Is Owning a London Taxi Worth it? My Honest Experience

London taxis are expensive! 😮‍💨

CHECK ME OUT:

MY SET-UP:

MY TAXI ESSENTIALS:

WANT TO LEARN HOW I EDIT?

WHO AM I:
I’m Tom, a London Taxi driver of 7 years. I also have a keen passion for all things London whether that’s; history, geography or a good spot for coffee!

WHY DO I MAKE VIDEOS?:
To PROMOTE and PROTECT The Knowledge of London
And to PRESERVE the high standards of London Taxi Drivers

🎵 Music licensed from Lickd. The biggest mainstream and stock music platform for content creators.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
00:20 - Where do I begin?
00:58 - Just buy an old taxi?
01:33 - Renting a taxi
03:00 - House or Taxi?
03:48 - The death of diesel
04:37 - £70k on finance
05:44 - The downside of owning
07:30 - Paid off taxi!
08:37 - Working for the tax man
12:14 - Taxi age limit
13:53 - Other ownership options
15:36 - My future plan
16:42 - Was it worth it?

[TomtheTaxiDriver]

There's a lot more expenses beyond the taxi! ⬇ FIND OUT MORE HERE ⬇

[Roy-qnie]

Ah so thats why the guy in Fake Taxi never charges his customers, hes payed off his cab..

[BrianMcCann]

I am not a taxi driver and have no intention of becoming one. I found this video really enjoyable. Tom managed to explain a really complex subject so concisely and efficiently. I have spent many years working in London and some evenings I could not face the tube so got a black cab instead. For me, that was money well spent. Power to the black cabs, a fantastic London institution

[stephenxx]

I don't see why this guy couldn't become a presenter. That video was excellent, and o don't care about taxis!👍

[MrMargaretScratcher]

A couple of things:

Increasing your expenditure to not go into the higher bracket will never end up with you having more money overall, but it can be a good way to 'treat yourself' and justify buying more premium work related stuff that makes your life better.

Going into a higher tax bracket won't result in having less take home pay. You did explain this with the brackets but I still see a lot of people who say things like "What's the point in working harder just to have to 40% of it taken away in tax"

[almac]

10:55 the answer to all your worries is you personal pension. You can contribute as much as you like tax free to stay within the appropriate tax bracket. Your frustration with “tax drag” is understandable and affects many of us. The way to offset it without being out of pocket (in the long term) is to contribute more to your pension. Good luck.

[huckinfarley]

That must be one of the most "professional" videos I have seen on this platform. Could have been a mainstream tv production.

[mrbizzy]

Dude you make content with the same energy as daytime UK TV, homes under the hammer, a place in the sun etc, it's fun to watch

[deepdiver]

I think you deserve a £100k bonus for voluntarily driving in the madness that is London. Also…I never once heard you say “Awight, Guv’nor?”

[eddiefara]

Congrats on paying it off! A great way to start the year, I hope it’s a profitable one for you!

[Wonky]

My old man was a black cabbie for 49 years!! YES 49 years. He rented every cab he ever had, sat on the circuit for years and has a million stories!!

[licensedtaximan]

From my point of view, and given that i'm on my fifty first year now, the situation with buying or renting a taxi is very much dependent on one's personal situation... and in no particular order. (A) are you working full time or part time. (B) Do you want all the associated costs and the responsibilities of being an owner driver. (C) Can you actually afford to buy one with one's other financial commitments. (D) Do you prefer to rent, which obviously doesn't include one's fuel and or electric charging, but there are no responsibilities when "things" go wrong with the cab. There are other situations as well but i'll stop there as we could go on and on. By the way although Tom has paid off for his TXE and depending on the driver's age you would still need to put a certain amount away after finishing payment to eventually help to purchase another one if you're staying in the business, and if you keep the cab to its full (disgracefully imposed) age limit it can't be sold in London as a working licensed taxi.

Apart from my first year when I rented a cab as I had no money given I did the "KOL" (knowledge of London) full time (you don't get paid studying the KOL) my late parents supported me and I was living at home with them.... but for over forty years I owned three taxis. As I said above after renting for the first year the first one I owned was bought used from my dad (he then bought a new replacement) he did that to get me started in life, by the way that's the difference between having a father and a dad as not all fathers can be a dad, rest his dear soul also my mum. This was apart from one taxi that I changed earlier due to an offer that I couldn't refuse (an interest free loan from my lovely late dad-in-law where I went from a Fairway to a Fairway Driver model FX4) but I kept the other two until they were around sixteen years old. I now rent because at my age it would be silly to even contemplate buying one, also the cost of the hybrid TXE (the model that Tom owns) is daft even renting one, I rent a TX4 at present. Basically the running costs of our business has gone totally out of kilter with the earning capacity, around £100, 000 with interest is maniacal and ridiculous and that's just buying the vehicle, in other words not including the hackney carriage insurance, annual overhaul, six monthly MOT, replacement parts, servicing, VED etc, etc and on top of that a fifteen year limit imposed on the cab in London. This was instigated by ol' fat neck solipsistic Johnson (and why is there even an age limit on the TXE as the body is made from aluminium, it can't rust) also not forgetting Khan who reduced that fifteen year limit down to twelve on euro 4 and 5 TX4's with the euro 6 TX4 retaining the fifteen. On top of that you have to pay for medicals at your GP every so often (in other words not free via the NHS) to appease the licensing regime that you are still medically fit to drive a licensed taxi for "hire and reward". It's no wonder why driver numbers as well as taxicabs have reduced to the lowest levels since around 2012 and by the way that's nothing to do with "u" know "u" as they are no longer the threat they were when "they" first got licensed as an operator in London. Also remember there is no such thing in London as an (ok i'll have to use the word) uber driver. They are (PHV) private hire vehicle drivers who elect to take some or all of their fares from the "u" operator via their app. Plus PHV drivers do not do the "knowledge" or are obliged to purchase a wheelchair accessible vehicle unlike our (present) purpose built TX4 & TXE taxis or approved converted vehicles that can be used as taxis in London such as the Mercedes Vito van conversion or the handful of Nissan e-NV200 van conversion known as the Dynamo taxi. PHV drivers use ordinary cars as long as they have four doors or rear sliding doors and these are a darn sight cheaper than our taxis, and I repeat there is no legal obligation to be wheelchair accessible like us.

There's a very old saying in this trade and it goes... "the games dead"... well it's not actually dead (yet) but in numbers it's certainly a shadow of its former self. Going through the "Knowledge of London", which for those who don't know is like nothing else that any other proper licensed taxi driver in the World has to go through or even know a fraction of to become the world's best.... a licensed London taxi driver and is therefore unique, and for what after expenses. Just very ordinary middle income after all those expenses and paying one's income tax. Without sounding like a gloom and doom merchant (although I know it does) I do feel that going through the "KOL" isn't worth it anymore as in my day when it was a decent paid career after expenses. By the way nobody fails the KOL they give up, there is no time limit involved therefore only a small percentage ever get through regardless of how many are on the knowledge and apart from all the studying and passing oral examinations, it's also called commitment. It's up to the knowledge candidates ability to get through the bu**er at the licensing regime, plus there is also a driving test in a taxicab as well. Remember (as with some other jobs) there are no paid holidays and sickness pay when not working for what ever reason. Ok rant over, i'll wait for any possible replies negative as well as (hopefully) positive one's. Be lucky out there.

[jonathanirons]

You only pay the higher rate on earnings above the threshold, not the whole income. A popular misconception.

[JunoonRocked]

To avoid paying 42% higher rate tax above £50, 270 income you can put that money into a pension and you can have self invested pension plan (SIPP) to lower your tax rate.

You will save money for your retirement and also won't pay any tax on that portion of the income. Also have you ever thought about incorporating as a LTD company and does it offer any tax advantages for your trade?

[boycie]

Hi Tom. Congratulations on paying off your cab, it’s a real big deal. I remember when i paid off the loan on my tx4, it was a huge relief. My advice would be drive it like you rent it & put x-amount away per week, if you decide to hold onto that cab. (I know you know what your doing anyway 😀) Great video as always.. Be Lucky 👍🏻

[DannyboyLnd]

Fair play to you tom
You’ve done well for yourself and you clearly have a good future
Your a credit to all young lads.
👍🏼

[pinderworld-travelenthusiast]

That was excellent, Tom. You’re becoming more and more professional with each new video. Best of luck to you. 🥂👊🏾👊🏾

[robertmoss]

Hey Tom, I’ve just subscribed to your channel and here are the reasons why.
1 Informative.
2 Interesting.
3 Educational.
4 Slick editing.
5 Flow.
6 No waffling.
At 115k subscribers I’m sure by the end of the year you will reach 500k. I hope the subscribers you have will promote your channel in some sort of way (I found yours by chance)
Good luck with your channel and I hope the Algorithm Gods are in your favour.
PS you are also a natural in front of the camera and that should have been number 7.

[skyjockbill]

I'm an actor, musician, and writer, and yet I found your video incredibly informative and entertaining – you are an excellent filmmaker and I applaud your talent and application.

[bishbashbosh-jz]

not sure why this appeared in my YT feed, but very fascinating, and a really well made and presented video. Bravo Tom the taxi driver...