possible business idea - question for van owners.

[jonny-lindsay]

hey guys. yet another idea from me.

ok we all know that the price of fuel is becoming a joke. diesel is currently £1.23.9 at my local petrol station.
what if i told you i could save you 50% on your fuel bill if you bought a van from me instead of getting it elsewhere, would that be enough incentive for you to buy it?
im not going to say how i would do this as this idea has not been used before in this way. so hopefully unique.
also, i know that the recession has hit the sale of van's hard. is this starting to recover yet? and would you personally be looking to change your van/fleet in the near future, or has the trend went towards keeping your vehicle longer and maintaining them instead of changing say every three years?
this could also be used for car's, however i think that a bigger saving and more interest would come from commercial vehicles.

your views please.

 

[jonny-lindsay]

no-one have any advice then?

 

[Billmccallum]

as usual for one of my replies.....not enought information

sounds like the the start of a long sales pitch...but my question is simple....

HOW?

 

[RBS]

but my question is simple....

HOW?

Just fit converter and run it on used chip oil or LPG. No magic regarding fuel can be done.

 

[sanjiv]

If you are caught using Red Diesel, you can be prosecuted.

EDIT: or what RobCCTV said.

 

[MASSEY]

One of my dads tennants runs a clapped out banger and a massive van on chip oil, when the bloke told me i was in stitches it was that funny.

 

[Matt1959]

One of my dads tennants runs a clapped out banger and a massive van on chip oil, when the bloke told me i was in stitches it was that funny.

we have someone locally who drives an old small pick up with a big black tank sitting in the back presumably where he puts all his chip fat or whatever it is. The thing absoloutely stinks after its driven past - what an antisocial and selfish git

 

[Billmccallum]

we have someone locally who drives an old small pick up with a big black tank sitting in the back presumably where he puts all his chip fat or whatever it is. The thing absoloutely stinks after its driven past - what an antisocial and selfish git

OK, I concede that the smell can be a little off-putting....but.....

Someone cares enought about the environment to go to the trouble of converting to a recycled fuel is regarded as anti-social and selfish

I hope that when my grandkids are older they have a planet that sustains life and appreciate the "anti-social" and "selfish" people who tried to do a little bit to save it for them.

They get my vote.

 

[RBS]

OK, I concede that the smell can be a little off-putting....but.....

Have you tried smelling when double decker bus passed you? I`d better smell chip oil rather than deadly diesel fumes.

 

[Matt1959]

Someone cares enought about the environment to go to the trouble of converting to a recycled fuel is regarded as anti-social and selfish

.

yes you're very right, it could be someone who cares for the enviroment but equally it could be someone purely to save some cash (likely) and even if they care for the enviroment, they don't care for others or they wouldnt drive such a smell ridden vehicle - the smell it gives off is bloody disgusting

 

[Billmccallum]

yes you're very right, it could be someone who cares for the enviroment but equally it could be someone purely to save some cash (likely) and even if they care for the enviroment, they don't care for others or they wouldnt drive such a smell ridden vehicle - the smell it gives off is bloody disgusting

I respect your right to your own opinion...but thats about all.

 

[Matt1959]

I respect your right to your own opinion...but thats about all.

hmmm thanks for that. Out of interest, what proportion of people driving vehicles using oil or fat etc do it for enviromental reasons? I don't know the answer to this but I do know many, many people do it to save money. Presumably there are ways to run vehicles on these alternative fuels that mean minimal pollution, smell if done properly etc and I'm sure the enviomentalists do it this way which is great, its the others I'm referring to which may or may not be in the majority..

 

[sanjiv]

Stereotypically, environmentalists would find it disgusting running their bicycles on chip fat unless the oil was organic.

 

Does this idea involve any form of pushing.:|

Earl

 

[roydmoorian]

Beware rising sump oil levels and dilution of lubrication oil with the SVO (straight veg oil) due to incomplete combustion - then the engine running off the sump oil uncontrollably until it blows up. Been there...Done that.

 

[termsandconditions]

Maybe Johnny's looking at an electric van franchise.

 

[MH1]

Veg oil can work out cheap, 42p a litre so I am told, some vehicles can use it straight without any processing.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

Seems it's quite easy to do?
http://www.vegoilmotoring.com/eng/

 

[roydmoorian]

Remember that once you have used your "personal allowance" of 50 litres per week then the chancellor currently wants 37ppl from you as well. So if you are running a couple of vans on regular work then you are probably using over 15000 litres per year so you will need to send over £4500 to HMRC.

 

[jonny-lindsay]

sorry havent been online in a while. ive been researching my idea and i think there is a gap in the market for this. no it doesnt involve chip oil, electric, red diesel or anything mentioned. lol no one has answered my question though. would halfing your fuel bill entice you to buy your van from me?

 

[Billmccallum]

what if i told you i could save you 50% on your fuel bill if you bought a van from me instead of getting it elsewhere, would that be enough incentive for you to buy it?


your views please.

Two elements of your first post... I would only buy a van if someone could demonstrate how they will save me money, which is why I asked the question.

You asked for views, but seem upset that nobody can answer your question.

The reason for this is that you have not provided enough information that can allow any reader to make an informed decision.

If you should decide to inform us "how", I feel sure you will get lots of responses, especially from me.

 

[Astaroth]

Any promise like that would make people concerned it is a scam or has heavy terms and conditions - one of the small car manufacturers once did a years free motoring if you bought their car but turned out it was a limit of £300 fuel (was a few years ago).

If you are talking about anything more than a single vehicle company then they will also have to think of the practicalities of "your system" and how it works with them -v- the fuel card they use or anything else. Plus how it potentially works if they replace their vehicles on a roling basis, can their current process and your system co-exist etc

 

[karenhill]

I'm assuming your talking about LPG Conversions for vans. You want to focus on vans as the majority of your customers would be business owners, therefore making the conversion tax deductable.

As I believe it can reduce your fuel charges to as little as 0.20 pence per litre and you don't have to pay the congestion charge. (Please correct me if I'm wrong)

I think it's a good idea, but most people are still sceptical of LPG conversions.
If you are already selling vans, you could offer this as a second option, so you have nothing to lose.

 

I personally wouldnt use chip oil for various reasons ....one of them being the enviroment but i think BP need to hang their heads in shame for whats happened in the Gulf of Mexico:redface:. Even before this disaster struck they were blamed for the high rise in fuel prices ....now no doubt they will go eve higher to pay for their mess....feel very sad for all the marine, bird & mammal life that have suffered. Alot of businesses have already gone under due to them & their greed ......

 

Sorry posted that before i had finished & went a little bit off track ....i looked into getting a LPG a couple of years ago & it didnt seem very cost effective so i would be intrested to hear a few more details ....

 

[roydmoorian]

I personally wouldnt use chip oil for various reasons ....one of them being the enviroment ......

How does utilizing an otherwise waste product (which has in the past been responsible for sewer problems when disposed of) be more detrimental to the environment than using mineral oil diesel fuel ?

 

[GARAGE&TRANSPORT SUPPLIES]

It's a good idea to target business users as opposed to private motorists due to the higher mileages, as the savings will obviously be greater.
Do you intend to sell the vehicles at their normal market value?.
Will there be an annual mileage limit?

As far as I'm aware vehicle registrations for vans are up on last years figures. Resale values for used vans also, but HGV registrations have taken a real hammering.

Regards,
John.

 

[felix299]

The obvious answer to the OP's question would be yes. Of course people would be interested in halving their fuel bill. However the way you have pitched it makes it sound like a sales spiel and my first thought is that their is bound to be a catch. I would need a helluva lot more information to actually make a decision

 

[Atilla]

I personally wouldnt use chip oil for various reasons ....one of them being the enviroment but i think BP need to hang their heads in shame for whats happened in the Gulf of Mexico:redface:. Even before this disaster struck they were blamed for the high rise in fuel prices ....now no doubt they will go eve higher to pay for their mess....feel very sad for all the marine, bird & mammal life that have suffered. Alot of businesses have already gone under due to them & their greed ......

So BP put all the taxes on fuel then?

 

[trebor8]

sorry havent been online in a while. ive been researching my idea and i think there is a gap in the market for this. no it doesnt involve chip oil, electric, red diesel or anything mentioned. lol no one has answered my question though. would halfing your fuel bill entice you to buy your van from me?

Yes! send me details please.

 

[patientlady]

no one has answered my question though. would halfing your fuel bill entice you to buy your van from me?

Yes we run four old long wheel based transits, if thats any help

 

How does utilizing an otherwise waste product (which has in the past been responsible for sewer problems when disposed of) be more detrimental to the environment than using mineral oil diesel fuel ?[/quote

Forgive me ....just looked to check its not that bad but the smoke & smell is awful so i wouldnt do it for that reason but then i dont use oil to cook either ...but i do run a diesel van & unless the mix is right it does engine damage ...so id rather pay through the nose for diesel because knowing my luck the engine would die

 

So BP put all the taxes on fuel then?

No of course not alot of it is the goverment as well ....but its the big boys who have alot of control. When the supermarkets Asda, Tesco, Morissons drop the prices of fuel then BP etc follow suit ...it wasnt that long ago that it was on the news. People were urging motorists to boycott their garages.

 

[jonny-lindsay]

this is not a scam, fraud or anything and because so many people are skeptical of my idea, ill tell you.

I'm assuming your talking about LPG Conversions for vans. You want to focus on vans as the majority of your customers would be business owners, therefore making the conversion tax deductable.

As I believe it can reduce your fuel charges to as little as 0.20 pence per litre and you don't have to pay the congestion charge. (Please correct me if I’m wrong)

I think it's a good idea, but most people are still sceptical of LPG conversions.
If you are already selling vans, you could offer this as a second option, so you have nothing to lose.

yes this is what i have been thinking about. i thought that i could buy vans, convert them, then sell them on. this would save the buyer alot of money on fuel.
yes i agree that people still dont use LPG to its full potential but i think because of high fuel prices this may change. i mean, if this could save you money, why wudnt you??

anyway, thanks for the comments, it was just an idea.

 

[montrano]

I know im hijacking a little, but has anyone ever tried a hydrogen supplement system.
Basically a hydrolysis chamber feeding into the fuel injector along with the petrol.
There are a few commerically available models at crazy prizes, but you can built one signifincantly cheaper.
Not that i have a car yet, but Ive got designs for one and not sure whether to build it.