Last year I drove 11,000 miles in my leased Superb 2.0 litre diesel estate- mostly A roads50-70mph. I had not given any thought to DPF issues as I thought the car would go after a two year lease. This year I will be doing much less mileage and at lower speeds. The dilema is do I buy the car I now really enjoy using,  at a preferential rate, the end of the lease Dec 2018, knowing my mileages will be sub 10,000 for the next few years or let it go and opt for a petrol one?. At what stage do DPF issues start to occur? Is it after certain mileages or after frequent low speed short journeys? 

Since I bought my car in June this year, I covered about 2,800 miles and I've had the DPF warning light coming on twice, but a run up and down the Brecon bypass a few times cleared it on both occasions.   My daily drive was about a mile to and from work and a drive home at lunchtime, so I knew it wasn't good for a diesel as it barely started to get warm before it was switched off each time.  I retired on 31 December 2017 and now I'm only using the car two or three times a week, so I'll see how long it is before the DPF light comes on again.

 

The car does go on some long runs and we're planning a trip to Lithuania in April, which justifies buying a large diesel car.

47 minutes ago, Penpusher said:

 

 

The car does go on some long runs and we're planning a trip to Lithuania in April, which justifies buying a large diesel car.

Hehe, what a weak justification! The difference between diesel and petrol cost will be very low compared to the overall cost of your trip, ferries, hotels (getting there) etc plus eastern european fuel prices are low anyway.

 

Of course you could fly to Vilnius by Wizzair from £18 return and then rent a hire car for as little as £8 per day. And not waste 4 days driving there and back.

 

Mind you , I'm sometimes guilty of the same false justifications.

 

DPF light coming on regularly, even though you can clear it with a run, also means the DPF is filling up fast with ash. They can only hold so much then need replacing. IMO you can only justify long term modern diesel ownership if you do in excess of 20,000 miles and those are the right sort of miles, fast low throttle demand motorway miles and very few short cold start trips.

Edited 4 January, 20188 yr by xman

1 hour ago, Penpusher said:

Since I bought my car in June this year, I covered about 2,800 miles and I've had the DPF warning light coming on twice, but a run up and down the Brecon bypass a few times cleared it on both occasions.   My daily drive was about a mile to and from work and a drive home at lunchtime, so I knew it wasn't good for a diesel as it barely started to get warm before it was switched off each time.  I retired on 31 December 2017 and now I'm only using the car two or three times a week, so I'll see how long it is before the DPF light comes on again.

 

The car does go on some long runs and we're planning a trip to Lithuania in April, which justifies buying a large diesel car.

Surely the 220 or 280 TSI (cost permitting) would have been a better choice? 

Thanks Penpusher. What mileage is your car currently? I am planning on towing a caravan twice a year so this is another reason to have a diesel but like you the interim journeys will be short- 9 miles each way!

22 minutes ago, xman said:

Hehe, what a weak justification! The difference between diesel and petrol cost will be very low compared to the overall cost of your trip, ferries, hotels (getting there) etc plus eastern european fuel prices are low anyway.

 

Of course you could fly to Vilnius by Wizzair from £18 return and then rent a hire car for as little as £8 per day. And not waste 4 days driving there and back.

 

Mind you , I'm sometimes guilty of the same false justifications.

 

DPF light coming on regularly, even though you can clear it with a run, also means the DPF is filling up fast with ash. They can only hold so much then need replacing. IMO you can only justify long term modern diesel ownership if you do in excess of 20,000 miles and those are the right sort of miles, fast low throttle demand motorway miles and very few short cold start trips.

 

Yes i thought this might be the situation. I just need to walk away from the  diesel on lease and get a petrol Superb. 

I currently have a Octy II VRS diesel and travel 10 miles to and from work each day. I have had it from new for 8 years and never had the dpf light come on. So I do not see your usage being that problematic. My drive to work is a mix of narrow lanes, b roads, a roads and 3 miles on a motorway. 

 

TSI !!!

2016 - 15 519km

2017 - 24 951km

A well treated DPF should last at least 60k miles and probably up nearer 100k miles before needing replacement.

 

On your mileage diesel makes no sense.  My commute is 60 miles round trip and at present a petrol isn’t realistic without coming down to a 3-cyl, 1-litre multiturbo sewing machine.

4 hours ago, xman said:

Of course you could fly to Vilnius by Wizzair from £18 return and then rent a hire car for as little as £8 per day. And not waste 4 days driving there and back.

 

The drive there and back isn't a waste of 4 days - it's a very enjoyable challenge to take on that sort of journey.  We're also visiting a nephew in Wroclaw, Poland on the way back and will divert via Czech Republic to visit a few places as well.  Also, when you're flying, you can't bring back a boot full of cheap beer and wine!  And the car you get for £8 per day on hire isn't the same as my Superb.

3 hours ago, Sungem said:

Thanks Penpusher. What mileage is your car currently? I am planning on towing a caravan twice a year so this is another reason to have a diesel but like you the interim journeys will be short- 9 miles each way!

My car has covered 7,800 miles from new in October 2016.

2 hours ago, PSM said:

I currently have a Octy II VRS diesel and travel 10 miles to and from work each day. I have had it from new for 8 years and never had the dpf light come on. So I do not see your usage being that problematic. My drive to work is a mix of narrow lanes, b roads, a roads and 3 miles on a motorway. 

 

I've owned a MkI and a MKII Superb diesel prior to this one and never had any DPF light coming on (though to be fair there wasn't one in the MKI!).  The DPF light has only come on in the past 2 months in my MKIII after I was winding down for retirement.  Until October last year, I was making regular runs to Abergavenny and Merthyr Tydfil that kept it clean.

Taking aside the recent anti diesel sentiment I would disagree that you need to do 20k miles for a diesel to make sense. I do 10k miles a year and my diesel costs a good chunk less than the petrol VRS each year and has more than paid back the initial extra cost of the diesel over petrol. In fact it had broken even after 2 yes or so meaning the last 6 yrs has been money in my pocket.

I said it doesnt make sense for long term ownership. Talking about the potential (not always inevitable) expensive problems when the car is/has been a low mileage runabout. Its all about risk.

 

And I dont think comparing a petrol vrs with a diesel is necessarily a fair comparison. 

Edited 4 January, 20188 yr by xman

48 minutes ago, PSM said:

Taking aside the recent anti diesel sentiment I would disagree that you need to do 20k miles for a diesel to make sense. I do 10k miles a year and my diesel costs a good chunk less than the petrol VRS each year and has more than paid back the initial extra cost of the diesel over petrol. In fact it had broken even after 2 yes or so meaning the last 6 yrs has been money in my pocket.

 

Not so with me when I bought my used Superb II 1.4tsi just before dieselgate - I compared the 2.0 diesel with the 1.4tsi petrol

 

After long test drives in both (oh and a drive in a 1.6 diesel that I really didn't like - felt really sluggish compared to my previous 100pd Superb I !!)

 

Same model comparison back in June 2015  for a just over year old Superb II:-

2014 2.0 CR S - Price £14.5k Presumed  mpg 52

2014 1.4tsi S - Price £10.5k  Presumed mpg 42

Doing 15,000 miles a year - difference in fuel cost about £450 - therefore breakeven point was just under 9 years

 

I'll throw away after about 8 years(from 2015)  anyway this time as I'm planning to retire about then

 

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Probably can't repeat this deal as the reason the petrol Superb was so cheap - no one wanted a large car fitted with one at the time - how times have changed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 4 January, 20188 yr by bigjohn

That is an extreme price difference. Normally the difference between diesel and petrol for the same spec is a lot less and closer to 1k giving a 2yr payback.

There are expensive issues with petrol as well which are different to diesel so to say the risk with diesel is more is a little unfair too.

In eight years of ownership and 77k miles the only cost except for servicing and one set of brakes has been the turbo actuator which cost £200ish to fix. 

Having said that I have just bought a petrol superb. But that was not to do with cost of ownership or reliability but more wanting a change and accepting the running costs will be more.

Edited 4 January, 20188 yr by PSM

 

5 hours ago, Sungem said:

Yes i thought this might be the situation. I just need to walk away from the  diesel on lease and get a petrol Superb. 

 

I'm over 130k miles on my Yeti with no dpf lights (ever) and no sign of the dpf needing replacement yet. In my opinion the implications that a dpf should be good for 60k miles is just nonsense. You already have the car, you know its history, just keep it and run it.

4 minutes ago, PSM said:

 

Having said that I have just bought a petrol superb. But that was not to do with cost of ownership or reliability but more wanting a change and accepting the running costs will be more.

 

Actually one of the main reasons for me is it was soooo refined and I'd forgotton about that post 4500rpm surge ...... I just wanted the costs to be affordable. Oh and I live in Yorkshire - so I wanted to keep some of my money in the bank!

 

I agree about risks with both petrol and diesel but I think my commute really doesn't suit a DPF - too much horrible stop/start traffic. If I was being sensible I should buy a Prius!

 

I recently had this dilemma having owned BMW/VW diesels over the last 12 years.

 

I do around 12 - 15 k a year but was just bored of the same old diesel 2.0 190bhp type engines. 

 

Having run a current shape A6 Avant (2014) and currently also owning a Kodiaq diesel, I was also was bored of constant ad blu top ups and DPF regens. To be fair, when I got the A6 I was doing more longer journeys, this is partly down to shorter journeys I do now. I did feel the ad blu top ups were far more frequent then Audi would have you believe...

 

My Audi also had a couple of DPF sensor issues coming up to its 3 years that worried my given all the scare stories on various forums.

 

For me , I decided to take a small hit on fuel and go for the 280 and have a bit more driving enjoyment . As I paid for this by myself I decided for the change.

 

This is going to be my last conventional fueled car , I will keep for 5 years and then move to electric once they have matured a bit more.

Edited 7 January, 20188 yr by Sw1