The Best Cars for Uber Taxi Drivers in the UK [2025 Guide]
![The Best Cars for Uber Taxi Drivers in the UK [2025 Guide]](/custom/137702.jpg)
For Uber drivers, when it comes to choosing a new taxi, it pays to select the best car that is right for you and your business... literally!
After all, if your day job is spent behind the wheel, putting in both the hours and the miles transporting passengers to their destinations, then your vehicle is also your ‘office’.
And like an ‘office’, you’ll want all the tools you need to carry about your job easily and professionally, not to mention be an enticing space to welcome guests... or rather, passengers.
Why Choosing The Right Car Matters For Uber Drivers
Comfortable, fuel efficient, spacious, generous specification... these are just some of the key selling points to consider when choosing the perfect Uber taxi.
The good news is, The Taxi Centre is on hand to find the best cars for Uber drivers, both new and used.
The perfect taxi must balance the needs of your fare paying passengers with your own demands as an Uber driver, providing comfortable, spacious transportation while being affordable to run, refined to drive and cossetting on the move.
Finding the ideal taxi that suits you behind the wheel and gives your passengers a premium experience is important, but in a market brimming with different body styles, powertrain options and varying specifications, The Taxi Centre is sure to have the right vehicle at the right price for you.
What Do You Need To Get Started As an Uber Driver?
If you want to be an driver using the Uber app, you must first acquire a private-hire licence from a council Uber is licensed by.
All UK private-hire drivers require a licence from a licensing authority such as a council. If you don’t have one, you can get started with the process to acquire one through Uber’s Ignition scheme.
You’ll need:
- A suitable vehicle that meets Uber's standards.
- Private hire insurance from an approved provider.
- A Private Hire Vehicle Licence (PHVL) for your car.
- A UK bank account for receiving payments
Petrol, Diesel, Hybrid, PHEV or EV?
What was until relatively recently a simple choice between petrol or diesel for a taxi has now grown to include Hybrid, Plug-In Hybrid and pure Electric options.
Indeed, increasingly stringent mandates and clean-air zones have pushed car manufacturers to invest significantly into alternative fuels, resulting in a wave of brand-new models that put electric power at the heart of their engineering.
This represents excellent news for taxi drivers. Indeed, if the majority of your fares take you into city centre zones covered by clean air restrictions, driving a Hybrid, PHEV or EV taxi that emits zero carbon emissions at low speeds will be a huge benefit.
The downsides of adopting PHEV and EV models is the comparatively limited range versus a fuel-powered car, as well as the need to charge the vehicle at potentially inopportune moments.
However, the flip side is no concern over emissions regulations, while driving such models will lead to significantly reduced running costs.
Choose a Hybrid and you’ll get the best of both worlds as a hybrid powertrain requires no external charging since the battery is topped up by the engine in the car. It means you’ll still need to factor in fuel costs, but a hybrid is designed to run on battery power alone within the 30mph speed limit, making it ideal for urban driving while keeping running costs low.
Despite the rise in electric alternatives, petrol and diesel taxis remain a viable option for Uber drivers too. Diesel models have far superior range and return excellent miles to the gallon, while advances in petrol models have made them more economical and are cheapest to buy.
The Best Cars For Uber Drivers
1. Toyota Corolla Taxi
The Toyota Corolla may have evolved significantly through 12 generations spanning almost 60 years, but it has never lost the essence of what made it popular in the first place – practicality, quality, efficiency and comfort.
Today, the Corolla remains a class-leader in each of these areas, which helps explain its enduring popularity as a taxi, proving spacious and plush for passengers – especially in Corolla Touring Sports estate guise - while drivers can appreciate renowned rock-solid reliability, excellent fit and finish and compliant dynamics from behind the wheel.
On the road, the Corolla’s self-charging hybrid powertrain – which can be specified with either a 1.8-litre or 2.0-litre petrol engine mated to a CVT gearbox – makes it economical and clean to run, especially in low-speed urban environments where you can drive almost entirely on battery power alone.
Better still, the popularity of the model makes a used Toyota Corolla an excellent buy for a taxi.
2. Skoda Octavia Taxi
Arguably the world’s most popular taxi, the Skoda Octavia has become a mainstay of the industry for very good reason.
Available in hatchback or estate forms, the Octavia puts an emphasis on providing class-leading space and a well-built interior that offers a premium experience for both driver and passengers.
The embodiment of Skoda’s ‘Simply Clever’ mantra, the Octavia is developed from the same platform as the popular Volkswagen Golf but wraps it in a larger body, allowing for superior head and rear legroom, not to mention the biggest boot in the sector.
Moreover, while it is the size of a family car, the Skoda Octavia is priced like a compact family hatchback, making it an excellent value option while still ticking all of the boxes for the perfect Uber taxi
3. Skoda Scala Taxi
It isn’t just the Skoda Octavia that holds significant appeal as an Uber taxi. In fact, the entire Skoda range represents an excellent taxi choice, including the larger Superb, as well as the electric Enyaq.
Then there is the Skoda Scala, ultimately a more conventional hatchback version of the fastback Octavia.
Being so closely related to the Octavia means many of the same strengths – a well put together interior, refined driving dynamics and great value.
While the Octavia is ideal for longer, more motorway-based journeys, the Scala’s more compact shape is ideal for urban environments, being easy to drive and frugal. However, the Scala remains hugely practical compared to other models in the sector, so if you’re an city-based Uber driver, the Scala arguably makes more sense than an Octavia.
4. Hyundai KONA Taxi
The automotive industry is filled to the brim with SUVs of varying sizes, so you’d be forgiven for feeling a touch overwhelmed when it comes to picking one as an Uber taxi.
However, the top-selling Hyundai KONA stands out from the large crowd, majoring in quality and practicality to make it as appealing to drive as it is to sit in.
The high driving position gives an expansive view of the road, while the well-kitted out interior is makes the KONA’s cabin a pleasant place to spend time in.
Passengers, meanwhile, will appreciate the generous head and legroom, while the boot is larger than most in the sector.
Better still, you can choose from a range of power options, including the choice of two petrol engines, a plug-in hybrid that can achieve up to 319 miles of range, or a pure EV Kona which can go around 250 miles on a single charge.
5. MG4 Taxi
Having become accustomed to electric SUVs and saloons, the MG4 arrived to prove electric hatchbacks not only make sense, they can be excellent value too.
Armed with a competitive price point, the MG4 doubled down on its tempting cost by offering a striking design, a hugely spacious interior and penny-pinching running costs.
The MG4 – which is only available as an electric model – has subsequently emerged as one of the UK’s most popular EV models, which means an increasing number are now filtering onto the used car forecourts.
Available at even lower prices yet still promising frugal running costs and one of the best interiors in the small family market, the MG4 is an excellent used taxi proposition.
Used Taxis At The Taxi Centre
If you are in the market for an excellent value Uber taxi, The Taxi Centre now offers a huge stock of quality-assured used cars across different manufacturers.
The Taxi Centre presents only the very best hand-picked used cars for taxi use, including the used Skoda Octavia, used Toyota Corolla, used Skoda Scala, used Hyundai KONA and used MG4.
From SUVs to family cars to executive saloons, The Taxi Centre’s used stock will have the right taxi at the right price for you.
At The Taxi Centre, we want to help you find the best new taxi deal possible. We offer a selection of taxi finance options to help cover the costs of your new taxi in a way that suits your budget. Just one of the many benefits you get when buying a taxi
direct from us.
We offer Hire Purchase (HP) on all of our new taxi, as well as Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) for specific models. Keep reading to discover the benefits of taxi finance at The Taxi Centre.