New VW Golf query

podge3

A friend of mine is thinking of getting a new VW Golf. He was initially going for a diesel but a salesman has now put him off saying that his daily mileage is too low. He drives about 4 miles round-trip to work daily plus the other usual stuff.

The salesman said that a "filter" gets clogged up if a diesel car isn't driven enough and that my friends daily commute is too short for a diesel.

I think its a load of cobblers myself, but is there any truth in the salesman's waffle?

Atomic Pineapple

Yes the short drive will destroy the dpf on the diesel Golf.

colm_mcm

The salesman is right, there is a particle filter that can block from underuse.
What he left out is that the petrol golfs are overly complicated small forced induction ticking timebombs.
Better to find a conventional small petrol like the kia cee'd, opel astra etc.

Depreciation per mile will be astronomical, given the tiny mileage. Why a new car?

bazz26

DPFs are the work of the devil. Modern diesels do not like short trips. The DPF (diesel particulate filter) burns off soot from the engine at a very high temperature to keep emmissions low. In order to reach this high temperature the engine needs to be running at above 1500 RPM for a long period of time. Short trips means the DPF regeneration cycle is interupted and doesn't complete, which results in the soot building up inside the filter. When it eventually gets blocked over time the car will go into limp home mode and the filter will need to be replaced. They cost upwards of €1000 depending on the manufacturer.

With such low mileage is there any other reason why your friend is considering the diesel other than it being the current trend?

podge3

Thanks for the replies lads.

Seems like a diesel is a non-runner for him so.

He was going for a diesel because, like most Irish people now, he thought it was the best option. Economically there is probably little in it when you take re-sale costs MPG etc in to account, but mechanically it seems like a non-runner.

While his daily commute is short, his annual mileage is 13-15,000 KM per year.

colm_mcm

He might just get away with it, as long as he does A few proper runs in it,

podge3

colm_mcm wrote: »

He might just get away with it, as long as he does A few proper runs in it,

TBH, I'm kinda shocked that a modern car manufacturer would have an achilles heel like this in a car. You shouldn't have to take your car out like a dog for a long walk.

Most Irish people buy diesels nowadays because of the cheaper tax. Many use their cars for short journeys. Seems like there could be a lot of unhappy diesel car owners over the next few years.

colm_mcm

I vaguely remember similar fears when catalytic converters came in. There'll probably be spurious options available further down the line.

darrancampbell

It's the price you have to pay for lower road tax on a diesel.

bazz26

darrancampbell wrote: »

It's the price you have to pay for lower road tax on a diesel.

The Golf diesl is €104 to tax, the 1.2 TSi is €156 afaik. Joe Public is gone obsessed with buying diesels even if they have little or no use for them just to save a few quid on motor tax. Crazy stuff.

Leonard Hofstadter

I agree with the rest.

Get the petrol.

The salesman is right for once:)!

It may go expensively wrong, but it has fewer components that can go expensively wrong than the diesel.

Plus it's €1,800 cheaper (1.2 TSI 105 vs 1.6 TDI 105 TL 5 door model).

It will take 33 years to get back the tax savings if you buy the diesel model.