Realistically how much does a Diesel Car NEED to be driven ?

LizzyBennet

Im looking into buying a VW Golf and everything in my price range and engine size are Diesel. Now never having had a diesel car i have been doing my homework and apparently they have a filter that will clog up if its not driven enough to burn the soot off. Now I don't do a whole lot of driving just enough to need the car really so I'm wondering how much would it have to be driven to avoid this problem as its 1000 to fix if it does occur.

bazz26

Constant short trips or stop/start don't go well with modern diesel engines. It's not what they were designed for. They need long trips for the DPF filter regeneration process to complete properly otherwise the soot that builds up in the filter doesn't get burned off and eventually blocks the filter. Diesel cars also do not offer much in the way of superior mpg on short trips either, they take longer to warm up than a petrol engine so offer poor mpg when cold. They pay for themselves on longer journeys where they are more frugal.

Some people will tell you that a 30 min trip in 4th gear on the motorway once a week is enough to keep a diesel car happy but I'm of the opinion that if you need to go out of your way to do this then you don't need a diesel car.

Regarding the Golf, the Golf is one of a few cars out there that has a somewhat decent choice in petrol engines compared to other models that are mostly diesel only. What criteria are you searching for?

LizzyBennet

bazz26 wrote: »

Constant short trips or stop/start don't go well with modern diesel engines. It's not what they were designed for. They need long trips for the DPF filter regeneration process to complete properly otherwise the soot that builds up in the filter doesn't get burned off and eventually blocks the filter. Diesel cars also do not offer much in the way of superior mpg on short trips either, they take longer to warm up than a petrol engine so offer poor mpg when cold. They pay for themselves on longer journeys where they are more frugal.

Some people will tell you that a 30 min trip in 4th gear on the motorway once a week is enough to keep a diesel car happy but I'm of the opinion that if you need to go out of your way to do this then you don't need a diesel car.

Regarding the Golf, the Golf is one of a few cars out there that has a somewhat decent choice in petrol engines compared to other models that are mostly diesel only. What criteria are you searching for?

Im ideally looking for a 1.6 - 2.0 petrol golf but i cant find any in my price range 2012 - 2013 the max i would be spending would be 13,000. All the petrol golfs seem Way dearer than the diesel which is surprising as i thought it would be the reverse.

grogi

LizzyBennet wrote: »

Im ideally looking for a 1.6 - 2.0 petrol golf but i cant find any in my price range 2012 - 2013 the max i would be spending would be 13,000. All the petrol golfs seem Way dearer than the diesel which is surprising as i thought it would be the reverse.

Look for a 1.2 TSI petrol... You'll find some of them.

http://www.carzone.ie/search/result/cars/make/seat/model/leon/make/skoda/model/octavia/make/volkswagen/model/golf/model/jetta/min-year/2012/max-year/2017-171/min-price/10000/max-price/13999/fuel-type/petrol

But I would reduce the year requirement a bit...

LizzyBennet

grogi wrote: »

Look for a 1.2 TSI petrol... You'll find some of them.

http://www.carzone.ie/search/result/cars/make/seat/model/leon/make/skoda/model/octavia/make/volkswagen/model/golf/model/jetta/min-year/2012/max-year/2017-171/min-price/10000/max-price/13999/fuel-type/petrol

Thanks was hoping I wouldn't have to drop engine size guess its that or look for a different make and model altogether

simdan

LizzyBennet wrote:

Thanks was hoping I wouldn't have to drop engine size guess its that or look for a different make and model altogether

Why are you worried about dropping engine size? The 1.2turbo will be faster than most 1.6 petrol engines

Stealthfins

The corolla 1.4 d4d would be a better buy than a golf.
They're more economical and nicer to drive.

The golf isn't as reliable and part's are cheaper for the corolla.

I was a golf driver for year's and there's always problems with the tracking and the front of the car,the corolla is a better built car.

Mc-BigE

I have a 1.6 TDI 2013 (mark 6 Golf) and it does 50-60 mpg, i do about 450 kms a week, (75km per day for 5 days + weekend).

no issues so far (touch wood).

have you considered UK? and sub 100k mileage

something like this or cargiant/pistonheads etc

http://www.carshop.co.uk/used-cars?sortBy=&maxResults=&vehicleType=&capMakeName=volkswagen&capRangeName=golf&byFinance=false&fromPrice=&toPrice=&fromMonthlyPayment=&toMonthlyPayment=&postcode=&toMileage=&maxAge=5&fuel=&fromEngine=&toEngine=&transmission=&selectedDoors=&maxYearlyTax=&minMpg=&minSeats=&maxSeats=&maxCarbonEmission=

Gael23

simdan wrote: »

Why are you worried about dropping engine size? The 1.2turbo will be faster than most 1.6 petrol engines

This is correct. It has 105hp which is plenty for the size of car.

bazz26

Mc-BigE wrote: »

I have a 1.6 TDI 2013 (mark 6 Golf) and it does 50-60 mpg, i do about 450 kms a week, (75km per day for 5 days + weekend).

no issues so far (touch wood).

have you considered UK? and sub 100k mileage

something like this or cargiant/pistonheads etc

http://www.carshop.co.uk/used-cars?sortBy=&maxResults=&vehicleType=&capMakeName=volkswagen&capRangeName=golf&byFinance=false&fromPrice=&toPrice=&fromMonthlyPayment=&toMonthlyPayment=&postcode=&toMileage=&maxAge=5&fuel=&fromEngine=&toEngine=&transmission=&selectedDoors=&maxYearlyTax=&minMpg=&minSeats=&maxSeats=&maxCarbonEmission=

75km a day is sufficient driving for a diesel especially if it's long trips so I'd expect very little trouble with that sort of use. OP gives the impression that he/she does very little driving though which is a different story.

Gael23 wrote: »

This is correct. It has 105hp which is plenty for the size of car.

The Golf 1.2 TSi was also available in 86bhp afaik.

CiniO

LizzyBennet wrote: »

Im looking into buying a VW Golf and everything in my price range and engine size are Diesel. Now never having had a diesel car i have been doing my homework and apparently they have a filter that will clog up if its not driven enough to burn the soot off. Now I don't do a whole lot of driving just enough to need the car really so I'm wondering how much would it have to be driven to avoid this problem as its 1000 to fix if it does occur.

Problem with DPF filters occur on cars not driven on long distances.

Actual mileage doesn't really matter.

F.e. if someone might do 30k km a year (which would be fairly high mileage), but only do trips of 4km, 25 times a day, 6 days a week.
This kind of driving would most likely cause problems for DPF filter.

Other person might only do 6k km a year, which would be normally considered very low and not suitable for diesel, but this will be trip once a month to other side of the country of 250km motorway trip each way.
Even though car is parked most of the time, problems with DPF filter are unlikely IMO.

So it all depends on what type of driving you do.