Mis sold a car from the big well known vw franchise

Taradiamond1

I probably do not have a leg too stand on here but I need your advice. In November 2014 I bought a used vw Golf diesel from my local das welt vw franchise. Unbeknown to me,( I did do some research and asked around, but being a life long diesel golf driver I kinda thought I knew what I was getting) it has a diesel particulate filter fitted that filters soot out of diesel. All fine if you are doing lots of motorway driving as the filter remains at such a temperature on long constant speed drives that any soot remaining on the filter is burnt off.

I do not do frequent motorway drives....once a week from April to September. The rest is short stop start journeys to and from work, school shops etc round little country lanes.

The dpf light comes on at least once a week...I follow the instructions to regenerate it...40mph forces mins in 4th gear...however for the 3rd time this has failed. The garage I use has done 2 forced regeneration and a special dpf clean, leaving me now no choice but to replace the filter at a cost of around £1500.

This is nuts. I literally do not have the money and am up to my maximum with over drafts and credit. I was wondering whether I could claim any sort of compensation from the car dealership? If they had explained this to me at the time of sale I would not of chosen this particular engine!

FYI. ..car no longer under warranty

Any help would be appreciated and I hope I have given you mechanics and car nuts something to giggle at my attempt at explaining the problem!! Apologies as I have posted this under the motoring forum too x

Poppie68

Taradiamond1 wrote: »

I probably do not have a leg too stand on here but I need your advice. In November 2014 I bought a used vw Golf diesel from my local das welt vw franchise. Unbeknown to me,( I did do some research and asked around, but being a life long diesel golf driver I kinda thought I knew what I was getting) it has a diesel particulate filter fitted that filters soot out of diesel. All fine if you are doing lots of motorway driving as the filter remains at such a temperature on long constant speed drives that any soot remaining on the filter is burnt off.

I do not do frequent motorway drives....once a week from April to September. The rest is short stop start journeys to and from work, school shops etc round little country lanes.

The dpf light comes on at least once a week...I follow the instructions to regenerate it...40mph forces mins in 4th gear...however for the 3rd time this has failed. The garage I use has done 2 forced regeneration and a special dpf clean, leaving me now no choice but to replace the filter at a cost of around £1500.

This is nuts. I literally do not have the money and am up to my maximum with over drafts and credit. I was wondering whether I could claim any sort of compensation from the car dealership? If they had explained this to me at the time of sale I would not of chosen this particular engine!

FYI. ..car no longer under warranty

Any help would be appreciated and I hope I have given you mechanics and car nuts something to giggle at my attempt at explaining the problem!! Apologies as I have posted this under the motoring forum too x

Why we're you mis-sold the car?
Your choice to buy a diesel and not give it the attention it needed, I like many others have also got a diesel, use it mainly for local trips but I also make sure it is taken on at least one motorway blast a week to prevent the problems you are having now.

Keep_pedalling

Afraid you need to put this down to experience. Low milage drivers should not purchase diesel cars and it is really the buyer who should do some research before walking into a dealer to purchase a car.

Shop around to see if you can get it fixed at a better price, and once you have done that sell it otherwise you will only go through this again. Replace it with a petrol model.

JJ_Egan

As above diesel = driver needs to keep the DPF filter clean .

NotRichAtAll

On my car Insignia i do an average of 15 miles per day that is there and back to work the dpf works fine mine is a 61 plate, once a week i take the long way home 20 miles down the motorway, you can hardly say the garage mis sold you the car.


VAG DISESEL PARTICULATE FILTERS

Courtesy of David Bodily Volkswagen Technical Support Specialist

Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF)

Detailed below is important information outlining the function and features of the Diesel Particulate filter which all members of your team need to be aware of.

Diesel particulate filters are becoming more commonplace on diesel engines, particularly sizes 2.0L upwards. This is in order to reduce the exhaust emissions as required by European legislation.

The prime reason for a DPF is to reduce particulate matter entering the atmosphere. Particulate matter is found in the form of soot, which is produced during diesel combustion. The DPF traps most of the soot which would normally travel down the exhaust and into the atmosphere. The DPF can hold a certain amount of soot, but not a huge quantity and therefore it needs to go through a process called ‘regeneration’ in order to clear the soot loading. When the soot goes through a ‘regeneration’ process it will be converted to a much smaller amount of ash. The ash is non-removable. There are two types of ‘regeneration’, passive and active.

During long motorway journeys, passive regeneration will occur. This needs no intervention from the engine control unit. Due to the raised exhaust temperatures on a long journey (temperatures between 350 and 500°C), the procedure occurs slowly and continuously across the catalytic-coated (with platinum) DPF. The catalytic-coated DPF is situated close to the Engine, therefore the exhaust gas temperature is high enough (500°C) to ignite the soot particles. Due to this soot is burned-off and is converted into a smaller amount of ash.

Active ‘regeneration’ is when the ECU intervenes when the soot loading in the DPF is calculated to be 45%. The procedure lasts for about 5 – 10 minutes. Specific measures are taken by the ECU to raise the engine exhaust temperature to above 600°C, these include switching off the exhaust gas recirculation and increasing the fuel injection period to include a small injection after the main injection. The soot particles are oxidised at this temperature.

The ECU will trigger a regeneration process, if for some reason this is aborted, ie. customer slows down, stops etc, the process will be resumed when regeneration conditions are once again met, above 60km/h (38mph). This will continue for 15 minutes.

If after 2 attempts of 15 minutes, a successful regeneration has not been possible, the loading will increase. At 50% soot loading, the ECU will continue to maintain maximum exhaust temperatures of 600°C to 650°C to cause a regeneration process. The system will try to run a regeneration process for 15 minutes. If unsuccessful, the system will repeat this process for a further 15 minutes, if still unsuccessful, the DPF light on the driver display panel will then be lit.

The owners handbook states, the DPF symbol lights up to indicate that the diesel particulate filter has become obstructed with soot due to frequent short trips. When the warning lamp comes on, the driver should drive at a constant speed of at least 60 km/h for about 10 minutes. As a result of the increase in temperature the soot in the filter will be burned off. If the DPF symbol does not go out, the driver should contact an authorised Volkswagen repairer and have the fault rectified.

At 55% soot loading the DPF light is lit on driver display panel. At this point the customer should follow the advice in the handbook. If they ignore this information and continue driving the vehicle until the soot loading reaches 75% without successful regeneration, additional warning lamps will light up. At this point the customer will also be complaining of lack of power, etc.

At 75%, regeneration is still possible with the use of the VAS tester. Only when the loading is above 95%, is it necessary to replace the DPF unit.

Operating Status System Response

45% DPF Load Level 1
Normal Regeneration

50% DPF Load Level 2
Regeneration at maximum exhaust temperatures

55% DPF Load DPF lamp
Regeneration from 60 km/h onwards
("See operating manual")

75% DPF Load DPF, SYS and MI lamp
Torque limitation, EGR deactivation,

Regeneration via VAG tester only
95% DPF Load Replace the DPF Unit

The Warranty department has confirmed that if there is no fault on the vehicle and DPF regeneration has been unsuccessful due to the customers driving style and the customers failure to comply with the instructions in the handbook, DPF replacement will not be paid for by warranty.

Common causes for complaint

• Frequent short journeys – Regeneration conditions are not met.
Not recommended for sale in the Channel Islands and inner city driving.

• Customers who continue to drive the vehicle with DPF light on – Continued
driving with the DPF light on and without successful regeneration results in
excessive soot loading of the DPF, to a point where it is above 95% loaded.
At this point regeneration is not an option and replacement of the DPF is
necessary.

• Fault 18434 particle filter bank 1 malfunction – Common fault code. This does
not only relate to the DPF itself, but the entire exhaust gas handling system. This
can be caused by defective temperature sensors, pressure sensors, additive
system components (if applicable), poor connections, wiring issues, etc.

Important Information

• Before diagnosing a problem vehicle or attempting to perform an emergency
regeneration, it is important to obtain a full diagnostic log and read out relevant
measured value blocks. These MVB’s contain important information on the
condition of the DPF system and are essential in diagnosing the fault. When the
DPF light is illuminated, it does not necessarily mean that the DPF requires
regeneration. For further advice, please contact Technical Support with the
information from the diagnostic log and MVB data.

• If a problem vehicle arrives with the DPF light, the engine management light and
the emissions light on. If during your diagnosis and reading of relevant MVB’s,
you find that the soot loading exceeds 75% (but is still below 95%), an
emergency regeneration procedure must be performed with the VAS tester.
Further to this, the customer needs to be educated. They need to understand
why the lights have appeared on the dash panel. Their attention needs to be
brought to the owners handbook instructions, so that they are aware of what the
DPF light means and what to do when it appears. This should prevent
unnecessary repeat visits for regeneration purposes.

Taradiamond1

Thanks for the advice everyone, I did have a feeling you all might say that but thought it was worth asking! I have always had diesel vw golfs (this is my 4th! ) without any of this issue...my mileage really varies depending on work with high mileage in summer when I am visiting sites and lower in winter. I guess the filters in the newer models need more maintenance!

You can tell I am pretty desperate here as literally cannot afford to fix it now so I will write a letter to them to say that I feel that they should advise prospective purchases of this prior to purchase. It's anot awful situation to be in and would hate it to happen to someone else!

NotRichAtAll....thanks for the blurb.....I have been shown this by the garage where they have done the forced regeneration twice now but good to have a copy of it.

Marktheshark

They are places that remove the dpf leaving the casing intact and flash the software to remove it from the ECU.
It is often the only practical solution to keep the car running and on the road.

NotRichAtAll

Marktheshark wrote: »

They are places that remove the dpf leaving the casing intact and flash the software to remove it from the ECU.
It is often the only practical solution to keep the car running and on the road.

which is also an mot failure and illegal i believe
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/consumer-news/84818/mot-test-fail-dpf-removal

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-rules-for-mot-to-test-for-diesel-particulate-filter

cajef

Taradiamond1 wrote: »

If they had explained this to me at the time of sale I would not of chosen this particular engine!

Did you explain to the salesman the type of use and driving that the car would be used for and ask if it was suitable for that sort of use, if you did and they told you it would be suitable then maybe you would have case, but proving it may be a different matter.

agrinnall

It's misbuying, not misselling. I doubt very much if the salesman held a gun to your head and told you that he was going to sell you that car and no other. Take some responsibility for your actions.

JJ_Egan

See OP identical post in motoring .