Taxis in Mexico City
 

My family and I will be in Mexico City for Christmas (23rd to 27th dec).

We are five and I still am not sure about renting a car mainly because of the insurance requirements and possible police shake-downs.

Since every time I have seen a taxi it seems to be a VW bug, my question is, are there any other form that can accomodate 5 passengers + 1 driver and how easy to find are they ?

Any help would be appreciated ?

Thank you.

Actually you do not want to get into those little VW bug taxis as most are not license. Always get a cab at your hotel, café or what ever. NEVER get one off the street. What we do is arrange through our hotel (The Majestic in our case) for a larger car. We use the same guy everyday with him taking us to wherever we wish to go & arranging a pick up time to travel to your next destination. That way he can pick up some other fares & you are assured a safe ride. I think the most I paid was perhaps $60 US for a days sightseeing but keep in mind he did not stay with us.
Now I would truly be ready for commitment in the loony bin if I ever rented a car in the DF. LOL

I second that. Arrange with your hotel to have a full-sized car or van with a driver for wherever you want to go, one way to full day. And make sure he puts the AC on if needed. The security and comfort is worth the cost. ((*))

You can also call a radio taxi. They are punctual, reliable. You call them from any phone, give them an address and they will there in a few minutes. They give you the number of the tunit that is coming to pick you up and you have to give them your first name, any name will do , keep it simple like Maria. This is to be sure they pick up the person that called.
We did it at it worked like a breeze we find them cheaper than the ones our hotel called call for us.
The radio taxi company we used was Servi Taxi,
55166020, color of cabs was burgundy red.

If you need a taxi to get from the airport to your hotel the only good ones at the airport areTaxis Sitio300, phone:5785 8984, but you do not have to call them you have to approach a booth ( be sure you are dealing with Taxis Sitio 300,) and pay there for your trip to downtown or else.
There are other companies who also have boothes or sometimes share one with Sitio 300 so be careful, the good guys are white and yellow with a painted little plane in the door.

Things are also changing.

7 or 8 years ago, you saw the VW bug taxis *EVERYWHERE*, but that's pretty much flip-flopped to the point where, today, *most* Mexican taxis are Nissan Tsurus with four doors, and it's relatively rare now to find the old bocho taxis.

The Tsurus are much better. You're still not going to be comfortable if you try squeezing 5 adults into a Tsuru, but if some of your pax are kids, it's doable...

(BTW: Last trip into MEX, our airport taxi was a Chevy Suburban.)

Have fun!
Mark
www.tiogringo.com

A lot of the hotels have cars available. They are usually big Mercury Marquis with good drivers. I would guess it cost about 10-15% more than a regualar taxi. Well worth it.

Hotel cars are the most expensive, but very safe to use. Radio Taxi's (several companies to choose from - I like Taxi-Mex) are very safe also, and less expensive than hotel cars but more expensive than random taxi's driving down the street. There are lots of 4-door sedan taxi's working in Mexico City now. Taxi's that are red/white are considered safer than green/white ones. Enjoy the adventure!