Taxi Driver Scams, Kuala Lumpur

If you know where you're going and you know how to get there, then feel free to take the taxi. If you don't, and if you must take the taxi, ask the hotel concierge or someone you trust there for directions and how much roughly the trip will cost.

There are some taxi drivers there who purposely take the long route and charge you unnecessarily, even with the meter! If you can, take the transit train and walk. It's cheaper and it's more fun that way!

Many taxi drivers (on a number of occasions, the local Malay ones) love to extort high taxi fares from visitors. Many of them refused to switch on the meter and instead, rely on bargaining as a tool. I generally (the word here is "generally") do not face this issue when it comes to the local Chinese or local Indian drivers.

You should never pay more than MYR10 for traveling within the City itself. Haggle and bargain if necessary and walk away to another taxi if necessary. Why give these lying folks the satisfaction of earning that extra hard-earned money from you?

(Disclaimer: Fellow VT member "khal2zu" took offence at what he perceives as racial discrimination in this tip. I stand by my observations, which are made based purely on my personal experiences. You may have much more pleasant experiences, of local drivers of all races and I wish every traveler the best of fortunes and luck.)

Beware of taxi drivers parked in front of the hotels, we found them to be the worst for refusing to use their meters. And if you do take a taxi back to a hotel from another location – Always ask to be dropped off at a loaction near the hotel (mall, resturant, cross street) because if you mention an upscale hotel the will argue the fare higher.

Yes, taxi drivers will want to 'not use the meter'. It just so happens that taxi's are so really really cheap, that it does not make much of a difference. What we did was to always ask BEFORE getting in... 'Use meter?' If they say no, slam the door closed, and look for someone else. Now, when you DO get a meter-using guy, make sure you tip him. We would say: good tips to meters. So, if the meter was 5RM, we'd give a 5RM tip as well. This will encourage these guys to use the meters.

While travelling by taxi, be wary of taxi drivers. Most taxi companies require their drivers to use the meter, but unfortunately, many drivers do not abide by this rule. They will often leave their meters off and charge you a higher fare than what is to be expected. Ensure that the meter is running once you step into the taxi.

Do not entertain any of the illegal airport taxi touts that will approach you as you come out of the arrival gate at KLiA as some might overcharge you when you arrive at your destination or worse.

Just wave them off and proceed to walk to the nearest Airport Limo official counter where you can buy a coupon to use for the Airport Limos. Present the coupon to the taxi hop outside the sliding doors where all the Airport Limos are lining up and he will choose the Airport Limo for you to go into.

Seriously, I never got ripped off in vietnam... their meters always worked..... then in a modern place like KL.... ugh

never agree on a price, never listen to them when they tell u their meters don't work, always be exact on ur destination --- Valuable lessons i learnt.

After agreeing on a price from KLCC to swiss garden at 10RM..... the taxi driver on the way there asked for another 5RM complaining about the traffic and it would take him more than an hour and asked that we understand his situation!!!!

in penang, i asked to go to penang hill, not being precise that i wanted to go to the penang hill rail station, the driver took us to the penang bontanic gardens to his waiting friend who offered to drive us up the hill for 80RM (!!!!!) telling us then that the trains don't work and refused to drive us back to georgetown.

just a note to all locals and tourist, when getting into a cab, make sure that the driver to do meddle with the meter. there is actually a button on the right corner of the meter that actually increases the cab fare. if u notice this, pls. ' sound ' the cab driver.
also, if the cab driver ask for a flat rate, just take another cab. sometimes these taxi man can take u for a ride and make all sort of excuses !

Please make sure to take the approved Airport Limo (in white) at KLIA. Do not take the illegal taxis since they are not insured and the charges are more expensive. Usually the runners will start with 'Psst...taxi sir?', just ignore them and go straight to the Airport Limo counters at the arrival hall.

Thanks for the warning I read in Virtual Tourist, before going to Kuala Lumpur, I was able to be on guard against Taxi driver who refuse to use the meter. From the Petronas to my hotel, the taxi driver refused to use the meter so I just got out of the taxi. I got into another taxi, again, this driver refuse to use the meter and was trying to charge me a high fixed rate.