azekeil

You are officially completely and totally hatstand crazy!

An LS400?
With LPG?

You're a very brave man indeed ;)

Do you really not know what you've bought? Nearly 2 tonnes of Japanese V8 luxobarge with equipment and specification intended to blow the Mercedes S-class out of the marketplace. With presumably £1,500 worth of "not designed by Toyota" plumbing... presumably fitted by some past owner in order to save a few pennies (does it even have any bootspace left?).

Now, the Japanese bit bodes well, but I'm assuming this is a 1994 or around then car, they're very heavy on suspension and brakes...

I hope it's a good one!

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'93, yes. Although I don't know the owner that well, they strike me as being similar to you in the way you look at/deal with cars. Plus, I trust them. It's all subject to being 'as described' but he's getting some work done and the MOT so there's an element of trust on both sides.

The LPG was fitted professionally.

I know what the car is; I've been driven around in one once.

I suppose this is what comes of my ambition to own a V8 before the fuel prices get even more out of hand. Sometimes you just gotta grab an opportunity with both hands.. right? :)

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I'm sure the car will be fine; the Lexus has a good reputation overall and the 1UZ engine is allegedly bulletproof. I am religiously opposed to LPG conversions - not so much that they're not fitted professionally, but Toyota didn't design that V8 for LPG, and the reason people fit them isn't really "economy", but "saving some money". And I do tend to take the attitude (of people fitting them - sometimes, you can't help but find cars with them used) that if you want to save some money, how about not driving a Range Rover etc., the usual candidates for them. It comes from knowing too many people who buy cars like BMWs, Jaguars as "middle aged" bangers - sort of £6,000 cars - then 'can't afford to run them' so spend £1,500+ on LPG conversions, but you know they're going to keep the car for a year or two at best, and run it on petrol when they can't fill up, and would probably have been just as well spending the £1,500 on fuel!

Of course, my attitude to LPG isn't unique, and as such, an LPG converted luxobarge is worth bugger all in the trade, even a good one :D

Without knowing what you're paying for it, or anything like that, I can't really comment on the opportunity, but yes, you HAVE to own a V8, and the LS400 is a cheap way to get a good V8 car. I know one bloke with a Toyota equivalent and he's now bemoaning the cost of parts like suspension though, so I wouldn't have one myself purely because I maintain my cars at a certain level, and if I can't afford to do it I get shot of them quickly.

As a converted car, is it exempt from C-charge like the bifuel Vauxhalls/Volvos were?

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It's pretty good - it's heavier on tyres than anything else.

And the LPG's pro fitted, done several thousand miles in the time I've had it and yes - it's got most of the boot free - toroidal tanks FTW.

Hi, I'm Pol and I sell Japanese Cruiseliners to unsuspecting geeks :)

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I have no idea, but I don't go into London during the week. If I do, work'll be paying for it.

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No C-Charge exemption due to not being converted by an "Approved" (please read "Inside M25") installer.

Also, the dual-fuel C-Charge exemption is going away with the new £28 per day top level charge - oddly enough most of the cars that top level charge was brought into catch are LPG converted.

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Yes. There must be a term for that. Perhaps an internet term.

SURPRISE LUXURY-CAR-SALE!

Hmm. Doesn't really have much of a ring to it.

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Hi, I'm EdwardS, and I quite like cars ;) I see from your LJ you like to drive short distances for fun!

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I know they were supposed to be losing it, but I always wondered if part of the reason for people shoving LPG on cars was to avoid the congestion charge. Once, someone in the Sera owner's club wanted to LPG convert an Amlux Sera (only a handful made, less than 20 IIRC). I mean, converting a car which is heavy on fuel makes some sense, but a 1.5 Toyota that does 40mpg?! You'd need to do something like 30,000 miles to recoup the conversion cost, let alone the fact that I (and everyone else in the club agreed) would promptly "devalue" that car by about £2K for having been messed with.

They didn't get it done in the end, thankfully.

Not that C-charge affects me much, but one of my candidates for the next car is a Prius, which is apparently exempt despite causing as much 'congestion' as say, a Rav4 of similar footprint.

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Oddly enough I get LPG fitted on the basis that on my milages it actually does save money - like enough to replace the car should the engine take a total dislike to its food.

I drive a Rover 75 with a KV6 - it dislikes everything so the LPG savings are worth having.

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I discovered the joy that is "Burnt Oak" - a car park behind the train station, Free at the weekend, Northern line into the city. Pure Win :D

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INVISIBUL BUTTLECKSUS

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I must admit, I only do about 30-50,000 miles a year, so I don't think LPG is worth it for me.

But then, I wouldn't want to put fuel into a car that trashed it and made it necessary to replace because it was broken - I much prefer to replace them because I'm bored :D People keep saying my Delica should run on veg oil, and then those same Delica users end up coughing up £800 (let alone the costs of being stranded) to rebuild their fuel system after a winter of whining about how it won't start. Baffling.

LPG on a KV6? That's sort of asking for trouble (actually, it's probably going to be less hard on that engine, the KV6 would be designed to run lean)! OTOH, I've driven the MG ZS with the KV6 and was pleasantly surprised. There's only one Rover 75 variant I want though, and it has the correct driven wheels (has to be the 75 though, the MG model has a manual box but insufficient footwell space for the three pedals IMO)

Longbridge were flogging the old ZT260 engines for £3K, brand new with subframes. If I thought they'd still be available and I had space to store one, I'd buy the Rover and a spare engine as insurance. I reckon the engine on that one is the only bit that won't go wrong, though...

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Use an SC400, it's got more rounded edges...

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The variant in question uses a Ford V8. I still want one and may get one at some point.

Actually - to be honest, what I'll probably get is the one with the BMW Oil Burner in it - and I *know* it won't run on veg oil.

My 200 Discovery will, quite happily.

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Very good ;)

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No, that's quite fine thanks.

edwards, meet

da_pol.

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da_pol, meet

edwards - this is the person I mentioned to you the first time we spoke :)

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The BMW engine is okay; the reason I haven't owned a 75 of any flavour is largely due to the seat design and the suspension on the Project Drive models - like all the later MGR cars, they handle well, are quite composed and competent at speed, but suffer baffling low-speed absorbtion issues.

The shorter MGRs like the Streetwise of all things have the same setup - I was astounded that the Streetwise - that I drove quite hard when my dad wanted one with the idea of putting him off the bloody thing (they had JUST announced going out of business) - actually impressed when caned down a twisty backroad at 60+, but thankfully it was so uncomposed at 40 that he didn't get one.

Of course, the A-class he bought isn't that much better and far worse at speed, but it does at least behave predictably for the way the car looks and 'feels' behind the wheel.

MG started to lose me when they ditched the hydragas on the F though. I know it made the TF better at the limit, but it destroyed the excellent composure of the original F for a fractional improvement :/

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That sounds distinctly ominous.

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Oh - I love the congestion argument - My big, evil 4x4 Discovery is 2" smaller in length and width than a Mondeo. I might be causing congestion for aircraft, but I suspect that's a non-issue.

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Call me sick - my next motor's beginning to look like a Vanden Plas 1500 - just to confuse the hell out of everybody.

I've a few ideas on what to do to it too including a T16 engine, but I'll have to see what pennies allow.

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;)

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When I was running about in a Volvo 850 last year, I got into the idea (before the thing cost me a fortune in annoying repairs) of owning a new Volvo to replace the RX8; the new V70 seemed very, very nice. But bloody HUGE. And 24mpg. And all the nice visibility I liked in the 850 was gone.

And when I checked out pricing, the XC90 was better value.

Amusingly, the XC90 would get me hung-draw-quartered by the "green brigade", who probably all drive Volvo V70s. Despite the that that it's only a fat-guy heavier, considerably shorter, more efficient in terms of carrying 7 people instead of 5...

I totally agree that inappropriate SUV use in cities is bad. Except I replace the word SUV with "car". I don't give a crap if Tarquin is collected from school in a Hummer or a Lupo; if it's less than 1-2 miles (or 30 minutes walk) make the buggers walk, if it's more, provide a bus and make them walk to the bus stop.

I used to get panned for driving a Cherokee 4.0, which returned 28mpg on the computer (which was accurate, in US gallons - x1.2 for UK MPG), and is actually slightly smaller than a Focus and only an inch or so taller. And unlike the Focus and its ilk, Cherokees in the UK are still trotting about when they're 15+ years old, and in America at twice that sort of age.

You can probably guess the Prius is not a choice made out of misguided ecological concerns ;)

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