I’ve only used cabs a few times since when I’m traveling I usually use mass transit or walk and I’ve never used Uber or Lyft. Given the revelations about Uber, should I ever use a ride hailing service it won’t be them since it has become clear that their business model is based on being cheap by breaking the rules. .
CC effect (?), I saw a Previa just a few hours ago. Wasn’t a taxi, though, and in north Florida and not Oregon.
As reliable as Previa is, no taxi driver and passenger would like to be in one if it invovles in a crash. Its crash rating was extremely poor, I recall the guy in charge of IIHS actually owned one then, and spoke up to ask people give up this vehicle.
I have a 96 Previa, good to know there is a least one still earning its keep. Mine is pushing 400 000 kms and I am hoping to squeeze another 100 000 out of it as the next gen Sienna’s don’t seem as robust and I can’t afford the latest ones. A courier who used to run one, chatted to me at work one day, and said he liked it better than the newer ones. He claimed they would last 600 000 kms. At which point either the motor or rust would send them to the wreckers. My only complaint is that I can only get a couple of sheets of plywood in the back before they run into the seat backs and I have to have the seat all the way forward. My old vw vans never had this issue.
Previas still reasonably common around here for their age, and I occasionally see a first-gen Toyota mid-engine van too. Both of those are cockroaches here. Never seen either one used as a taxi though.
I was in the Bahamas a few years ago and my taxi was a first-gen Honda Odyssey (RHD) with the hinged rear doors; many other taxis were Mitsubishi L300 vans that looked like the ones sold here in the ’80s. I think both of these were on the market much longer there; my Odyssey looked clean and new inside. Don’t recall seeing any Toyota taxi vans of any generation.
Locally (DC/MD), the Camry seems to become the commercial taxi of choice, with the Prius in second place.
I take Ubers or taxis probably more than the median demographic here. I do their Black Car service which is actually honest-to-god licensed IL livery drivers, so they have to take the chauffeurs test every year and have a car licensed for livery service. Most are Lincolns of some type, but there’s the occasional Audi, BMW, MB, or Tesla in the mix, and some GM full-size SUVs as well.
For the distances I go, the black car is much more than a regular Uber, but only a few bucks more than a cab, and well worth it. Chicago cab drivers are mostly insane and rude, and for 5 bucks more if I can ride in a nicer car with a person who knows how to drive and is a good dude (or dudette) I’ll take it.
I don’t like Uber for their consumer-law-skirting views but Uber black car gives me the convenience of Uber with the consumer laws of Illinois livery services.
We’re on our fourth Previa (Estima), the first three being Gen 1 models like this. All the Gen 1 models had over 200K miles – in talking to the techs at the dealer they said the drivetrain was as robust as anything Toyota built, and the only thing that tended to break was the auxiliary output shaft bearings would go after around 400K miles – and replacement was more than the van was worth at that point.
Had to replace the starter on the first one we owned which was over 10 years old at the point with about 150K miles – other than that, zero problems.
In Denmark Uber got the boot recently due to their lack of employee organization. Unions are very strong in Denmark, and it is believed that Uber exploits its employees because they have no say in the agreement they’re offered.
There’s a point in the Danish take though the global nature of the economy is making it outdated fast.
I’m fine with Uber getting the boot in and of itself, but I would like for Danish taxi companies to have learned just a little bit about what made Danes prefer Uber. They could implement ratings, they could have a joint, functioning app, they could take the shortest route, they could stop being assholes to their customers, they could stop talking to relatives on the phone while transporting people. Lots of room for improvement. Instead they joined forces to expel the competition. I wonder how long that strategy will work.
I have taken ONE Uber ride in my life, from a hotel to Phoenix Mesa Airport, and it was cheap, quick and efficient. It was also my only ride in a Mitsubishi in my whole life, some sort of little SUV. I was horribly hungover, leaving for a 6am flight, and he got us there in one piece.
In Cincinnati cabs are gross, beat up, all sorts of oddball vehicles…some Jettas and Corollas even, lots of miscellaneous minivans and Panthers. At least in St Louis the cabbies have to wear white shirts and black long pants…in Cincy it seems like they roll out of bed and go to work. Last cab ride I took was a late model Town Car, worn but cleanish, driven by a crazed African guy who drove like a maniac and barely spoke English, but he got me there on one piece.
If I have to move the driver’s seat to check the oil, I don’t want the vehicle, so count me out on Previa ownership…pretty weird, off the wall vehicle for boring old Toyota to have sold in the US.
Uber wants to have it both ways – set brand standards and minimum requirements, take an ongoing cut, and insist that their drivers are “not employees”.
Sorry, either you sell your app for a one-time flat fee and walk away, or you’re a cab company.
No one has yet brought up a secondary problem of ride sharing apps, confused driver congestion. San Francisco’s streets are uber-clogged these days as out of town drivers simply stop in front of a destination and block the one lane of traffic to wait for someone who will be “down in a sec”. Smaller side streets are now like freeways because traffic apps like Waze route drivers around clogged commercial streets and the whole situation adds nothing but fuel to already short tempers. The city’s 200,000 new residents mostly don’t have parking or cars, so the choice seems to be one of join the new normal, or move. If you do move, plan for the 2-3 hours it will take to to get to Oakland, 8 miles away.