Taxi Excel

Taxi Excel
302-7770
www.taxiexcel.com

RT here.

I was browsing livinginperu.com and came upon a feature article that talked about Taxi Excel. According to the article, this company was trying to 'upscale' the Lima taxi market, boasting new cars, GPS tracking and well-dressed drivers who own their cars, and therefore have more of a reason to provide good service.

Most of the time, a 3- or 5-sol ride doesn't really require more than four wheels and a driver, so I promptly filed and forgot about it.

Then, last trip, a friend and I planned a day trip to Chaclacayo for a convention. I have three regular guys that I use when I go out club-hopping at night or have to run errands in the daytime (I trust them enough that I can leave my stuff in their cars while I am out and about).

Well, two couldn't do the run and the other's phone was not working, so we spent a few days 'auditioning' drivers from the street, but no one really seemed like a good candidate. I asked a couple of drivers how much the fare would be, and was quoted 55 and 60 soles for the ride.

I wasn't worried, figuring I would just get someone off the street in the morning. My local girlfriend almost had a coronary, telling me that the odds of her seeing me alive with a random taxi driver were 0nly about 10%, at best. It wasn't worth the aggravation of fighting with her, so I looked up Taxi Excel and had her make the call the night before at around 11:00 pm.

The reservation process went well -- they took my information, quoted us 50 soles, and told us they would call back in less than 30 minutes with a confirmation. Twenty minutes later, they called back with the name and the cell phone number of our driver.

The next morning, he was right on time. The driver was wearing a dress shirt and a tie, and his car was clean and un-dented. He knew where we were going, and got us there without incident. He spoke a little English, and practiced with us most of the way.

The car wasn't huge. It could fit three people, as long as all of the bags went in the trunk.

If the right circumstances came up again, I would not hesitate to call Taxi Excel. In retrospect, my friend was probably right -- we were driving in areas that I was not familiar with, and there was 'some' sense of security in this car.

I called them to ask what the fare was to the airport. They quoted me 40 soles, so I passed. I can always pay 25 on the street, and I don't fear the security issues on an airport run.

 

One way.

New, clean, in-shape, small cars.

I assume they would work by the hour -- you'd have to call and ask.