Driver story

Linda, twelve years in the same LEVC TX, walking away with the right number.

The cab she'd driven for over a decade. A specialist desk found the licensed-fleet buyer, and the plate turned out to be worth real money.

Linda, Greater London

Twelve years in a black cab. Six of them in this TX — the electric one, with the range-extender for the long shifts. I'd been thinking about retiring for a while and finally pulled the trigger this spring. Walking away from the cab is one thing. Walking away with the right number for it is another.

I'd called a couple of the big online buyers first. The quotes were nowhere. One wouldn't touch the TX at all; the other priced it like a generic van. They didn't have a buyer for it on their side, so they were never going to pay properly. That's not their fault. It's just the wrong shape of car for their network.

I rang the specialist desk on a Tuesday. Two hours later they came back with a number that felt like the cab had earned it. They explained the plate sat on top of the vehicle value: there's a licensed-fleet buyer who pays for the plate-ready TX, and I'd kept the plate live, which made the difference of a few thousand pounds.

“A live plate is the thing that makes the cab itself sell properly to the right buyer. I'd assumed it was a cost. Turns out it was an asset.”
Linda, Greater London

They scheduled collection for Friday so I could finish my last shifts. The driver handled the V5C, the plate-strip paperwork, and the TfL notification. I had time to clean the cab properly and take a picture of the meter at the final mileage.

What surprised me most was that the plate was worth real money on resale. I'd assumed it was a cost: TfL fees, the medical, the annual inspection. Turns out a live plate is the thing that makes the cab itself sell properly to the right buyer. Wouldn't have got that from anyone else.

By the numbers