Recommend Cab Driver

[Andrew833]

I see. I’m still thinking whether to engage a driver for the full 9 days or should I do some taxi trips when touring in main city...the days I doing off city like Jiufen/Shifen then I engage driver.

You so many ppl and with kids, it's better to have driver and also cheaper. In Taipei, maybe can take MRT, let the kids experience it.

 

[Yaroopig]

Just wanna go shifen for the sky lantern. Saw klook got a half day shifen tour package and costs about 24sgd per pax. 4 person will be 96sgd. If book whole day cab tour ard 3500twd about 160sgd, whole day plus can go other places. Hmmm.... any other itineraries can recommend ? Being to jiufen, yeliu those places before le so don’t want to go again.

 

[339IQEUX933]

Hi,

Going to Taiwan soon. Should be covering Taipei and surroundings + Taichung and ChingJing.
5 Adults + 3 Kids. 9days.

I do think we need a 8/9 seater type of mini bus/van.

Anyone has an idea how much per day it would cost to engage this type of driver?
Once engaged, we can use him the whole day or they have a certain working hours?
Any other hidden charges that we need to take note?

Thank you for the advice.

Not sure if it's still relevant..

I went to Taiwan with my family (8pax- Volkswagen passager van) last October and engaged this driver Andy. He is a responsible driver who waits patiently for his clients at every point of interest. He is also someone who do traffic check before heading off to the next destination so as to prevent delay of itinerary. He update us on the weather in Taiwan few days before our trip so we can pack our daily attire accordingly. As well, Itinerary can be customised according where you want to go, if you have no idea where to go or it's the first time you are visiting Taiwan. He will be able to assist in planning of itinerary based on your preference (with kids/elderly consideration). He also recommends and helped us to book our accommodation stay.

I remembered clearly when I was at hualien(東大門夜市). My parents were tired after a long day out while myself and my sisters would like to continue to walk around the night market. Ah-Wei is willing made an additional trip to pick my parents back to our accommodation first (around 8pm) which is quite far away from the night market. And he made another trip back to the night market (around 10pm) to pick the rest of us back to our accommodation. This is one of the point that I find that he is responsible to his client/job as a driver. Besides that, he also recommend authentic local food to us with no obligation, to us the food he recommended us suits our tastebuds

Lastly, Andy is someone who is friendly and can take jokes (as we like to sabo him) he loves to joke around too. Therefore, getting on road trip with him brings fun and laughter to our trip.

If you wish to engage him for your trip, you can contact him with the details below:

Andy Pan
Whatsapp:+886986669990 /Line ID:0986669990
OR +886903749991
only062086@yahoo.com.tw

 

[lordofthering]

Hi everyone,

We stumbled upon this thread while researching for our Taipei trip. Now that we're almost done, we want to give back.

We highly recommend our guide - Mr Pan (Google 潘品中) - because we had a fantastic time with him. He is a world class tour guide, a veritable fountain of knowledge, and an all around awesome and interesting person to converse with. Highly recommend him for those who want an authentic, local experience.

I also took Mr Pan car to Jiufen, Shifen and Yeliu.

4 points that make him stand out as a driver/guide
1) he knows how to take good photo.
2) he knows his stuff. He can explain a lot of interesting things to you
3) he is warm, friendly and humble.
4) he is smart. at jiufen, he knows where to wait for us. while everyone has to go up the slope to return to their car, we do not have

He also does airport pickup. Not sure how much he charges for airport pickup and the price he charges me from hotel to airport is cheaper than some websites.

 

[pokalicious]

I also took Mr Pan car to Jiufen, Shifen and Yeliu.

4 points that make him stand out as a driver/guide
1) he knows how to take good photo.
2) he knows his stuff. He can explain a lot of interesting things to you
3) he is warm, friendly and humble.
4) he is smart. at jiufen, he knows where to wait for us. while everyone has to go up the slope to return to their car, we do not have

He also does airport pickup. Not sure how much he charges for airport pickup and the price he charges me from hotel to airport is cheaper than some websites.

saw quite a few review on him in this thread. you book 1 day only with him for your route? hw much was it?

 

[bornerwave]

Hi guys, was just back from my week long Taiwan Trip.

Engaged Mr Pan to plan my trip, he personally brought me to Yeh Liu, Jiu Fen, Shi Fen, Jiu Fen goldmine as well as to eat his personal recommended ke jia(hakka ?) food.

The whole day was around 12 hours, he charged 6000 TWD(agreed beforehand), but I paid 2000 TWD more myself for a total of 8000 TWD because his service is just too good that I felt guilty paying 6000 TWD...

Small things like, he will send you to the top of jiufen and ask you to walk down to meet him when you are done so that you do not need to climb back up to find him at the carpark, which means you only walk 1 trip 1 way downwards (saves time and energy, mind you its crowded and slightly steep up in jiufen)

As I have been to jiufen twice, my time up there was rather short, and given the extra time, he brought me to more places, this is something cheap rides like klook is unable to offer. Klook alights you below, expects you to climb up and shop yourself, and meet the shuttle bus below again. (Notice the 2 way journey difference?)

If you were to walk along ximending in the morning like 8am - 9am, there will be cabs lined up along the roads everywhere asking you if you wanna "bao che" aka book car to jiufen shifen, i personally did this on my first 2 trips in taipei so I can totally see the difference in standards, one does it out of love and passion for the good of his tourist and his country and the other just treat it as a day to day job.

Definitely recommended to find him, he knows the history of Taiwan inside out, as well as help you take photos with your family, recommend photo spots and style.

He engaged his other juniors in other states like hualien and chia yi to bring me up Alishan and Taroko Gorge etc. His drivers are definitely better than normal taxi drivers, but not as good as Mr Pan the shifu himself, I still gave them tips as well(not compulsory but I felt they deserved it given the skill needed to drive long hours and at mountainous and dangerous roads)

Mr Pan rarely drives long distance now as age is catching up on him, so for longer distance like drives to hualien or chiayi, he will pass it to his juniors with no additional charges (all fees are paid to his juniors, he is a middle man for free)

PS: My driver from Taipei to Taroko gorge at Hualien is by Jeff as mentioned by some people here (it was arranged by Mr Pan, he is young, but age 41 alr, compared to Mr Pan who is far older) Nevertheless, Jeff is as close to Mr Pan as you can get. He is very hip and is on the same tune as us 20+ youngsters lol

Both Mr Pan and Jeff drive their own Yellow Taxi (Toyota Wish). They have this saying 2-3 people sit toyota wish that sits 7 people = comfortable. Anything more than 4 people sit MPV = comfortable, no point squeezing in a Toyota wish even if it fits, to each his own i guess.

 

[neutralph]

Any driver to recommend for taizhong, nantou and cijing area?

 

[travelwellz]

Ownrides

Hi, an option you guys may want to consider is ownrides.com

I used their service earlier this April for their Yehliu-Jiufen-Shifen tour and their driver - Jeef was professional, warm and friendly. Besides that, he was knowledgeable about the places that we visited and his car was sparkling clean. My family and I enjoyed my day with Jeef and we are glad he was our guide for the day!

What I like about Ownrides is the fact that you can customise your own trips and get a quote instantly. It helped save the trouble of finding, liaising and comparing prices.

Did I mention that Steve (the founder of Ownrides) was so helpful and patient in answering my questions?

We will definitely use Ownrides again.

 

[bornerwave]

Hi, an option you guys may want to consider is ownrides.com

I used their service earlier this April for their Yehliu-Jiufen-Shifen tour and their driver - Jeef was professional, warm and friendly. Besides that, he was knowledgeable about the places that we visited and his car was sparkling clean. My family and I enjoyed my day with Jeef and we are glad he was our guide for the day!

What I like about Ownrides is the fact that you can customise your own trips and get a quote instantly. It helped save the trouble of finding, liaising and comparing prices.

Did I mention that Steve (the founder of Ownrides) was so helpful and patient in answering my questions?

We will definitely use Ownrides again.

If I am not wrong, the founder of Ownrides is a Singaporean (I might be wrong), along with a Taiwanese partner, I think it's a 2 to 3 man show,Jeff , a driver under Ownrides sometimes takes orders from Ownrides and sometimes he takes orders from Mr Pan(has higher priority).

That is what Jeff told me

 

[Taeyen]

Hi all,

If you are looking for a young friendly driver that provides wheelchairs for the trip, you can look for Simon.

My friend and I recently travelled to Taiwan and had difficulty looking for drivers that provided such service. I contacted Simon whom I had engaged before and he actually provided it for free!

We were very satisfied with his service and enjoyed the trip very much. He helped us with planning the itinerary so it was easier for those on wheelchairs, and his car(8 seater merc vito) was clean and comfortable like the last time. He also went the extra mile to accompany us through the attraction to make sure we are comfortable and safe.
Overall, all of us felt that he was very sincere and helpful and we are glad that we engaged him for the trip!

Here are his contact details:
WhatsApp: +886986712971
Facebook: facebook.com/taiwan.twee.taxi/

 

[lordofthering]

Hi all,

If you are looking for a young friendly driver that provides wheelchairs for the trip, you can look for Simon.

My friend and I recently travelled to Taiwan and had difficulty looking for drivers that provided such service. I contacted Simon whom I had engaged before and he actually provided it for free!

We were very satisfied with his service and enjoyed the trip very much. He helped us with planning the itinerary so it was easier for those on wheelchairs, and his car(8 seater merc vito) was clean and comfortable like the last time. He also went the extra mile to accompany us through the attraction to make sure we are comfortable and safe.
Overall, all of us felt that he was very sincere and helpful and we are glad that we engaged him for the trip!

Here are his contact details:
WhatsApp: +886986712971
Facebook: facebook.com/taiwan.twee.taxi/

hello Simon. nice to meet you

all your 7 posts are about Simon

 

[Taeyen]

QUOTE=lordofthering;121675352]hello Simon. nice to meet you

all your 7 posts are about Simon[/QUOTE]

Hi lordofthering, haha I am not Simon. But yes, I have written a few posts about him because I do feel that his service is exemplary.

This time we really had quite a hard time finding a driver with wheelchair service and I thought that it would be good to share with fellow travellers who might have such need. Good things must share!

 

[blahblahlovetravel]

Not sure if it's still relevant..

I went to Taiwan with my family (8pax- Volkswagen passager van) last October and engaged this driver Andy. He is a responsible driver who waits patiently for his clients at every point of interest. He is also someone who do traffic check before heading off to the next destination so as to prevent delay of itinerary. He update us on the weather in Taiwan few days before our trip so we can pack our daily attire accordingly. As well, Itinerary can be customised according where you want to go, if you have no idea where to go or it's the first time you are visiting Taiwan. He will be able to assist in planning of itinerary based on your preference (with kids/elderly consideration). He also recommends and helped us to book our accommodation stay.

I remembered clearly when I was at hualien(東大門夜市). My parents were tired after a long day out while myself and my sisters would like to continue to walk around the night market. Ah-Wei is willing made an additional trip to pick my parents back to our accommodation first (around 8pm) which is quite far away from the night market. And he made another trip back to the night market (around 10pm) to pick the rest of us back to our accommodation. This is one of the point that I find that he is responsible to his client/job as a driver. Besides that, he also recommend authentic local food to us with no obligation, to us the food he recommended us suits our tastebuds

Lastly, Andy is someone who is friendly and can take jokes (as we like to sabo him) he loves to joke around too. Therefore, getting on road trip with him brings fun and laughter to our trip.

If you wish to engage him for your trip, you can contact him with the details below:

Andy Pan
Whatsapp:+886986669990 /Line ID:0986669990
OR +886903749991
only062086@yahoo.com.tw

I have engaged Andy Pan (Whatsapp:+886986669990) for my taiwan trip last year too. I feel that he is responsible and approachable. He is also flexible when it comes to itinerary planning. As it is not my first trip to taiwan, and we do not want to re-visit some places that we visited in our previous trips. He recommend attractions and activities based on age group and interests which I think it's nice and thoughtful. We spent a total of 9 days with him getting to know more about taiwan lifestyle, take awesome photos, enjoyed sightseeing and of course shopping at shopping districts and night markets. For our trip, we covered taipei, Yilan, miaoli, hualien, taichung, cingjing and kaohsiung. I would definitely be back in taiwan again to explore more places such as taitung, Zhanghua, jiayi etc as taiwan is a very beautiful place to explore.

Beside planning of itinerary, he also assist us in booking of hotel/mingsu for some areas. After our confirmation with him, he send us various mingsu and hotel recommendation for our reference. If you doesn't like what he recommends it is ok to book on your own preference.
He took the initiative to ensure and watch out everyone's well being throughout my trip with him and my family. He make sure that we get back to hotel safely every night. Especially during mountain trip from cingjing to hualien as the road is extremely bumpy. With his years of experience on the road, the journey was safe and smooth. Hope this is helpful for those who are looking for taiwan drivers

 

[zhudi87]

Need help on private driver from taoyuan airport to CingJing

Hi any recommendation from taoyuan airport to CingJing for 5paxs

 

[adelineee]

Just came back from a 12D11N Taiwan trip with my family of 6, and would like to give a huge shoutout to my driver - 吕至峰.

Based on what I have read and heard, I believe that most drivers in Taiwan are fine (Taiwanese people are generally friendly and fun-loving). For my case, I have previously engaged Mr 吕至峰's services when I was doing a 3D2N Taichung tour with my friends 2 years ago. As I did not have any issues with his services back then and was travelling with my parents this trip, I decided to engage his services again for both my Taichung and Taipei tour. This time round, I am really impressed with his quality services rendered.

Btw - I was charged between TWD 4,500 to TWD 5,000 daily throughout for 6 pax (depending on attractions).

1) Prior to our flight, I had shared with him our flight details. As we still had to collect our SIM cards after touching down, I told him to take his time. However, 2.5 hours before we touched down, he had already shared with me his location at the airport. It was only during our ride to Taichung did I realise that he had started to drive down 6 hours before the actual meeting time in case of traffic congestion etc. Btw, he is a driver based in Taichung.
2) His car has got 2 TVs and Karaoke set installed as entertainment for his passengers. Knowing that my parents love to listen to 閩南語 songs + the younger ones love to watch 飢餓遊戲, he actually made an effort to download and play them throughout the rides.
3) On the 2nd day of our trip, we casually mentioned about trying 花雕雞麵 and Taiwan fruits. And the next morning, he actually bought a few packets of the 花雕雞麵 and Taiwan fruits for us. What touches me was that I had sorethroat from eating too much 雞排 (yes, unfortunately); of which he noticed and brought a bottle of his own 八仙果 obtained from a Chinese Physician for me.
4) We had initially engaged his services for only 7D. However, as my parents had difficulties walking long distance, I decided to engage his services for the last 2 days of my Taipei tour. Wasnt holding much hopes as he is based in Taichung, and it doesn't make economic sense for him to drive up to Taipei for a mere 2 days trip). However, he actually agreed to do us the favor and did not even charge us extra for making him travel to and fro Taichung.

What is so commendable about him is that he is a honest, attentive and observant driver. In my opinion, he felt more like a grandfather/father rather than a driver. Its just so comfortable with him around us and we can just joked around. I can just go on and on about the list of things as to why I think he is great - but you really have got to experience it to understand why he stands out. I can't say for the other drivers as I have only engaged him for my previous trip but he is definitely my only choice going forward. Not getting anything out from this but just felt that he deserves to be recommended for the quality services rendered. Someone whom I will strongly vouched for.

You can PM me for his contact details if you are keen to know more.

 

[whitesand]

...driver - 吕至峰...

Me too have VERY GOOD experience with him 2 years back. Strongly recommend him.

 

[syunnn]

Hello. can pm me the driver details?

Just came back from a 12D11N Taiwan trip with my family of 6, and would like to give a huge shoutout to my driver - 吕至峰.

Based on what I have read and heard, I believe that most drivers in Taiwan are fine (Taiwanese people are generally friendly and fun-loving). For my case, I have previously engaged Mr 吕至峰's services when I was doing a 3D2N Taichung tour with my friends 2 years ago. As I did not have any issues with his services back then and was travelling with my parents this trip, I decided to engage his services again for both my Taichung and Taipei tour. This time round, I am really impressed with his quality services rendered.

Btw - I was charged between TWD 4,500 to TWD 5,000 daily throughout for 6 pax (depending on attractions).

1) Prior to our flight, I had shared with him our flight details. As we still had to collect our SIM cards after touching down, I told him to take his time. However, 2.5 hours before we touched down, he had already shared with me his location at the airport. It was only during our ride to Taichung did I realise that he had started to drive down 6 hours before the actual meeting time in case of traffic congestion etc. Btw, he is a driver based in Taichung.
2) His car has got 2 TVs and Karaoke set installed as entertainment for his passengers. Knowing that my parents love to listen to 閩南語 songs + the younger ones love to watch 飢餓遊戲, he actually made an effort to download and play them throughout the rides.
3) On the 2nd day of our trip, we casually mentioned about trying 花雕雞麵 and Taiwan fruits. And the next morning, he actually bought a few packets of the 花雕雞麵 and Taiwan fruits for us. What touches me was that I had sorethroat from eating too much 雞排 (yes, unfortunately); of which he noticed and brought a bottle of his own 八仙果 obtained from a Chinese Physician for me.
4) We had initially engaged his services for only 7D. However, as my parents had difficulties walking long distance, I decided to engage his services for the last 2 days of my Taipei tour. Wasnt holding much hopes as he is based in Taichung, and it doesn't make economic sense for him to drive up to Taipei for a mere 2 days trip). However, he actually agreed to do us the favor and did not even charge us extra for making him travel to and fro Taichung.

What is so commendable about him is that he is a honest, attentive and observant driver. In my opinion, he felt more like a grandfather/father rather than a driver. Its just so comfortable with him around us and we can just joked around. I can just go on and on about the list of things as to why I think he is great - but you really have got to experience it to understand why he stands out. I can't say for the other drivers as I have only engaged him for my previous trip but he is definitely my only choice going forward. Not getting anything out from this but just felt that he deserves to be recommended for the quality services rendered. Someone whom I will strongly vouched for.

You can PM me for his contact details if you are keen to know more.

 

[syunnn]

Hello, can PM me the driver details?

Me too have VERY GOOD experience with him 2 years back. Strongly recommend him.

 

[Fatpat]

Someone whom I will strongly vouched for.

Frankly, it's impossible for me to trust the words of a person who created a new user account in a forum and immediately gives a glowing review about a service/business.

 

[adelineee]

Frankly, it's impossible for me to trust the words of a person who created a new user account in a forum and immediately gives a glowing review about a service/business.

Agree that that i will be sceptical of such online comments too. Nevertheless, decided to share my experience as he has been such a great driver throughout my trip. Definitely confident that whatever I have shared can be easily corroborated by those who have previously engaged his services.

All in all, to each his own. Cheers~