LPG Conversion
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 7:36AM I’ve been looking for ways to control or reduce my costs. As a driving instructor there are only a few things that you can do to achieve this.
- Find a cheaper franchise to work for or set up on your own.
- Increase your prices for driving lessons, which is not that easy when most of the competitors are keeping prices down.
- Cut down on the actual miles you do a day, which does not work for me as I like to give my pupils a good drive on their driving lessons.
This is what made me look at the cost of getting my car converted to dual fuel. I was surprised that I had no cost increase on my insurance which I have to say was a welcome change. I then started to look for places to get it converted and the cost. I spoke to a friend who had had his car done at a garage near Arundel, he was very happy with it and so I gave them a call. The cost with VAT was £1500 which seemed ok but when they said the needed the car for four days to do the LPG conversion it made me pause. Four days of lost income adds a lot to the cost from my point of view. I was speaking to another driving instructor that had been thinking alone the same lines as myself and he had found a garage much closer to Portsmouth (my base) which were charging him £1800 but still wanted the car for four day.
I carried on my hunt and found on Google a company in South Wales called Profess Autogas that only do LPG Conversions. They also do the conversion in one day, you have to get the car to them for 8am and the aim to hand it back by 7pm. The cost for this service? My car is a four cylinder so the cost was a staggeringly reasonable £850. For me that was a no brainer, petrol had gone up another 5p while I had been thinking about the conversion. They were great on the phone, took a £100 deposit and it was all arranged. I drove up the night before, stayed in a Travelodge and they get me a courtesy car for the day. Simple and straight forward.
Because of the mileage I do I will have repaid/saved the cost of the conversion within four months. LPG is at the day of writing this 78p rather than 132.9p for unleaded. And that’s before we even think of the benefits of my carbon foot print.
Reader Comments (4)
Hi Philip,
Great to hear you have got an Autogas conversion. We estimate someone spending a mere £60 per week on petrol will save itro £1200 each and every year. Our normal timescale is 4 days, one to drop-off, two to install and another for collection. But we frequently integrate LPG systems for professional drivers, like yourself, in 12-14hrs (a day & half) when we know that time is of the essence. Needless to say, you would have avoided the 500 mile round trip and our entry level AC Stag system costs £860+vat. We however do encourage professionals to use the best available equipment, which has a longlivity of around 150 000 miles. All is now water-under-the-bridge, we hope your system is performing well and encourage others to follow your example but take the path to our workshops either in Littlehampton or Kingston, Surrey. Thanks for making this post, as few people know about the benefits of running on gas. Let them now of your savings, All the best. J
A dual fuel really has many advantages such as lower operating cost than a diesel engine, a better fuel economy and many others. It can be a good idea for those who wants to reduce costs.
Better think what lies ahead of those four days of waiting for your conversion. Cost and benefit analysis, if you would not convert to dual fuel and continue with your driving lessons it will cost you more than the income that you will lose for four days of waiting. Yes your right, if you will not convert think about your carbon footprints!
I think you have got brilliant driving instructor. I am sure you will definitely learn excellent driving.
The information you have shared is very useful for new learner. Keep sharing.
Driving School Bath