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Candid opinion on CNG vehicles
I have read several posts asking "Why won't CNG ever take off?"
I own 3 cng vehicles and I'm beginning to figure out why cng will be a passing fancy. Everything about CNG is a hassle.
***FUELING***
Fueling stations are few and far between AND they are tempramental. There's nothing like having a a near empty dedicated vehicle, pulling up to the pump and it's either turned off or has 1200 PSI. You then end up stopping nearly everyday to put 1/4 tank in your car. Pumps are nearly ALWAYS out of your way.
When you grow tired of that, you decide to purchase a home fueling system. A decent one runs about $11,000 dollars, not to mention installation. You get a federal tax incentive (our state has one also) which absorbs less than half of your investment to sweeten the deal, but there is nothing $5,000 about these compressors, much less $11,000. If somthing goes wrong, it will cost you no less than $600 to fix it, even if it's something simple. Time is a problem also, because things have to be ordered, etc.
***MAINTAINANCE***
When something goes wrong with the cng aspect of the car (and it will, no matter how well you take care of it) what we have ran into is this.
If you take it to a dealership, they SORTA diagnose the problem (chi-ching) (They list 2-5 things that MAY be wrong with the car) then tell you the part they think you need doesn't come by itself(chi-ching), they have to order it from Timbuktu (not going anywhere for awhile?), and it will run you around 6 grand. Oh, and don't forget labor! In some cases, it's cheaper to buy another cng vehicle!!! And there's no guarantee that will fix the problem, it's just a jumping off point. Then they tell you to take it to the one cng guru in your town and he may be able to help you. 1 grand and 3 months later you get your car back.
If you can work on them, it's a hassle. For instance, on a Ford F150, did you know that IF you can find someone to do it, it costs $1000 to have your spark plugs changed? They can even pop out occassionaly. Even the simplest maintainance can not be carried out by the consumer (MAYBE, if you have a couple weekends to do it). On technical things, even if you have the know how to work on it, you can't find diagrams, specs, information, etc.
When things go wrong with a dedicated cng vehicle, it usually involves towing it.
***OTHER ISSUES***
The things going on in Utah and California are perfect examples also. It is almost like they (government, oil industry, car manufacturers, dealers,etc.) are TRYING to make the cng movement fail.
In retrospect, owning ONE (and we have 3) of these vehicles has turned out to be more expensive than if we had just kept our own cars and paid $3 + a gallon for gasoline. If every repair is $1000 or more and it happens even just once a year, it just doesn't justify the cost. Especially when cng sometimes ran only 10-20 cents less than gasoline.
The whole thing is really ashame. I had such hope for it.
I own 3 cng vehicles and I'm beginning to figure out why cng will be a passing fancy. Everything about CNG is a hassle.
***FUELING***
Fueling stations are few and far between AND they are tempramental. There's nothing like having a a near empty dedicated vehicle, pulling up to the pump and it's either turned off or has 1200 PSI. You then end up stopping nearly everyday to put 1/4 tank in your car. Pumps are nearly ALWAYS out of your way.
When you grow tired of that, you decide to purchase a home fueling system. A decent one runs about $11,000 dollars, not to mention installation. You get a federal tax incentive (our state has one also) which absorbs less than half of your investment to sweeten the deal, but there is nothing $5,000 about these compressors, much less $11,000. If somthing goes wrong, it will cost you no less than $600 to fix it, even if it's something simple. Time is a problem also, because things have to be ordered, etc.
***MAINTAINANCE***
When something goes wrong with the cng aspect of the car (and it will, no matter how well you take care of it) what we have ran into is this.
If you take it to a dealership, they SORTA diagnose the problem (chi-ching) (They list 2-5 things that MAY be wrong with the car) then tell you the part they think you need doesn't come by itself(chi-ching), they have to order it from Timbuktu (not going anywhere for awhile?), and it will run you around 6 grand. Oh, and don't forget labor! In some cases, it's cheaper to buy another cng vehicle!!! And there's no guarantee that will fix the problem, it's just a jumping off point. Then they tell you to take it to the one cng guru in your town and he may be able to help you. 1 grand and 3 months later you get your car back.
If you can work on them, it's a hassle. For instance, on a Ford F150, did you know that IF you can find someone to do it, it costs $1000 to have your spark plugs changed? They can even pop out occassionaly. Even the simplest maintainance can not be carried out by the consumer (MAYBE, if you have a couple weekends to do it). On technical things, even if you have the know how to work on it, you can't find diagrams, specs, information, etc.
When things go wrong with a dedicated cng vehicle, it usually involves towing it.
***OTHER ISSUES***
The things going on in Utah and California are perfect examples also. It is almost like they (government, oil industry, car manufacturers, dealers,etc.) are TRYING to make the cng movement fail.
In retrospect, owning ONE (and we have 3) of these vehicles has turned out to be more expensive than if we had just kept our own cars and paid $3 + a gallon for gasoline. If every repair is $1000 or more and it happens even just once a year, it just doesn't justify the cost. Especially when cng sometimes ran only 10-20 cents less than gasoline.
The whole thing is really ashame. I had such hope for it.
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