60,000 mile Mazda 5 Diesel - keep or sell?

BeenThroughItAll

Slowly_does_it.. wrote: »

Edit - just seen that the 150K car is only a 2010 car :eek:

Sounds sensible enough. 37.5K a year doesn't seem bad for a modern diesel. I bet the DPF is A-OK on that one.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I've phoned up loads of garages and prices range from £600 fitted to £2250 (main dealer) excluding sensors (which may or may not survive being removed and welded to the new one). Worst case scenario at the main dealer with all sensors needing replacement comes to £3750.

Been getting mixed advice on whether to go for the cheap ones or not, on the one hand they've passed the type approval tests, on the other they're made of inferior material (cordierite instead of silicon carbide, which can only withstand half the temperatures), so would they last 60000 miles?

One garage advised me simply to sell the car, saying other things such as replacement clutches on diesel mazdas cost 1000s (because of a flywheel), so more expense than they're worth after 6 years.

Pretty sure I read about the more rigorous MOT tests in the Telegraph, but can't find the link, considering it was the Telegraph it may have been just an anti-EU article. Still, even with a visual check some motorists are coming a cropper due to DPF removal - I guess you need to take it to a more 'relaxed' MOT centre - and make sure that the removal leaves no trace, or looks like a replacement/repair.

Good question about what to replace it with. Just buying a second hand car I could end paying for different but equally expensive problems, getting a new car and depreciation will be a guaranteed loss of 1000s a year (more than replacing the DPF). I could get a lease car which takes away the worry, but at a price that'll be more than the repairs.

The only cheaper option I can see is bangernomics, but not much driving pleasure, and breakdowns far more likely. Does anyone know if late 90s Zafiras are any good?

forgotmyname

Any modern diesel should easily do 200,000 miles without any major engine work.

60k its not even run it yet. Drive it harder. Give it some longer runs. Take the long way home. Or buy petrol cars if you dont do the right journeys to keep the DPF clear.

It wont chuck out 10,000 particle of carinogenic substances. Because what do they do with that soot? The DPF burns it and creates millions of even finer and probably more dangerous particles.

BeenThroughItAll

[quote=[Deleted User];65768765]Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I've phoned up loads of garages and prices range from £600 fitted to £2250 (main dealer) excluding sensors (which may or may not survive being removed and welded to the new one). Worst case scenario at the main dealer with all sensors needing replacement comes to £3750.

Been getting mixed advice on whether to go for the cheap ones or not, on the one hand they've passed the type approval tests, on the other they're made of inferior material (cordierite instead of silicon carbide, which can only withstand half the temperatures), so would they last 60000 miles?

One garage advised me simply to sell the car, saying other things such as replacement clutches on diesel mazdas cost 1000s (because of a flywheel), so more expense than they're worth after 6 years.

Pretty sure I read about the more rigorous MOT tests in the Telegraph, but can't find the link, considering it was the Telegraph it may have been just an anti-EU article. Still, even with a visual check some motorists are coming a cropper due to DPF removal - I guess you need to take it to a more 'relaxed' MOT centre - and make sure that the removal leaves no trace, or looks like a replacement/repair.

Good question about what to replace it with. Just buying a second hand car I could end paying for different but equally expensive problems, getting a new car and depreciation will be a guaranteed loss of 1000s a year (more than replacing the DPF). I could get a lease car which takes away the worry, but at a price that'll be more than the repairs.

The only cheaper option I can see is bangernomics, but not much driving pleasure, and breakdowns far more likely. Does anyone know if late 90s Zafiras are any good?[/QUOTE]


Madness.


Don't sell a perfectly good car for the sake of a few hundred quid. Sensors, if removed by a PROPER mechanic rather than a main dealer 'technician' will most likely 'survive' removal. A cheap DPF may be made of inferior materials, but are you serious about it lasting 60K? If it lasts 30,000 miles and costs you £500 that's two pence a mile. Drive the car properly and it'll last a lot longer.


Sounds to me like you've made the decision already and you want others to validate it. Personally, I think you'd be an idiot to get rid of a car that you know and like for an unknown quantity (especially something as unutterably sh1t3 as an old Zafira) just because of something as simple as this.


Have you even bothered to Google DPF Genie or the other DPF revival companies? You should. Getting a few more years out of what is a simple filter is not magic.


As for the 10K times more particulates thing, that's garbage. When a DPF regenerates, it just increases its temperature and burns off the particles it's captured, creating more soot and spitting it out of the exhaust. In doing so it uses more fuel and thereby compounds the problem further. I'll stick to old diesels thanks - the emissions on my DPF-less V70 TD5 are lower than those of my wife's DPF-equipped Saab 9-3.

[Deleted User]

yeah, 200,000 miles was why I went for a diesel, but circumstances changed and it's not doing more than 8 mile runs usually, obviously that's why I'm getting premature DPF problems. I have been making sure it gets at least one good 30 minute motorway run per tank of diesel, and using shell diesel + redex (does this really help?)

What irritates me is when I see marketing material and even independent reviews for 'super-economical' diesel super-minis, that make no mention of the fact that they will have these DPF problems if just used around town (which is what most people will buy them for). The rule of thumb used to be to get a diesel if doing more than 15-20k a year, and this needs to change to 'if doing this mileage, plus mostly motorway miles'.

They even sell diesels in the Isle of Wight, where there literally is nowhere you can go for an italian tune.

BeenThroughItAll

[quote=[Deleted User];65768994]using shell diesel + redex (does this really help?)
[/QUOTE]


Nope. Both the cars I look after with DPFs are run on whatever's the cheapest diesel, it's all about running them properly.


Tip: if you have a 6-speed box, on your long runs don't use it. Keep it in 5th or even 4th for an extended cruise to keep the revs good and high. Ideally you want to do so for at least 10-15 minutes, so a run at night or early morning is best.

[Deleted User]

You raise some very good points BeenThroughItAll, and this thread has tipped me in favour of keeping the car. I have noticed that my main dealer does employ mechanics who don't appear to have started shaving yet!

A lot of people who say 'sell it' assume that means getting a new car and don't seem to recognize the cost of depreciation, they only think about the maintenance being too high a % of the value of the car.

colino

If you are only doing short journeys, get it fixed up and sell it. A good excuse to get rid of a soulless, dull plodder.
Can't ever begin to understand people telling owners of "wrong cars" to drive further, faster or harder. Not much point having an eco-car at all then.

BeenThroughItAll

colino wrote: »

Can't ever begin to understand people telling owners of "wrong cars" to drive further, faster or harder. Not much point having an eco-car at all then.

Point is though, OP said he likes the car and doesn't really want to get rid of it. One mans nectar and all that. Personally I'd rather shave my own eyeballs than drive a Mazda 5, but each to their own. Plenty of people would say that about my V70.

UsernameAlreadyExists

I would rather shave my own eyeballs than drive a V70.


OP. Good choice ... so what next? Rip it out of the casing & remap for less hassle in the future? Or put on some diving boots while driving ?