Buying a used car: would you buy a diesel?

movilogo

Expect a lot more clogged DPFs due to people not commuting during lock down and only popping to local supermarkets. 
I'd still buy a diesel with attractive price. 

MinuteNoodles

Nuggy96 said:

This is only a major issue in cars between i think 2010 and 2015 and thats because car manufacturers had no clue the issues it would cause. They put the DPF too far away from the engine so it never got hot enough. From 2015 onwards the DPF is much closer to the heat and thus the issue is more uncommon.

I know of it happening to my son's 2016 Audi Q3 but that's only doing journeys of a mile tops in a small town with little traffic. You're right about them moving the DPF filter though, the one on my 2019 Focus sits in front of the engine literally no further than 6 inches off the cylinder head. It therefore gets warmed up by both being closer to the engine and the hot air from the radiator. On my 2010 Mondeo it was underneath, a couple of feet back from the engine and getting cold air flowing over it.

Highland76

It was the early gen DPF fitted cars which were having major problems regenerating when doing short journeys only. Modern diesels have generally trouble free DPFs these days and even doing short journeys only won't cause any issues - despite the horror stories out there. I'm now on my second DPF fitted car (Audi A6 40 TDI) and despite only doing short urban driving runs - even pre-covid19 - I'v never had any DPF issues.

pred02

Thanks. I think I will stick with Petrol? If buying from a dealer and the car has service history, would you still recommend getting RAC or someone else to check out the car? It will probably mean will need to wait until the end of the lockdown. Thanks

MinuteNoodles

It depends on whether you want the peace of mind. A RAC inspection isn't a guarantee something won't go wrong as an inspection can only do so much, they can't start taking the vehicle to bits.

ElephantBoy57

movilogo said:

Expect a lot more clogged DPFs due to people not commuting during lock down and only popping to local supermarkets. 
I'd still buy a diesel with attractive price. 

I have had my 1.7 diesel(2013 Zafira) for just less than a year. The DPF light came on for the first time two weeks ago. I have only been doing short journies, so it was still on the next day. So I took it for a drive on the motorway and all is now ok.

pred02

It depends on whether you want the peace of mind. A RAC inspection isn't a guarantee something won't go wrong as an inspection can only do so much, they can't start taking the vehicle to bits.

Thanks it will have 60-70k and be about 6-7 years old. It will have 1-2 drivers with full service history and all checks passed on auto-trader. I am buying from a dealer. The challenge is even if I was to arrange the inspection, would be challenging during COVID.

MinuteNoodles

At that mileage for its age (10k per year average) and number of keepers I'd be less concerned than with one that was cracking on in years with low mileage or one which had passed through several owners. Depending on model though 6 years old/60k is cambelt changing time for some so do your homework, see if it's one that has a 6 year/60k interval and you want documentary proof it's been done or a discount of around £300-£500 to cover the cost of getting it done - do not take the sales person's word it has without documentation showing it. "We had a look at the cambelt and it looks like new" is not proof it got changed.