LPG conversion

[Ste]

What are people experiences with conversion kits??

As I do a fair amount of miles, I have been considering doing a conversion on (potentially) a new car - possibly a Saab 9-3 Conv. turbo charged petrol.

At the end of the day it's about saving money, and with the cost of petrol compared to the cost of LPG, for me it's almost a no brainer. As the cost of LPG is about half that of petrol, it should pay me back within 8 months, even though you get 20% less MPG.

As a competent Engineer, I have even thought about doing the conversion myself to further reduce costs and shorten pay back time.

Even if diesels are 20% better on fuel economy, the fuel is about 10% more expensive, so the PPM isn't that favourable for the extra initial cost outlay. Payback would be a long time longer.

Thoughts ? ?

[m8internet]

So long as you are keeping the vehicle for at least three years, then investing £2000, or £3000 if its a factory fit, for a LPG conversion makes financial sense
Providing the duty on LPG remains at the same rate until 2010 then you'll be in the money

[Ste]

You can get conversion kits for a lot less than the prices above. Had a quick look and I'll be in pocket after 8 months. So if I kept the car for 3 years (which is probably about right me, due to mileage accumulation) then I'll be saving a packet.

Only a crazy gov't would apply huge tax to such a 'green' fuel. Lets just hope Labour doesn't get in at the next election then. Even if they did want to apply serious tax, it wouldn't come in for several years, as the process is quite long and protracted.

[Hideous]

No experience of it here, but it's the way to go. A lot of people are afraid of "Gordon Brown will tax it the same as petrol soon, you'll see", but can't see that happening any time soon as it's a clean burning fuel. Good few years left before that happens, almost certainly.
I'm sure you've done the sums, and it's the wise choice right now for the high mileage driver.
I would convert a car which has a reasonable mpg to start with, otherwise the range will be pretty poor and the cost to run a V8 or something will still be high.

edit: Beat me to the comment about the tax situation!

[VauxVeteran]

Not as envirofriendly as they make out tbh, or so I heard, cost wise I think the average fit is about £2k, but, if you are able and competent enough to fit yourself I believe the kit is about £800, but you still need a safety certificate to say it's not dangerous, on the road experience, they say is slightly slower and I've known ppl suffer misfires with it that never got fixed, at this time LPG is about 60p a litre, this has crept up from 39p a litre in the last two years despite there being a duty freeze on it? so right now at £2.70p a gallon vs £5.50p for petrol it is just under half the cost, BUT! a car that does 25mpg expect to return about 17mpg on gas, so your net will be 8 mpg more at this stage less fitting costs, personally I've looked at this many times over the last few yrs and still cannot get myself to agree it's a good deal over a tried and tested diesel tbh.

[VECTRAMAN]

Just had my vectra 1800 converted by Mint lpg is Basseleg Newport cost just under £1500,2 year(20000 mile) warranty,job completed in 3 days and very very happy with it. As for economy I was getting 38 mpg on petrol and now 32mpg on gas,and as for performance there's no noticable lack of acceleration or top speed.
Hope you make right decision and happy motoring

[yorkshireborn]

next year LPG loses its duty freeze

so it will rise but by how much no one knows

[Ste]

I thought the duty freeze was until 2011 at least (that's what my quick research showed up anyway).

At the end of the day, it all comes down to cost and reliability. My current car does 40+ mpg, so even if you get 20% less fuel economy with LPG, that's still a 40% saving on cost of motoring (assuming LPG is half petrol price) - the upshot is that if you save over £120 per month on fuel (done the calculation) then it will pay back the £750 - £800 kit price fairly quickly.

[John C S]

You can get conversion kits for a lot less than the prices above. Had a quick look and I'll be in pocket after 8 months. So if I kept the car for 3 years (which is probably about right me, due to mileage accumulation) then I'll be saving a packet.

Only a crazy gov't would apply huge tax to such a 'green' fuel. Lets just hope Labour doesn't get in at the next election then. Even if they did want to apply serious tax, it wouldn't come in for several years, as the process is quite long and protracted.

Ste, "Your quote 'Only a crazy gov't" has got me thinking....


Although you are right that the intro of a serious tax would be quite long and protracted, this gov't is the master at introducing taxes and they can do it quite quick.

Cynical example, people giving up smoking because of the Ban has lost gov't revenue, so, introduce new car tax bandings to help make up the shortfall. 3 years, new tax introduced start to finish. Quite a simplistic view but true!

[John C S]

Not as envirofriendly as they make out tbh, or so I heard, cost wise I think the average fit is about £2k, but, if you are able and competent enough to fit yourself I believe the kit is about £800, but you still need a safety certificate to say it's not dangerous, on the road experience, they say is slightly slower and I've known ppl suffer misfires with it that never got fixed, at this time LPG is about 60p a litre, this has crept up from 39p a litre in the last two years despite there being a duty freeze on it? so right now at £2.70p a gallon vs £5.50p for petrol it is just under half the cost, BUT! a car that does 25mpg expect to return about 17mpg on gas, so your net will be 8 mpg more at this stage less fitting costs, personally I've looked at this many times over the last few yrs and still cannot get myself to agree it's a good deal over a tried and tested diesel tbh.

I've looked at LPG conversion in the past but the low mpg somehow negates the cheapness of the LPG. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

It's like the USA gas guzzlers, I use to drive a Citroen XM (godforsaken thing but excellent brakes) with a 2ltr 8 v petrol lump. This thing would return 35mpg on a mixed use tank. At the time in the USA in 1997, I had a Dodge Stratus on hire with a 2.4 ltr 4 pot lump similar to what Chrysler now use in the PT Cruiser. Both cars had a similar BHP etc. Whilst I got 35 mpg on 95 RON Unleaded in the Citroen, The Dodge in the USA returned 16mpg (55mph on cruise control highway driving) using 87 Octane unleaded.

Surprisingly, the cost converted into Sterling of the fuel I used in the USA was the same as I was using in the Citroen at home. Thus for me to do a mile in the Dodge at USA Cheap fuel prices in 1997 was the same as me to do a mile in the Citroen at home with more expensive fuel.

I put the MPG difference mainly down to the fuel and engine set up for torque.

So everyone thought our friends across the Atlantic had cheap fuel for years, the only flaw was that they weren't using it as efficiently as a European engine.

Don't get me wrong, LPG is still an advantage, but any tax rise, be that in one years time or ten, will negate the advantage. My USA example just highlighted at that time, It cost no more to run a modest US engine against a European one, if you use Money as the common denominator.