I was having a look at a couple of LPG conversion websites, and was wondering about the resale values against a diesel car.
Say, for the sake of argument a 2.5l petrol car cost about £3000 at 4 years old because of the fuel consumption. A similarly-powered diesel car may well be the thick end of five grand at the same age due to the superior MPG, but with an LPG conversion costing between £1500-2000 it seems to me that the petrol option would be cheaper and more fun as well.
Driving say 20K per year, the extra costs of insurance, tax etc would be countered nicely by the cheaper fuel (maybe 30mpg at 55p/l vs 50mpg at 105p/l).
Question is, what is the likely resale value of either car after say three years? Still worth it?
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I bought a low milage vehicle and converted it at a cost of £2,000. When I came to part ex it, most independent dealers ( those that would even consider taking it in part ex ) were offering around a grand less trade in value because it was LPG. To say most of them were mystified as to the workings of LPG is an under statement. Their ignorance of the subject was truly mind blowing. In the end I sold it on privately to some one who is still driving it around two years later and is more than happy with the vehicle.
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I would say so, yes. If you're going to buy a used car with an lpg conversion, make sure the seller has the installation certificate as most insurance companies insist on it. Makes a converted luxobarge extremely tempting :-)
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Am I allowed to point jase 1 in the direction of an LPG site ( dedicated solely to all matters LPG ) that will answer all his questions by way of the web address.?
{Go ahead, if it causes us problems then we can always edit it out}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 01/12/2008 at 01:07
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I had a Jeep converted a few years ago which my wife then wrote off. The insurance assessor said the value was £1000 more because of the lpg conversion. I had already checked lots of adverts etc and had the same figure in my head so I was happy. A different market to today though.
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www.lpgforum.co.uk/
This site reveals the experiences of those who have either converted to LPG or bought LPG vehicles. it is a mine of helpful advice although biased towards LPG being the greatest thing since sliced bread. The govt has also pledged to cut the duty differential between petrol and LPG so it will be come less attractive over the next 5 years.
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At the cheap end of the market, a LPG conversion makes an elderly luxo barge much more attractive on eBay/Autrotrader private sale. I reckon 500-1000 extra on a car worth 750-1000 without it.
Happy to have people with more knowledge disagree with me.
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I'd agree with that. I've been idly perusing old XJs and 4x4s (just looking, dear!) and a certified conversion can add quite a bit to the asking price.
Edited by nick on 02/12/2008 at 15:38
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Hello all, I own a Jaguar XK8 that has been converted to run on LPG. It cost £1700 to convert and a few initial problems remapping the ECU but it runs great albeit at around 10-15% less power. I would say that I would get a £1300 premium over a non LPG car.
LPG costs 48.9p a litre round here at the mo so I get the equivalent of 40Mpg gallon compared to petrol prices and around 44 compared to diesel.
The only way to run a 4.0 V8 these days, just wish it hadn't bottomed out and ripped the sump off on a central reservation this morning after hitting black ice. Gutted.
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Earlier this year saw me hiking a 2002 Disco 2 V8i, professionally converted and certificated
LPG vehicle with more extras than Gladiator and just 55,000 on the clock around several independent dealers. I was looking at Volvo V70's in the region of £11,000 with a view to doing another conversion.
They where interested until the subject of LPG came up and then they went cold. Two wouldn't take it as a part ex and two offered me what was , at the time , around a grand less than if it hadn't been converted. So I headed to a Volvo dealership. Now you have to remember that Volvo themselves once sold cars ready converted. Take mine ..? No way .
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Private buyers are more enlightened.
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Recently sold my y-reg 520 LPG conversion (professionally at a cost of £1600)
Had the car for four trouble free years (three -ish with the LPG system)
without the lpg, the book price was around £3700-£3800
I advertised in Autotrader and Pistonheads and some of the forums (inc. here!) - most calls came from Autotrader. My ads were also heavy on detail, I put everything in there that people would want to know, which helped A LOT.
Initially advertised at £4950 (briefly) then £4750, then £4450. I was in no rush and I eventually sold it for £4250.
I had lots (& I mean lots) of calls from buyers who asked on a variation of 'so is LPG any good then' that did waste a lot of time.
Plenty of others who showed a keen interest but didn't want to travel to come and have a look - well, I am based in Swansea and most calls were London/Midlands originated.
Edited by valmiki on 03/12/2008 at 09:59
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I sold privately in the end at 2 grand more than I was offered by dealers but at what I still consider to be too bigger a loss on the whole sorry episode. Have gone back to dirty diesel by the way.
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