VW diesel particlates filter question

[outnabout]

Spot the se7en content.

I'm considering replacing my almost dead VW 2 ltr petrol Golf with a diesel version.

Having discussed the options with the salesperson at Colbornes VW, the diesel looks on the face of it really good. The 1.6 TDI gives some 63MPG combined, and because of low emisions the road tax is just £30/ year (leaving more money to spend on the se7en), it also pulled well on the test drive.

Now here comes the issue. The salesperson mentioned that there is a particulates filter in the exhaust system that will suffer should the car only be taken on short journeys, but to overcome the issue, the car should be taken on longer and faster drives a couple of times a month.

In my opinion for VW to mention it to a potential customer, they must see it as a real problem and are attempting to avoid come backs by making the buyer aware.

Question: how much of an issue is it?

 

 

Looking forward to your replies

 

ChrisL

[Jonathan Kay]

Honest John on DPFs: scroll down for the VW stuff

 

Jonathan

[outnabout]

Thank you for that Johnathan, certainly makes for interesting reading.

Now I'm better informed I'll be chatting with VW with a bit more confidence on this issue before coming to a decision on diesel / petrol power.

 

Thanks again

ChrisL

[The_ASH]

I have a Golf mk6 with the engine you mention, I do about 50 miles per day (25+25), as far as I can tell water temp is at operating temp within 5 miles of home but oil temp takes 12miles to max out in the high 90's. I've not had a DPF light episode as yet and the thing only seems to actively regenerate once in a blue moon this shows up as a big change in the mpg for part of a journey.

 

All the people I speak to and hear things from about modern Diesels say if you can help it don't buy one especially if you do short trips, if that is your main type of journey buy a Petrol car.

 

Edited by - The_ASH on 3 Jun 2013 10:43:15

[outnabout]

Ash, I'm starting to think ''staying with the petrol power route''. The last thing I want is to worry about this possible issue hitting me in the pocket a few miles down the line.

 

Thanks for your input.

 

ChrisL

[The_ASH]

I believe i heard the cost of a DPF to be about £1500 but not sure if that is inc labour, there is also much talk of removing said item as it is not part of mot test at present.

 

The other item which apparently fails is the DMF, another £1000+ jobbie !

 

That said my car is averaging 75 to the gallon again now the weather has warmed up and did 68 right through the winter, but to get these figures I am taking it very easy.

[Markiebabes]

😳 very easy

My wifes just got a blue motion golf and round town average is around 40mpg but not had a chance for a long run yet Do the newer mk7 golf diesels suffer from this ?

[PeakPractice]

. . . I'm sure I've read on Honest John that he does not recommend the 1.6Tdi - sorry, can't remember the details !

 

My father in law has the 1.4 Tsi and gets up to 50mpg out of it. It's a great motor with no DPF, no EGR and no DMF. And it goes like bloody hell if you want to . . . .

 

[The_ASH]

Markieb - You would'nt believe how easy (read gentle), I have seen 94 as an average and felt that had I not had to turn off it would have climbed to over 100. Mine is a Match Bluemotion mk6 it has a very good hifi radio thingy which makes driving around slowly much easier If yours is a mk7 they are supposed to do 5mpg more ! but around town is not it's ideal environment if not used on longer runs it will soot up and regenerate which is not good for mpg ☹️.

 

PeakP - Are you sure there is no DMF as quite a few petrol cars now have them. Modern cars are too complex by far and almost all of them seem to have an Achilles heel if you dig deep enough on the web.

[Markiebabes]

Ash 😳 wow that's awesome ! Looks like I need to take it on a long run to low out the cobwebs ICE is excellent and maybe I should get some more mellow tunes on instead of the stuff I'm listening too cheers

 

 

[Graham Perry]

The VW 1.6 TDi's can be spectacularly economical. I have got one in my new Skoda Superb and over the last 5500 miles it has averaged 66.8 mpg on the computer and about 66 brim to brim . I often pull off the motorway in the evening with it showing 76-79 mpg for that trip. I never do a journey of less than an hour though but its fabulous economy for such a big car. Having said that, If I mainly did journies of 15 minutes or less I would think carefully about running a modern diesel as there are dpf drawbacks as others have said.

 

Edited by - Graham Perry on 3 Jun 2013 20:20:27

[Birkin S3 ZA.]

Cut It out and fit two flanges to the exhaust on the car, and fit a short pipe with flanges to join the exhaust again.

Then fit it back for the MOT if you have to,I have seen it done on some mercs and they run better without them.

It seems if there not run through a heat cycle when required then they don't last long and and block up.

 

Chris.

[7TOM]

I have been driving VW DPF vehicles for some years (some of the time conservatively) And never had a DPF regen lamp come on. True town driving can cause regen issues but if you carry out a regen when the first lamp comes on you should have no issues. Chances are if your second car is a caterham it a never come on anyway

[I reply to every thread]

The continual reappearance of the DPF light despite regeneration and regular 50 mile trips was the nail in the coffin for our spectacularly unreliable VW

[MADMALC]

I understand that the oil you use is critical. Main dealers will use the right stuff but independants may not be as clued up.

With my Volvo the main dealer can check the level of the dpf fluid so I am sure others will be able too as well. If you ask for the level every service it will give you an idea how 'you' are using it. This will help you not to run out. They don't like it if you run out, limp mode is engaged and the bill goes up.

[Dr Slotter]

IIRC one of the contributory factors to the continued VW issue is that they do not use the type of DPF that needs the fluid (as Ford, PSA and others do.).

[leon]

I may be wrong but dont allof the current generation of cars with DPF go into a 'burn' mode if you are not getting the car up to temp on thr normal use cycle anyway?

 

my question would be that if you arent doing the mileage anyway why buy a disease'l as a short trip car? save the couple of grand on purchase and buy a small petrol, better still go for a 5 year old petrol with small miles and save ten grandif you are only doing small miles anually!

[ChrisC]

To balance this out, I had 2 golf Mk5 bluemotions, purchased within a month of each other, one did 23,000 miles in 2 year, the other 9,000 miles in 2 years. The 23,000 mile car had one recall for a DPF sensor, but this was replaced during the normal servicing. Both cars never had any DPF problems (or any other problems for that matter) during ownership.

 

Chris.