Yellow cabbies driving green taxis are seeing red.
Hacks who planned to save money on gas when they went with hybrids are now fuming because repair costs have far exceeded savings at the pump.
“The car was running, and all of a sudden it caught fire,” said Ahmed Tijani, who used to drive a Toyota Camry hybrid. “I had passengers in the cab. When the flames came out, they just ran!”
Tijani — who amazingly collected a fare from his freaked-out passengers as flames flickered under his hood — said even with the Hurricane Sandy-induced gas shortages, he’d advise cabbies against going green. “Too many headaches,” the Bronx resident said. “They say you save money on gas, but you pay all that money buying expensive parts. The repairs cost me $13,000.”
Some drivers blame Mayor Bloomberg and the city Taxi & Limousine Commission. In 2008, the TLC announced its intention to mandate hybrids by 2012, but a court ruling forced the agency to roll the plan back.
About half of the city’s fleet of 13,237 cabs are hybrids, according to the New York Taxi Workers Alliance.
Placida Robinson, who’s been driving hybrids since 2006, said the TLC’s announcement prompted her and other cabbies to go hybrid — and now she regrets it.
Her nightmare began before the announcement, in 2006, when she shelled out $410,000 for a “restricted” taxi medallion, which only allows cabbies to drive hybrids.
She liked her first one, a Saturn Vue, but the problems started after only six months. Eventually, she had to buy seven new batteries for it.
“I’m on the Grand Central Parkway coming from JFK and the car browns out,” she recalled. “I’m doing 60 miles per hour. The power steering locks up, and the car starts precipitously decelerating. I was screaming out of my mind.”
Her second hybrid, a Toyota Highlander, wasn’t much better — between the inverter, the hybrid battery and other fixes, she put $15,000 into it.
Now, she wants the city Taxi & Limousine Commission to allow cabbies to convert their restricted medallions to regular ones so they can drive good old-fashioned gas guzzlers.
“A lot of us are only one repair away from bankruptcy,” she said.
Robinson said she’s been complaining to the TLC for five years to no avail, but TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg said he hasn’t heard of any complaints about hybrids.
He cited TLC stats that show hybrids pass inspections at a rate more than 5 percent higher than non-hybrids.
“I’m sure there are individual drivers who have negative experiences, but we’re not aware of any specific complaints about hybrids in general,” he said. “They have historically and continue to perform exceptionally well in inspections.”