Aygo 2016 LPG conversion

[Pytheas]

Hi to all,

To make a long story short, I bought my Aygo one year ago (June 2016) brand new, X-Shift. Since then, I have been driving about 50 miles daily to and from work, mixed route of open road and heavy traffic - reached about 12,500 miles (20.000 km) in one year, with an average of 55 MPG (5.1 L/100km). I was wondering if it would make sense for me to make the conversion to LPG.

The car is of course under warranty and when I asked my Toyota dealer about the LPG conversion, they said that they can take it over (installing the Valeo kit, if I recall well) but it would cost €2,000 - more than double the cost of the same kit elsewhere around. I guess they count on customers who wouldn't want to void the warranty of their Toyotas...

From one hand, I have estimated significant savings on fuel (if my calculations are correct) but on the other hand (i) I've heard that LPG price will increase in the next years (it is subsidized now? and (ii) I am not sure for how long I will be working for this remotely located company.

I was wondering if anyone here has converted his latest gen Aygo to LPG; and if so what his/her impressions are. I am mostly interested in performance, savings and issues with the engine. Thanks!

[FROSTYBALLS]

I would imagine Toyota's new car warranty wouldn't cover any part of the conversion, whether it is done by a Toyota dealer or otherwise, and that any issues which may arise relating to the conversion would be covered by the warranty provided by the manufacturer or installer of the lpg conversion.

[eygo]

it does depend on your type of driving that you do ,forget about the milage you cover thats fairly irrelevant.

in approx 2001 i paid for an LPG conversion i was doing 20000 + miles a year but because it was

mainly round town journeys it was less fuel efficient than running petrol ,now if your on the motorway

mainly completing long distance journeys thats another story go for it, two things to be aware of

your spark plugs will take a battering due to operating in a dry enviroment in the cylinders and you will

need to have the filters changed on the lpg system as well.

[Pytheas]

19 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

I would imagine Toyota's new car warranty wouldn't cover any part of the conversion, whether it is done by a Toyota dealer or otherwise, and that any issues which may arise relating to the conversion would be covered by the warranty provided by the manufacturer or installer of the lpg conversion.

The dealer had told me that the car/Toyota warranty would be unaffected if the conversion was undertaken by them. Since this was during a discussion, I believe that things would be different when the time comes to agree and proceed with the work...In fact, I was about to have it installed as soon as I go the car but they told me that they still needed some time to receive updated info from Toyota about the installation (specs and way to make the conversion, as far as I understood).

In any case, they were skeptical on the conversion as they considered that due to the Aygo's low fuel consumption, the benefits would not be significant to justify the modification. That was about one year ago.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Yes - the new car warranty will be unaffected. However the LPG conversion itself won't be covered by Toyota unless it is a conversion Toyota themselves (not the dealer) supply, and if it is a third party conversion, the third party or the dealer will cover any issues arising directly from the LPG conversion.

[Pytheas]

13 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Yes - the new car warranty will be unaffected. However the LPG conversion itself won't be covered by Toyota unless it is a conversion Toyota themselves (not the dealer) supply, and if it is a third party conversion, the third party or the dealer will cover any issues arising directly from the LPG conversion.

Now I understand; so in case I decide to go for the conversion, I will have to make sure that the conversion will not affect the new car warranty (just to confirm with the Toyota dealer) and also to see if the conversion itself will be covered by Toyota warranty or by the dealer. I wouldn't go to an external body for the conversion, as this would definitely void the warranty.

Toyota Greece has a page dedicated to the LPG conversion (Greek only - please use Google translate!) and this is what I saw at first place (back in 2016) when I asked more details about the conversion. I guess this indicates that the warranty will not effect the 6-year new car one.

I apologize for my ignorance, but it is the first time I have a new car so I was never concerned about warranties - let alone conversions to a new car.

P.S. It seems that Toyota opts for the Vialle LPG kit, not the Valleo I stated in my original post.

[alan333]

On 9/30/2017 at 10:16 PM, Pytheas said:

Hi to all,

To make a long story short, I bought my Aygo one year ago (June 2016) brand new, X-Shift. Since then, I have been driving about 50 miles daily to and from work, mixed route of open road and heavy traffic - reached about 12,500 miles (20.000 km) in one year, with an average of 55 MPG (5.1 L/100km). I was wondering if it would make sense for me to make the conversion to LPG.

The car is of course under warranty and when I asked my Toyota dealer about the LPG conversion, they said that they can take it over (installing the Valeo kit, if I recall well) but it would cost €2,000 - more than double the cost of the same kit elsewhere around. I guess they count on customers who wouldn't want to void the warranty of their Toyotas...

From one hand, I have estimated significant savings on fuel (if my calculations are correct) but on the other hand (i) I've heard that LPG price will increase in the next years (it is subsidized now? and (ii) I am not sure for how long I will be working for this remotely located company.

I was wondering if anyone here has converted his latest gen Aygo to LPG; and if so what his/her impressions are. I am mostly interested in performance, savings and issues with the engine. Thanks!

At UK petrol prices of around £1.18 per litre (£5.36 per gallon), and LPG around half that, ie £2.72 per gallon...

12500 miles @55mpg running on petrol = 227 gallons @ £5.36 = £1216 per year, or £23.38 per week.

My info is well out of date, but running on gas used to return at least 10% worse economy, so

12500 miles @ 50mpg running on gas = 250 gallons @ £2.72 = £680 per year.  Plus an LPG annual service, I'd guess maybe £70?.  Total £750 per year, or £14.42 per week.

Therefore a saving of £466 per year.  So it would take about 4 years before you recouped your outlay if you went for the £2000 Toyota conversion (sorry I can't find a Euro symbol on my pc), or  2 years for the half price "same kit elsewhere" conversion.  Would you rather spend £1000-2000 up front, or an extra £9 per week on fuel as you go?

Other considerations: I believe LPG burns hotter than petrol, so perhaps there's potential engine problems to consider (especially if it's not a Toyota approved installation?).  LPG doesn't lubricate so well and I believe you need an additive somewhere along the line.  You'll lose boot space.  You probably won't have a gas gauge so you'll still use some petrol if/when it runs out.  You'll be driving around with a gas cylinder in your boot (google some info of a gas cylinder exploding).  You might have to drive out of your way for filling stations (and the tank will probably be smaller than your petrol one).

I don't foresee the price of LPG suddenly increasing, unless a huge amount of people start using it (and therefore the govt starts losing a lot of revenue).

Hope this helps :)

[eygo]

ctrl + alt + E   = Euro symbol

[FROSTYBALLS]

12 minutes ago, eygo said:

ctrl + alt + E   = Euro symbol

Think it depends on the keyboard - on mine one holds 'AltGr' and '4'

[eygo]

both combinations work

[FROSTYBALLS]

Not on mine

[Ricey155]

Just sold my Civic Type R that I had converted and done 60k in the 7 years I owed it with LPG *8 in total. it's great LPG stations are becoming more and more limited. many have taken them out as it's not taken off like they thought. 

Enjoy the whole £10 road tax refund per year if you pay it, we got £15 a run it on GAS all day long. LPG system isn't as efficient as petrol think it's calorific 90% at best (hope that's the right term) 

One last note, your car won't be worth anything like a standard car, you may be lucky. but mods like LPG for some reason put people off. £2000 is way over the top for an install. 

hope it works out, nearly double MPG is always nice :-) 

[eygo]

after the conversion the dvla will need to be told as your car is now a dual fuel car and will receive the £10 annual discount

your insurance company will need to be told, you will also have to provide them an installation certificate and a pressure test

certificate for the lpg tank, the pressure test certificate is valid for 10 years.

to return a good milage from an lpg tank you will need to have a tank about 30% bigger than you need,so if you want

to have 100ltrs of lpg then you would need a 150ltr tank as you never fill an lpg tank to the max as you have to have

space in the tank for expansion.

personally i feel the aygo is too small to have a useable size of lpg tank fitted unless the whole boot area is used.

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Pytheas is in Greece according to an earlier post, so any tax implications and notifications needed, may be different - aside from insurance.

[eygo]

i know he is in greece ,when i had my conversion completed when lpg was a new fuel 

i had to notify the relevant departments i also had to display an LPG sticker on the rear

window in case the car was involved in an accident so the emergency services knew

of any potential risks around my car

[FROSTYBALLS]

7 hours ago, eygo said:

the dvla will need to be told as your car is now a dual fuel car and will receive the £10 annual discount

Being in Greece, the above won't apply

[eygo]

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