VW Adblue heater issues seems to be common in the US - but I've not seen any reports of it here.

Eh? Adblue needs a heater????

Phew! I came so close to changing our 18 yr old Alhambra for a new Sharan 2 or 3 years ago, but I noticed the Adblue system (which the salesman glossed over and pretended to know nothing about) and thought, hmm, need to know more about this. A few days later after reading a bit about it, the fever had passed.

What with inaccessible and expensive egrs prone to failure and now this new expensive failure mode, dpfs, dmfs etc etc there is really no way I want a new VAG diesel now.

I'll keep the old girl with the humble 1.9tdi old school rotary pump going a little while longer. Might even treat her to a new cambelt (almost 10 yrs old but I cant seem to justify spending £400 on her, actually I'm frightened that the dealer might cock it up)

As for VAG dealers attitudes to customers - shameful.

Adblue freezes at -11 degrees C - a heater is needed to stop it going below.

Hardly relevant in the UK, methinks. Why bother to repair it? If the Adblue tank has a heater, why doesn't the diesel tank have to have one too?

Hardly relevant in the UK, methinks. Why bother to repair it? If the Adblue tank has a heater, why doesn't the diesel tank have to have one too?

I suspect that if on board diagnostics find any problem with the adblue system it defaults to refusing to restart, just as what happens if the adblue tank gets too low. The driver then has to arrange a tow to the nearest vw dealer to have it refilled and reset using their expensive diagnostic system. I hate to think how much that costs. So even a fault with something thats not relevant (adblue heater in the uk) will immobilise the car.

Someone tell me I'm wrong.

No cheap fixes on modern cars,I'm afraid. That went out with the demise of the Cortina. Engine Mil light on ,is not an Mot fail,although Abs/Esp,Airbag and brake warning are.