Korean Job Discussion Forums

Donghae · Joined: 24 Dec 2003 Location: Fukuoka, Japan

Does anyone drive (or know someone else who does) an LPG car?

I know that there's a bit of power loss at the top end. What I'm really interested in though are the practicalities of running one - I know LPG is cheap but consumption seems high, so how does that balance out? Are maintenance costs significantly higher? And how easy is it to find an LPG gas station in Korea? I've seen lots of them, but I've never actually needed one, so I don't know whether or not they're a pain in the aass to find when your low fuel light's been bugging you for the last 40 km.

Much appreciated if anyone has any info on the above or anything else relevant. I've asked a few taxi drivers both in Korea and in Japan (where taxis also run on LPG) and got positive feedback mostly, but would like to hear from some "normal" drivers too.

wylde · Joined: 14 Apr 2003

there is power loss throughout the rev range.. they use more gas than they would petrol but gas is much cheaper than petrol, it is far more economical to run a car on gas. maintenence costs are the same although they have a tendency to burn valves if you let them run hot (not common, but more common that a petrol engine).
maybe 50% of service stations (i have seen or used in suncheon) have gas and petrol, all the big 1's on the freeways have gas.

diesel is prolly the best engine to use in korea.. diesel is 1/2 price of petrol, more economical and a full tune-up consists of oil change, oil, fuel and air filter change and flush the injectors every 100,000k's. downside - they are slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow

Cthulhu · Joined: 02 Feb 2003

Do foreigners get a special deal on LPG cars? A number of Koreans I talked to said that LPG cars were only for taxis, the disabled and miscellaneous "special people", whatever that means. If foreigners can own them its a good thing.

wylde · Joined: 14 Apr 2003

not sure about that.. the only lpg cars i have driven here were hire cars. they were standard, new sonatas.

i don't see why they would not be available to the public. if ya don't wanna go racing, i do recommend diesel.

ratslash · Joined: 08 May 2003

question for drivers... you must be crazy to drive here, surely?

dogbert · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Location: Killbox 90210

This site has a list of all LPG outlets throughout Korea:

LPG Filling Stations List

kangnamdragon · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Location: Kangnam, Seoul, Korea

Some of the new cars are LPG. They are not "special cars".

kangnamdragon · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Location: Kangnam, Seoul, Korea

ratslash · Joined: 08 May 2003

kangnamdragon · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Location: Kangnam, Seoul, Korea

I admit that it is an "experience." and I tend to swear in Korean more when driving.

dogbert · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Location: Killbox 90210

Donghae · Joined: 24 Dec 2003 Location: Fukuoka, Japan

Thanks to the those above for the info, especially the link to the LPG sites.

Wylde, have you driven any Korean diesels? If so, any you'd recommend. Most seem to be SUVs.

BTW, I always laugh at the "you must be crazy to drive here" comments as in my experience they only EVER come from people who've never tried it. I sympathise a little with people from some countries for whom the way of driving in Korea is very different from their own (Japan, for example, possibly North America too). But anyone who's driven in France, Germany, Italy, certain cities in the UK or a number of other parts of Europe will find driving in Korea isn't anything out of the ordinary at all.

wylde · Joined: 14 Apr 2003

suvs are the type i was meaning... they are great. plenty of space and pretty safe.. if i was buying, it would be a diesel suv. your call bro..

go and test drive some

kangnamdragon · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Location: Kangnam, Seoul, Korea

Donghae · Joined: 24 Dec 2003 Location: Fukuoka, Japan