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Is it true that diesel vehicles don't respond well to repeated short runs from cold?

I have advised my wife that for only about 5,000 miles per year she needs to stick to a petrol automatic SUV because it's cheaper and diesel engines do not like short runs from cold. She has looked for details regarding this on the internet and found nothing and thinks that I have made it up. I think that I would have got this from reading your column every week as my motoring knowledge and that of many of my friends, is totally from your column. Help.

Asked on 27 October 2010 by RL, via e-mail

Answered by Honest John
Diesels with DPFs do not like short runs from cold. The DPF gathers diesel smuts on start up then burns them off later in the vehicle's journey when the engine and exhaust system are hot. This can’t happen if the journeys are short, so the DPFs clog up. Since she wants an automatic SUV, maybe the answer is a Toyota RAV4 2.0i Valvematic CVT auto. That is petrol engined and is actually more fuel efficient and lower CO2 than the RAV4 diesel automatic.
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