Prins LPG - £1500 plus VAT - Autotech in Derby....Cheap???

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Notts_astra · #1 Post by **Notts_astra** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 4:31 pm

Hi

I'm thinking of going down the LPG route for my Vauxhall Astra 1.6 (Mk5)

I recently got a quote from the Official Prins website, they passed the information to my local garage, which is Autotech in Ripley. I was quoted £1500 + Vat for a Prins VSi system with 2 years parts and labour.....

Now the question I have are:-

1. Is this too cheap? As I have heard many people paid over the £2000 mark
2. Would anybody recommend Autotech? Or another Prins installer around Nottinghamshire
3. Can you think of any questions I could ask the garage, that would indicate the quailty of parts/service he will be using for the £1500 quote

The garage seemed legit and guy knew his stuff, he needed the car for 5 days to run tests etc. But i'm worried that the price may reflect poor quality....

woody · #2 Post by **woody** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 8:00 pm

your right £1500+vat is to cheap, but unfortunatley the trend in the lpg industry over the last couple of years of cutting prices has had an effect even on Prins Prices.
It is however the recomended retail from the prins website and all installers should be sticking to it,Autotech have a good reputation so you should have no worries there.
The only conversion on a 4 cylinder vehicle costing £2000 would have to be a bit special, twin turbo legacy etc.

Prins is quality , no doubt he will be using a Stako , GZWM etc tank so no worries there either.

HTH Woody

Notts_astra · #3 Post by **Notts_astra** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 10:06 pm

Thanks for your reply. I think you're right, especially due to the fact my engine is smaller. Plus I've just seen a comment in another thread from a guy who recommends Autotech. Think it might be time to part with my cash...

Milo · #4 Post by **Milo** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 10:26 am

How many miles a year do you do a year, and how old is the car? Will you get your money back - given that the conversion will cost £1800?

Notts_astra · #5 Post by **Notts_astra** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 4:44 pm

Thanks for the replies...

Yes It would be worth the cost for me. I'm doing 32k in miles year, the cars 54 plate astra (late 2004).

I've worked out I would break even inbetween 8-10 months

pjpj · #6 Post by **pjpj** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 12:20 am

Between eleven and twelve months I would say.

You still use a little petrol at start up and your plugs are going to need changing a couple of times a year. LPG is much tougher on the ignition and you wouldn't want to risk a piece of ceramic dropping into your cylinder.

Milo · #7 Post by **Milo** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 2:53 pm

I think at that mileage I would be buying a small, very efficient diesel. I don't think you'll get much more than 30mpg on LPG which equates to around 50mpg petrol - you should find a diesel that will do 60 if you drive like a monk.

Why do you drive so far - 32K is around 200 miles each week day, assuming you take a few weeks off?

One other thing to consider - Is the rest of the car (suspension etc) up to that mileage - how many on the clock already
M

Gilbertd · #8 Post by **Gilbertd** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 7:03 pm

Milo wrote:I think at that mileage I would be buying a small, very efficient diesel. I don't think you'll get much more than 30mpg on LPG which equates to around 50mpg petrol - you should find a diesel that will do 60 if you drive like a monk.

Maybe he wants a car that doesn't rattle, smell and be gutlessly underpowered? I do 170 miles a day in a company provided vehicle but if they were to pay for the fuel, I'd far rather do it in my own.

alexf2828-2 · #9 Post by **alexf2828-2** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 1:43 pm

would be tempted to convert a newer car-2004 a bit old-will the car last long enough?

mat_fenwick · #10 Post by **mat_fenwick** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 3:14 pm

alexf2828-2 wrote:2004 a bit old-will the car last long enough?

Given that he expects payback in under a year, and that there are 'several' cars still on the road from 2003 and earlier, I'd say it probably will...

(This is from someone with several vehicles, the newest of which is from 1996

and with an average mileage of over 190k miles.)

lazydocker · #11 Post by **lazydocker** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 3:25 pm

alexf2828-2 wrote:would be tempted to convert a newer car-2004 a bit old-will the car last long enough?

Why? If a car is properly maintained it's no problem. My last car was converted at 9 years old (120k) and I sold it 5 weeks ago at approaching 12 years old (175k) running sweeter than many newer cars

My current car is a 2003 model and I didn't even think twice before converting it. I maintain my own vehicles with oil changes every 5k and all other service items changed annually (except cam belt which is done every 20 months or so) and have no concerns

alexf2828-2 · #12 Post by **alexf2828-2** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 5:11 pm

just my 2p worth, how many miles has the car got on it now? being a prins will probably outlast the car-you could always transfer it to the next car

Notts_astra · #13 Post by **Notts_astra** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 6:00 pm

My car is currently at 65k

woody · #14 Post by **woody** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 11:01 pm

my son Jamie converted his SRI 1800 at 45k its now got 100k , he drives it like its stolen all the time , no worries with doing your one mate.

cheers woody

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