Why are most private hire taxis either Skoda Octavias or VW Passat's?
Cos they're cheap to run, comfortable and relatively reliable.
People generally have problems with passat's if they're under used. Ones that do 100 miles a day, and never miss a service, will go on for ever! Any problems with a passat are "relatively" easy to fix too...
Volvos are bigger, heavier, more expensive to run, and most older ones use a VW TDi engine anyway... Generally the 2.4 5 pot out of the T4 vans...
Renault laguna's are very nice cars. Problem is, there's all sorts of expensive problems waiting to happen with one! You can buy a "good" one for 1500 quid, with maybe 80k miles on. It'll cost the purchase price of the car to keep it on the road pretty much every year thereafter though!
Mondeos similar story to the laguna, though not as extreme...
Passat may not be the most inspiring drive (though mine with sport suspension, and 17" wheels) is a LOT better to drive than one with comfort suspension and 15" wheels (225 wide tyres vs 195!). But passat's are certainly a refined, comfortable place to spend a lot of time in, and as I usually average 25-30k miles per year, that was a major consideration for me too...
