Volvo V50 Flexi Fuel

kevin123123

Thinking of buying a Volvo v50 Flexi Fuel shortly. Firstly because they are a lovely looking and reliable car but also because of the vrt rebate. Just a few questions -what would you get from a full tank with flexi fuel in it.I have a 1.8 petrol at the moment and get about 400 miles also on a slightly different topic -when is the updated Ford Focus comming out. Thanks

pete4130

approx 20% less than regular unleaded fuel, but this is offset by it being about 20% cheaper so its much of a muchness. check www.greenfuels.co.uk for more info on biofuels. The rebate is good on the VRT but not nearly enough that it should be imho.

The V50's are known to have their quirks and problems (not the biggest boot is another complaint). A good car review site is www.whatcar.co.uk and if your interested in flexi fuel, the Ford focus has a flexi fuel version (in the estate as well) and they are meant to be releasing the new mondeo next year with a flexi fuel engine. The mondeo is cheaper too I think and alot more spacious. The V50 does have good spec as standard though and I guess it won't depreciate so fast either?

EDIT: I think the 1.8 engine in the V50 flexi fuel might actually be the Ford FF engine thats currently in the focus. I found an article relating to the S40 flexi fuel model and as far as I can make out it says it is the same engine as the focus?

http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2007/07/15/story25046.asp

"
As in the case of the Ford Focus FFV, which uses the same engine, the car will run on any mixture of €85 and regular petrol, so there is never any real fear of running out of fuel."

Del2005

That would proberly be because Ford owns Volvo and the V/S40 is just a Focus with a bit of fancy body work.

R.O.R

I don't think the fuel consumption on the FF version is as good as the standard petrol model (same engine, just tinkered with to run on E85). My wife drives the standard 1.8 and we can just squeeze 600km (80km motorway, 35km town driving daily) from a tank so expect less from the FF. Service intervals on it are every 10,000km rather than every 20,000km for the petrol only and main dealer servicing is fairly pricey.

The VRT rebate is only gauranteed until the end of 2007, what happens after then will be decided in the budget so we'll just have to wait and see - but there should be a few in stock to pick up this year, and there should be some discount available.

Only spec to go for is the SE. The new 08 model has had a few updates, but most importantly looses the 6cd changer over the old model, but gains the I-Pod connector. Cruise Control, Dual Zone Climate, 17" Alloys and full leather as standard.

Have a few of the FF Volvo's on fleet and haven't had any issues with them. No problems with our own Volvo in the 10 months of running it.

Henry Ford III

Budget should be interesting in relation to E85 vehicles.

According to manufacturers websites performance and economy on E85 cars is identical to those with normal unleaded engines. I spoke to someone in Ford who suggested real life driving might be a bit different however, which backs up R.O.R.'s point above.