LPG in VT Wagon which tank, Conventional or "Donut"?

[muso]

I have been getting quotes on LPG installation (in S.A.) on the our VT wagon and have had a quote for $2,200 with conventional 68 litre tank mounted along (not across) the rear cargo area next to the right wheel arch or $2,600 for the 50 litre "Donut" tank which will occupy the spare wheel area and move the spare wheel into the r/h cargo area.

I wonder if the donut tank with it's smaller capacity is worth the extra $400 for the cargo area advantage which will still be lost to a degree with the spare wheel and mounting bracket?

Has anyone who has a VT/X/Y wagon on gas found avantages or disadvantages with either tank choice?

I did do a search but could not find anything specifically about the LPG tank choices.

[WAGON MAN]

I've got the LPG Donut Tank in my VX.

It holds 55 Litres.

Its alot more neater conversion ,tank is out of sight and if you want to utilize the entire cargo space you can , just take the spare tyre out.

A 68 litre tank will take up alot more room than having the spare mounted on the R/H wheel arch.

It will involve more butchering of your interior and floor from running gas pipes etc.

You will also encounter issues accessing your spare tyre.

The only advantaged i could possible see is the extra 13 litres capacity (100km's).

IMO well worth the extra $400.

Especially with the $2000 rebate...

[gruntavt]

^^^^^ x 2 Agree

[NVE_069]

so in him gettn a 2000 rebate does that be he only pays say 600 if he was to get the donut one?

[WAGON MAN]

Correct, it will only cost him $600.

He will have to pay $2600 up front and then claim the $2000 back from the government (Medicare or Centrelink) .

[muso]

Thanks 'Wagon Man' for your prompt reply and good advice.
This 2K rebate is unbelievable isn't it? I am 43 years old and have never seen our Government do anything like this before, it is also going to assist the environment, but without sounding too synical I wonder what else will go up to cover this rebate, rego and license renewals and ofcourse petrol excise and the eminent LPG excise, I hate negative people and now I'm being one

[WAGON MAN]

Its just the governments way of making more money from tax.

Its good business ethics. They are waving the $2000 carrot in front of the public.

This rebate is available to the 14/08/2014.


Example:

Lets say without the rebate 9% of the motoring public had LPG.....

Lets say with the rebate 36% of the motoring public has LPG....

When the excise is applied to LPG the will have 400% more of the motoring public paying the excise than if they never offered the rebate.



You will still buy petrol (dual fuel) and be paying the petrol excise on that.

The pinkslip (roadworthy) for LPG is about $10 more in NSW.

Rego/ insurance/ taxes etc we will have to wait and see.


I could keep on going on and on but I hate negative people too and now I'm being one.

Let us know if you go ahead with the install

[NVE_069]

i thought it was a short term rebate but untill 2014 now thats pretty good. i had my old car on gas never notice the diff with power between both fuels but if i was to get it, id lean more with just gas only an take the fuel off alltogether

[muso]

Its just the governments way of making more money from tax.

Its good business ethics. They are waving the $2000 carrot in front of the public.

This rebate is available to the 14/08/2014.


Example:

Lets say without the rebate 9% of the motoring public had LPG.....

Lets say with the rebate 36% of the motoring public has LPG....

When the excise is applied to LPG the will have 400% more of the motoring public paying the excise than if they never offered the rebate.



You will still buy petrol (dual fuel) and be paying the petrol excise on that.

The pinkslip (roadworthy) for LPG is about $10 more in NSW.

Rego/ insurance/ taxes etc we will have to wait and see.


I could keep on going on and on but I hate negative people too and now I'm being one.

Let us know if you go ahead with the install

Yes I figured there was a long term general revenue benefit as far as LPG excise is concerned and to cover the 2K rebate the LPG excise will be higher by 2011 than if the rebate was never offered in the first place.

I would also assume that the price after October this year of LPG will creep up maybe just a few cents but multiply that with the amount of extra vehicles which will be on LPG within a year or so due to the 2K rebate and the Govt. won't only recover their money (1.5 Billion I think) for the rebate package but they will probably make money on it to.

How much money did Australians spend trying to win the 30 million dollar lottery a couple of years ago?.......56 million.....and a good net profit for the lotteries commission of approx 16 million......where can I buy a lotteries commission franchise?

[muso]

Hey Wagon Man, did you have to get a memcal re-flash? Some do some don't, also some install a little LED LPG guage and others utilize the existing guage in the cluster which occurs with the memcal re-write, I have however heard of problems with utilizing the original cluster fuel guage such as inaccurate readings, fuel light flashing and beeping when there is plenty of fuel etc.
Which guage type did you get and have you had any trouble with it?

[WAGON MAN]

Muso, Yes i did get the memcal re-flash done.

My LPG system utilizes the exsiting fuel gauge.

In the 2.5+ years since having the system installed i haven't encountered any problems at all.

The gauge is very accurate on both LPG and Petrol.

On LPG the low fuel light activates when i have approx. 80kms left.

I would recommend you try and source one of these systems with the donut tank.

Speak to your local Holden dealer and find out where they get their "factory" LPG system installed and then contact them....

[muso]

Holden here in S.A. use the Impco systems and outsource the work to a place over the other side of town, they charge $3000+ for a conventional system with the donut tank, but I have found one my side of town who does the memcal re-flash with donut tank for $2400 or $2200 with the space gobbling conventional tank, his components have a 5 year warranty versus Impco's 3 year (I think)
Most of these outlets charging $2500ish seem to be using 'Levato' for under the bonnet components and 'APA and Manchester' for tanks, these are simply name brands they have relayed to me and mean nothing to me, I don't know how they compare to Impco.

There are many others who charge around the $2500 - $2800 mark for donut tank, I think 3K+ is a bit rich, this outlet is obviously profiteering from Holden and the 2K Rebate, they may have to pay a commission to holden for the work they are getting from them I don't know, but they told me that I should budget for $3300.

[WAGON MAN]

The system i have is the Impco.

My understanding in this was, that they were the only LPG supplier to develop and manufacture in conjunction with Holden, approved LPG kits for Holden commodores.

The company i used in Sydney for my conversion only install Impco kits on Holden Commodores (they have a very good reputation in the industry).

Of course there are always going to be other manufactures who will copy.

It's a tough decision....

I can understand where you are coming from on price.

At the end of the day you will still be saving money.

It might just take you a little bit longer to recoup your costs .

Do any of the other oulets supply Impco kits?

I paid $2250 in Feb 2004 for my system.

Johnny ,Johnny,Johnny

[muso]

You can add an extra $1000 to that price now that the rebate is eminent.
But I will look into the Impco systems since they specialize in Commodores.