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[vic]

Petrol prices are "never" going to go down.
 I still remember my dad said to me 'too many years ago " I don't know why they don't put petrol up to five bob a gallon and have done with it". Those were the days for those old enough to remember, and yes' I was just a 'sprog!
I drive a 2000 facelift 2.2 four pot estate and recently have been considering going dual fuel, but have no idea of the ins and outs'. What do the gas heads on the forum recomend as the best system and what sort of price should I expect to pay for the conversaion. As always your thoughts/opinions are appreciated
VC

[tunnie]

see my threads in General Car Chat, i just converted using Stag kit, which is commonly used on V6, it works very well, and is an excellent price

[markfree]

To be honest it's not worth converting a 10 year-old car to LPG as you'll probably be scrapping it before you have recouped your outlay.

[Lazydocker]

To be honest it's not worth converting a 10 year-old car to LPG as you'll probably be scrapping it before you have recouped your outlay.

How do you work that out? If he's planning to do more than 10k before scrapping it then a DIY kit will have paid for itself and he'll have some money saved in his pocket

My V6 conversion was paid for within 4 months due to the mileage I do (about 30k/year)

[alank46]

Hi
Depends, I usually buy my cars at 10 years old and sell them when they get to 20, still running and saleable.  Only reason I don't convert to gas is that my mileage is split between 3 cars, so each only does about 3,000 miles pa, and that is not enough to justify the cost of a conversion.  Mind you if petrol goes up much more I may have to think again.
Alan

To be honest it's not worth converting a 10 year-old car to LPG as you'll probably be scrapping it before you have recouped your outlay.

[Lazydocker]

Hi
Depends, I usually buy my cars at 10 years old and sell them when they get to 20, still running and saleable.  Only reason I don't convert to gas is that my mileage is split between 3 cars, so each only does about 3,000 miles pa, and that is not enough to justify the cost of a conversion.  Mind you if petrol goes up much more I may have to think again.
Alan

To be honest it's not worth converting a 10 year-old car to LPG as you'll probably be scrapping it before you have recouped your outlay.

In your situation I wouldn't really advise a conversion, unless you were going to use one car more than the others. Even then, it would take so long to start saving it probably wouldn't be worth it :-/

[andy72]

 I bought mine already converted with a brc system. Only reason I bought it really. The guy paid 3k 5 years ago to have done. Costs £28 to fill the tank so almost as cheap as my company passat bluemotion diesel to run.

Downsides are the huge 80 litre tank in the boot and the fact a lot of garages Inc my local vauxhall chain won't work on it due to needing sniff testers etc. Have to keep sending it back to LPG installers but they always give it a once over while it's there. It's just come back after a new regulator ang mpg has gone up from 18 to 26!!!

[andy72]

Also heard that LPG cars aren't allowed through channel tunnel ?

[tunnie]

Also heard that LPG cars aren't allowed through channel tunnel ?

Correct, some health and safety bod decided on that one. Why when an LPG tank is far stronger than plastic / metal filled petrol tanks, is beyond me.  :-/

Train is very expensive, i use the ferry, its only about 30/45 mins longer, plus i can get a greasy breakfast

[cem_devecioglu]

4 pots are easy to convert to lpg.. and logical ..

if your car is in good condition (especially the ignition part) you wont have problems.. if you really like this car then you may use it longer than you planned with the lowered fuel costs.. worth it..

[tunnie]

To be honest it's not worth converting a 10 year-old car to LPG as you'll probably be scrapping it before you have recouped your outlay.

Completely disagree, maybe on a french car, but my 10 year old car has plenty of life left it, and cost will be re-couped in matter of months

[TheBoy]

Also heard that LPG cars aren't allowed through channel tunnel ?

Correct.  Technically, nor are any gas cylinders if you go camping.....

[vic]

Thanks for your thoughts guys, an Tunnie, "brilliant job mate, well done! Seems I've started an interesting debate, but on balance opinion appears to be in favour.The car is in good condition 65k with a fully stamped service book. Visited Black Boots and Wheels in Motion last week for the full laser alignment jobbie and it handles brilliantly. It's like driving an armchair and the load carrying capacity is second to none. Got the odd maintenance issue like any car of it's age but overall, the only reason I would sell it is because of the cost of petrol. The reason I asked the question was to get the benefit of the experience of those forum members that have the LPG, T-shirt. Given, that if I decide to go the LPG route I will likely have to have it done professionaly due to somewhat 'advanced years shall we say'.Should I go for a single point or sequential system, is one make better than another,are there installers I should avoid. I lve in the SE and accept prices are likely higher here.
VC

[Kevin Wood]

Vic,
You are welcome to have a look over my LPG setup next time I'm visiting the mother-in-law.

Kevin

[tunnie]

with 65k miles its just ripe for LPG, loads of life left in it