Why So Many LPG Vehicles Available?

[seedy]

17.46 per litre here in Chiang Mai

14.76 in Chiang Mai when I bought it yesterday.

17.46 per litre here in Chiang Mai

I believe you meant 14.76 which appears to be the standard price. We bought a used converted LPG Civic this year and have been buying our LPG down the street for 14.37 for the last 7 months . Several days ago, I saw one station near the Royal Gardens selling for 14.25.

Sorry guys - I stand corrected. Size 12 fingers size 2 keyboard

[rotary]

maybe the long lines at the LPG stations on some holidays has something to do with it.

[VocalNeal]

maybe the long lines at the LPG stations on some holidays has something to do with it.

Unless you know something I don't, the long lines you see are NGV/CNG vehicles usually taxis.

I have never seen a queue at an LPG station.

[SOTIRIOS]

...there was mention of removing the government subsidy....you need to find out if and when....maybe they want to keep it secret...

[uptheos]

...there was mention of removing the government subsidy....you need to find out if and when....maybe they want to keep it secret...

I believe it's being removed gradually, to fall into line with the price of other Asean countries by 2015/16

Do you think that's why people are trying to offload them now?

Edited December 24, 2013 by uptheos

[northernjohn]

You can't even get a spare passenger in there!

Personally, I've never been interested in LPG but obviously a lot of people are (have been), but now it seems they want to get rid of them.

Likewise not interested in Gas, been there done it 35 odd years ago, nothing but a pain back then and from what I can see not much different now a day....

Are people getting rid of LPG cars ? or are they getting a newer model and also fitting gas ?

Is not easy to buy a non converted car, not so many about.. why someone with a new eco engine needs gas is beyond me, Have seen S Class Benz with great big CNG tanks in them, even Rolls-Royce with LPG or CNG fitted.. guess must be a Thai thing if it has an engine must have Gas. why anything from 350 cc to 1.2 lt needs gas = extra weight on a already baby engine.. why anyone that has the money for a 40 million baht car then need to fit LPG, I simply do not understand..

On the PLUS side an older car with one owner and low KM and no gas fitted is likely to be true KM reading and a good buy....

Maybe time for me to start looking again ? Bought a 10 year old Audi A6 early 2008, was 10 years old, one owner, low KM, NO Gas, still runs sweet just is getting old now, 100% not interested in Gas there is not that much about for sale. Guess will still run for years as since I bought it have added 24,600 KM only, have a diesel Pickup so the Audi is a Sunday car as it were.

Lots of different vehicles are manufactured CNG....... No idea if these are better than LPG/CNG conversion?

You can't compare a LPG installation from 35 years ago with today's technology! I have a Fortuner with LPG, which runs very smooth on an automatic LPG installation. No loss in performance, 72 liter tank under the car (in the spare wheel area) and saves about 3 baht per km! I installed it 3 years ago. Starts on petrol (benzine) and switches automatically to LPG after a while.

"saves about 3 baht per km!"

I was wondering about that as I had always been told that the kilometers per liter were not that good. But over all still cheaper. My information is so far out of date that I have no idea now.

On your cost saving per liter are you making any allowance for the cost of the conversion?

[Cheops]

Ridiculous people always chasing savings...

Do you even own a car?

[Cheops]

You can't even get a spare passenger in there!

Personally, I've never been interested in LPG but obviously a lot of people are (have been), but now it seems they want to get rid of them.

Likewise not interested in Gas, been there done it 35 odd years ago, nothing but a pain back then and from what I can see not much different now a day....

Are people getting rid of LPG cars ? or are they getting a newer model and also fitting gas ?

Is not easy to buy a non converted car, not so many about.. why someone with a new eco engine needs gas is beyond me, Have seen S Class Benz with great big CNG tanks in them, even Rolls-Royce with LPG or CNG fitted.. guess must be a Thai thing if it has an engine must have Gas. why anything from 350 cc to 1.2 lt needs gas = extra weight on a already baby engine.. why anyone that has the money for a 40 million baht car then need to fit LPG, I simply do not understand..

On the PLUS side an older car with one owner and low KM and no gas fitted is likely to be true KM reading and a good buy....

Maybe time for me to start looking again ? Bought a 10 year old Audi A6 early 2008, was 10 years old, one owner, low KM, NO Gas, still runs sweet just is getting old now, 100% not interested in Gas there is not that much about for sale. Guess will still run for years as since I bought it have added 24,600 KM only, have a diesel Pickup so the Audi is a Sunday car as it were.

Lots of different vehicles are manufactured CNG....... No idea if these are better than LPG/CNG conversion?

You can't compare a LPG installation from 35 years ago with today's technology! I have a Fortuner with LPG, which runs very smooth on an automatic LPG installation. No loss in performance, 72 liter tank under the car (in the spare wheel area) and saves about 3 baht per km! I installed it 3 years ago. Starts on petrol (benzine) and switches automatically to LPG after a while.

"saves about 3 baht per km!"

I was wondering about that as I had always been told that the kilometers per liter were not that good. But over all still cheaper. My information is so far out of date that I have no idea now.

On your cost saving per liter are you making any allowance for the cost of the conversion?

Hi northernjohn,

yes, I have taken that into account. My Fortuner drives about 7km in city on 1 liter petrol ( heavy right foot:) ) and about 5.5km on 1 liter LPG. Even if the subsidy stops and the price of LPG doubles I'm still cheaper with LPG.

You can Google 'LPG calculation excel' to download some spreadsheet to calculate the turning point of when it becomes cheaper and how much you can save etc.

My installation with big 72 liter donut tank was 35k baht, which I earned back within 10 months.

[Cheops]

...there was mention of removing the government subsidy....you need to find out if and when....maybe they want to keep it secret...

I believe it's being removed gradually, to fall into line with the price of other Asean countries by 2015/16

Do you think that's why people are trying to offload them now?

People are not trying to 'offload' them.

The last couple of years there are just much much more cars which had LPG installed, because of the gasoline price jumped from 15 baht ( when I started to live here 8.5 years ago ) to 37 baht now!

Consequently you see much more 2nd hand cars with LPG. That's all. I would avoid cars with very high milage though, since indeed some parts of the engine wear out somewhat more with LPG. When running LPG you should also switch regularly to normal gasoline.

[thailandbeachisland]

Ridiculous people always chasing savings...

Do you even own a car?

Yes, and luckily (actually it's just style) not a Japanese car ! But maybe I should hide the origin or my car here not to offend the small savings chasers...

[vagabond48]

Consequently you see much more 2nd hand cars with LPG. That's all. I would avoid cars with very high milage though, since indeed some parts of the engine wear out somewhat more with LPG. When running LPG you should also switch regularly to normal gasoline.

Just curious what do you consider high mileage?

Regarding switching to normal gasoline, do you have a routine to follow, for example, 1000km on LPG followed by 100km gas or turning off LPG once a day driving for X minutes using regular gas?

[koosdeboer]

Insurance premium is much higher for cars with lpg.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Cheops]

Ridiculous people always chasing savings...

Do you even own a car?

Yes, and luckily (actually it's just style) not a Japanese car ! But maybe I should hide the origin or my car here not to offend the small savings chasers...

As for style I agree with you. The only nice styled Japanese car that I know was the car I drove in Holland: MX5

But for a family of 4 a Fortuner will do fine. Can't seat my wife and our 2 kids in a MX5:)

As for the savings: 40 to 50k baht per year fuel savings I don't call small

[Cheops]

Insurance premium is much higher for cars with lpg.Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Hi Koos,

I don't have that experience. The insurance premium in Thailand is just connected to the insured sum and not if it's LPG or petrol or diesel etc. And as such I don't pay a higher premium.

Edited December 25, 2013 by Cheops

[Cheops]

Consequently you see much more 2nd hand cars with LPG. That's all. I would avoid cars with very high milage though, since indeed some parts of the engine wear out somewhat more with LPG. When running LPG you should also switch regularly to normal gasoline.

Just curious what do you consider high mileage?

Regarding switching to normal gasoline, do you have a routine to follow, for example, 1000km on LPG followed by 100km gas or turning off LPG once a day driving for X minutes using regular gas?

My car always starts on petrol until the engine is warmed up and switches automatically to LPG. Further more I switch to petrol sometimes as well, but not really in a fixed rate. As for the petrol I use 91 gasohol. And I changed the sparkplugs to special ones for LPG.

[uptheos]

Consequently you see much more 2nd hand cars with LPG. That's all. I would avoid cars with very high milage though, since indeed some parts of the engine wear out somewhat more with LPG. When running LPG you should also switch regularly to normal gasoline.

Just curious what do you consider high mileage?

Regarding switching to normal gasoline, do you have a routine to follow, for example, 1000km on LPG followed by 100km gas or turning off LPG once a day driving for X minutes using regular gas?

My car always starts on petrol until the engine is warmed up and switches automatically to LPG. Further more I switch to petrol sometimes as well, but not really in a fixed rate. As for the petrol I use 91 gasohol. And I changed the sparkplugs to special ones for LPG.

Sounds like a potential problem switching from one to the other........are there any?

Would you say LPG is only beneficial if you drive a lot of miles?

Edited December 25, 2013 by uptheos

[koosdeboer]

Insurance premium is much higher for cars with lpg.Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Hi Koos,

I don't have that experience. The insurance premium in Thailand is just connected to the insured sum and not if it's LPG or petrol or diesel etc. And as such I don't pay a higher premium.

A friend of mine complained that he had to pay a much higher premium for his Toyota fortuner, first class insurance. He wanted to sell the car because of that.

[Cheops]

Consequently you see much more 2nd hand cars with LPG. That's all. I would avoid cars with very high milage though, since indeed some parts of the engine wear out somewhat more with LPG. When running LPG you should also switch regularly to normal gasoline.

Just curious what do you consider high mileage?

Regarding switching to normal gasoline, do you have a routine to follow, for example, 1000km on LPG followed by 100km gas or turning off LPG once a day driving for X minutes using regular gas?

My car always starts on petrol until the engine is warmed up and switches automatically to LPG. Further more I switch to petrol sometimes as well, but not really in a fixed rate. As for the petrol I use 91 gasohol. And I changed the sparkplugs to special ones for LPG.

Sounds like a potential problem switching from one to the other........are there any?

Would you say LPG is only beneficial if you drive a lot of miles?

There are no problems from switching. Actually it's good for the engine to run on petrol sometimes for lubrication.

Only thing that can happen (depending on car engine) is that the valves are worn out more quickly on LPG due to the higher temperatures.

No need to drive a lot of miles to save, but this depends on how much your car uses. A Fortuner is not really fuel economic, so it will save relatively much. If you know how much fuel your car uses you can calculate how much km you need to drive before save money.

[Cheops]

Insurance premium is much higher for cars with lpg.Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Hi Koos,

I don't have that experience. The insurance premium in Thailand is just connected to the insured sum and not if it's LPG or petrol or diesel etc. And as such I don't pay a higher premium.

A friend of mine complained that he had to pay a much higher premium for his Toyota fortuner, first class insurance. He wanted to sell the car because of that.

I pay 14.5k baht for 1st class with por ror bor (compulsory gov insurance) included as well for my 8 year old Fortuner. It can be cheaper as well depending the insurer.

Oh and you need to negotiate the premium down as well! Don't ever pay their 1st asking price.

Edited December 25, 2013 by Cheops

[Rinrada]

maybe the long lines at the LPG stations on some holidays has something to do with it.

Unless you know something I don't, the long lines you see are NGV/CNG vehicles usually taxis.

I have never seen a queue at an LPG station.

Agree...

I use the LPG station just down from Big C /Homepro beside the "Suzy" showroom,2nd ling load and never had to Q.

Also we have a frequent user card that gives us a discount after so many uses...??..don't know exactly how or when.(anyway its Bt 14.76/ltr)

Just found out our KARRY will be renamed a RELY ..something to do with the manufacturers wordlwide expansion programmes.

As mentioned earlier on startup it uses petrol and automatically switches over to gas (factory fitted as standard)...and I like it.

The Toyota Hilux stays in the garage.. we only use it for going to church.

[koosdeboer]

Insurance premium is much higher for cars with lpg.Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Hi Koos,

I don't have that experience. The insurance premium in Thailand is just connected to the insured sum and not if it's LPG or petrol or diesel etc. And as such I don't pay a higher premium.

A friend of mine complained that he had to pay a much higher premium for his Toyota fortuner, first class insurance. He wanted to sell the car because of that.

I pay 14.5k baht for 1st class with por ror bor (compulsory gov insurance) included as well for my 8 year old Fortuner. It can be cheaper as well depending the insurer.

Oh and you need to negotiate the premium down as well! Don't ever pay their 1st asking price.

I understand. As I said, it's what my friend told me. He had to pay more after registering his car as LPG fuelled. Can it be that your car is not officially registered for LPG?

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[uptheos]

maybe the long lines at the LPG stations on some holidays has something to do with it.

Unless you know something I don't, the long lines you see are NGV/CNG vehicles usually taxis.

I have never seen a queue at an LPG station.

Agree...

I use the LPG station just down from Big C /Homepro beside the "Suzy" showroom,2nd ling load and never had to Q.

Also we have a frequent user card that gives us a discount after so many uses...??..don't know exactly how or when.(anyway its Bt 14.76/ltr)

Just found out our KARRY will be renamed a RELY ..something to do with the manufacturers wordlwide expansion programmes.

As mentioned earlier on startup it uses petrol and automatically switches over to gas (factory fitted as standard)...and I like it.

The Toyota Hilux stays in the garage.. we only use it for going to church.

I feel a song coming on.

[MESmith]

Not just Thailand cutting back on subsidized gas. Elsewhere in another 3rd world country

[uptheos]

Not just Thailand cutting back on subsidized gas. Elsewhere in another 3rd world country

I reckon people are going to wake up one morning to find it's higher priced than diesel!

I still think there's a lot being offloaded for some reason.

[PattayaPhom]

12.73 to 14.33 baht/litre here in Chiang Rai.

Very few LPG cars available second-hand here, they are very desirable because of the enormous fuel savings.

They were desirable everywhere because of the fuel savings, but how long can that last after ASEAN whilst it's 40 odd Baht in Cambodia, Laos and not much less in Myanmar?

There might be very few available in Chiang Rai but I assure you there are loads in Chiang Mai

How long will Cambodia still be able to sell cheap ciggies.....ASEAN wont cause any increase in itself to LPG