Ibiza 1.6 TDI sport 4 door

[Laburnum5]

I really need some help with this problem....6 weeks ago I bought a brand new Ibiza 1.6 TDI sport, having scrapped my Toyota Avensis. I told the salesman what the car would be used for ie part time job involving stop start driving, local delivery duties of around 25-30 miles a day for a local pharmacy.
Exactly 4 weeks later the exhaust filter light came on followed by engine management warning light (stage 2) which required me (as per handbook) to take the car immediately to the garage where purchased to clean the diesel filter.

I was worried this would happen again as I live in a built up area and am not able to give the car a blast (as metioned in the handbook) in which to clean the filter, sure enough 7 days later it happened again and I have now insisted they take the car back for a software fix which according to them will resolve the issue of the filter problem.

One week later they still havent received the software from SEAT and seem to blame the problem either on my driving style or some other fault unique to my car.

I have read about his problem from other Ibiza users and have asked for help from trading standards who say if seat cannot sort..then they should either give me another car or a refund as the car is not fit for purpose.
Has anybody else had the same experience and with what outcome as I am really gutted and dont know what to do next.

Regards
Tony

 

[jc_boc]

If you check out the FAQ section there is a write up on the DPF filter issues. Unfortunately from what I can gather if you are not going to be using the car on an open stretch of road on a relatively regular basis so the DPF can regenerate you are gonna have problems. I already heard of a guy with a VW transporter having the same issues as he is mainly doing city driving so the car never gets up to regen temp and he keeps having to go back to VW to sort. It is absolutely insane that they have started fitting these filters just in order to bring down the CO2 emmissions to meet EU requirements. This is as much as I have gathered at least. So in order to fix one problem they have ended creating another even bigger one imho. All I can say is, if you are hardly ever gonna get your car onto an A road for a good 10min blast or the motor way, don't bother getting a diesel then.

 

[farrar]

stop start driving, local delivery duties of around 25-30 miles a day for a local pharmacy.

If your doing short trips all the time the car is never going to complete a regeneration cycle. A software update may not make any difference.

You can tell when the car is running a regeneration, idle revs higher and different engine noise. Once this happens continue driving until it stops. For me it normally takes 5-10 mins of regular driving 3rd/4th gear at 40-60 MPH.

 

[jc_boc]

I agree, software update will do nothing. There is a thing that will also automatically start heating the exhaust to reach regen temp but you need to keep that temp up so it doesn't help if you are stop start all the way and the engine keeps cooling, it will just keep resetting and it will never regen till all the warning come up again. It looks to me that if you did tell the salesman exactly what type of driving you do and he willing ly sold you the car full knowing that this would be an issue you could claim you were mis sold the product which could be grounds for either a refund or a replacement vehicle of the same value.

 

[Laburnum5]

If you check out the FAQ section there is a write up on the DPF filter issues. Unfortunately from what I can gather if you are not going to be using the car on an open stretch of road on a relatively regular basis so the DPF can regenerate you are gonna have problems. I already heard of a guy with a VW transporter having the same issues as he is mainly doing city driving so the car never gets up to regen temp and he keeps having to go back to VW to sort. It is absolutely insane that they have started fitting these filters just in order to bring down the CO2 emmissions to meet EU requirements. This is as much as I have gathered at least. So in order to fix one problem they have ended creating another even bigger one imho. All I can say is, if you are hardly ever gonna get your car onto an A road for a good 10min blast or the motor way, don't bother getting a diesel then.

Thanks for that..much appreciated, we live and learn, its just a pity the sales guy never mentioned any of this in his sales pitch.
I will endevour to obtain a full refund via legal channels if need be.

 

[Biker]

I have exactly the same car as you Laburnum5 and my use is similar to yours. I only have 800 miles on it so far and (fingers crossed) have had no issues with the DPF.

Out of interest, how many miles have you done?

 

[Laburnum5]

Hi
I had covered 508 miles the first time this happened and 780 the second.
Thanks

 

[Biker]

Hi
I had covered 508 miles the first time this happened and 780 the second.
Thanks

Thanks for that, the reason I ask is I wondered if I was headed for the same sort of problem in the near future. But I have already done more miles than you without issue. It does beg the question, why does this problem apear to affect some cars and not others.

Good luck in getting this resolved, it would be a shame to have to get rid of what is otherwise a very nice car.

 

[jc_boc]

Do you have any sections of A road or motorway that you go on occasionally Boker? If so then your car has the chance to do a complete regen.

 

[Laburnum5]

I agree its a good car if this stupid filter wasnt fitted, but to live in fear of doing short journeys in case you end up having to visit the garage everytime is just intollerable and makes this vehicle unfit for purpose. Why dont they stress this in the literature and advice prior to purchase. I will certainly be looking for a refund if they cannot find a solution this week.

 

[Biker]

Do you have any sections of A road or motorway that you go on occasionally Boker? If so then your car has the chance to do a complete regen.

Are you a comedian mate.....

I live in Northumberland, the only English county not to have a motorway anywhere in it. We dont even have a dual carriageway that runs the lenth of the county LOL.

So the answer is no, on my daily commute I spend about three minutes on a dual carriageway and don't think that is long enough for a regen

 

[jc_boc]

hahahahahaha forgive me mate, dumb foreigner I am and obviously not up to scratch on geographical locations and roads hehehehehe. Getting there, have explored roughly half of the UK already so will get there eventually hahahahahahahaha. I guess in all honesty then you could be fortunate or heaven forbid, you will start having the same issues. We are in central london and we have a small fleet of VW transporters and will be buying new ones, if this is an issue however I am thinking we may look to another supplier, this would obviously be the same issue for the new sharan etc, they will all have this Dumb Piddly Filter and since our vans mostly do town runs it will be an issue. Sharans are ok as they do a lot of driving all over and plenty motorway and a road driving. We cannot however compare the two situations. I wish you guys the best of luck and keep us posted on your progress Laburnum. I hope this issue gets resolved to your satisfaction.

 

[nightflight]

Read This

You don't need a motorway or dual carriageway to do a regen run, for example, This is my personal favourite local regen run

 

[Biker]

hahahahahaha forgive me mate

OK your forgiven

We are in central london and we have a small fleet of VW transporters and will be buying new ones, if this is an issue however I am thinking we may look to another supplier

The problem is all manufacturers are fitting DPF filters, so whatever you buy it will probably have one fitted.

That said I have a friend who has a Suzuki Vitara with a DPF filter fitted and he does even shorter journeys than me, his has only had one light on in three years. So it is possible to have a vehicle with a DPF and do short journeys! Possibly not a Seat though

 

[farrar]

That said I have a friend who has a Suzuki Vitara with a DPF filter fitted and he does even shorter journeys than me, his has only had one light on in three years. So it is possible to have a vehicle with a DPF and do short journeys! Possibly not a Seat though

My Dad has an Altea Freetrack with DPF and it does loads of short trips. DPF light has never been on once in the two years he's had it.

 

[nightflight]

[guessing]
depends how big the filter is? if it's bigger it can get fuller before the light comes on, so it only needs one good run to clear it less often than a smaller filter will need.

Engine naturally runs hotter?

Different type of DPF filter? there's ones that use a liquid additive to clear it rather than engine heat

DPF filter isn't as restrictive perhaps, if it catches less crap it'll get full less quickly
[/guessing]

 

[MST]

I'm sorry to hear about your problem mate, I sympathize.

When I bought my Leon FR TDI in 2008 I didn't even know what DPF was so when the DPF light came on for the first time whilst driving to my Girlfriend's I was more than a little concerned, obviously I hadn't noticed the little sticker in the top right corner of my windscreen which had a very clear picture of it...doh!

After the first time it seemed to come on all the time because of the type of driving I was doing, it got to the stage where I would take the car for regular trips up to Junction 3 of the M3 and come back again, in most cases it took from the end of the A316 at Sunbury to just before Junction 3 to get it cleared. When I first got the car I was only working a 10-15 minute drive away from home and was mainly driving around town, but after starting my new job in January last year I was having to drive up to North West London and back every day, after that I never really had any problems.

As others have said and you already seem to realise it's just not suited to the type of driving that you are doing unfortunately.

 

[Laburnum5]

Result

Good News

After negoiating with the dealership where I purchased my new car & outling the obvious faults with the PDF filter in relation to my driving needs (stop start driving) I was offered the option of exchanging for petrol alternatives. However I decided that I would not be happy with this & I requested a money refund. I put my request in writing & took advice from Trading Standards .

I am pleased to report that the garage refunded my money which I was very pleased with & I must say these days it is a joy to know that there are still honest garages around with good customer service.

The manager provided a courtesey vehicle during the dispute period & at the end said that he would suggest that the sales team be retrained in the sale of this type of car.

My advise to anyone in the same situation is to talk to the manger of the garage put your dispute in writing & take advice from Trading Standards

 

[Biker]

Well done mate, I am pleased you got a satisfactory conclusion to this episode.

 

[Laburnum5]

DPF problem

Thanks for that..its just a case of knowing your rights and putting everything in writing.
Cheers
Tony