Taxi engines tend to last a very long time. Some have purchased ex taxi's and gotten up to 1mil k's on them with the original engine (I think there is a thread on some stories in here somewhere). The reason is most engine wear is caused during cold starts/running when the oil is not protecting the bearings proplerly. But taxis have few cold starts and are always running at their optimum temp range. I think a taxi would be a great buy for a runabout, on gas, very cheap to purchase, may require a bit of attention due to not a great deal of care so they may be little loose, but cheap.
Just my input.
