LPG conversion instead of driving a TDI?

wafers

My fiancee drives her 130 tdi Mk4 Golf on a daily round trip of £30 miles (work and back), and is getting 50 mpg on the journey.
However, the Golf is starting to get a bit long in the tooth, and we've started looking at the newer shape Leon TDI's.
However, engine issues seem to be a problem with them, and they still fetch strong prices.
My latest thought is buying an FSI petrol engined Leon, getting an LPG conversion (she'll keep the car for at least 3 years) and doing things that way. Positives:

Car cheaper to buy in first place
LPG waaaaay cheaper than diesel
Engine more likely to be reliable and less issues than TDI equivalent (or so I assume?)
Cheaper running costs than the diesel equivalent?


Negatives:
Initial cost of LPG conversion (should be offset during 3 year + ownership though?)
Availability of LPG (we're in Mid-Cornwall, so not necessarily that easy to find it at the pump....)
Road tax costs? Not sure on this one - the Golf is only about £120ish for the year iirc; would the Leon road tax cost drop to similar when LPG conversion is declared?

It's a new area to me, but one I'm interested in exploring. Still unsure if we bought a petrol turbo Leon whether it would drink the LPG heavily.
Any advice or ideas appreciated.
Cheers!

gilbert_and_sullivan

http://www.filllpg.co.uk/index.php?page=lpg.php
Slow site but worth the wait, prices only as up to date as the last entry.

VED you only get a £10 per year concession for multi fuel car, and you'll have to jump through so many hops to get it that its hardly worth the bother, i haven't had my MB reclassified.

Turbo car will only drink as much gas as it would petrol if you drove it hard.

Remember to work out where to put the gas tank, does the Leon have a decent spare wheel well to accomodate a toroidal tank?

Factor in maybe a 5 litre bottle of flashlube valve seat saver per year @ around £60.

As a general rule of thumb i reckon LPG'd cars cost about the same to run as an equivalent Diesel.
The benefits (to me) are the ability to run a real engine not something that should be in a van or tractor, and usually a better choice of auto gearbox though thats not the case with VW group, also not as many of the ticking time bomb wallet emptying regular problems that modern Diesels throw up.

attila_

I'm 90% sure you can't convert fsi or tfsi to lpg yet. Lpg conversions are only done on single an multi point injection.

forgotmyname

LPG is not the huge saving it used to be. Its still cheaper. But a good diesel will be a better option with less issues.

TradePro

Just wanted to point out that their are other car brands/manufacturers out there, and that it's not compulsory to stick with VAG

By coincidence, most of the others are cheaper to buy and don't have engine issues.

Weird eh?

patman99

I had an LPG-converted Convoy Hi-Top LWB fitted with a Rover 3.0 V8. When I took it for its first MOT under my ownership, the MOT man changed the fuel type on the computer to 'LPG', so from that point on, I was exempt from the congestion charge in London (not that I ever drove to London).
Also made the vehicle exempt from the emmisions test part of the MOT (good job as it would never have passed running on petrol).

forgotmyname

Exempt if you register the vehicle to be exempt which costs. Sp not entirely free.

It should still be tested for emissions but on the fuel you were running it on when your took it in.

SailorSam

This is an interesting read.

http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/lpg-conversion-a-helpful-guide/

GolfBravo

wafers wrote: »

My fiancee drives her 130 tdi Mk4 Golf on a daily round trip of 30 miles (work and back), and is getting 50 mpg on the journey.
...
My latest thought is buying an FSI petrol engined Leon, getting an LPG conversion (she'll keep the car for at least 3 years)
...
Engine more likely to be reliable and less issues than TDI equivalent (or so I assume?)
Cheaper running costs than the diesel equivalent?

A VW FSI (direct injection) engine requires a top of the line LPG kit. The car would run 25% fuel and 75% LPG (FSI injectors need fuel to cool them down, otherwise they melt - LPG engines run hotter than petrol), so you don't get the full £ benefit of LPG. Very labour intensive installation (requires drilling holes in the engine to install gas injectors) and you're looking at £2000+.

IMHO VW FSI engine is not suitable for LPG conversion. You'll also need to maintain the engine in top condition to avoid any potential costly problems (more frequent oil changes, spark plugs, air filter, etc.). You would also lose half the boot space to the LPG tank. The exhaust will rust quickly. The catalytic converter may fail due to higher temperatures. O2 sensor dies quickly too.

So unless you are going to drive it 20K miles a year, there is not much point really. You would be spending £2000 to save £10 in fuel each week.

StrongWork

Alternatively, unless the Golf has significant issues, stick with it and save yourself a lot of cash.

Better the devil you know and all that imo.

steve-L

wafers wrote: »

Car cheaper to buy in first place - not after conversion??

LPG waaaaay cheaper than diesel - perhaps not on mile/mile basis?? its not the liter cost that matters

Engine more likely to be reliable and less issues than TDI equivalent (or so I assume?) ?? not after conversion??

If you are doing milage where LPG is looking cheap then you are probably also in diesel territory.

Not every diesel has issues, especially once you are in the 10k a year+ area where DPF's might be a problem with mainly short trips.

If you wanted a Range Rover Vogue or something like patman99 then LPG is a more realistic proposition.

Personally, I think its too much hassle for too little gain... unless you want to drive a big V8 (or similar)