Hi all

 

I'm looking to change my A4 2.0 TDi avant for an Octavia estate. Having had a bit of a 'mare with the DPF on the Audi I'm thinking petrol rather than the diesel, but I'm struggling to find one available for sale (budget £12-15K, ideally 2014 or later, with less than 30k on the clock).

 

I live in SE London so to do a DPF regen I usually have to make a special journey out to the M25, and even then frequently can't run for 20 mins at plus 2000rpm without hitting congestion. I've learnt about DPF the hard way - having had a major failure at 128,000 miles which required new (reman'd) turbo, inlet manifold, air mass filter, and peripherals costing over £3k (and that with an indie VAG specialist, on a car worth less), and the thing still smells awful all the time its running, and belches blue smoke when idling in traffic/ pulling away. Someone said valve stem seals might be shot but loath to throw good money after bad so thought I'd trade in for an Octavia.

 

With no petrol versions in sight, I've found a 1.6 TDi which ticks every other box for me, and is close by.

 

Given mechanical similarities,  my questions are: 

 

• Can I expect the same problems on an Octavia 1.6TDi if i were to own one  from 20k to max 60k miles, assuming mainly city driving?

 

• How do you know when the DPF is regenerating? Does it offer a sign?

 

• The A4 goes into limp mode when the coil light comes on, which precludes the option of revving it to burn off the soot, unless you pull over and turn off/on. (This tends to happen on long uphill stretches on motorways when in 5th or 6th, where there's nowhere to pull over)  Will the Octavia do the same?

 

• I like the frugality of the diesel, but given my lack of motorway driving, should I hold out for a petrol example?

 

Any advice much appreciated.

 

Harry

 

 

I had a Fabia 1.6TDi 105bhp CR for 50000 miles and I did a mix of mileage and driving and the DPF never gave me any problems. I now have a 1.6TDi Octavia but has only just past 10k. Maybe your issues with the Audi were more mileage related than useage? The blue smoke does indeed sound like a compression issue, I think having to go and do a special run purely to clear out the DPF precludes the purchase of a diesel for you especially with the Mayor of Londons hatred of diesel and any penalities that might occur in the future.

 

I would imagine many would suggest going over to petrol and I can understand that, however I can undetsand you liking the driving style of a diesel? How many miles a year do you do? I would say that as long as it gets a blast now and again it would be fine. My Octavia is the best car I have ever owned for fuel comspumption and pretty much everything else. There is no sign of a DPF regen except the tick over tends to be higher, the fan stays on when if swithched off before the process is completed. And the stop/start may not activate. 

 

 

Edited 7 December, 20178 yr by threadbear

128k miles is a lot for a car doing city mileage & I would second threadbear that the problems you had with the audi (unless it was a really old one - first DPF implementation) sound related to high mileage & poor maintainance.

 

You dont really say how many miles you do a year & what kind of journeys.

The current VAG diesels seem to be pretty résiliant with the DPF even for short mileage driving.

There hasn't been anyone on the forum I can recall have a real failure due to low mileage although there are a couple of reports of very-low fuel economy.

 

However, I am assuming from the thread you dont really need a diesel & a small petrol engine will give you a good enough mpg with less chance of problems & future taxes living in London.

The 1.0 TSI has impressive performance & fuel economy figures and a turbo-charged petrol will give you a reasonably similar driving characteristic to a diesel at low rpm.

Theres also the 1.4 & 1.5 TSi. (TheManWithNoAim can tell you these can give a vRS a runs for its money if driven by the right person  )

Driven frugally the TSi can easily achieve >40mpg.

 

I would hold out for a petrol unless you have high annual mileage or regular long journeys.

Edited 7 December, 20178 yr by Gabbo

5 hours ago, threadbear said:

I had a Fabia 1.6TDi 105bhp CR for 50000 miles and I did a mix of mileage and driving and the DPF never gave me any problems. I now have a 1.6TDi Octavia but has only just past 10k. Maybe your issues with the Audi were more mileage related than useage? The blue smoke does indeed sound like a compression issue, I think having to go and do a special run purely to clear out the DPF precludes the purchase of a diesel for you especially with the Mayor of Londons hatred of diesel and any penalities that might occur in the future.

 

I would imagine many would suggest going over to petrol and I can understand that, however I can undetsand you liking the driving style of a diesel? How many miles a year do you do? I would say that as long as it gets a blast now and again it would be fine. My Octavia is the best car I have ever owned for fuel comspumption and pretty much everything else. There is no sign of a DPF regen except the tick over tends to be higher, the fan stays on when if swithched off before the process is completed. And the stop/start may not activate. 

 

 

Thanks for your advice. The A4 is an 08 plate, had it from new and its now on 132k miles, so I was probably doing 16k a year, and plenty of long runs, for the first 5-6 years. The last three years have been stop start in town.

Audi recommend DPF change at 128k miles, but because I couldn't afford Audi servicing the least three years, and i didn't read the manual(!), I wasn't aware. It was often going into limp mode from about 4 years ago but I had no idea why and the indie mechanic who serviced it couldn't tell me either so it got left. Then at 129K miles the dpf warning light, glow plug, and engine management lights all come on at the same time and  stay on, and the car has no power. Thats when I took it to the VAG specialist. The blue smoke was happening from about three years ago and the smell has been there for a long time - but seems to be getting worse.

 

I'm now doing less than 8k miles, almost all SE london, but that figure might increase significantly, and include longer runs around the country over the next couple of years. So while petrol makes sense now - if I can find one -  a diesel might be the better choice longer term. 

 

The diesel I have found is the right price and crucially very low mileage which means i could probably get three years out of it and still not go past 60k miles....but can I be confident its not going to give me the same issues I currently have?

Thanks Gabbo for your advice - I've given more info in my reply the threadbear above..

 

You have admitted that the Audi`s issues have manifested themselves in the latter years and at a much higher mileage. There is no reason providing that the Octavia is serviced at the correct intervals and at a franchised dealer that the car SHOULD be, in theory problem free......

 

I have to say that mine feels like it will last forever.....

Edited 8 December, 20178 yr by threadbear

8k miles a year is definately in petrol territory but I understand your difficultly finding one...!

I agree with ThreadBear & I don't think you will have DPF problems with this mileage.

The current engines has a very small DPF with more regular regeration intervals compared with 10-years ago where DPFs were relatviely new & most manufacturers went for a large DPF for longer running with regeneration.

However, you will definately not get the benefit of diesel in terms of economy & while you are doing 8k a year it is likely a diesel might be in petrol territory for fuel consumption.

 

If you are confident your mileage will increase in the years after, then I see no reason to avoid the diesel in terms of reliablity.

however, I would still think a TSi petrol would be better.

You should concider where in London you live & the proposed changes to the emissions zones & if possible try to go for a Eu6 compliant diesel as these should avoid any heavy taxation changes in the short-term.

I'm just getting rid of my Octavia 1.6tdi and I've not had any problems with the DPF in the 55k miles.  This is with 70ish miles a day motorway driving (overall 18k a year).