MB Diesel Taxi's in the US?
 

While in Washington DC for Memorial Day last year, I saw an older black ('83 - '85 era) MB diesel wagon that was in service as a taxi. :cool:

It drove within 10 feet of me, from behind as my wife & I crossed the street, and from the sound of the engine I knew before I even saw it that it was a diesel MB.

Unfortunatley the guy was in a hurry, and I couldn't flag him down. I'd loved to have talked with the driver and seen the odometer.

So - who else has seen older MB diesels in service as Taxi's in the US...?

- Patrick

I met a gentleman from Ashville (sp?) North Carolina who was starting a biodiesel taxi service using a small fleet of 300Ds. He was still in the phases of getting the various cars in good working order at the time I talked to him though.

I'd be interesting to see where else they are in service..

peace,
sam

West LA/Santa Monica, CA has two taxi companies that use old MB diesels, mostly W126's but some 123's as well (mainly TDs). They're called Taxi!Taxi! and Excalibur. Much classier than the usual ratty Crown Vics, and the engines last a lot longer between rebuilds (though the Ford 4.6 V8s are doing 300k+, so maybe not that big a difference).

A friend of my worked as a Taxi driver in LA Jolla , CA, they only had Mercedes diesels. They even had a 240D, he hated it when it was his turn to drive it. But most were 300sd's.

Saw a champaign colored W140 taxi at LAX on Thursday. No model insignia :o

There are two other 123 diesel taxis that I know of in DC- a 2-tone tan and black sedan and a silver wagon. The silver wagon looks pretty tired. Also- there is a black 124 E300TE in service, and a black 126 500SEL. Starting to see lots and lots of 123s here.

When I was in D.C last June, I saw a black W124 gasser wagon taxi. I got a pic of it somewhere.
-Joe

I've seen the black W123 TD, the black W124 TD, and the tan/black W123 D. I've seen a few Mercedes gassers running around, but I don't remember exactly what they were. :o

Newark, Ohio
 

Gray Top Limo, in Licking County, Ohio (I'm NOT making this up) runs exclusively W123. At least that was the state of things when I left there in July.

We've got them in the Chicago suburbs.

There are more than a couple W123 taxis in DC........and a couple of them are wagons.