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NW Washington conversion? Or buy new?

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  • NW Washington conversion? Or buy new?

    Any advice would be welcome.
    My family and I are on the edge of buying a nissan versa to save fuel on the old explorer that has seen too many days. We live up here in Washington State out on the Hood Cannal. We live on land that has natural gas service and are connected. My wife will be the primary driver and her work takes her on cross state buisness. With no CNG infrustructure up here we can only consider a bi-fuel application.
    We would like to consider a small newer (1-5yrs old) suv, truck or even a passenger car that gets at least 20 to 30 mpg for conversion.

    Heres the thing,
    1) we are concerned about the conversion process, cost and most importantly support if things don't work reliably.

    2)The actual cost of NG fuel up here verses places like utah and california where i've heard its cheap. Maybe it just doesn't make sence up here?

    3)Is there such a thing as a bi-fuel production car like the dedicated honda?

    4)Is there any way to buy a newer converted car that carries any warrenty or gaurrenty?

    After license and tax and interest we are going to drop 20k on the Versa for upper 20's to upper 30's MPG with regular $4.50gas. She is looking to put between 15-20k miles annually on the vehical.

    Any advice would be most welcome especially from someone in our area. Thanks!

  • #2
    Re: NW Washington conversion? Or buy new?

    Originally posted by Tim View Post
    ... After license and tax and interest we are going to drop 20k on the Versa for upper 20's to upper 30's MPG with regular $4.50gas. She is looking to put between 15-20k miles annually on the vehical.
    Even with $4.50/gal gas it will take a while to recover the cost of a conversion if you're just considering the energy savings (you'd save maybe $2500 a year when compared to $1.50 recurring cost of CNG per EGG; but that's not really a fair comparison as you'd be pressed to find a bi-fuel vechile that gets similar mileage- not many high mileage cars on the list of vehicles that can be legally converted, CNG tanks take up a large volume http://www.ngvamerica.org/pdfs/marke...ses.NGVs-a.pdf )

    On the CNG side, a new Versa isn't going to hold its value when compared to your home natural gas refueling appliance and CNG bi-fuel vehicle.

    Good luck!
    2008 GX (extended range, trunkless version)
    Polished Metal Metallic 2012 Civic Natural Gas
    Fuelmaker FMQ-2-36 (since 2001)
    Previously owned: 2000 GX (11 years), 1995 Bi-fuel Sonoma, 2000 Bifuel Tahoe, 2000 Bi-fuel F150

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    • #3
      Re: NW Washington conversion? Or buy new?

      I would recommend researching the GSA auctions in your area and see if they have any bi-fuel vehicles leaving service. This would be the most economical methed to achieve your goal.

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      • #4
        Re: NW Washington conversion? Or buy new?

        Thanks Curtis for responding to my question. I called your Robertson Honda and they suggested your the guy. Our problem with your suggestion of an auction vehical is time is not on our side and still too many unknowns primarily service. Seems to me we could eliminate alot of issues if we bought the GX new. That would leave us with only one major issue and that is range. Range is only an issue 3 or 4 times a year where trips will be close to 400 miles. Seems to me with all the retofit tanks avalible for converting existing vehicals, purchacing and connecting a temporary addittional tank would solve the problem. The sacrafice in trunk space would not be of concern because her travel would be independant of passengers and short term. So the possibility of retrofitting a second tank in the GX is our first question to you. The second for us is trying to put a price on a gallon of Natural gas verses a gallon of regular gas. Cascade natural gas (our local dealer) told me yesterday one therm sells for $1.02 currently. Can you tell me or direct me to a understandable conversion? Without being able to do the math the entire notion may be a waste. The third question for us is time. We need to move on something very soon. By that I mean a desicion one way or the other. Your co-worker at Honda suggested Aug-Sept before availibility. Can you verify a date and is it possible to lock in a sale now? I know that's alot of questions so maybe you could give me a call at home or on my cell at (360) 275-8601 H (360) 204-2243 Cell ------My E-mail is [email protected] Thanks very much, looking forward to doing buisness -------- Tim Daniel--------

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        • #5
          Re: NW Washington conversion? Or buy new?

          Sounds like renting a car for the 3-4 times per you you need the range would be the best bet.

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          • #6
            Re: NW Washington conversion? Or buy new?

            Originally posted by Tim View Post
            ... Cascade natural gas (our local dealer) told me yesterday one therm sells for $1.02 currently. Can you tell me or direct me to a understandable conversion? --
            I know there are resources elsewhere on this site, but here's a NGV calculator...

            2008 GX (extended range, trunkless version)
            Polished Metal Metallic 2012 Civic Natural Gas
            Fuelmaker FMQ-2-36 (since 2001)
            Previously owned: 2000 GX (11 years), 1995 Bi-fuel Sonoma, 2000 Bifuel Tahoe, 2000 Bi-fuel F150

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: NW Washington conversion? Or buy new?

              I'm still figuring out how to navigate this site. I attempted to respond to you in detail but am not sure where I posted. Am trying to contact you with questions related to the GX Thanks, Tim

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              • #8
                Re: NW Washington conversion? Or buy new?

                1.267 therms of natural gas is one gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE)


                And here's a spreadsheet to compute payback on different vehicles and fueling options.
                Devin

                http://www.cnginfoguide.com

                http://feedproxy.google.com/CngInformationGuide
                http://feedproxy.google.com/CngForSale

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