Thinking about LPG

[ddahaa]

Hi all,

Hope you all had a good Christmas. I am soon going to be looking for a new (to me) car and I am trying to decide between a diesel or an lpg conversion on a V70 T5.

Can anyone give me some real world mpg figures or miles per tank etc for lpg?
I've never owned an lpg car before but I have had a few Volvo's.
Does refuelling take much longer than on a normal car?
Any brands of lpg kit I should avoid?

I'm open to any other comments/suggestions.

Thanks

[Clan]

Probably not a good time to invest in LPG as the price of it is rocketing .. go for a D5 you wont look back .

[940_Turbo]

Much though I like LPG, the economics of it are getting rather marginal. I have a sneaking suspicion it is an industry that is about to die on its feet. I too would go for the diesel option at the moment.

[Clan]

it goes in cycles , in 1979 volvo started doing official LPG conversions at their dealers on the then current range , it lasted 5 years and was a bit benefit , at the end of the 1980s the LPG was costed too high to make it economic .. and it all went quiet for 10 years .

[capt jack]

The big plus of a diesel is that you can buy the car and drive it away. An LPG conversion does rob you of some boot space (the spare wheel well is filled with gas tank). The big plus of LPG is that as you're buying a new-to-you car, there will be many more to choose from if you're considering both petrol (plus LPG) and diesel.

Don't know about Volvo diesels, but the newish diesel VW Passats we have at work are bloody horrible cars to drive compared to my 14-year-old LPG V70!

As has been suggested by other posters, the key is the cost.

An LPG conversion will cost you around £1800 (As you're in Durham Autogas 2000 at Thirsk are your nearest and best conversion company). Give them a ring and ask their advice, talk to John or Chris. http://www.autogas.co.uk/home.htm. Turbo-charged cars can be converted to LPG but there are additional considerations, and you need expert advice on this.

Check out prices for the type of car you want to buy, and drive examples of each. For example, you may well find that the purchase price of a petrol-engined car is several £thousand less than the diesel-engined equivalent.

Take the published 'combined' fuel consumption figures for the cars you like. Probably around 32mpg average for petrol, and 42mpg for a diesel for example, and work out the pence per mile cost based on fuel price figures local to you. Take 80% of the petrol consumption figure - in this example 26mpg as the theoretical LPG average consumption, and work out you pence per mile cost. My guess is that you'll end up with petrol costing around 17p per mile, diesel at around 15p per mile, and LPG at around 12p per mile.

Then you can create a simple spreadsheet to calculate your various options, taking into account purchase prices, depreciation, service and fuel costs.

I did all this 6 years ago, when I bought my V70 and then had it converted. At the time petrol was 70p per litre, LPG was 29p per litre, and decent 2nd-hand diesel cars were not readily available. In the past 6 years and 175,000 miles I reckon to have saved around £10,000 in fuel costs. In my case it's been a phenomenal success.

Do your sums carefully and with an open mind, take your time, ask the experts at Autogas 2000, and do your research. The two biggest motoring costs are depreciation and fuel. LPG is still a cheaper fuel than either diesel or petrol, but you need to factor in the purchase price of your new car, the conversion cost, and most of all the depreciation.

I believe that LPG can still be a viable option, especially if you do a big mileage and plan to keep the car a long time.

Cheers

Jack

PS: As for re-fuelling LPG - it takes a little longer than petrol it's true, and there are fewer garages that sell LPG, but filling up for less than £30 when everyone else is spending over £60 is a nice feeling!

[John_C]

What Jack said x2, he summed it up very well IMO.

It is true that LPG prices have surged recently but I would expect it to settle back down a bit later in the new year once the impact of the cold weather works it's way out of the market. LPG is after all primarily used as a heating fuel not an automotive fuel, it's supply and demand.

I too have saved the cost of my conversion and have no complaints, but as Jack said on a turbo car your installer needs to know their stuff.

Cheers,
John

[Rossi-fan]

There is also an LPG place on Meadowfield Ind Estate, the name escapes though.

[Mike B]

Originally Posted by John_C

What Jack said x2, he summed it up very well IMO.

It is true that LPG prices have surged recently but I would expect it to settle back down a bit later in the new year once the impact of the cold weather works it's way out of the market. LPG is after all primarily used as a heating fuel not an automotive fuel, it's supply and demand.

I too have saved the cost of my conversion and have no complaints, but as Jack said on a turbo car your installer needs to know their stuff.

Cheers,
John

Happy Xmas and Great New Year to all.
I would hate to work out [ If I could ] the money I have saved on LPG in the 40+ years I have used it .
And yes it always goes up when it is cold due to heating use , but always comes down after winter . Dont forget to factor the Oil saved less carbon
ond dont forget most of the later engines that runs well on unleaded will not burn out the valves , my old Austin A40 Devon 1951 , ran and still runs on LPG I converted it in Appr 1964/5 ish , never had valve trouble as I use to do about 5 miles a week on petrol to put some lead on the seats .
Regards
Mike B

[capt jack]

Re LPG pricing. I think it's true to say that the price of LPG is linked to domestic gas, not petrol. Also, over recent years the Govt has been committed to reducing the duty gap between LPG for road use and petrol, but only by a few pence.

On that basis, there will continue to be a price differential between LPG and petrol, the question is how big, and will it stay attractive enough to maintain the LPG industry?

It would be a great sadness if LPG fitters were to be forced out of business.

Jack

[capt jack]

Originally Posted by Rossi-fan

There is also an LPG place on Meadowfield Ind Estate, the name escapes though.

Thanks! My admiration for Autogas 2000 is well-documented on here. They did my conversion 6 years and 175,000 miles ago, the system has been fantastic, and the guys there are first class. I have no connection with them except as a highly-satisfied customer!

Of course, I do not doubt that there are many other fine LPG establishments around as well!

The key thing with LPG is to shop around and get some different views, then make your own mind up!

Cheers

Jack