Would it be wise to buy a TDI for low mileage/occasional use considering DPF

[james.milroy]

Hi All,

I'm seriously considering buying a nearly new Leon 3 2.0TDI SE with the Tech Pack. Only thing is that I am a low mileage driver, about 6000 a year. I cycle to work so only use the car on my day off or weekends. Is the situation regarding DPF's any better with these or am I best staying clear. I know it is possible to do a regen with VCDS. What do you all think.

 

[ma9mwah]

yearly mileage doesn't really matter, its more important about the journey lengths. 10 x 600 mile journeys would be fine. 600 x 10 mile journeys would be bad. You really want to be looking at 20-25+ mile journeys to make sure the car gets warmed up.

Also at that level of mileage getting a petrol car might work out cheaper.

 

[Toon]

If you only do low mileage then you are probably better off with a petrol.

The DPF problem hasn't gone away although some people seem to suffer more than others (driving style perhaps?).

The 1.4 petrol is very economical (friend at work gets 50 mpg on his daily commute) and its quite nippy.
Or if you want a bit more power go for the 1.8.

I test drove a 184 diesel around York, the light came on and stayed on. Do you really want the hassle?

 

[robin cur]

Father in law has a VW Jetta 143 covered 6.5k in 3.5 years never had a problem with dpf

 

[Toon]

Yes but its well documented that a lot of people do have problems with their DPFs.

A petrol is the safer bet imo and what savings he would get in the better economy of the diesel are offset by the petrol car being cheaper to buy.

 

[smurf123]

as toon says is correct i was the same but as i only do 5-6000 a year i went for petrol as its false ecconamy buying a diesel as fuel is more expensive than petrol and no diesel dpf issues so you would be better off with petrol

 

[Never2old]

I don't do many miles in my diesel about 5/6000 a year but all I do is put some redex in every time I fill up (full tank) seems to do the trick but saying that I do wish I bought a petrol

 

[kazand]

If you only do low mileage then you are probably better off with a petrol.

The DPF problem hasn't gone away although some people seem to suffer more than others (driving style perhaps?).

The 1.4 petrol is very economical (friend at work gets 50 mpg on his daily commute) and its quite nippy.
Or if you want a bit more power go for the 1.8.

I test drove a 184 diesel around York, the light came on and stayed on. Do you really want the hassle?

I've just had a 1.4 TSi dsg Golf which got used and abused on a 1200 mile trip from Brum to Speyside via Ayrshire and back, average was 41 not bad considering.

 

[J500ANT]

My 1.6 TDI is always doing a passive regeneration despite me doing about 500 miles a week (motorway mostly) - for low mileage i'd avoid.

 

[surrealjam]

DPF issues aside, I don't think I'd consider a diesel doing under maybe 10k miles a year. The 1.4 petrol, especially if you can stretch to the ACT model, is likely to be economical enough. Your decision of course!

 

[concerned cat]

DPF issues aside, I don't think I'd consider a diesel doing under maybe 10k miles a year. The 1.4 petrol, especially if you can stretch to the ACT model, is likely to be economical enough. Your decision of course!

What exactly are these DPF issues?
My 150FR is fine if I do motorway work & if I'm around town for a few days it does the hot smelly burning thing. I have no problems at all.
I'm interested to know where the problems are.

 

[JK1]

What kind of journeys are you doing on your days off?

If you're going to be popping down to Tesco's and pottering around town every weekend you'll have problems with the car not heating up and allowing a regen when the filter is getting full. If you're driving to Tesco every weekend but then every other week you visit the relatives 60 miles up the road you'll not have an issue.

When I bought mine I was commuting around 40miles a day for work, however while it was on order I changed job and was much closer to home. I do around 10 short journeys a week (around 2 miles) and around 3 or 4 times a week I'll do longer journeys (25-30miles) depending on the weather I also do a couple of longer journeys (60+ miles) a month. I've had the car 17months and got around 6700miles on the clock. I've had regens obviously, but I've never had a warning light or any issues with the DPF.

Up to you!

 

[JK1]

What exactly are these DPF issues?
My 150FR is fine if I do motorway work & if I'm around town for a few days it does the hot smelly burning thing. I have no problems at all.
I'm interested to know where the problems are.

I used to work at a fleet management company and we had a lot of calls from companies that had fleets of diesel van that were used on sites (holiday camps, building sites) that were doing repeated short journeys, they never heated up, the DPF gets clogged, the light comes on, the driver ignores it, the DPF clogs completely, and the van breaks down.

In the early days of DPFs the regen wasn't triggered until the DPF was much further clogged. I think it was posted here that the Leon will attempt a regen when possible at 20% clogged, if it continues to clog the regen will try and begin from the minute you drive off, at 50% you get the warning light and at 75% the light will flash and you need a visit to the dealer.

 

[ali831]

we only do 5/6000 miles per annum, always had a diesel without problem but because of the DPF was advised to stay clear this time so we went petrol instead

 

[concerned cat]

Thanks for your reply. So reading between the lines it's the stupidity factor that has raised potential issues with DPF's?

 

[Toon]

Some people have complained of DPF light on problems the very next day after a long drive on the motorway. Others seem to have no problems at all whatever type of journey they do. Didn't mean to start a diesel vs petrol argument, just trying to steer the op toward what would seem the right choice for him.

 

[Razzario]

My 2.0 tdi 150 seems ok, I get an occasional regen. My commute isn't that long but theres a nice wide smooth uphill blast on the way. I do at least one longer journey a month too though. At 6k annual I'd go petrol for sure

 

[Ryanoceros]

I done 29k over 3 years on a mk2 1.6 tdi and never had a dpf light on. Most of it was around the doors as well.

 

[StylancePaul]

I notice mine cleaning a lot, I do short journeys all the time with my car, less than 9 miles to the station.

I do get some great MPG out of the car, but then it just gets wiped out by a cleaning cycle. So yes, I regularly achieve 50MPG out of it, every time the cleaning cycle comes round that drops significantly.

 

[JMAC]

Can I please ask - how do you know that the DPF is doing a regen?

I can recall two occasions when I've pulled up on the drive after a 40 mile commute home from work (99% at 70+) and the fans take a good 5-10 minutes to shut down. Is this a regen taking place or just the cooling system being keen?