First off, excellent stuff on Honest John.... right compliments out of the way.

Last month a colleague bought an LTI TX1 with a mere 351'000 on the clock as a runaround.

Apart from worn upper bushes and needing the usual filter changes an awesome machine.

Definitely not a get away car with a 0-60 of about 24secs but as an unstressful ride with yes, agricultural qualities, almost as good as my Toyota Landcruiser of the mid seventies.

Had it over a pit to steam clean and the underside seems to have been made from left overs from Tower Bridge, compared to the chicken bone dimensions of most modern suspension systems this has an almost Soviet approach to sturdy overspecification.

Being 6'2" the headroom is a real treat and to drive sitting upright rather than like a sheep on its back is a plus.

The controls are sensibly laid out though it took a while to figure out what all of them did as the icons had worn off. I have a Merc 190E which manages the same mpg on a relaxed run, about 31mpg which doesn't seem to affected by the load on board so thinking of driving it to Devon in a couple of weeks to see how my family like the passenger comforts for more than half an hour. A Jamaican cabbie told me that back home they will put a table in the back with holes cut in as cup holders and have six people in there playing dominoes. I'll let you know how that goes down on the A303.

The turning circle is great- if you decide to cut your losses in a traffic jam, strangely other drivers seem to expect wild and unexpected manouevres.

Actual cabbies have enthused over the Nissan 2.7litre engine, and given lots of helpful advice about parts and best maintenance practice. Some contributors have suggested they're only sold if they're about to die- mainly they're being sold as they've hit fifteen years and TfL won't allow them to operate as black cabs any longer. However that caveat may apply outside London.

I'd say if you can spare the dosh buy one just for the fun of it, something to tell your grandkids when we're all going around in automated pods...or of course walking.

Thanks again for the site HJ