The Assassination Murder Of Taxi 817

[PhilMeUp]

Last week the car had to go through it's annual Department of Transport inspection. I wanted to make sure that the car would pass on the first attempt so made some phone calls and ended up talking to a guy call Phil (same name as me), who oversees modification permits for the DOT (and therefore is the expert on what is and is not legal).

I took my laptop to him with photos of the braking system on this car. His first concern was the legality of the brake calipers - they would have to be tested and certified by an suitably qualified automotive engineer. However, when I explained that these are are same callipers that are used by Ford on FPV Falcons then that meant that these calipers could be classified as a "manufacturer option", meaning that Ford/FPV had already had them certified.

The problem that Phil had was the mounting of the rear brake lines. The braided lines that I bought from Goodridge last year are too long, so have been securely zip-tied to the top of the leaf spring on each side. It doesn't look particularly good, but 52,000km later there has not been a single problem and it has proven to be safe. The response from Phil was that he wasn't particularly pleased about having brake lines mounted to the leaf springs but if I had any trouble at the inspection then to get the examiner to give him a call.

ie:

Sure enough, the brake lines were an issue at the examination. I got a guy who was determined to fail the car for whatever he could. I asked him to call Phil, but he refused to do so.

So, the next day I was back to see Phil at his office. Now that the car had been failed by someone, his attitude was entirely different. What was acceptable a few days earlier was now completely unacceptable. Welcome to government departments.

So, on Thursday night I resigned myself to pulling all the Brembo and associated stuff off the car and putting standard stuff back on. A phone call to CompFriction (where I got the brake lines from) got a good amount of interest from Dave, who was more than happy to make some shorter lines once I explained how much trouble these ones had now caused. But they wouldn't arrive in Perth in time.

I managed to find a last minute cancellation and got the car passed on Friday morning. The registration expired on Sunday, so there was considerable pressure to get it cleared on Friday. What should have been a simple process was made stupidly difficult - I'll be keeping away from that particular inspection centre in future.

So, back to normal life. After having this top-of-the-range brake setup for months I was now pretty disgusted about having standard stuff back on the car, even if it was only going to be for a few days. Oh, I was miffed.

Luckily, I had kept all the original stuff boxed up in the shed. Not being in an overwhelmingly good mood at the time, I wasn't fussed about how much mess I made with brake fluid (everything got degreased and cleaned when I finished though).

Why is all this stuff relevant? The plot thickens...

Because….

Oh crap.

An 18 year old P-plater drove through a stop sign. My day driver had actually finished for the day and was on his way back to my place, when this guy came through an intersection at normal speed. I got woken up by a phone call shortly after 1pm from the supervisor at the taxi call centre, resulting in me staggering out of bed and muttering all sorts of colourful language before making my way to the crash scene.

I figured this was fairly cosmetic. Irritating, but at least I'd get a new front bumper out of it and I'd get some other panel work done while the car was getting repaired. Then the tow truck driver said that the car would be a write-off, which definitely got my attention. The whole front of the car has been pushed to one side, meaning bent chassis rails. Oh. Good. I've kept this car insured at the higher end of its value range, meaning that I can just about replace the car for what it is insured for. I'm rather pissed off that I spent $1,320 on a new diff that week and fitted new front wheel bearing hubs and new tyres, but the gearbox is on its last legs and will need replacing soon (ie $2,3000 for a good reconditioned one with stronger AU gearbox parts).

When the assessor had a look at it on Wednesday he said it was a line-ball decision between getting it repaired and writing it off. I acknowledged that it was his decision but would very, very, very much prefer a write-off. By Friday afternoon I hadn't heard back, so called him again. He said that it will most likely be a write-off. This means that I can go shopping for a replacement car. A fun task, but tricky because of time constraints - I need something immediately. I've come to like the silver colour - it looks good (especially with the chrome wheels) and it hides dirt quite well, so I'm after the same car again - silver, dedicated LPG Falcon wagon (either BFII or III). There are a few options at auction places in various eastern cities, so I'll probably end up buying one and having it put on a truck and brought to Perth. Flying over and driving one on a road trip across the Nullabor is extremely tempting, but more expensive (ie loss of income). I've managed to lease another taxi full-time for two weeks to keep my day driver and myself employed for now.

Things got really interesting yesterday (Friday afternoon) when I rang the assessor. He asked if I wanted to keep the wreck, so I asked how much for. The price he gave me seemed a little high, so he mentioned the nice chrome wheels and new tyres. I had spoken with someone at the insurance company last year about the extra stuff that I had put on the car (ie wheels, Brembo brakes, mobile phone kit, radar detector and a few other things) and was told that if the car was ever in a crash and became a total loss (ie write-off) then I would be able to put the original stuff back on the car and keep the extra stuff. The assessor was now saying that was not true, and that anything on the car right now stays there. A very heated discussed resulted. I rang the insurance company and it turns that that is true - anything on the car stays with it. The girl that advised me otherwise last year was a trainee and was incorrect. It's been referred to someone higher up and will be decided next week, which left me in a very pissed off mood all through Friday night. This could get interesting.

Talk about a fluke. I spent Thursday night removing Brembo calipers, brake disc rotors and brake lines. If the stuff was still on the car when it was crashed on Sunday then I'd be in one hell of a fight with the assessor and insurance company about ownership of this stuff.

[sexual harrassment panda]

unrucky - yet lucky.

good luck on the car hunt mate

[Panda Eyes]

its not tricolour?

[JETURBO]

and to think it might of pulled up if the big brakes were still on there.............it annoyes the chit out of me when u mod a car for the better and the inspection centres want to have no part in it , bunch of wankers and insurance companys ......dont get me started

[PhilMeUp]

and to think it might of pulled up if the big brakes were still on there.............it annoyes the chit out of me when u mod a car for the better and the inspection centres want to have no part in it , bunch of wankers and insurance companys ......dont get me started

Nothing would have prevented the collision - the guy ran through the stop sign and my driver didn't have time to react in any way.

The beaurocracy about being told one thing the week before the inspeciton and a different thing after it was knocked back pissed me off. However, it's saved me some grief in the end because the Brembo setup is at home where instead of sitting in a yard somewhere.

VERY odd set of circumstances.

[arronm]

Mate just grab a VE wagon, better car all round, leaf springs went out with the dinosaurs.

[PhilMeUp]

Mate just grab a VE wagon, better car all round, leaf springs went out with the dinosaurs.

Leaf springs are ancient, but they are cheap to maintain. There is allmost nothing to maintain - just a handful of shackle bushes to replace once a year or so. IRS requires a lot more to maintain (knuckle joints, diff bushes), which means time off the road (ie lost of income) and maintenance cost.

The Late model camira also hasn't been around in LPG-only form. They are coming out now, but it will be a few years before we see them available at auction. Having petrol and LPG together is a nuisance for a car that is solely using LPG. A VE engine bay is a nightmare to work in when there's the additional LPG stuff.

I'm generally a Expensive Daewoo person, and would much rather drive a Commodore, but there is pretty much no workshop support for them in the taxi industry. The BA/BF sedan/wagon is a very outdated car, but an easy and cheap one to maintain and keep on the road.

It will be interesting in a few more years though, when there are no Falcon wagons left. In WA a taxi can be no more than eight years old (from the date on the compliance plate). Ford stopped making Falcon wagons in September 2010, so in less than seven years there will be almost no taxi wagons. Yeah, so what? A sedan only fits one suitcase (ie spare wheel is in the boot), so anything else goes in the back seat. Want to get more than two people to or from an airport? Not going to happen - try and find a van or get two taxis. There will be similar problems with wheelchairs, walking frames and pushbikes. Some places over east are trying out other vehicles but are having enough trouble with to make them not suitable.

In the eastern states, taxis have to retire even younger. I think it's five years maximum age.

There is one VE Late model camira taxi wagon in Perth - taxi 354, which I see in the Fremantle area sometimes.

There's a guy (Larry) who runs three VE Late model camira sedan taxis. I was talking to him about a year ago and he mentioned his maintenance cost for the previous few months - it was something like $11,000. Ouch.

[arronm]

I was only stirring mate. I know Late model camira arnt LPG freindly. By the way. I have a BA BF smartbar in black you can have if you want to come around and collect it. You know where I live.

Edited 05/03/12 09:51 AM by arronm

[PhilMeUp]

and to think it might of pulled up if the big brakes were still on there....

The only way to have avoided that collision was to be in Knight Rider.

[Krazy Kyle]

Up here in Darwin 90% of taxi's are Toyota Prius