hi all

new to the site . I'm looking at replacing a c3 Picasso with a yeti because of juddering problems mainly in 5th sometimes 4th very rare through the gears and not all the time. The dealer has checked and reported no problem codes and suggested it may be the fuel I'm using ( supermarket ). But I've lost confidence in the car and have started to look at other cars . ( theres more to go into but I'm trying to keep this short ).

 

Hence the reason I'm here . Just visited a skoda dealer about a diesel yeti and alarms bells started ringing when suggested to get a petrol over diesel ( driving styles ) and explaining about DPF. I've looked around regarding this issue and still trying to make a decision but my questions regarding dfp driving is what is the recommended driving style ie. how long, at what minimum revs and how often .

 

all help would be great ..

 

t

I dont know why the dealer is trying to put you off the diesel.

Total nonsense.The DPF does its job by itself and flawlessly.When deeded,it burns the soot  in the system without you ever knowing.

Go ahead and get a diesel.

They are lovely.

Edited 31 December, 201312 yr by oriki

Have to agree with the above unless you do VERY V E R Y low milage...

there are some cars out there in diesel land which munch through dpf's and throw up some big repair bills ,,,, the yeti isnt one of those.

 

just bought the 170 myself and its a peach :-)

 

although if you do less than 5k a year , I would get the 1.2tsi ,,, gets some rave reviews 

The dealer is right to talk to you about the petrol diesel choice. I had a 2.0 diesel and it did demand forced regeneration a little too often-ie a journey of 15 minutes at 2k plus rpm -which means open road uninterrupted for that sort of time. If that is part of your weekly routine no problem but, if like me you do a week and more just doing 1-3 mile town speed driving it may be annoying to have to make a longer journey to get the warning light to go out. My annual mileage has changed and is now about 8-9 k and a lot of it is little trips so a petrol suits me better and the 1.8tsi is enjoyably quick. A 1.2 tsi will give you as much performance as a c3 and decent economy.

JCP hits the nail.  If your journey pattern is lots of short trips and very seldom a good blast up a motorway for 30+ minutes to burn off all the soot built up in the DPF, then you'd be better off with a petrol.  If you did run a DPF equipped diesel in those conditions, the forced regenerations would tend to hit your fuel consumption and make you wonder why didn't choose a petrol for its cheaper fuel cost (per litre) anyway.

 

Admittedly, the Yeti does seemed designed to be DPF friendly, with the unit tucked well up close to the manifold, so it gets hotter sooner in the journey cycle. So is better in this respect than my previous car, a Renault Grand Scenic.

 

Dealer therefore quite right to question your driving pattern and typical weekly journey pattern before advising on the choice.  They've probably had way too many disappointed turbo diesel buyers who only do short trips, come back first complaining that their fuel consumption is nowhere near the official test figures, then later complaining when the turbo bearings are shot and a new turbo needed.

I had the same concerns as you about a year ago when I looked to change my car, having had non-dpf diesels for more than 20 years and not really keen to go back to petrol.

 

I spoke to at least three different dealers (and probably half a dozen salesmen) about the pros and cons of diesel vs. petrol and without exception they all advised that doing less than 10,000 miles per year and mostly in short trips on town and country roads with just the occasional motorway-type run a petrol probably would be more suitable than a diesel. Being a thoroughly distrusting sort of person I then contacted Customer Services at Skoda (who don't always get a good press on the forum but I found patient and helpful) and they told me the same thing. I ordered a 1.2 TSI which I've now had for around 8 months and I can't speak too highly of it. Returns a shade off 40mpg (so acceptably close to my previous non-dpf diesels), fun to drive, very quiet and hauls me up the local hills with no effort or fuss. Absolutely no regrets whatsoever.

 

You will have to make your own decision as to whether you get enough regular long, fast runs to keep the dpf happy but if you have concerns why not have a test drive in the 1.2 petrol; if you don't like it you've lost nothing but it might surprise you just how nimble and practical it is. And if you really want a bit more oomph, there's always the 1.8TSI!!

if you do get the need to regen, try riving in 4th rather than 5th, this seems to clear it quicker in my fabia as you can build the temperature in the DPF better at a lower speed

 

the symptoms you describe on the citroen seem to suggest a problem with a dual mass flywheel, which is normally a £1500+ job at a dealers workshop

You just need to think about what sort of driving you do, lots of short journeys will clog up the DPF ( I believe VAG group recommend at least 12miles at a reasonable speed). If you do short journeys and low milage a petrol would be a better option. Some vehicles are worse for clogging the DPF than others and as already stated this could be due to where the DPF is located / how hot the DPF gets.  I have had diesels since 2003, Skodas, mercs, Hondas and Land Rovers and have never had a problem with a DPF. We bought a Diesel becuase of the milage we are doing (25,000+ per year) but had a 1.2tsi on loan for 24hrs and have to say I was very impressed, smooth and plenty of power, could easily have believed it was a 1.8.

You may find this of use- I posted a link in #4 which explains how the VAG DPF works. I do around 6k a year and the issue isn't how many miles you do but the type of journeys. If you do mostly short urban start stop stuff then a diesel probably isn't for you

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/298856-dpf-question/

 

The DPF works passively once up to temperature and is then triggered into an acticve cycle by either the level of soot that has built up or if it hasn't done a regen every 600 odd miles. personally I haven't had any problems with mine. I have noticed a number of 'normal' regens taking place (you get no lights on the dash, but tickover increases to circa 1000 rpm and you sometimes get a 'hot' smell because the ECU has started injecting diesel into the cylinders post ignition to heat the DPF up and aid the soot burning). I have had 2 instances in over 12 months of ownership where I didn't spot the increased tick over when arriving at my destination and turned the ignition off so interupted the regen and got the usual fans going flat out result (as it cools the now hotter than usual DPF down which is a safety related thing) but the regen started again on the next trip and completed successfully. The problems arise when it tries to do repeat regens but because of your journey type it fails to complete them so the soot steadily builds up to a point where you start getting lights on your dash that ultimately requires a dealer forced regen if you don't complete a regen cycle.

 

As above there are some horror stories out there, but these seem to be mostly with other manufacturers (the peugot/ford/mazda 1.6HDI for example) and the only issues I've seen on Briskoda relate to the ancilleries associated with the DPF- a faulty sensor batch on earlier CRs threw a few up and the odd ECU fault on new cars

 

HTH

 

 

As a post post if you like I've had 1 occasion where I got back home at circa 11.30pm and the tickover was high so it was doing it's thing. I decided to go for a blast to allow it to complete the regen rather than wake the neighbourhood up, which was actually quite fun! though if you do get 'the fans' starting the engine up and switching it off usually stops them