Lpg ..... Hmmmm

[mikesands]

I've got my car booked in early March to have the LPG conversion done, but just done a check on the LPG current price of gas and - Whoah - it's up to over 80pence a litre. I've just plugged that into my spreadsheet that I built a year ago to calculate payback and it's gone from 9 months to 1.5 years. I can't find any sensible discussions on whether this narrowing of the gap between petrol and LPG is a trend or a blip.

I think I'll cancel the fitting as he won't have ordered the parts yet.

Mike

[Felix]

all really depends that you are keeping the car for a while or just yearly change.

and also don't forget you are much GREENER.

It's your call.

Felix

[ManicMark]

I've got my car booked in early March to have the LPG conversion done, but just done a check on the LPG current price of gas and - Whoah - it's up to over 80pence a litre. I've just plugged that into my spreadsheet that I built a year ago to calculate payback and it's gone from 9 months to 1.5 years. I can't find any sensible discussions on whether this narrowing of the gap between petrol and LPG is a trend or a blip.

I think I'll cancel the fitting as he won't have ordered the parts yet.

Mike

Hi mike lpg prices are linked to natural gas prices, so the price has gone up due to it being winter, The garages around me are 78p a litre but Sainsburys is 64.9 so have a shop around. Have you put the increased price of petrol in your calculator as the diference in the price per litre this year to last is about the same at 50p a litre saving.

[Malc]

Hi, I think I might have mentioned a while ago that it was my thoughts that whatever the Govt. of the day they have the ambition to equalise the value of LPG to Petrol and probably Diesel within a few years timeframe.

And to stealthily or otherwise generate whatever duty / tax they can from whatever source.

Greenish LPG might be, but with electric cars ( truly GREEN ???? ) one has to refuel in short time and WAIT for hours at the refuelling stop which is a real bugger I guess if it involves an overnight somewhere, when on other fuels you could actually be at your destination.

Big annual miles and an LPG conversion might well be economically viable but otherwise, well, who really knows !

Malc

[sir john]

LPG is still about 65p against £1.29.9 a litre for unleaded. I think you need to shop around before cancelling your order. There are web sites that have the best LPG prices apparently.

As for the "Green" electric cars; Its smoke and mirrors. The electricity comes from somewhere and thats a power station. Not that green after all. Better to buy a car that will last for 20+ years. Now thats green. (actually mines silver)

[Feckless Mancunian]

The fuel economy on mine has suffered on LPG as much as 15-20%

And it still uses petrol don't forget. I've used about a fifth of a tank in the last month just starting the thing up so will probably be filling it every four or five months. I tend to do lots of short journeys though, (school runs and off-licences) so I may not be a good example...

I might as well add my other thoughts. It doesn't feel like the same car, there are lots of tiny little minor differences. You know the things that only you know about your car? - how many fractions of a second it takes to fire up on a hot or cold start, the noise level in the cabin, the sound it makes when you kick down for a rapid over-take, the sound it makes at tickover - they're all slightly different now. I wouldn't expect anyone sitting with me to notice them, but I know it's all different. I wonder if they removed some sound-proofing in the conversion...

Plus you lose your beautiful Lexus engine cover.

I haven't noticed any loss in power though.

Would I convert the next car? Not sure yet, ask me in a year.

[SteveLS400]

Plus you lose your beautiful Lexus engine cover.

Didn't know that. Definately won't be having mine butchered.

[Feckless Mancunian]

It never even occurred to me to check and I didn't notice until I was putting screen wash in it. I'm well miffed because they didn't even stick it in the boot, they probably just binned it and I would have mounted it on my garage wall.

Grrrrr!

[Feckless Mancunian]

On the subject of butchering and something I'd definitely recommend to the OP and anyone considering LPG. What the guys who did mine got absolutely spot on was putting the gas connector inside the petrol filler door. I was worried about drilling holes in the bodywork or untidy gadgets stuck in the rear bumper. I've got none of that. It's a small brass connection behind the filler door where nobody can see it and it comes with an adaptor that has to be screwed in before gassing up. Discreet, neat and tidy. Perfect.

[Ifty]

Dear All

I had my car converted late last year and since then have done 4000 plus miles. At the start it cost about £33 to fill but now costs £38-£39 to fill.

Prices were about 52p but now I pay 66p. I believe this is a temporary blip and in march prices should drop.

I still have my engine cover and I cant see the difference between petrol and LPG. I save a lot of money and I think it is a wise thing to get it converted.

I got mine done from Bham autogas and get 250miles on atank of LPG.

Regards

Ifty

[ManicMark]

It never even occurred to me to check and I didn't notice until I was putting screen wash in it. I'm well miffed because they didn't even stick it in the boot, they probably just binned it and I would have mounted it on my garage wall.

Grrrrr!

Hi seems you have been one of the unfortunate few whos conversion has gone a bit wrong, Was it a cheap kit/conversion & was it installed by a good installer ( you dont need to loose the cover) there is room to fit the injectors with it on, I would take it back & get them to put it right.

Mine runs smoother on gas than petrol, You can hear the injectors ticking from outside the car but not inside.

Get it checked as if its not set up right you could do damage in the long term. Ive done 30,000 miles on my conversion now totaly trouble free.

With the amount ive saved its covered the conversion cost & is getting towards covering the cost of buying the car aswell. Once you have it sorted you will be happy to have taken the leap. Good luck Mark

[Bluser]

It never even occurred to me to check and I didn't notice until I was putting screen wash in it. I'm well miffed because they didn't even stick it in the boot, they probably just binned it and I would have mounted it on my garage wall.

Grrrrr!

Hi seems you have been one of the unfortunate few whos conversion has gone a bit wrong, Was it a cheap kit/conversion & was it installed by a good installer ( you dont need to loose the cover) there is room to fit the injectors with it on, I would take it back & get them to put it right.

Mine runs smoother on gas than petrol, You can hear the injectors ticking from outside the car but not inside.

Get it checked as if its not set up right you could do damage in the long term. Ive done 30,000 miles on my conversion now totaly trouble free.

With the amount ive saved its covered the conversion cost & is getting towards covering the cost of buying the car aswell. Once you have it sorted you will be happy to have taken the leap. Good luck Mark

I had my LS400 MkIV converted in May last year by Progass down in South Wales and still have the engine cover. There is no difference in the performance or the way she runs. She starts on Petrol but if your easy on the loud pedal the petrol consumption is minimal.

Lexus LS 400 + LPG = motoring paradise.

Regards Mike

[Feckless Mancunian]

Hi seems you have been one of the unfortunate few whos conversion has gone a bit wrong, Was it a cheap kit/conversion & was it installed by a good installer ( you dont need to loose the cover) there is room to fit the injectors with it on, I would take it back & get them to put it right.

Mine runs smoother on gas than petrol, You can hear the injectors ticking from outside the car but not inside.

Get it checked as if its not set up right you could do damage in the long term. Ive done 30,000 miles on my conversion now totaly trouble free.

With the amount ive saved its covered the conversion cost & is getting towards covering the cost of buying the car aswell. Once you have it sorted you will be happy to have taken the leap. Good luck Mark

Hi Mark.

Well I've got my engine cover back, they simply forgot to clip it on and I'm much happier. So please disregard my earlier post...

It's a full flashlube system and done by a good installer, I went to a lot of effort to find someone reputable and then I borrowed a car for a couple of days that they had converted. I agree with you that it runs smoother on gas than it does on petrol, I must admit it's the first thing I noticed when I originally collected it. I was hoping for better economy than I'm getting but I think part of the problem is that when you know you're only paying half the price of petrol, you tend to have a heavier right foot.

Best wishes, Dave.

[sir john]

Hi seems you have been one of the unfortunate few whos conversion has gone a bit wrong, Was it a cheap kit/conversion & was it installed by a good installer ( you dont need to loose the cover) there is room to fit the injectors with it on, I would take it back & get them to put it right.

Mine runs smoother on gas than petrol, You can hear the injectors ticking from outside the car but not inside.

Get it checked as if its not set up right you could do damage in the long term. Ive done 30,000 miles on my conversion now totaly trouble free.

With the amount ive saved its covered the conversion cost & is getting towards covering the cost of buying the car aswell. Once you have it sorted you will be happy to have taken the leap. Good luck Mark

Hi Mark.

Well I've got my engine cover back, they simply forgot to clip it on and I'm much happier. So please disregard my earlier post...

It's a full flashlube system and done by a good installer, I went to a lot of effort to find someone reputable and then I borrowed a car for a couple of days that they had converted. I agree with you that it runs smoother on gas than it does on petrol, I must admit it's the first thing I noticed when I originally collected it. I was hoping for better economy than I'm getting but I think part of the problem is that when you know you're only paying half the price of petrol, you tend to have a heavier right foot.

Best wishes, Dave.

Less MPG on LPG than petrol: i did some research last year when i was thinking of having mine converted(Still thinking/no money). I spoke to a lot of installers and the upshot is that you can expect about 20% less MPG on LPG because LPG has a lower calerific value than petrol. In simple terms, there is less energy in LPG than petrol so your engine burns more of it. Simples!

[Bluser]

Hi seems you have been one of the unfortunate few whos conversion has gone a bit wrong, Was it a cheap kit/conversion & was it installed by a good installer ( you dont need to loose the cover) there is room to fit the injectors with it on, I would take it back & get them to put it right.

Mine runs smoother on gas than petrol, You can hear the injectors ticking from outside the car but not inside.

Get it checked as if its not set up right you could do damage in the long term. Ive done 30,000 miles on my conversion now totaly trouble free.

With the amount ive saved its covered the conversion cost & is getting towards covering the cost of buying the car aswell. Once you have it sorted you will be happy to have taken the leap. Good luck Mark

Hi Mark.

Well I've got my engine cover back, they simply forgot to clip it on and I'm much happier. So please disregard my earlier post...

It's a full flashlube system and done by a good installer, I went to a lot of effort to find someone reputable and then I borrowed a car for a couple of days that they had converted. I agree with you that it runs smoother on gas than it does on petrol, I must admit it's the first thing I noticed when I originally collected it. I was hoping for better economy than I'm getting but I think part of the problem is that when you know you're only paying half the price of petrol, you tend to have a heavier right foot.

Best wishes, Dave.

Less MPG on LPG than petrol: i did some research last year when i was thinking of having mine converted(Still thinking/no money). I spoke to a lot of installers and the upshot is that you can expect about 20% less MPG on LPG because LPG has a lower calerific value than petrol. In simple terms, there is less energy in LPG than petrol so your engine burns more of it. Simples!

I have been quoted all sorts of figuers regarding MPG from 0% to 15%. Truth is there has never been a proper scientific study done to accertain what the truth is.

I have run our two family cars on LPG for the last 15 years and can honestly say I dont notice any difference in MPG or Power.

Running cars with large engines does tend to make you be that much gentler with the loud pedal and that in itself brings the MPG figure up.

I can remember when I first filled up with LPG I had a big smile on my face as I wasnt being robbed of as much money as the poor Deisel/Petrol people were and I still have a smile on my face at the filling station.

If you are buying a car to keep for as long as possible its a no brainer to get it convereted.

Mike

[John N]

Mike, I would never consider converting a car to LPG again. The previous two cars I had were a 'C' Class and an 'S' class Merc and I had both converted to LPG with multi-point injection systems. Both conversions gave problems from the start, the first installer went broke and the second installer went missing! I tried a number of LPG 'experts' but nobody could get them to run properly for any length of time.

I more than recouped the installation costs over the 7 years I had them, but they had so many problems it just was not worth it.

The LS430 may cost a fortune to run on petrol, but it's worth ever penny, and I'm not prepared to chance ruining it with another duff LPG conversion.

If you do insist on converting the car chose your installer and system very carefully, and talk to their past customers.

Best of luck, John N

[Bluser]

Mike, I would never consider converting a car to LPG again. The previous two cars I had were a 'C' Class and an 'S' class Merc and I had both converted to LPG with multi-point injection systems. Both conversions gave problems from the start, the first installer went broke and the second installer went missing! I tried a number of LPG 'experts' but nobody could get them to run properly for any length of time.

I more than recouped the installation costs over the 7 years I had them, but they had so many problems it just was not worth it.

The LS430 may cost a fortune to run on petrol, but it's worth ever penny, and I'm not prepared to chance ruining it with another duff LPG conversion.

If you do insist on converting the car chose your installer and system very carefully, and talk to their past customers.

Best of luck, John N

Hi John,

Sorry to hear of your LPG problems. You really did come up against some awful installers but you cant put down LPG because of your experience. It wasnt the LPG systems fault you had installed it was the diabolical so called Installers (Cowboys)

I guarantee if you were to use Professautogas in South Wales you would be as happy as a pig in ****. 8 Cylinder LPG Conversion £1250 inc VAT and all in a day + a loan car for the day already converted to LPG so you can have a leisurely drive around the beautiful South and Mid Wales country side for the day while your is being converted.

It is a shame these LPG installers are not legally bound to regisister in the same way that Gas engineers have to be when dealing with gas in the home that would see an end to all these cowboys and give LPG the good name it deserves.

Best wishes Mike