Poor diesels, they seem to have a bad name these days. I’ve owned turbo diesel cars for 16 years and they’re normally ideal for a motorway commute.

I don’t have firsthand experience of a DPF but from what I’ve researched your driving routine should passively regenerate the DPF. If you buy a car that has an average 10k miles a year (use the MOT history website to confirm this). Hopefully you’ll avoid a car that’s mainly driven in towns and has done too many active regens.

From my understanding a DPF does have a limited life even if the car is driven in ideal conditions. During a regeneration the soot is burnt into a ash, since the filter is a sealed unit this cycle can only happen a finite number of times. But I haven’t been able to find much information on the possible service life of a DPF.

"How do people feel about the Agila, they were generally held in good regard on the reliability front as they were Suzuki built if I recall?"

I think I may be the only regular visitor to the forum who has an Agila B. You can read my assessment in the Owners Reviews here. Bear in mind that the Suzuki Splash is virtually identical.

I think HJ has got the Good and Bad sections for each, in the Car by Car reviews, about right. I also visit Suzuki and Vauxhall forms and the ABS issue crops up for Suzuki, but not for Vauxhall. A common problem is a rattle on tickover. On my car it sounded terminal and attracted a lot of attention, but in all cases it turns out to be a heat shield around the exhaust. The clips, which attach it, corrode - easily sorted with a couple of jubilee clips.

Hi all

have spotted a 2009 ceed 1.6 with fsh at a dealer we've known for years (therefore trust) only downside is it's a bit miley for what I need it to do (80k) but I guess you can't have it all

anyone got any experience of the 09 ceed, I would imagine they are fairly reliable?

I have a 10 plate diesel Ceed which I have had for a couple of years, mine is an automatic, though. I have had one repair done under warranty, but it was for something minor; the doors occasionally wouldn't unlock when the key was removed.

It has the only car I have owned where I would have the same or another KIA. The 1.6 diesel is particularly impressive.

Don't ignore Fords: their big advantage is that there are more of them out there to choose from, at all price levels, and I think the only one to be careful about is the 1.6 TDCI engine which had problems some years ago. There'll be information in the car-by-car review section of this site.

You'd find a 2-litre Focus very little more expensive to run than one with a smaller engine.

A petrol Fiesta a consideration but for me it would be a bit too small for a 20k miles a year commute and not that economical

As previously mentioned another suggestion would be a Kia diesel (Ceed, etc...) as they weren't fitted with DPF's until mid 2010 (MY 2011). They are also very reliable and good value

Edited by Big John on 02/05/2016 at 23:23

Hi all

I saw an ad for a skoda superb 1.9 2008 and was wondering does anyone know if this is the famed bulletproof 1.9?

Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDI PD Classic

Yes it's the reliable 1.9 Pump deuce . Just avoid any versions with a DPF such as Superb 1.9 Greenline - the PD engine is a great engine without DPF but it's base design struggles with and active regeneration when DPF fitted as the unit injector pumps are cam pressurised (once per cam rotation/ every two crank rotations), and electronically fired

Make sure you drive one.. It's reliable but may seem unrefined compared to later CR engines

Edited by Big John on 07/05/2016 at 22:19

Hi all

update. I have seen the following cars, any I should avoid?

2006 skoda octavia 1.9tdi PD 65k miles

skoda fabia1.4tdi PD 2008 55k miles

fiesta1.4tcdi 2007 50k miles

kia rio1.5crdi 2008 60k miles

another rio 2007 74k but 700 quid cheaper

ceed 1.6crdi 2009 80k

ceed as above 2007 55k

Don't overlook the mk1 Hyundai i30 -

I suppose most private buyers prefer the Ceed for the extra 2 years warranty, not many private ownere would be better off with the unlimited mileage of the Hyundfai cover over 5 years.

Personally i prefer Kia designs too, if there's little to no difference in the cars underpinnings i'd probably buy a Kia in preference, as always one mans meat etc.

On a pedantic note, Kia's are essentially the same as Hyundai's - when Kia was in financial trouble the South Korean government got Hyundai to take them on and all their new model engineering came from Hyundai from then on.