LPG option for S40?

[zapcity1]

I have now acquired an '07 S40 1.8SE petrol (with electric seats, mirrors and rear park) so very close to LUX spec. It's an MY08 car so benefits from the facelift improvements but best of all, it only has 20K on the clock (genuine one owner and full history).

I already have an '08 V50 so don't need both cars, having a saloon or estate makes no difference to me, so I need to keep one and sell the other. My dilemma is which one to keep.

I've been driving the S40 for a week now. 90% of my miles are commuting to and from work. Approx. 23 miles e/w across the Suffolk countryside on A/B roads. Slow painful stuff stuck behind tractors, lorries, school buses and old dears, so it's no pleasure but good for economy and music listening.
The S40 has been averaging 40mpg which is way better than I was expecting (looking on the forum I was hoping for 35ish).
Its a totally different car to drive than the diesel. Super smooth and quiet, very tight given the low miles, but lacking in torque and a little underpowered not that I ever get over 50mph!
I hardly ever have to change from 5th gear whereas the diesel gearbox is constantly in use.
The V50 has loads of power and torque and is surprisingly quick for a diesel. Very easy to drive and good for overtaking. If the S40 hadn't come along I'd be very happy to keep it.

The S40 is £205 tax and the diesel is £180 so not much difference here.
As fuel costs have changed recently, my commute costs approx. £21/week in the diesel and £26/week in the petrol. Not exactly a deal breaker either.

The diesel will need a cambelt relatively soon and the petrol has a chain so servicing is worth thinking about, but again I don't think it makes too much difference long term.

I'd love to keep both but one has to go. Whichever I choose I will keep for at least the next 5 years. I think I'll drive them both for another couple of weeks before I make up my mind, but at the moment the S40 seems to be favourite.
Current values for both are around the £4.5-5k mark, but letting the S40 go for around £4.5K seems a bit silly as it's as close to a new car as you can get for an '07 plate.

Nice problem to have and I know it boils down to personal preference but I've considered keeping the S40 and converting to LPG.

I've only heard of Prins systems so did have a look at their LPG conversions.

Looking at the Prins website its about £1700 for a conversion.

If my fuel bill is halved then I will save about £13/week so payback is approx. 2.5 years.

Also need to factor in LPG service cost of £144 every year/20K miles.

I'm guessing I will need to service both the petrol and LPG systems annually, so this would reduce the payback time plus I don't know if there will be any insurance impact.

Also, how long does the LPG system take to cut in? I understand the car starts on petrol then changes to LPG when warm? Does this happen automatically or is it manual?

Thanks for any advice or options.

[CNGBiFuel]

You appear to have answered your own question. You've clearly not bought either to save money. By your own admission, you don't drive the things, so all in, I fail to see how you'll truly see any return. Not least the £1700 conversion wil add near zero to resale. When you could buy a very decent LPG car for that, why waste thinking time on this? Invest 2.5 years to draw-level?? I mean, tell me that isn't awesome. You're already in at £9-10,000 - if you were in business you'd be bust.

If you'd wanted an LPG Volvo, you would have bought one. Now, that would have made sense. [because you'd have paid next to nothing extra for its LPGness].

So this is for willy-waving only. So in solution (if this about money) unload one or other, for you bought wrong twice. For, if this question is about the money, both are wrong, so you change nothing.

The real solution is to be rid of both, because you can get far more car for far less. Your present thinking especialy if it features in many other decisions too, will keep you ever poor

[zapcity1]

Originally Posted by CNGBiFuel

You appear to have answered your own question. You've clearly not bought either to save money. By your own admission, you don't drive the things, so all in, I fail to see how you'll truly see any return. Not least the £1700 conversion wil add near zero to resale. When you could buy a very decent LPG car for that, why waste thinking time on this? Invest 2.5 years to draw-level?? I mean, tell me that isn't awesome. You're already in at £9-10,000 - if you were in business you'd be bust.

If you'd wanted an LPG Volvo, you would have bought one. Now, that would have made sense. [because you'd have paid next to nothing extra for its LPGness].

So this is for willy-waving only. So in solution (if this about money) unload one or other, for you bought wrong twice. For, if this question is about the money, both are wrong, so you change nothing.

The real solution is to be rid of both, because you can get far more car for far less. Your present thinking especialy if it features in many other decisions too, will keep you ever poor

Right. After consideration of whether or not to respond, here goes. No holding back, as let’s just say, arrogant uninformed responses deserve all they get.

I have a V50 diesel as it was my wife’s old car bought 7 years ago at auction. As I have been commuting up until recently in excess of 100 miles/day it has been ideal.

The S40 has recently been acquired due to the recent & sudden death of my father . It’s not something I planned, but I have found myself with two completely different Volvos and I need to sell one. So not as you say ‘willy waving’, or ‘bought wrong twice’. Seriously dumb comment!!

Willy waving – what an earth sort of comment is that! I now have 2 old Volvos worth about £4K each. I’m not exactly in Jay Leno’s league!!

My father only did 3k miles/year so had a petrol S40 from new. I now have a 20K miles ’07 plate S40 worth far more as a vehicle than the book value, so I am considering an LPG conversion to make it viable as a commuting vehicle. An LPG conversion would allow me to use it for commuting for the next 5+ years if required. Not knowing much about LPG, I’ve just asked for some advice from those who know, and up until now have been most generous.

This time I get a rant from an uninformed troll, who should just butt out if they cannot add anything constructive. Do you get off on this type of thing?

Apologies to the genuine posters who have been most helpful, but just couldn’t let this go.

[classicswede]

I think cng read it as 200k not 20k

At that low millage it is well worth doing. You know the car and it's history and any new car issues should have surfaced by now.

This valves and seats on these are not the best with lpg but there are ways around this. Systems like flashlube will take car of the valves and seats.

Prins is not a good system for engines that have valve issues and it is also very over priced. Look at systems like emer, europegas, brc, move and km to name a few. If you get a system that does split fueling that would be ideal and have it set to dribble a small amount of petrol in under load.

Expect to pay between £900 -£1300 for a full conversion. Ask for a zero degree or fasdsh

[classicswede]

Zero degree tank or a four hole as the convention tank involves cutting through the towbar mounting beam and makes a bit of a mess of the floor.

[volvoid]

are you still fitting systems Dai ?

[Sad ac]

Maybe I'm different, everyone calculates the installation costs and then finds a reason not to LPG it. Personally I have LPG'd 2 vehicles and written off the installation costs with the cars initial cost. I plan to keep my vehicles at least 5 years each, and yes I appreciate there is no sell on value.

Have also calculated I have saved £4500 on fuel for my camper van as the MPG is cack, but the smooth V6 is good to drive so i would do it again.

[DAN AT ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi,
If you find you have any issues with insurance at all then please feel free to drop me a line. The vast majority of our schemes have no issues with LPG conversions.
Regards,
Dan.

[classicswede]

Originally Posted by volvoid

are you still fitting systems Dai ?

Yes still fitting LPG and doing repairs. Not taking on as many installs as I used to due to the amount of time they take up so only doing conventional installs these days. I'm turning way jobs that are going to take too long as I dont have the time with everything else I have to do

[volvoid]

whats an "unconventional" install ?