The VW Group has become the first manufacturer to contact us and warn us that the use of B30 Bio diesel in any of their group product IS NOT APPROVED and may invalidate the engine and fuel system warranties.
This applies to all VW Group products, which includes Seat, Skoda, VW, Audi and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.
The Ford Motor Company have also issued a warning that it invalidates their warranties also:- see below
“You may be aware that some filling stations (ie.Morrisons) are now selling B30 fuel (30 per cent bio-diesel). Ford only supports the use in its vehicles of diesel fuel containing up to 5 per cent bio-diesel, provided the fuel conforms to EN590 diesel fuel specifications”.
“Higher concentrations of bio-diesel, such as that of B30 fuel (30 per cent bio-diesel), are not supported by Ford and its use will invalidate the vehicle’s warranty on affected components and related claims. Fuels with higher concentrations of bio-diesel can have a corrosive effect on fuel lines, couplings, filter systems and injector nozzles”.
Whilst we have had no contact with other manufacturers on this issue, clearly, it’s the responsibility of the vehicles user to ensure the fuel they use complies with the specifications laid out in their vehicles handbook and if you are uncertain as to what that is, we suggest you contact a franchised servicing garage and verify the matter, or, of course, look inside your vehicles fuel cap or simply don’t use the B30 Bio diesel.
We could envisage a situation where a warranty is rejected because you used a non-approved fuel and frankly, its probably not the job of the car manufacturer to inform you, as the approved fuels for use with your vehicle will be in the hand book and you must therefore assume (unless you make a specific enquiry to them) that if its not in the hand book, its not approved.
The B30 Bio diesel is now available at around 100 Morrison’s fuel stations nationally and the B30 Bio diesel nozzle is located next to the normal diesel nozzle, but is easily identifiable because the nozzle is orange.
Apart from the warranty issues, the VW Group says that there is also a possibility that cold start issues and poor performance could be experienced.
B30 Bio diesel is a blend of 70 per cent fossil diesel and 30 per cent bio diesel, which is derived from fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). Normal diesel contains up to five per cent bio diesel (to the BS EN590 standard).
