Lpg?

[Rodt]

I currently use my 1996 LS400 one week in three (I share out mileage between it, an MGF and a Triumph Toledo) for commuting 5 miles each way plus one or two 70-100 mile trips a month so around 6,500 miles a year. I average around 22mpg.

My office is shortly to move and I will have a 25 mile each way commute, mostly on the M25 in rush hour both way. I really don't want to use the 38 year old Toledo for this so mileage on the LS will be up to around 10,000 a year. I should get slightly better mpg, say 25, due to the longer runs.

I understand that LPG conversions can be had for around £1,000 so question is or rather questions are:

• The LS cost me just under £1k + a set of tyres. Is it worth spending nearly as much again just for the LPG conversion? She just sailed through the MoT with no advisories save a slightly damaged front number plate and almost unbelieveably clean emissions results..
• I have never driven an LPG powered car. Is there likely to be any noticeable performance difference?
• I haven't really looked but is LPG hard to find?
• If I had a problem such as redundancy and needed to move the Lexus on (Heaven forfend, I love my Lexus) is the LPG conversion likely to increase or decrease interest in the car?

Heart is telling me not to bother and that all will be OK as it is. Head is telling m I need to invest to save.

Any advice or guidance would e grealy appreciated.

[Bluesman]

I currently use my 1996 LS400 one week in three (I share out mileage between it, an MGF and a Triumph Toledo) for commuting 5 miles each way plus one or two 70-100 mile trips a month so around 6,500 miles a year. I average around 22mpg.

My office is shortly to move and I will have a 25 mile each way commute, mostly on the M25 in rush hour both way. I really don't want to use the 38 year old Toledo for this so mileage on the LS will be up to around 10,000 a year. I should get slightly better mpg, say 25, due to the longer runs.

I understand that LPG conversions can be had for around £1,000 so question is or rather questions are:

• The LS cost me just under £1k + a set of tyres. Is it worth spending nearly as much again just for the LPG conversion? She just sailed through the MoT with no advisories save a slightly damaged front number plate and almost unbelieveably clean emissions results..
• I have never driven an LPG powered car. Is there likely to be any noticeable performance difference?
• I haven't really looked but is LPG hard to find?
• If I had a problem such as redundancy and needed to move the Lexus on (Heaven forfend, I love my Lexus) is the LPG conversion likely to increase or decrease interest in the car?

Heart is telling me not to bother and that all will be OK as it is. Head is telling m I need to invest to save.

Any advice or guidance would e grealy appreciated.

I have had my cars converted for the last 16 years as well as my wifes cars.

They do say there is a depericiation in power but I have never noticed it. also MPG drops slightly but if your driving carefully, again you wont notice much difference.

LPG is much easier to get hold of these days than it was when I first converted. Nearly all Motorway SS have LPG pump. You soon get used to where they are and eventualy you dont think about it. I am currantly paying 69p

Selling an LPG car is not difficult as long as you have the certificate and invoices most people buying these cars are thinking of converting. You wont get any extra for it.

Profess in South Wales are charging £1200 + VAT and will do the work in a day

They will lend you a car so you can enjoy a nice day in beautiful Wales and hey presto one converted car. They have done 3 for me now in the last 3 years and there is not a problem with any of them.

Hope you find this useful Mike

[Lexmanic]

I have 98 LS 400 which has been LPG'd since 2002 The savings are very noticeable & makes it very useable Also yes it does increase its desirability AND saleability but not enough to cover the cost of installing the LPG Having said that if you intend to keep it for a long time its worth getting done IMHO

[mr..bean]

You will lose about 10% of your mpg and save about £2.50 a gallon, say 10p a mile or so. So 10000 miles and you have covered the conversion costs.

But you will have to get the lpg system serviced which will be an extra cost.

To be honest I wouldn't go for a £1000 conversion, you should spent twice that for a decent prins system if your going to do it.

I guess there is the question that how long will it take you to do 15000 miles for you to roughly break even?

There is also the point of view that lpg lexus's never 'quite' run right, something 2 different people have said to me.

[Lexmanic]

You will lose about 10% of your mpg and save about £2.50 a gallon, say 10p a mile or so. So 10000 miles and you have covered the conversion costs.

But you will have to get the lpg system serviced which will be an extra cost.

To be honest I wouldn't go for a £1000 conversion, you should spent twice that for a decent prins system if your going to do it.

I guess there is the question that how long will it take you to do 15000 miles for you to roughly break even?

There is also the point of view that lpg lexus's never 'quite' run right, something 2 different people have said to me.

Mine runs OK In fact there's no noticeable difference in performance between LPG & Petrol

[jpjsavage]

I've got mixed views on this. I was encouraged to look out for a LPG'd one and I bought my '98 LS with a multi point PRINs system installed. It's been fine so far but, as others have said, you have to budget for the service costs. If I was doing limited miles each year (which I do), I'm not sure if I would bother getting one converted unless I was absolutely sure that I was going to keep the car and maintain it for many years.

[Lexmanic]

I've got mixed views on this. I was encouraged to look out for a LPG'd one and I bought my '98 LS with a multi point PRINs system installed. It's been fine so far but, as others have said, you have to budget for the service costs. If I was doing limited miles each year (which I do), I'm not sure if I would bother getting one converted unless I was absolutely sure that I was going to keep the car and maintain it for many years.

I agree if your planning on selling soon after there's no point in getting it LPG'd but if you intend to keep for some time say 3/4 years I say get it done as chances are that once done you'll keep it longer anyway after all what's there to compare with a well maintained LS

[Lexmanic]

I've got mixed views on this. I was encouraged to look out for a LPG'd one and I bought my '98 LS with a multi point PRINs system installed. It's been fine so far but, as others have said, you have to budget for the service costs. If I was doing limited miles each year (which I do), I'm not sure if I would bother getting one converted unless I was absolutely sure that I was going to keep the car and maintain it for many years.

I agree if your planning on selling soon after there's no point in getting it LPG'd but if you intend to keep for some time say 3/4 years I say get it done as chances are that once done you'll keep it longer anyway after all what's there to compare with a well maintained cheap to run LS

[Bluesman]

You will lose about 10% of your mpg and save about £2.50 a gallon, say 10p a mile or so. So 10000 miles and you have covered the conversion costs.

But you will have to get the lpg system serviced which will be an extra cost.

To be honest I wouldn't go for a £1000 conversion, you should spent twice that for a decent prins system if your going to do it.

I guess there is the question that how long will it take you to do 15000 miles for you to roughly break even?

There is also the point of view that lpg lexus's never 'quite' run right, something 2 different people have said to me.

Never been a problem on my Mk LS400 or come to that any of the other systems I have had fitted over the years.

The only reason a Prins system cost more from your suppliers is because they have a bigger profit margin. Trawl through Google and try and find one bad write up about Profess and their AC STAG systems which are considered as one of the best performers in the market.

Mike

[Lexmanic]

I'll be visiting Gas & Go Swindon for a service as soon as mine is back from its suspension, steering, discs, pads, tyres, refurb. Also they know their way around Lexus/Toyota their engineer having worked for Lexus for 15 years

[Rodt]

Thanks for the advice, folks.

Looks to me as though I need to do a thorough investigation of costs based on the car being worth the same after conversion as it is now so it's just the saving on fuel costs against the cost of conversion and servicing.

We shall see....

[Bluesman]

Thanks for the advice, folks.

Looks to me as though I need to do a thorough investigation of costs based on the car being worth the same after conversion as it is now so it's just the saving on fuel costs against the cost of conversion and servicing.

We shall see....

Its not just the cost of fuel saving, your engine will love you as there are not the contaminates you get with petrol which means your engine will last a lot longer than a car running its entire life on petrol. You will also feel better knowing that global warming has nothing to do with you. Mike

[The-Acre]

Thanks for the advice, folks.

Looks to me as though I need to do a thorough investigation of costs based on the car being worth the same after conversion as it is now so it's just the saving on fuel costs against the cost of conversion and servicing.

We shall see....

Just to put another slant on it. It was discussed here a week or so ago that having LPG makes the job of repairing/replacing the starter motor much more involved, apparently some mechanics won't even touch it. As the starter is known to play up it may be worth considering. Having said that, my previous MK2 was 20 years old with no starter problems, but it is worth some thought I think.

Phil

[jpjsavage]

I think the key thing is to decide how long you want to keep the car for before you do anything else. If it is a keeper, it makes sense to convert it for all sorts of reasons. BTW, I told my mechanic about the starter motor issue and he laughed. For him, at least, there was not a problem with sorting the starter motor with or without an LPG system installed.

[Bluesman]

I think the key thing is to decide how long you want to keep the car for before you do anything else. If it is a keeper, it makes sense to convert it for all sorts of reasons. BTW, I told my mechanic about the starter motor issue and he laughed. For him, at least, there was not a problem with sorting the starter motor with or without an LPG system installed.

My local garage laughed as well. Mike

[The-Acre]

I think the key thing is to decide how long you want to keep the car for before you do anything else. If it is a keeper, it makes sense to convert it for all sorts of reasons. BTW, I told my mechanic about the starter motor issue and he laughed. For him, at least, there was not a problem with sorting the starter motor with or without an LPG system installed.

My local garage laughed as well. Mike

Fair comments, but it reminds me of the amount of times a mechanic has said he can replace the cam belt on an LS for £200 without even knowing what's involved. However you look at it, it increases the labour time, therefore the cost.

[Bluesman]

I think the key thing is to decide how long you want to keep the car for before you do anything else. If it is a keeper, it makes sense to convert it for all sorts of reasons. BTW, I told my mechanic about the starter motor issue and he laughed. For him, at least, there was not a problem with sorting the starter motor with or without an LPG system installed.

My local garage laughed as well. Mike

Fair comments, but it reminds me of the amount of times a mechanic has said he can replace the cam belt on an LS for £200 without even knowing what's involved. However you look at it, it increases the labour time, therefore the cost.

When I had head gaskets replaced (Jeep M Benz Vauxhall Omega) its never been a problem and they all had LPG fitted at the time. Mike

[Lexmanic]

Thanks for the advice, folks.

Looks to me as though I need to do a thorough investigation of costs based on the car being worth the same after conversion as it is now so it's just the saving on fuel costs against the cost of conversion and servicing.

We shall see....

It WILL be worth more after the conversation just not enough to cover the cost of said conversatuion

[jpjsavage]

Agree with the time/cost, but I think that a bigger issue is that many mechanics lack either the skill or confidence (or both) to tackle LPG systems (not helped by a weak 'licensing' regime which, by its nature, prescribes some garages as competent (licensed) and others incompetent (unlicensed)).

[bookend]

If you plan on keeping the car LPG is the best option unless you don't need to wory about the cost of fuel.

My LPG service is only £50 once a year and just find a friendly garage that doesn't wory about LPG being fitted

[Bluesman]

If you plan on keeping the car LPG is the best option unless you don't need to wory about the cost of fuel.

My LPG service is only £50 once a year and just find a friendly garage that doesn't wory about LPG being fitted

Are you talking about the cost of just servicing the LPG system or

an engine service??

Profess now will sell you a cable that you plug into your Laptop

and car (about £30) communicate with Profess through your Laptop and

they can read and adjust any parameters that need adjusting. If fuel

filter is needed they just pop that in the post, takes only a couple

of mins to fit new filter, link up with Profess again and they again just check all

the parameters and adjust if necessary. All done no need to pay them

a visit. Mike

[brendangeorge]

If you plan on keeping the car LPG is the best option unless you don't need to wory about the cost of fuel.

My LPG service is only £50 once a year and just find a friendly garage that doesn't wory about LPG being fitted

Are you talking about the cost of just servicing the LPG system or

an engine service??

Profess now will sell you a cable that you plug into your Laptop

and car (about £30) communicate with Profess through your Laptop and

they can read and adjust any parameters that need adjusting. If fuel

filter is needed they just pop that in the post, takes only a couple

of mins to fit new filter, link up with Profess again and they again just check all

the parameters and adjust if necessary. All done no need to pay them

a visit. Mike

Sounds great I know what system I will probably use for my next conversion.

Bren

[bookend]

You also need to change thr filter which is easy enough the £50 is just the LPG service normal service costs on top.

[Rodt]

I have now done the maths and decided against the LPG option. I have a commute of 25 miles each way to do each weekday, 22 of which is motorway/car park i.e. M25. I now have available an Alfa Romeo GTV 2.0 as well as my MGF, both capable of 30+mpg. Would not be fair to ask the Triumph Toledo to participate so spreading the extra 10,000 miles a year between the 3 cars isn't going to make spending money on the LS worthwhile, especially as my firm have offered a sufficient pay rise to cover my extra costs.

In the unlikely event of my ever moving on from the LS (a 460 is tempting but too costly just now) I'll have another look.

BTW, I bought the Alfa while shopping for a diesel hatchback; the Toledo while shopping for a Morris Minor; the Lexus while shopping for an estate. I was actually looking for an MGF when I bought mine so I'm not totally a lost cause.

[ManicMark]

Hi if you are looking at an ls460 they are direct injection. At the moment the only company making direct injection kits is AC Stag I believe (correct me if I am wrong) these kits are car specific so you would have to check if one is available for the 460.

Maybe you should look for an lpg nissan micra or alike for your commute.