Buying A New CNG Car This Season? Know The Facts
If you are considering buying a CNG car this season, there are definitely a few things that you should consider. With Gas prices at historic high levels, its no wonder why more and more people are flocking to the CNG car craze. While high gas prices can be a huge motivating factor for you to start looking into CNG cars, there are a few things that you should know before you impulsively go out and buy one.
Not All CNG Cars Are The Same
A very common misconception that many customers have is that all CNG cars are the same. The reason people believe this is because most vehicles are the same in that they all have an engine and run off of gas. The difference with a CNG car is that it can either ONLY run on CNG, or it is a CNG hybrid that has had a kit installed which allows you to flip a switch and run the vehicle off of unleaded gasoline, or CNG(compressed natural gas). The biggest difference to understand is that cars that only run on CNG are factory made, meaning they came that way out of the factory doors. These cars usually experience less problems because they were manufactured only to run on the cleaner burning CNG fuel.
CNG cars that have an add-on kit installed are very nice as you can use both fuel types, but because they are an add-on, there is additional risk that things could go wrong or that problems could ensue. This is very important to understand when looking at CNG cars for purchase as all states will accept a manufactured CNG car to meet their safety and emmissions standards, but hardly any states will approve a CNG add-on kit car.
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Do Your Research
The biggest problem that consumer experience when buying a CNG car is that they can’t get it passed off each year with safety and emmissions, making the car illegal to drive. Make sure to do your research and find out if your state allows CNG car kits. If not, you need to buy a manufacturer made CNG car. Honda is the only known car maker that continues to make CNG vehicles. All other car makers stopped making CNG cars back in 2004 as the Flex-Fuel vehicles became the new standard to meet the government imposed alternative fuel legislation. The problem is that Flex-Fuel is completely impractical, so finding a CNG SUV, car, or Van can be tricky as they are much harder to come by these days.
CNG Does Make Your Car Last Longer
CNG cars do last longer than their gasoline counterparts. The main reason is because CNG burns much cleaner than gasoline. In fact, most cars that run off of CNG fuel can easily go 500,000 miles to a million miles before the engine gives out. This is drastically higher than the maximum mileage of a gasoline car, so by having a CNG car, it will definitely pay for itself in savings.
As you can see, there are some factors to consider, so make sure you thing about these things when asking the question “Which CNG car should I buy?”
