PCP and Diesel Particulate Filter

MrsB387

Hi all, i"m looking for a bit of advice on our car that we have under a PCP agreement.

We have 15 plate X-Trail which we took delivery of in June 2015. In October 2015 it had to go back to the dealership to have the DPF regenerated. Apparently our style of driving isn't suited to a diesel engine. Had we known this at the time of purchase we would not have went with a diesel. The garage advised us that to save this from happening again we would need to take it on a half an hour/1hour drive down the dual carriage way each week. I argued that this wasn't practical, had we known the car needed this we wouldn't have went for this particular model. We only really drive round town and do a lot of start stop journeys. I also use the car for work but again for very short journeys. Ironically, my position at work is exactly the same as the salesman's wife's so he knew exactly what sort of journeys I undertake. I really feel we have been mis sold. The manager isn't having a bar of it.

Fast forward to this week and the amber engine warning light has came on and the car is struggling the same as it did last time. I was on my way to work so called the garage as soon as i arrived. The car is booked in for mid April as that is the first opportunity they can see it. The way the car was struggling I'm sure it's the DPF again despite taking it out for a longer run each week to raise the temp of the engine. We hadn't been for the 40 minute drive this week, our plan was to go out that evening. Came out of work and the red engine light was also illuminated so now according to the owner's manual i shouldn't be driving the car at all. I need the car for my job and just do not know which way to turn. We took on a PCP with the view that me having a car is essential to my job so we'd have no real/big worries.

I have looked over our finance agreement and we cannot terminate. We are only 10 months into a 36 month term and about £6000 short of the 50% - money we just do not have. The DPF is not covered under warranty

I don't know where to go from here, the dealership were of no help last time. I will be contacting their customer services department tomorrow morning. I still feel we have been mis sold.

I just wondered if anyone could advise or have been in a similar situation?

Thanks

keith1950

You really should have done more research before buying a diesel. It isn't up to the salesman to spoon feed you.
There is a lot of conflicting information regarding Dpf problems. You need to do about 15 miles a week with the revs above 3000rpm.
It isn't necessary to take it onto a motorway, in fact a long motorway journey doing 70mph in top gear would mean the revs would not be high enough.
The dpf has to reach the right temp before it will regen and so it doesn't matter on the type of road, just drop it down a couple of gears so the revs stay above 3000 for the whole 15 miles or so.If you slow down or the revs drop too low the regen will fail and probably start again.
Each time it fails it dumps diesel into the oil to help the next time it tries.
If the regen fails numerous times the oil will deteriorate and need changing sooner.
I have know the oil to get so thin that it gets passed the pistons in the bore and you get diesel runaway where he the engine starts to run on the oil, then the only way to stop it is to stall the car.

MrsB387

Thanks

I really understand that we should have researched it more but always having had diesels and having had no problems DPF is not something that would've been on our radar.

The car won't now go above 2000rpm so trying to regain ourselves just isn't going to happen.

thescouselander

I drive a diesel and do stints of short trips but it's never been a problem. The thing to do is look out for when the engine does its active regen and just drive around until it's finished. The way I tell is to keep the trip computer on instantaneous MPG and when it's doing a regen this goes very low - also the start-stop function is disabled. In my car this happens around twice per tank for fuel.

MrsB387

Thanks for all the advice. But is it acceptable for my car to be out of action if the garage can't look at it for 6 weeks? The red light is on therefore I shouldn't be driving it? As I've mentioned previously my car is essential for for work.

keith1950

It isn't acceptable to have to wait 6 weeks, are there no other Nissan dealers within the immediate area (10-15 miles)?
If not try contacting Nissan head office to complain about the delay at your local Nissan dealer and they should be able to speed things up. They do not like complaints.

neilmcl

MrsB387 wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice. But is it acceptable for my car to be out of action if the garage can't look at it for 6 weeks? The red light is on therefore I shouldn't be driving it? As I've mentioned previously my car is essential for for work.

Take it to another garage then. At the end of the day this isn't the dealer's fault, you decided to go for an engine that simply isn't suitable for your needs, had the dealer pushed you into getting the diesel over anything else knowing your circumstances then yes, you could argue that it was miss-sold but I don't thing this is the case.

You said you had diesels before, how old were they? The chances are they were old enough not to have had a DPF fitted in the first place.

Iceweasel

OK Mrs B there is no point in telling what mistakes you have made - we all know why this has happened - but we are where we are and you need this car fixed - quickly.

Booked in in April is a joke - get on the phone to other Nissan dealers and find a workshop that can sort this out asap.

Perhaps you'll need to pay to get the car taken to their premises - but check your breakdown cover - I know that my emergency cover would transport my car to a dealership for repair - espedilly if I was to stop at the roadside - but yours may not.

As for the future -you MUST use this car in the way that the engine needs, and was designed for - it doesn't matter if a decent run is 'impractical' for you or not, as this is going to happen again and again.

And forget about blaming the dealership/salesman for selling you the car - or did you actually discuss your specific type of usage with them?

MrsB387

neilmcl wrote: »

Take it to another garage then. At the end of the day this isn't the dealer's fault, you decided to go for an engine that simply isn't suitable for your needs, had the dealer pushed you into getting the diesel over anything else knowing your circumstances then yes, you could argue that it was miss-sold but I don't thing this is the case.

You said you had diesels before, how old were they? The chances are they were old enough not to have had a DPF fitted in the first place.

The sales person did put pressure on us with regards to the amount of seats - the X-Trail is basically the Quashqai+2 which we had previous to this with no problems but it was a 10 plate. I emphasised to him that although the 7 seats were handy they were not essential. He also knew exactly what sort of driving we'd be doing - his wife holds the same job as myself and incidentally drives a Micra. I expect a car salesman to know a damn sight more than I do about the product HE is selling. So yes, I feel we were misled.

rs65

MrsB387 wrote: »

But is it acceptable for my car to be out of action if the garage can't look at it for 6 weeks?

No. Was it new when you bought it - do you have Nissan Roadside Assistance to call on?

daveyjp

Unfortunalety if your driving style doesn't suit the car you are going to have to take the hit and find something which does. You can still refinance even with a PCP.

I had to do this when my driving pattern changed from 18-20,000 a year to less than 10,000. The car became a nightmare to live with so I quickly swapped it.