Should I buy a diesel Audi A5 Sportback for short journeys?

I am thinking of buying a one-year-old Audi A5 Sportback diesel, but I only drive about 5000 miles a year, most of this in short journeys of about two miles. Am I likely to experience diesel particulate filter problems? I have owned a Mercedes-Benz C220CDI for five years and have not experienced any problems. The petrol version of the Audi A5 Sportsback seems to be in short supply.

Asked on 30 November 2013 by KP, Maidstone

Answered by Honest John

Yes, you will probably have DPF problems if the car is driven in this way because you will not be giving the DPF a chance to burn off the soot it collects on cold starts. Better to buy an A5 with a petrol engine, but it is in short supply because Audi has to restrict supplies of new cars with high CO2 petrol engines in order to avoid EC fines.

Tags: short journeys dpf diesels

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