I’m no great fan of the EU, but I think your reply to GR of Warrington blaming them for the clogging of particulate filters was a bit off the mark. Yes, the EU called for better street-level air quality by limiting the level of pollutants emitted from vehicle exhausts, but it was the manufacturers who decided on, and installed, the technology to do that. Generally it works pretty well with no more clouds of belching diesel smoke, like 10 or 15 years ago, (and that’s one reason why diesel is so much more acceptable as a car engine these days). But the particulate filter does have an Achilles heel, and that’s the need to regenerate it with some long-distance, high-speed driving.

Diesel was always the engine of choice for high mileage drivers, and because of that the manufacturers probably thought the particulate filter would be re-generated easily, not expecting diesel cars to be bought by drivers who find a 50-mile journey just once a month difficult to achieve. More should be done by salesroom staff to inform customers about the disadvantages of buying diesel for low mileage use, and maybe persuade them that a petrol engine would be a better bet.