Need a very quick answer please - V6 questions

[no2lurch]

Looking at possibly getting a V6 estate...

How are they on fuel? I mean realistically - around town and motorway use!

Are they megger expensive to insure?

How is road tax?

[no2lurch]

Its an s reg if that makes any difference?

[waue1978]

I'd say sub 20mpg around town, maybe 35mpg on a steady footed run. 406 insurance is already expensive anyway, but I don't think the V6 is a massive amount more than an HDi or 2.0 petrol would be. Big killer on these that I've read about seems to be cambelt or clutch changes. If you can DIY it, you'll be laughing, but I've heard tales of £1000 bills for garages to do the cambelt, tensioners & waterpump as it's such a pig to gain access to anything with such a large engine shoehorned in there.

They sound lush at full chat though...

[markw]

Don't be frightened off by horror stories regarding the cambelt change. I've done a couple and I'm due to do 2 more in the next month or so. It's a big job, of that there is no doubt and the kit isn't cheap, but if tackled logically, it can be done by a reasonably confident owner with the correct tools. Last one took 6 hours.
Think of the clutch change in the same light. The only real problem there, if doing it on axle stands, is the colossal weight of the box when you're on your back wrestling with it on your lap!!

[Sonia406]

I have a 2.0 petrol estate and I am finding around town I am lucky to get 23mpg.. A lot better on longer runs where speed is at least 50mph + and then she returns about 30mpg........

Let us know ;)

[V6Exec]

V6 estates are superb - get one and you will love it

[GingerMagic]

Hi mate, a chap up the road has a V6 estate, D8, slightly lowered with nice alloys.

Looks great, goes like the wind and is running on LPG. A definite wolf in sheeps clothing..!!

Plenty of technical help on this forum and also the coupe forum too, as some of them are also V6.

Good luck

[markw]

Yes, plenty of info and help over on the Coupe site.
Just one thing I would say re the V6. If you're contemplating getting one with the later engine (ES9J4S), sooner or later you will be plagued with the 'pre cat ageing' fault and MIL light up on the dash. These engines have 4 cats. 2 close to manifold and 2 further down. The last pair can be removed, should you so wish, with no detriment to the car's ability to pass an MOT and will let the engine breath easier. A few extra bhp too. I'm doing this shortly.
The front pair however, are monitored with 2 lambda sensors each. One upstream, one downstream. It's the way that the ecu reads the downstream lambdas that causes the problems. It will be telling you that the cats are worn out and need replacing.(they may well be!) Expensive.
At the moment some Coupe owners are in discussion with ECUedit.com in Italy who say they can write the lambda monitoring out of the software as this seems the only way to keep this engine alive and avoid paying the crippling price of replacement cats, which if bought from a dealer would cost more than some cars are currently worth......

Other than that, it's a great engine, and will give you plenty of smiles per mile!

[mjb]

How are they on fuel? I mean realistically - around town and motorway use!

All depends on how you drive 'em... I got around 23mpg on my daily 5 mile commute - lots of traffic lights and full-throttle hills, about 10mpg round the Nürburgring, about 34mpg on a 'fast lane' motorway drive, and I got an easy 45-50mpg on a long 60mph drive

Are they megger expensive to insure?

My quotes ran from about £650 (2 years NCB) to under £400 (5+ years NCB)

How is road tax?

S-reg V6 will be the same as an S-reg 1.6 Fiesta £224/yr