DPF experiences

[skodacake]

Howdy,

I am strongly considering buying a Superb Combi 1.6 TDi Greenline.

It's cheaper for me to buy and to tax. And diesel is cheaper.

However my daily commute is about 15 miles in total with about 6 miles on the motorway. I only do about 11-12k per annum.

Does my driving pattern mean that a DPF will be problematic for me in Superb?

Will I end up on "drives to nowhere" in order to force an active regen? Will I be faced with a costly DPF replacement before long?

Any real world experience out there?

Yours,

Worried potential Superb owner.

[jrw]

I would have thought you would be ok with that to be honest as long as you drive it and not granny it! Is diesel cheaper in Ireland then?

[skodacake]

I would have thought you would be ok with that to be honest as long as you drive it and not granny it! Is diesel cheaper in Ireland then?

Diesel is a bit cheaper. Not a lot cheaper. About 6 or 7 cent a litre.

[AnRuaRI]

I have a 10 mile commute to the office, most of which is on motorway grade roads. I have now done 23k miles in the car since last march (Greenline 1.9) I have never been aware of a regen cycle, however about 14k of those miles were "Buisness miles" heading on trips of 80 miles or more on motorways. they occur several times a month at quiet times, and several times a week when I'm busy.

I don't know if that helps.

So far as I know, the regen cycle only needs a few miles, so your daily commute should deal with it. Also if you dont have a lot of town miles, you shouldn't be building up too much particulates in the filter.

[skodacake]

I have a 10 mile commute to the office, most of which is on motorway grade roads. I have now done 23k miles in the car since last march (Greenline 1.9) I have never been aware of a regen cycle, however about 14k of those miles were "Buisness miles" heading on trips of 80 miles or more on motorways. they occur several times a month at quiet times, and several times a week when I'm busy.

I don't know if that helps.

So far as I know, the regen cycle only needs a few miles, so your daily commute should deal with it. Also if you dont have a lot of town miles, you shouldn't be building up too much particulates in the filter.

Thanks for that.

I think your driving pattern is more "DPF friendly" than mine might be.

I had a look at the manual here.

It says "If the DPF warning light comes on, this means that soot has accumulated in the diesel

particle filter because of the frequent short distances."

I wonder what the definition of frequent short distances is?

Daily trips of < 5 miles, < 10 miles, < 15 miles.....??

[jonnb]

Don't forget that as well as the saving of 6 - 7 cents per litre, you will also get better fuel consumption, in L's / 100 km

[skodacake]

Don't forget that as well as the saving of 6 - 7 cents per litre, you will also get better fuel consumption, in L's / 100 km

True - there's no denying that the price of diesel combined with the fuel efficiency of the diesel engine will save me money.

But - I'm worried that those savings will be lost by having to waste miles to force an active regen or even worse, having to replace the DPF before its normal end of life.

[Chubbs]

Howdy,

I am strongly considering buying a Superb Combi 1.6 TDi Greenline.

It's cheaper for me to buy and to tax. And diesel is cheaper.

However my daily commute is about 15 miles in total with about 6 miles on the motorway. I only do about 11-12k per annum.

Does my driving pattern mean that a DPF will be problematic for me in Superb?

Will I end up on "drives to nowhere" in order to force an active regen? Will I be faced with a costly DPF replacement before long?

Any real world experience out there?

Yours,

Worried potential Superb owner.

Having run my Superb for the last 9 months I've only ever had one DPF regen and that was when it was very new. I have a short commute of either 4 miles or 9 miles (each way) and never had an issue. I must admit I tend to go the long way round to work, ie the 9 miles, as it's free flowing, generally a nicer drive and it takes the same time! Enjoy!

[G.K.]

I have a very short (2 miles) each way to work mixed with the odd 15-20 mile outing and I have had the DPF go into regeneration mode three or four times in the 16 months since the car was bought new. I must admit I was quite alarmed the first time it started the regeneration process with the "hot" smell and the cooling fans staying on when i switched the car off.

The closest I came to a disaster was the dealer who did the first service put PD oil in the engine insisting that it was correct for cars with fixed servicing. this oil is unsuitable for DPF equipped engines which should always be filled with long life oil and it seems certain dealers do not realise this . thiswill guarantee that your DPF will fail and many unsuspecting drivers will become disillusioned blaming themselves.

[skodacake]

I have a very short (2 miles) each way to work mixed with the odd 15-20 mile outing and I have had the DPF go into regeneration mode three or four times in the 16 months since the car was bought new. I must admit I was quite alarmed the first time it started the regeneration process with the "hot" smell and the cooling fans staying on when i switched the car off.

The closest I came to a disaster was the dealer who did the first service put PD oil in the engine insisting that it was correct for cars with fixed servicing. this oil is unsuitable for DPF equipped engines which should always be filled with long life oil and it seems certain dealers do not realise this . thiswill guarantee that your DPF will fail and many unsuspecting drivers will become disillusioned blaming themselves.

That's reassuring. I'm getting closer to making a decision

Out of curiosity, what happened after the PD oil was used in your engine?

[G.K.]

I phoned SUK customer services and they insisted that I took the car back the next day and they instructed the dealer to fit long life oil while we waited . Skoda insisted that the oil was changed right away and it was not a option to wait till it was suitable.

I wonder how many folk have been stung.

[skodacake]

I phoned SUK customer services and they insisted that I took the car back the next day and they instructed the dealer to fit long life oil while we waited . Skoda insisted that the oil was changed right away and it was not a option to wait till it was suitable.

I wonder how many folk have been stung.

Interesting.

How did your Superb behave with the PD oil in it?

[G.K.]

Interesting.

How did your Superb behave with the PD oil in it?

No difference in performance, about 40 miles each way to dealership, mostly motorway. My Superb has never used much oil so i guess that the problem with the DPF would come from contamination from burnt oil choking the filter over several thousand miles.

Makes you wonder what the situation will be with the DPF in 3 years time mind you.........

[skodanut]

Well touchwood we havent had any issues with our greenline superb....and that does a lot of local trips and the religious weekly blast on the motorway....maybe it just needs a change in driver characteristics in order to keep the problem at bay?

Incidentally my old superb with the dpf had 38k on the clock, and not once has the dpf light been on, and that was driven in the same manner with the local trips and 20mins on the motorway once a week.

[Supurbia]

The oil is 507, and it's basically designed to not burn off into soot so much, but this will all be dependant on how the engine ran in, some eat oil others do not, if you have an oil eater it will still burn the 507 off, as for the 1.6, I wouldn';t go there, it's a puny engine in a heavy car, your overall experience of the car will be dulled by it, personally if you do less than 12k pa I would buy the petrol engine.

[skodanut]

Go for the 1.8 petrol or if your really feeling flush....go for the v6

[skodacake]

The tax regime here in Ireland is based on emissions.

The 3.6FSI costs €2100 per annum to tax!!!!!!!!

The 1.8TSI costs €630.

The 1.4 TSI costs €447.

The 1.6CR costs €104.

Regarding the engine size, I took a 1.6CR saloon for a test drive and found it fine. Others on this site have given similar reports.

I've never driven a powerful car so maybe I don't know what I'm missing?

I hope it won't feel like wrestling Godzilla every day :S

[ukcruiser]

in the 10,800 miles and 9 months i've owned my Superb, i dont think i've ever had a re-generation yet.... at least, not knowingly - no dashboard lights etc.

Al.

[Guest]

My first MkII 170 DSG with DPF. In the two years driving in Cornwall, lots of short trips, much crawling in traffic jams but with occasional motorway trips the DPF light never came on once. I am not a driver who drives for economy, I am only interested in getting from A to B as quickly as roads will allow, and in comfort If I wanted economy I would not have had a Superb Elegance 2.0 170 TDi DSG.

I have now changed to a Superb Estate Elegance 2.0 170TDi manual, the fact that it has the DPF does not worry me in the slightest.

I only use two fuels BP Ultimate or Shell VPower, it would be interesting to know what fuels our members use especially those who seem to have DPF problems.

[ukcruiser]

I only use two fuels BP Ultimate or Shell VPower, it would be interesting to know what fuels our members use especially those who seem to have DPF problems.

Supermarket Fuel here - no issues.

Al.

[skodacake]

Supermarket Fuel here - no issues.

Al.

The manual has this to say:

When using diesel fuel with high sulphur content the life of the diesel particle filter is

clearly reduced. A specialist garage will be able to tell you which countries use only

diesel fuel with high sulphur content

[philpix]

Sainsbury Low Sulphur City diesel for me. No problems.

Phil

[samson1]

Well touchwood we havent had any issues with our greenline superb....and that does a lot of local trips and the religious weekly blast on the motorway....maybe it just needs a change in driver characteristics in order to keep the problem at bay?

Incidentally my old superb with the dpf had 38k on the clock, and not once has the dpf light been on, and that was driven in the same manner with the local trips and 20mins on the motorway once a week.

skodanut i see that skodacake has thred above

that gives contact for manual in it if you open .you have the correct e mail address for skoda c/z may be worth contact them, ok in english it says about oil pump issue?

[Superbjoser]

I have now changed to a Superb Estate Elegance 2.0 170TDi manual, the fact that it has the DPF does not worry me in the slightest.

Hi!

What was your reasoning behind the change to a manual gearbox after the DSG?

/Superbjoser

[Guest]

Hi!

What was your reasoning behind the change to a manual gearbox after the DSG?

/Superbjoser

I was a motor vehicle technician for over 40 years ( now retired ), and decided to try a DSG, I have had full auto's but this was a completely different box. Although I had no trouble with it I just found I prefered a manual box.

So I have to say just personal taste.