If I buy a modern diesel-engined vehicle, will I need to be mindful of allowing the DPF filter to clear?

What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks

If I buy a modern diesel-engined vehicle, will I need to be mindful of allowing the DPF filter to clear?

I have always preferred to use diesel engined vehicles due to their simplicity and reliability. However, now they are a mass-market product I am not sure if this is still the case. I have noticed a number of emails about particulate filters but I suspect my vehicles, a Peugeot 406 estate and a Ford Ranger, are too old to have such a device. Any replacement I buy will now almost certainly have one of these filters. I now do a very much-reduced mileage and wonder if a quick blast down a motorway say once a week will clear the filter?

Asked on 27 July 2013 by PW, Thurnham, Kent

Answered by Honest John

To meet ever more stringent emissions regulations, diesel engines have been forced to become far more complex and more expensive to make than petrol engines, with far more to go wrong. Some manufacturers have managed to catch up with new engine designs incorporating exhaust manifolds into cylinder heads. Generally the least troublesome of the new generation of diesel engines are Renault/Nissan's 1.6DCI 130, Mazda's 2.2 Skyactiv D, BMW's 2.0-litre diesel, KIA and Hyundai's 1.6 CRDIs and Honda's new 1.6iDTEC.

Tags: dpf diesel engines diesels

Similar questions

How can my diesel engine become more resilient to short runs from cold?

Apparently short trips are not good for diesels. At work we use the Platinum Plus additive in our delivery van to make it burn off the soot in the DPF at a lower temperature. Our drivers report that performance...

Is the new Qashqai 1.6-litre diesel engine reliable?

I currently drive a 2010 Nissan Qashqai 1.5-litre diesel. I see that they now have a 1.6-litre diesel which offers a bit more grunt and better economy. The engine looks very complex and this makes me wary....

Which diesel to replace my 2007 Renault Laguna?

I bought my third Laguna, a 2007 2-litre diesel Dynamique, in March 2010 with 20,000 miles on the clock. The car has now done 70,000 miles and, as this is my first diesel, I'm worried that I'm entering...