Boring diesel? Is it, sensible at least.

[krissharm]

So I've been bugging the forums for a bit, generally making a nuisance of myself and reading a whole lot, some good, some bad, some no doubt fake but a lot interesting... So in that vein I'm thinking of a change...

Reading what I have here I could be lead to believe that my current 07 diesel jetta though IMO sensible and not too boring could be seen as completely boring and lacking in imagination.
So I'm asking for opinions and advice from you good people. Could I, sell this car and buy a v8 of some description, stick an LPG conversion on it and run it as a daily driver and have it cost a similar amount to buy and run? Considering a do approx 20k miles a year predominantly on the motorway?

I'd be genuinely interested in your replies even if its "what are you smoking?"

[Alex@POD]

This is just an educated guess, but an LPG'd v8 won't match the running costs of a modern diesel. At best you'll match those of a 2.5l petrol.

But then it depends how old a car you want to look at, if you take depreciation into account you probably wouldn't be far off.

[NISaxoVTR]

I think an LPG conversion in something thirsty like an old land rover V8 for example makes them 'feasible' to run, but I don't think you'll get diesel economy figures from it. They're still only hitting 15mpg even if the fuel is cheap(er).

[Rob81]

If you're not bored by your Jetta, why change it?

[rumple]

I don't know if it will be as cheap to run but log is 67 pence per litre near me, the v8 will be very cheap to purchase, as opposed to more sensible engine choices which means you get a lot of car for the money, however it will cost more to lpg as you will effectively be buying two kits, the sequential kits out now are very very good, you will however have a ten percent drop in economy when on log,my mate ran an X5 4.4 and he reckoned it was the same as the 3.0 diesel to run, it certainly cost less than my 330ci.

[krissharm]

So no where near as cheap to run as I might have thought then!

[bakerstreet]

You could go and work it out using an exel. I would allow more for unplanned repairs on a V8 though.

However, I think the diesel will still come out cheapest.

[GreatGranny]

Are you wanting to change just because some blokes on the Internet think your car is boring?
If so ignore them and decide yourself.

There's no need to go to extremes. If you do want something a bit more excisting and involving why not a 320d/330d or Golf GTI.

An old V8 with LPG will not be an cheap to run as either of the above IMO.
Insurance, parts and just the cost of keeping it running will be more plus you have to spend £1500 - £2k on the conversion in the firat place.

But of course I'm just a random bloke in the internet so you can just ignore what I suggest. :-)

[anonymous-user]

There's definitely a middle ground, ecobox diesel to V8 is quite extreme. Something like a MK5 Golf GTi will nudge 40mpg while still being reasonable fun.

[krissharm]

Yes some blokes on the internet have got me thinking! Not sure i'd take the plunge but its always nice to imagine, do some man maths and try and justify a change. The jetta is very much golf like because its my undertanding that it is basically the same running gear as a mark 5 golf, so not a major jump if I went the gti route I suppose.

Perhaps I should just save some coin for a weekend motor, like the much fabled mx5.