Lpg Conversions

[Bill Gillions]

I am seriously thinking of having my 2002 RAV4 converted to LPG. I intend to have it done by an accredited garage. Has anyone had this done and have you had any problems? Any advice welcome as it does mean forking out around £1500.

[Fujisan]

Have a quick look halfway down the page to this thread.

Or do a quick search

Good luck

[bothwell_buyer]

As I said before. Since posting, I've had the cylinder head gasket done again. And we found the additional engine heat had split the plastic coolant expansion tank...so that got replaced as well. LPGs only downside is that the engine runs hotter - ok if the cooling system can cope. I don't think the old espace engine was ever designed to be able to cope! Pull the coolant temperature down to low and the ecu will run the engine as if its just started??? I like the cheap fuel but reckon the extra costs of repairs are beginning to outweigh that.

[Hoovie]

I was very seriously considering this, but in the end decided against as the downsides (real and potential) were enough to counter the upsides

And recently, my company introduced an LPG mileage rate of 7p (compared to 15p for petrol) which would have totally wiped out the fuel saving that would have paid for the conversion, so very glad I chickened out!

Govt will always find a way to claw the money out your wallet :censor:

[bothwell_buyer]

Other thing I forgot to mention is check when the tax reduction is going to be withdrawn. The lpg cost has gone up, and I've seen it as much as 65p a litre in some garages. even the current price varies from 48p to 55p....unless you pump it from a central heating lpg store tank when the cost is pennies.

If the VVTi engine has soft valves, everything else will be pretty soft! Oh, and you find that car dealers will not allow your car anywhere near the workshop so if you ever hit a problem needing a dealer, forget it.

[Hoovie]

I like the idea of home-brewed bio-fuel. Allowed to make enough of that to do around 25,000 miles a year without having to pay any fuel duty whatsoever legally

[Robert6920]

And recently, my company introduced an LPG mileage rate of 7p (compared to 15p for petrol) which would have totally wiped out the fuel saving that would have paid for the conversion, so very glad I chickened out!

Blimey, Hoovie, they think of everything!!! I thought my FD was bad, I sometimes think he works for the Revenue (as we call it here in Ireland) but I don't think he's thought of that, yet.

Hoovie's workers brewing a batch of home made fuel....

[slymiloni]

And recently, my company introduced an LPG mileage rate of 7p (compared to 15p for petrol) which would have totally wiped out the fuel saving that would have paid for the conversion, so very glad I chickened out!

Govt will always find a way to claw the money out your wallet :censor:

If you do quite a few business miles you may be interested to know that you can get tax relief of 45p per mile. So if your company is only paying you 15p per mile as a tax free allowance, you can claim tax relief for the remaining 30p per mile. Say you've done 1000 miles in this tax year you can claim tax relief on £30 of your wage which will be at least a fiver in your pocket. It can only be for work related journeys and doesn't include travel to and from home. The more miles you do the more you'll get and you can claim back up to six years I believe. You'll have to do a bit of self assessment but worth giving the tax office a call for advice, don't quote me though as there are conditions on types of journey and engine size etc.

better in your pocket than theirs though, all for filling in a form!?

[Hoovie]

And recently, my company introduced an LPG mileage rate of 7p (compared to 15p for petrol) which would have totally wiped out the fuel saving that would have paid for the conversion, so very glad I chickened out!

Govt will always find a way to claw the money out your wallet :censor:

If you do quite a few business miles you may be interested to know that you can get tax relief of 45p per mile. So if your company is only paying you 15p per mile as a tax free allowance, you can claim tax relief for the remaining 30p per mile. Say you've done 1000 miles in this tax year you can claim tax relief on £30 of your wage which will be at least a fiver in your pocket. It can only be for work related journeys and doesn't include travel to and from home. The more miles you do the more you'll get and you can claim back up to six years I believe. You'll have to do a bit of self assessment but worth giving the tax office a call for advice, don't quote me though as there are conditions on types of journey and engine size etc.

better in your pocket than theirs though, all for filling in a form!?

I did know that and do claim it back in fact, but many thanks for pointing this out as some people may not know about this

Because I never get round to filling forms in, it is like a little cash bonus when I eventually do the self-assesment and get a cheque back each year for around £700 to cover this difference, so for anyone who does not claim this tax relief back, follow slymiloni's advice (that reminds me - I still need to do 2006-2007! )

I should say on the flip side to Roberts comment that the rate I get is meant to cover fuel only and they do pay the full 45p a mile slymiloni mentioned for drivers using their own cars (mine is my own car but I have a co. car allowance so have to follow co. car fuel rates), but still annoying for it to suddenly appear.

[Jsy_Rav4]

Over here in Jersey (only 9miles x 5miles) where the fuel is (slightly) cheaper the mileage rate from the Govt (I work in Education) is 62.7p/mile ! Seems the Govt gives back sometimes !!!!!

Diesel currently around 101.9p/l petrol (95) around 97.9p/l

[cabcurtains]

I am seriously thinking of having my 2002 RAV4 converted to LPG. I intend to have it done by an accredited garage. Has anyone had this done and have you had any problems? Any advice welcome as it does mean forking out around £1500.

This is only worth it if you do enough miles to recoup the cost of the conversion, if you can then do it, if you cant don't.

30,000 miles with fuel at £1.00 per litre (car does 30MPG) cost=£4500

30,000 miles with LPG at 65p per litre (car doing 30MPG) cost=£3000

So it will require 30,000 miles of driving to break even.

Figures are approximate only!