What are your thoughts on the better of the two to start with?
Now for me this vehicle will actually be used daily, not sitting in a driveway or garage until it's time to take a trip.
It will be parked in NYC, on the street.
I'm looking at 1st gen Ford Transit connects.
Now in commercial form they are all over the place and the asking prices are kind of ridiculous. A used taxi can be had for $1000 all day long while the heavily used and abused work trucks have prices ranging from 6k-8k and I've seen a few over 10k.
Civilian models seem to be non existent. I find one once in a blue moon but they are expensive and the civilian models usually have a solid panel on either side of the cargo area and the sliding doors use a solid sheet of non openable glass.
The nice thing about the taxis is that
1. Full glass all around, and the glass is factory tinted 80-90% depending on who did the conversion.
2. The sliding doors have a sliding glass window.
3. The hatch windows pop out in the rear like on some minivans
4. Heavy duty, thick vinyl seats
5. Heavy duty thick vinyl floor
6. Already very well insulated
7. CHEAP, VERY CHEAP
8. When buying a used taxi, the decals are left on, I've been driving a borrowed one around for months and everyone keeps trying to flag me down. Great for a stealth camper\motorcycle hauler. YES a motorcycle just barely fits as long as the front wheel is in between the two front seats.
9. NYC taxi commission requires 4 inspections a year and if there is even a single tiny problem the driver personally gets a $1000 ticket. So if you buy one from an owner\operator instead of a TLC garage with a recent TLC inspection it's all good to go. Plus there are a myriad of 24hr taxi garages here and parts are abundant and cheap.
I do believe the floor of a cargo model is lower, I will have to take a tape measure to be sure. The reason I believe this to be so is that on a cargo model the floor is level and even from the rear of the two front seats all the way to the back.
On the taxi, just in front of the rear passenger seats the floor drops 6" to accommodate your feet. I'm not sure if the chassis is different or if it's all in the thick vinyl floor, but I would like to keep at least one of the rear passenger seats in place, albeit folded in case I need the passenger room. Actually, not that I think about it, the rear seats can't be bolted to anything other than directly to the chassis. Unless it's a removable base under that vinyl floor.
Aside from already talking myself into it, what reason would one have to go for a commercial vehicle over passenger vehicle?
Any reasons a commercial vehicle would be better?
Now for me this vehicle will actually be used daily, not sitting in a driveway or garage until it's time to take a trip.
It will be parked in NYC, on the street.
I'm looking at 1st gen Ford Transit connects.
Now in commercial form they are all over the place and the asking prices are kind of ridiculous. A used taxi can be had for $1000 all day long while the heavily used and abused work trucks have prices ranging from 6k-8k and I've seen a few over 10k.
Civilian models seem to be non existent. I find one once in a blue moon but they are expensive and the civilian models usually have a solid panel on either side of the cargo area and the sliding doors use a solid sheet of non openable glass.
The nice thing about the taxis is that
1. Full glass all around, and the glass is factory tinted 80-90% depending on who did the conversion.
2. The sliding doors have a sliding glass window.
3. The hatch windows pop out in the rear like on some minivans
4. Heavy duty, thick vinyl seats
5. Heavy duty thick vinyl floor
6. Already very well insulated
7. CHEAP, VERY CHEAP
8. When buying a used taxi, the decals are left on, I've been driving a borrowed one around for months and everyone keeps trying to flag me down. Great for a stealth camper\motorcycle hauler. YES a motorcycle just barely fits as long as the front wheel is in between the two front seats.
9. NYC taxi commission requires 4 inspections a year and if there is even a single tiny problem the driver personally gets a $1000 ticket. So if you buy one from an owner\operator instead of a TLC garage with a recent TLC inspection it's all good to go. Plus there are a myriad of 24hr taxi garages here and parts are abundant and cheap.
I do believe the floor of a cargo model is lower, I will have to take a tape measure to be sure. The reason I believe this to be so is that on a cargo model the floor is level and even from the rear of the two front seats all the way to the back.
On the taxi, just in front of the rear passenger seats the floor drops 6" to accommodate your feet. I'm not sure if the chassis is different or if it's all in the thick vinyl floor, but I would like to keep at least one of the rear passenger seats in place, albeit folded in case I need the passenger room. Actually, not that I think about it, the rear seats can't be bolted to anything other than directly to the chassis. Unless it's a removable base under that vinyl floor.
Aside from already talking myself into it, what reason would one have to go for a commercial vehicle over passenger vehicle?
Any reasons a commercial vehicle would be better?
