In 2000 I converted a '97 Mitsubishi Galant 2.4 V6 to run on LPG. I got rid of the car 3 years later having added 130k miles to the clock. I had a blinking scary glitch around progressive braking as a teething problem but once this was sorted the system was trouble free. My eventual reason for changing was the torque convertor failing at a time when the car was worth maybe £1k.

IMO at that time, there were two sorts of LPG cars. Firstly those (like me) who wanted a relatively thirsty car that could be run at reasonable(ish) costs - so a lot of 4X4's. The other were the factory spec LPG, these were nearly always low spec, lower powered models where the overriding priority was clearly economy.

During the time I owned this car I came to realise how much diesels had moved on. My replacement was a derv Audi A4 1.9. None of the hassles of LPG, Better fuel economy and similar performance. I wouldn't go back to LPG now.

Two practical observations. Back in those days the LPG pumps appeared to fail fairly regularly and once out of action it was generally a week before they were up and running again. This was an issue for me as I was doing 40k mile/year but only had a range of 200 miles on a full tank of LPG.

Secondly, I've noticed that Sainsburys on the A1 at Biggleswade have revamped their petrol station and have removed their LPG pump, is this a sign of where retailers are heading?

Edited by Xantiaman on 08/05/2010 at 12:54

My views from here in Italy.

In Italy lpg stations are much more common.

Price has always been 50% of petrolcost

All the main car manufacturers offer lpg conversions as " standard fit options"

Most seem to use well respected BRC systems.

There are thousands of new cars using lpg and many thousands of older cars.

Forums here report very few major problems as garages know how to service lpg.

Even new VW, Ford, Nissan, Suzuki, Kia, Hyundai, Renault, Citroen, Peugeot etc all offer lpg on their smallest to their biggest engine sizes.

Over here buying an lpg car makes sense. I drive a 2ltr 145 hp Ford Focus which cost the same all in as Focus 1.6 tdci 90 hp. No turbos and dpf to worry about.

cost per kilometer is on a par with diesel car for similar power, but diesel car of similar power costs more to buy.

The final nail in diesel coffin for me, wife runs a company 1.9 diesel skoda octavia 3.5 years old. Every year some sensor has gone wrong leaving the car huffing and puffing, at 150k kilometers ( 90 k miles ) the turbo went and cost 2000 euros to put right. Thank goodness company car paid for. For me the gamble of new long term diesel car ownership is too high.

Must say also that driving a petrol again is a smooth pleasure. Yes i'm sure 3ltr v6 diesel are just as smooth but seen how much they cost !

In defence of skoda I think the ideal car is a PETROL skoda octavia 4*4 with lpg.