Got a chat later today for a job I really want – problem is it’s a 100mile a day round trip.

So just trying to do some maths / procrastination beforehand, so hypothetically speaking…
…Moving isn’t an option right now & I don’t want to do the commute in a van (my current vehicle) so a new car is on the cards.

£3k on something like a 100k miler golf 1.9 gt tdi
£2k on a 80k BMW 3 series 2.5i sport tourer with lpg conversion

Either way 30k miles a year is going to kill it in 2/ 3 years

Opinions please…

The LPG truck (L200) and van a company I used to work for seemed to be less economical on the LPG than petrol so there wasn’t alot in the cost lpg v Petrol (although a year or two back)

I would guess Bmw will be less economical (mpg) as well being a ‘sport’ than the TDI.

So I’d say the TDI, however the LPG systems maybe more efficient now a days

My understanding (and experience) of LPG is that it is slightly less economical than petrol in terms of mpg, it’s just that LPG is so much cheaper than petrol per litre.

That said, a nice big engine in the bimmer would probably be quite economical if the journey is mostly motorways, but no way would it beat the diseasle. It just depends on how 100 miles @ 30-35 mpg @ 80 ppl (or whatever LPG is) compares to 100 miles @ 55-60 mpg @ 140ppl for diesel.

For reference, I did a 100 mile round trip on fast A-roads and m-ways for 6 months in a 1.8T petrol Golf GTI and it managed 40 mpg on normal petrol, 42 mpg on super.

You could be filling up every 3 or 4 days with lpg on that commute. Once a week with an oil burner.
Lpg returns about 80% of the petrol mpg, iirc.

Any car you buy for less than 5k wll have to be treated as a banger and at that level of daily mileage you’ll probably have it fail at least once a year with something.

I killed a Rover (not that difficult really) twice in two years on an Ipswich to Cambridge daily commute (150 miles round trip daily give or take) and it was costing me enough that I ended up moving nearer to work.

Of the two options above though, I’d go for diesel for simplicity, but I think that LPG may end up being the slightly cheaper option. Unless it breaks, in which case it might be more expensive.

Alternatively, buy two or three very cheap cars and rotate them during the week. Then if one dies, simply switch to another car.

hmmm quick maths 30K miles / yr, average UK fuel prices

LPG £2340-ish fuel per yr @ 35mpg
Diesel £3185-ish fuel per yr @ 50mpg

hmmmm

Used to do 120 miles/day in my Ibiza 1.9 tdi. I’ve got the 130bhp version, but the 100 is plenty & will give u a few more mpg.

Bought it with 24k miles (3yrs old) on it and it’s now on 194k miles (9 yrs old).

Failures have been few and far between – pipe between turbo & intercooler failed – £45 to replace & turned out to be an incorrect clip fitted at the factory that caused the failure. Wheel bearing went at 38k miles, but been fine since. Air con compressor replaced last yr – cost me £500 fitted; not essential, but might as well be comfy when in the car for that long.
It’s still on original clutch & exhaust. Front pads & discs lasted 119k miles.

Driving ‘normally’ gets me 55mpg. Now I tend to stick to 60 when commuting & have improved my ability to drive economically – this gets me around 63mpg.

Any car you buy for less than 5k wll have to be treated as a banger

Really?! £5k gets a lot of car and is a fair investment…my wife does 25k/year in a £2500 car and even that isn’t treated as a banger!

Any car you buy for less than 5k wll have to be treated as a banger

Really?! £5k gets a lot of car and is a fair investment…my wife does 25k/year in a £2500 car and even that isn’t treated as a banger!

I think he means that with the daily milage it will depreciate into bangar status V quickly. thats how I read it at least.

bloke in work had a nissan micro lpg (from factory).
numerous problems with it.
AA seemed to know of lots of problems where injectors (petrol) would have a problem during startup. Once started I don’t think he ever had a problem.

He drives a plain petrol now.

Not many garages will know how to repair LPG, and you have a much smaller number of filling stations. Not deal breakers, but something to think about…