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Should we use a diesel additive?

I bought VW Tiguan 2.0 TDI 2015 but we do not do a lot of miles as we used to. We hardly do 2000 miles a year and mainly short journeys. We are aware of the carbon deposit which damage the engine but we have been advised to use additive material to the diesel instead? We have used Archoil, AR6900-D Max. We have noticed the engine is quieter. What is your advice please and what is the best additive if it is allowed?

Asked on 16 June 2024 by Milad Michail

Answered by Alan Ross
The use of additives tends to be down to personal choice. We would suggest that most modern cars do not gain anything from putting an additive in the fuel system as the electronics and the fuel system will be optimised to deliver the best mix of performance and efficiency in the first place. As has been asked many times - if the additive is so good why don't the car manufactures recommend them? Your car should run okay without such expensive additives.

However, one thing to be wary of is that if you are doing such low mileage (and town driving) then you may get to a point where the DPF (diesel particulate filter) will start to get blocked. To avoid that we would suggest that one every 3 months you take the car onto a motorway or dual carriageway and drive with the engine revs at 2000rpm for at least 25 mins.

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