"A small minority who should not be buying diesels" is not a fair statement. I bought a Mazda 6 2004 (54) plate 2.0d which i suppose lucky for me didn't have a DPF system in it, so i moved onto the new shape 6 which was 2008 (58) plate, that did have the DPF system inside but no-where in the brochure, website and so on had any information about the system, what its for and how it can limit driving styles.

Many of you will remember the long posts on here, one of them being my thread....my DPF being that as per Mazda say was operating as normal left me having a 62% diesel to oil ratio in the sump & i even carried out my weekly oil checks, i was on a motorway (empty motorway) which means there is plently of time for the DPF to regen and all of a sudden the car started to speed up on its own and i was 700 yrds from a roundabout....cutting this extremely short, i am now in a legal battle with Mazda firstly on the point that the car is

1. not fit for its purpose

2. the car has been mis-sold

3. there is a clear design fault

Whilst i've not had much luck with solicitors advice & giving that is only one of the reasons why this case has been going on for 2 1/2 years now (Mazda failing to produce requested documents which are vital in the DPF incorporation on our cars and how it were designed) i will see this through to the end. Watchdog are involved, i have x2 MP's now backing me up and so on. Much support from all my campaign members on www.mazda-campaign.co.uk and all the previous help from here and other forums.

It is not the owners fault for purchasing a car and not having a clue about what a DPF is.....seriously, would you walk into a car show room (bear in mind not knowing anything about DPF's or how cars work) and say is this car only suitable for town driving or can i carry out start stop journeys, most people would laugh if they heard something like that.

It should be the manufacturers / selling dealers to make the customer well aware of what they are purchasing and the limitions the technology can have on their driving, to avoid any legal battles and problems like myn and many many others why do the dealers simply not ask the customer to sign a peice of paper explaining that they have read and understood how the DPF works and are still ok to purchase the car...Oh i know, they would never sell a diesel car!!!

The fiat 500's also have a clear problem, they were featured on watchdog's last series.

Another thing, if you did for example know about the DPF systems and you went to purchase a diesel because you do a lot of motorway miles per day, you'lld be thinking great right? What would happen if for 1 year road works started and you got stuck in hours of traffic per day, your light is going to come on and if your in traffic whilst its on and it flashes your b*****ed....not to mention the high frequent oil changes and inconvenience this causes us, i think manufacturers should have said no to the government until they can bring in a system that works.

Edited by Med on 05/01/2012 at 21:32

Not sure "A small minority who should not be buying diesels" is a fair statement, suggesting I am in that minority and I am some kind of muppet who has "made the dreaded mistake". Since when was it compulsory to only buy a diesel if you do a lot of miles - Get real. We have a 7 seater people carrier, are you now going to tell me that a 7 seater is not designed for the school run? My wife is a child minder, why shouldn’t we buy a diesel? Diesels pre DPF never had this issue, where in the sales information does it say you shouldn’t have one if you do shorter than x mile journeys.

I suppose you will also try to convince me that the fiat 500 diesel which has DPF issues is not designed as a city car? Of course it isn’t it’s a diesel, it’s a top motorway mile munching cruiser.

Gripe over.

Aha, ok.

I am going to likely get the DPF removed when the warranty is up and remapped out, cheers for the advice (well most of it).

Yes, diesels didnt have this problem many years ago; doesn't change the fact that they do now. It is not compulsary to buy a diesel if you do a lot of miles - it can be used in the city but the DPF needs to be cleared somehow - and this can only happen with a good 20 odd minute run every now and then.

If it is not - then the likely scenario is going to be an expensive one my friend. With regards to the fiat 500. just type in 'fiat 500 dpf' into google and you will have your answer. The principle aim of any manufacturer is to sell cars.....

Edited by balleballe on 05/01/2012 at 22:09

The petrol variant of a 7 seat people carrier is designed for the school run. Until very recently the diesel variant would only have been seen running as a minicab.

No harm in using the diesel for the school run, as long as it also gets regular motorway use. If the vehicle is to be purely used for a daily run in town, with only very occasional longer trips, then a petrol engine is the correct choice.

Horses for courses.

The fact that this message is not being relayed at the point of sale is criminal. However, the criminals here are not the manufacturers or dealers but the EU who, with their average CO2 across all sales targets, are effectively obliging them to push the diesel variants to all, regardless of suitability.