Why is LPG not more widespread?
Discussion
I quite liked my old LPG beemer. Finally sold it for a diesel last year and now LPG's dropped to 42p/L, smeg. People's opposition seems to be centred around either a) the price is going to go up soon which it never seems to and b) it will blow your engine up which I can't comment on having had no problems.
I've had a couple of lpg cars and they've been great. I did buy them with it already installed though and would be hesitant on buying a car and then having it fitted myself.
I think there are unspoken worries about carrying a compressed gas tank in the boot and on most cars it would take 15-20k of miles until you break even alone, so it's quite a long term commitment to have it done - especially when people don't keep their cars long enough for it to be worthwhile.
We also live in a world of hire purchasing and it probably isn't allowed unless you own the car.
Add to that the fact it can reduce the value of a car instead of put it up and the limited availability of the fuel, it makes sense to see why it hasn't been as popular as other countries.
I think there are unspoken worries about carrying a compressed gas tank in the boot and on most cars it would take 15-20k of miles until you break even alone, so it's quite a long term commitment to have it done - especially when people don't keep their cars long enough for it to be worthwhile.
We also live in a world of hire purchasing and it probably isn't allowed unless you own the car.
Add to that the fact it can reduce the value of a car instead of put it up and the limited availability of the fuel, it makes sense to see why it hasn't been as popular as other countries.
BoRED S2upid said:
Why don't manufacturers make LPG cars?
They did, but sales were terrible! The other problem is it's difficult for manufacturers to sell cars where they've had to ditch the spare wheel or halve the fuel tank size - that's a much easier sell for a retrofit kit.The big worry for me would be engine reliability, although if you get a kit with additive that's probably even less of a worry.
For me its threefold
1) No LPG near me unless I go massively out of my way to a motorway services (where it's far more expensive than a 'normal' garage).
2) Fear of engine damage.
3) Long payback time.
Basically I only do ~5k PA of personal miles so it would workout at something like a £300 saving PA. Not really worth it when I don't intend to keep the car long enough for it to pay back!
1) No LPG near me unless I go massively out of my way to a motorway services (where it's far more expensive than a 'normal' garage).
2) Fear of engine damage.
3) Long payback time.
Basically I only do ~5k PA of personal miles so it would workout at something like a £300 saving PA. Not really worth it when I don't intend to keep the car long enough for it to pay back!
Krikkit said:
The other problem is it's difficult for manufacturers to sell cars where they've had to ditch the spare wheel or halve the fuel tank size - that's a much easier sell for a retrofit kit.
I know of a lot of cars that don't have a spare wheel and only come with either a compressor or instant tyre weld stuff, even if there's a spare wheel well?!I think it's a shame that it isn't being pushed at all when compared to wind up cars as an alternative fuel. It's less environmentally harmful even isn't it than running diesel or petrol?
SuperHangOn said:
Because the government might just raise the tax.
People have said that for decades, but it's still half the price of petrol. How much have you spent on petrol in 20 years? A lot.SuperHangOn said:
I avoid it on secondhand cars because it must add serious faff to repair jobs
Not at all, the systems are basically entirely separate.SuperHangOn said:
and every other lpg car I see for sale has a running problem.
Really? Modern multipoint systems are generally very good indeed. I've never had a problem across 3 different LPG bangers and many thousands of miles.People only get LPG when they have a car with a big engine(most of the time) and often takes a lot of fuel to run, making LPG the cheaper alternative for them. Problem is, the UK hasn't got many people with cars that really drink fuel e.g. V8's, everyone has ecoboxes or small 4 cylinder engines. I think cars consume more LPG in miles per gallon than petrol anyway, making the only advantage of LPG being that it is cheaper, making it less expensive to run in the long run.
I've run LPG vehicles since 2004, all jeeps...
The first one, an old cherokee 4.0 that I had converted just after I bought it at 75k miles.....sold at 150k miles...
Then bought a 4.7 v8 grand cherokee, bought with 50k on the clock already converted....still going strong at 140k miles.
I also have a 5.7 Hemi grand Cherokee, bought already converted at around 50k miles, now on 90k, and again runs perfectly...
I estimate that since 2004 I've probably spent around £30,000 less on fuel than I would have done if using petrol.... In saying that, I would have been driving a Mondeo or a Vectra instead of a Jeep......so it's not a "saving" as such.....LPG just means I can drive something I like, rather than something I have to drive, because it's all I can afford to run..
The first one, an old cherokee 4.0 that I had converted just after I bought it at 75k miles.....sold at 150k miles...
Then bought a 4.7 v8 grand cherokee, bought with 50k on the clock already converted....still going strong at 140k miles.
I also have a 5.7 Hemi grand Cherokee, bought already converted at around 50k miles, now on 90k, and again runs perfectly...
I estimate that since 2004 I've probably spent around £30,000 less on fuel than I would have done if using petrol.... In saying that, I would have been driving a Mondeo or a Vectra instead of a Jeep......so it's not a "saving" as such.....LPG just means I can drive something I like, rather than something I have to drive, because it's all I can afford to run..
djad1200 said:
This is my expert area !!!!
vauxhalls did
They used a system called koltec necam and quite frankly ..... It was rubbish
Because of the poor quality of gas in the UK the injectors used to get clogged up
A new set of injectors from vauxhalls were £960+vat
Yes you read that right
That's with no guarantee that they would work. It could actually be something else that had broken but the injectors were first port of call
Anyway the full price for a FULL LPG system to be fitted and certified is £1400 with a 2 year warranty
So ita cheaper to rip it out and start again
The reason why Vauxhalls have stopped doing lpg cars is because the gas systems were breaking down under warranty and it was costing them a fortune
The did however retry the idea with a BRC system instead which is a much better system. This would be in the car from new but not fitted at the factory
Anyway they did it on a load of new insignias
The system worked perfectly apart from one thing
The new Vauxhall engine is a vvti and burns out seats and valves whilst on LPG
So again back to square one. Only this time the cars all needed new cylinder heads instead
Hope this is enough info :-P
vauxhalls did
They used a system called koltec necam and quite frankly ..... It was rubbish
Because of the poor quality of gas in the UK the injectors used to get clogged up
A new set of injectors from vauxhalls were £960+vat
Yes you read that right
That's with no guarantee that they would work. It could actually be something else that had broken but the injectors were first port of call
Anyway the full price for a FULL LPG system to be fitted and certified is £1400 with a 2 year warranty
So ita cheaper to rip it out and start again
The reason why Vauxhalls have stopped doing lpg cars is because the gas systems were breaking down under warranty and it was costing them a fortune
The did however retry the idea with a BRC system instead which is a much better system. This would be in the car from new but not fitted at the factory
Anyway they did it on a load of new insignias
The system worked perfectly apart from one thing
The new Vauxhall engine is a vvti and burns out seats and valves whilst on LPG
So again back to square one. Only this time the cars all needed new cylinder heads instead
Hope this is enough info :-P
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