I am downsizing from a 1.6TDi octavia that developed an EGR fault "thanks" to the mostly but not exclusively short grocery/school runs (5-8 miles). I wonder do modern petrol engines with turbo suffer the same depositing issues with overwhelming load of short errands?

Occasionally we go on longer trips, hence an EV is not ideal. Considering a Fabia 1.0 MPI too, as that might be the most resilient car re short errands, although a bit small for a family of 4.

TSI is far better suited to short runs than TDI, but they will benefit from regular longer trips.

Perhaps a MPI would be better suited to you if very short runs are almost sole use - but engine wear is greatest in the first 5 to 10 miles of any trip, regardless of fuel type.

The main issue with TDI short runs is DPF not being regenerated sufficiently.

As has been said, even the 1.0 TSI needs a longer run occasionally. All cars have EGR and short runs and EGR don't mix.

For sure avoid a TDI if the majority of trips are short.

12 hours ago, Aldfort said:

As has been said, even the 1.0 TSI needs a longer run occasionally. All cars have EGR and short runs and EGR don't mix.

For sure avoid a TDI if the majority of trips are short.

EGR - on all cars, not true.

From 2018 petrol cars will have GPF,s. Not so kean on short trips. Just a mile or 2. Cold weather. But few reporting issues yet.

11 hours ago, rum4mo said:

EGR - on all cars, not true.

OK - I agree - electric cars don't have EGR and some older cars still on the road don't have EGR. However the vast majority of newer cars, both petrol and diesel have EGR.

Most petrol engines in the last 15-20 years accomplish the effect of recirculation by intake and exhaust valve timing overlap rather than external pipes and valves, so not much to cause trouble @Aldfort.

2 hours ago, Aldfort said:

OK - I agree - electric cars don't have EGR and some older cars still on the road don't have EGR. However the vast majority of newer cars, both petrol and diesel have EGR.

1.5 tsi dont have egr..

in city driving no issues, i drove it for 4 months only in town, average speed 20km/h

but driving sporty, full throttle, and then brake from here and there if it is not wet, will keep GPF regenerate normally. it is not functioning like on diesel. combination full throttle driving and no throttle cleans it best, lean driving clogging it.

only what is clogging always are intake ports of carbon deposits from oil fumes.

31 minutes ago, imart143 said:

1.5 tsi dont have egr..

in city driving no issues, i drove it for 4 months only in town, average speed 20km/h

but driving sporty, full throttle, and then brake from here and there if it is not wet, will keep GPF regenerate normally. it is not functioning like on diesel. combination full throttle driving and no throttle cleans it best, lean driving clogging it.

only what is clogging always are intake ports of carbon deposits from oil fumes.

Which is why I suggested that a MPI might be best choice.

Thanks all, I stand corrected.

22 hours ago, Warrior193 said:

Which is why I suggested that a MPI might be best choice.

but those are all older cars. any car with GPF and euro 6 eko norm have DI.

1 hour ago, imart143 said:

but those are all older cars. any car with GPF and euro 6 eko norm have DI.

OP did mention considering MPI, may not require Euro 6 and older vehicle may be all that is needed for intended use.

Topics title is skoda 2023, so i was thinking he is looking for newer car.

VAG last mpi engine was 15 y ago, or dual ported.. other producers had it longer, specially Japanese, Korean cars..

Skoda Mk3 & Mk4 Fabia from 2021 to present are available with 1.0 MPI engines.

Other car manufacturers made MPI in 2023, some may be better than VW cars in many ways and not so good as VW cars in some ways. Widening the choice will widen the opportunities.

No car will do well with too many short journeys but they will survive especially with timely and proper servicing and maintenance, how long and how well they survive engine wise will vary but it depends on how long and how much you want to put up with each car. Direct injection, turbo, engines with petrol filters (GPF) wouldn't be first choices for lots of very short journey use and an engine manufacturer with lots of experience and history of making smaller and 3-cylinder engines than VW may be preferred, though the VW 3-cylinder may prove to be fine/OK given time.

It depends on how often you go on longer trips if not much then it might well be better to have an electric for usual use and for the occasional longer trip just hire/rent a bigger vehicle.

sure, every engine is made for work on torque rpms, not idle..

i always had gasoline cars, this is first DI engined car i have, 75% i drive in rush, but once a month i go to open roads and flooring it hard. since on highway theres noregular control i often go to maximal speed and holding for few minutes. if you do it regularly, no problems, and oil changes in 7000kms max, because half of engine work is in idle or low rpm. it contaminates oil more than anything. i am changing oil every 8 months, its about 6-7000kms, and should be no problem, also i did carbon cleanup from intake ports 1 year ago. this year i will check ports with endoscope camera for deposits. last time was very much, but it was from previous owner. after 80000 kms.

Some people use their cars lots and do many miles and are not going to do Oil & filter services several times a year and need not do. Fuel and Oil with detergents and runs long enough to heat oil, components and not have condensation in the engine. Short trips,.cold start short trips is when Fixed Servicing regimes of Oil & Filter changes are recommended, but in the UK that might still be annual and not done 6 monthly.

Edited 26 February26 Feb by Evolution13

Most/many car owners in the UK begrudge even an annual engine oil & filter change let alone more timely and frequent changes if required. They also like to use the cheapest engine oil they can get their hands on, hopefully to specification for the engine.

A 3-year old Fabia in the UK will be out of manufacturers warranty (usually?, I forget if you can pay for longer) car manufacturers here offer 5 and 7 years but not the VAG lot AFAIK. So second and subsequent owners may or may not stick with timely service and maintenance of the whole car including looking after the engine, looking at a dipstick (virtual or real) is outside of their ideas of car ownership.

Carbon cleaning reminds me of going back to the quaint old times of decoking the engines on a service basis when petrols and oils weren't as good as they later became, how we have progressed with all of these technologies. 😄

Most are concerned with fuel economy driving and would think 10 miles, or less, at 50-60 mph in top gear to be a suitable blow-out run but there would have to be another reason for the drive otherwise rightly considered as a waste of petrol, time and life.

Having lived with older and elderly people for the last 44 years I have experience of cars that are used almost, or always, exclusively for very short trips with very low to extremely low annual mileage, luckily most don't yet own direct injection turbo engine with petrol particle filters cars.

On 24/02/2026 at 10:20, Warrior193 said:

Which is why I suggested that a MPI might be best choice.

That's the conclusion eventually I came to. The simpler the better...

On 26/02/2026 at 13:42, nta16 said:

almost, or always, exclusively for very short trips with very low to extremely low annual mileage, luckily most don't yet own direct injection turbo engine with petrol particle filters cars.

That was me in the past 3 years, killed a perfectly operational TDi to the state of uneconomical repair. As I understand, TSI is not THAT bad, still, I am wary touching anything with turbo in it. Electric is still literally miles away to be a practical choice imho in the countryside/expensive move if you run limited miles.

Edited 28 February28 Feb by WildGoose

I use our 1.5 TSi for mostly short trips (less than 20 miles). It's OK so far at 1 year and 3.5k miles.

It get 2-3 long (200mile) trips a year.

I am worse, gazillions of even less than 5miles trips: narrow timing in the schedule, nearby but still far to walk workplace, non-existent public transport and cr.p weather.

I'll post this in the Kamiq section, because I see the second hand fabia MPI is priced almost as high as the Kamiq 116 TSi🫨

Putting a lower powered 1.0 three cylinder non-turbo, or turbo'd engine into even larger and heavier vehicles certainly wont extended the engine's potential for longevity and whilst it will be OPK for short trips very noticeable carrying a family of four about on longer trips if you are one that likes to get their foot down a bit.

My wife is looking to replace the Fabia, she lost confidence in it many moons back, surprising to many here I would sooner she kept it longer, to get some return on the money spent on it sorting out its issues, but there are plenty of good used alternatives about (with much longer warranties than VW give) just that everyone wants them so prices are high for them, but then the Fabia remains overvalued too.

Another option is to buy an older car with simpler stuff on the engine and none or far less of the electronic entertainments and "assists" and "aids" to go wrong fitted to the car. Perhaps an old petrol Octavia or even older diesel Octavia without DPF if they existed or another manufacturer's model without DPF.

16 hours ago, WildGoose said:

As I understand, TSI is not THAT bad, still, I am wary touching anything with turbo in it.

TSI is direct injection and known to carbon up but to be fair my wife's 2015, 1.2 TSI (90PS) 4-cylinder engine that so far averages around 7k-miles a year with many journeys of 2 miles still goes well but I have not looked inside to see what the carbon situation is. Last couple of years she has got into the habit of occasionally filling the petrol tank with a higher octane fuel just to get the extra cleaning additive package the higher octane petrol contains - and of course the engine gets regular servicing - good quality engine oil and filter, engine air filter and spark plugs.

Good luck.