I was helping my father look at a new Fiat Doblo with a 1.6 Diesel engine. I mentioned to the dealer that the car would be used mainly for shorter journeys, say a few miles at a time.

I said I had read that DPFs can give problems on diesel cars used in this way. The dealer's response was that technology is now much better and that the old problems had been largely solved by the engines now heating up much faster.

Is this correct? Would you be steering us away from a diesel engine used for shorter journeys?