Dave.W

Dave My point was that there are lots of cheap kits around, you can buy a front end kit for a few hundred pounds but the quality of it is terrible, it just won't work well on your pride and joy.... I intend to keep mine a while so opted for the best kit you can buy, the Prins, the front end kits are now about £800 trade, you then have to add tank, filler, fill hose etc etc and you can get to £1200 very easily if you speck the best, then add 2 1/2 - 3 days labour and you can see why it costs £2000... I have nothing against non LPGA installers, I just wonder why they don't join???? It doesn't cost much and 99% of insurance companies want to see a LPGA certificate. Would you let any old tradesman service your gas boiler.... Unfortunately there are no rules and regs regarding LPG installs and anyone can do it with no training or knowledge... if you go the non LPGA route just make sure they know what they are doing and check with your insurance company first. It also goes without saying that just because they are LPGA registered does not mean they are any good either, it’s just that you have some comeback.... To answer the other comments above about cheap bits.... would you fix your Lexus or service it with any old bit made in some backstreet in Eastern Europe???? If so then go ahead and use the cheapest bits you can find.... better start saving for new engine parts as well though.... Oh and I totally agree about "what the market can bear" which is why you have to do research on the kit offered to see if you are getting value for money. Good luck with whatever decision you make. Pete Thanks, I decided against it on the grounds that at a cost of £2K it will take me 3 years to break even at my mpg and annual mileage by which time the car will be 7 years old. Also the government's promise about duty on LPG runs out then so it becomes even more of a lottery as I don't trust them further than I can throw them! I'm due to retire in a couple of years so I may have to downgrade to a less opulent car than a Lexus then anyway! I don't think I mentioned the word "cheap" in my post. My concern is "value for money". Cheers, Dave W.

The reason for the price increase is that LPG is tied to the price of a barrel of oil (as that's where it comes from) and it's raw cost goes up the same as petrol. The duty is a lot less as is the amount of VAT (remember there's a tax on the tax on fuel!). The price differential is expected to remain. Remember that in the same period petrol has gone up from around 93p/litre to 115p/litre. LPG wins again I think. It's diesel users who are really being hammered as it's now around 20p MORE than petrol whjereas it was only 4p a few months ago.

Yes, I think you're right..I have seen similar comments elsewhere and it does beg the question if the hardware's £600, what's the other £1600 for? Most installers quote 2 days to do the work so £800/day does seem excessive doesn't it? Another consideration that I've been warned about is whether the installer removes the inlet manifold to drill it for the gas injectors. Apparently if they don't then the aluminium swarf can get into the valves causing valve/seat damage and the aluminium itself can poison the cat resulting in an emissions failure in a future MOT plus an expensive new cat. There is a company in Petersfield, P I Fuel Systems, who have a device called CrossFlow which obviates the need for the manifold being drilled but I don't yet know if that will fit my Lexus.

Mmmm....I'm amazed to see someone who lives in rip-off Britain still saying "you get what you pay for" 'cos it patently ain't the case. When I bought my IS300 I could have paid £16K if I'd just assumed that and gone to the local Lexus Hedge End dealer. Instead I shopped around and found a car in better condition with lower mileage for £13,500 in Lexus Bristol. Try telling diesel drivers you get what you pay for now diesel is 16-20p/litre more than petrol when the differential was only 4-6p a few months ago....another profiteering rip-off. Unfortunately most businesses in the UK work on a "what the market can bear" price rather than cost + profit and it seems to me the LPGA-approved installers try to profit out of the so-called status of approval. The level of service I've received from my local LPGA-approved installers has been dreadful so far. Only one out of five has even bothered to reply to me. It does concern me that I can't get a competitive price from an installer closer to home (OZON are in Plymouth & I'm in Southampton) & unfortunately if I'm going to have to pay £2K+ for the conversion then I'm not prepared to risk it as I can't guarantee I'll get the money back let alone start saving as I can't say how long I'll keep the car. Thanks for all the comments/advice. Dave W.

Dave See this link for the install on mine... http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...showtopic=49175 How many of the companies stated that you would need a flash lube kit (upper cylinder and valve lubrication) as the 300 engine is known to suffer from valve seat recession, if they didn't then don't use them, they should have known and they should have told you the consequences. The flash lube kits are good but you do have to remember to fill them up, let them run out and you will get an expensive bill.... Stay away from GreenFuel they use local installers and bung their bit on top.... I would only ever fit Prins to my cars, it is a great kit, others have had good results with other kits though.... Prins are just bringing out a built in valve lube kit that injects the lubricant along with the LPG, this is a much better idea as the amount is controlled more accurately. With a flash lube you can over do it and coke up the engine.... Anyway this should not put you off, just make sure the installer is LPGA registered and get some references. If you want a saving calculator then try this one http://autogasyorkshire.com/savings-calculator.php Good Luck Pete Pete, interesting..thanks. AMS are LPGA approved and did suggest a flash lube kit (not included in the quoted £2145) although I don't know which brand of conversion kit they were quoting for. To be honest I have been disappointed with the lack of response from the LPGA-approved installers in my area, only AMS of the 5 I called/emailed have bothered to respond. Both of the non-LPGA-approved installers responded by return (PT Autogas & OZON). OZON quoted £1400 (special offer down from £2000 for June) for a LANDIRENZO OMEGAS multipoint sequential injection system. PT Autogas quoted £1650 for an Aldesa system. Any views on either of those? Dave.

I wondered if any of you have considered converting or have actually converted an IS300 to run on LPG? There seems to be a wide variation in the quoted cost of doing this and so I wanted to seek some advice. I have been quoted £2268 by GreenFuel, £2145 by AMS Autogas, £1650 by PT Autogas and £1400 by OZON LPG Installations. Bearing in mind the you can save 40% by using LPG (50% of price of petrol, 20% reduction in MPG) the initial outlay is important to calculate when you start saving. Thanks, Dave.