Diesel cars

Just had the wife's diesel VW Golf MoT'd and I mentioned to the garage manager that as it was getting a bit long in the tooth, we were looking for a new car - ideally a diesel. He just shook his head and suggested that I reconsider.

So, I did some research and found that everyone recommends- Mainly Low mileage trips - choose Petrol.
Mainly High mileage trips - choose Diesel.

Reason seems mostly to do with the 'Particulate filter' getting clogged up and needing to 'regenerate'. This needs certain conditions to be met including a run of about 15 mins at fairly constant revs after the engine is hot. This also consumes extra diesel to burn off the particles in the filter. Our current car does not have a filter, but all newer diesels do.

On discussing this again at the garage (who are a top class bunch), it appears that they are doing 4 or 5 costly repairs to particulate filters every week!

So much as we love our trusty diesel, it looks like the next wagon will have to be a petrol one.

Anyone had any experience of this problem?

Re: Diesel cars

Yes this is universally accepted now . If you cannot give the vehicle a couple of decent main road journeys at 40 mph or more a month go petrol .
You will find that Motability and several main manufacturers will not sell diesels for residents on the Isle of Wight ,Isle of Man and the Channel Islands because the roads there will not give the conditions necessary for regeneration of the DPF

Re: Diesel cars

We had a problem with the DPF on our Saab 93 1.9 Tid which was mostly used for short local journeys. However, we still prefer a diesel car because of the additional mpg and expected longer engine life, and had no hesitation in buying another diesel car.

Re: Diesel cars

Our cars have all been diesel since I can´t remember when. I doubt we would ever buy a petrol car.

Re: Diesel cars

Fine if that suits you. I'd like to stick with diesel, but the new engines with DPF just don't seem compatible with the type of driving we do here. It's my wife's car and she (very reasonably) wants a car she can drive according to her needs and the road conditions locally, not one she has to drive to suit the car's needs.

Re: Diesel cars

Mine is a diesel, I don't have a high mileage and the car is 12 years old, but never had that problem. I mostly use it locally but to be fair it does get longer runs of 20 mins to an hour at **cough cough** the speed limit of 90kph at least one a fortnight so maybe that's why.

I wouldn't go back to petrol as diesel is cheaper here, as well as giving better mileage.

Re: Diesel cars

I prefer diesel to petrol, and my local garage reckons that the way I drive it does more harm than good to the engine (that's him referring that I drive like a chauffer).

I have since (taking his advice) learnt to use the rev counter as an indicator to change gear so that the engine races a bit more, where as in the past I would change gear at a low speed and creep up to required speed.

Also when using the motorways, it is better to keep to reasonable speed to clear the exhaust of sooty particles.

Roy

Re: Diesel cars

Margoletta, only cars built after 2008 have particulate filters so your car, like my current one is not affected.
Tomboyroy, I also prefer diesel, but not ones where the mechanics of the car dictate how I have to drive it or the types of road I have to drive it on.

I feel that certain points are not appreciated here, so let me re-iterate ....
1. this problem only applies to newer diesel cars (post 2008)
2. problems occur more with mainly short journeys
3. the area in which I live has no motorways or dual carriageways
4. Irrespective of how anyone else drives or how many problems they have or don't have, they don't necessarily experience the same driving conditions as we do.

It all confirms the research that I have done, and the knowledgable people I have spoken to, that for OUR particular requirements, a MODERN diesel car fitted with a DPF is not the best option.

Re: Diesel cars

The problem of diesel engines 'sooting' is not a new problem. Marine engineers discovered this problem during WW2 when, convoys, crossing the Atlantic were reduced to speeds (6 knots) by the speed of the slowest ship in the convoy. Diesel engines 'sooted up' and required the ship to run at speed for a few miles to clear the soot from the diesel engine and exhaust (funnel).

Re: Diesel cars

I understood what you were saying GW, and I am aware of the DP filters in the newer cars but as Joe is saying this is not a new thing that diesels should have a blow out periodically otherwise the performance will suffer.

In my post I was explaining that I was advised to alter my way of driving to alleviate the possibility of expensive repairs.

Roy