Are high mileage diesels worth the risk?

I currently have a 2006 Volkswagen Passat petrol, with 97k miles on the clock. It's getting old and tired and we're getting fed up of it being in the garage every two months.

We're considering either a Volkswagen Touran/Sharan or SEAT Alhambra to accommodate a growing family. We'll buy used (2011 model onwards). Unfortunately, they mostly seem to come in diesels, which doesn't match our usage, as we typically do very low/urban mileage in it.

The only models that match our budget are upwards of 110K, so while the cars are newer, they're higher mileage than our current car. Do these models of car typically do well after 110K+ miles? Will we have DPF problems and/or high maintenance costs due to the low mileage?

Asked on 24 September 2016 by Ross Beavis

Answered by Honest John
SEAT/Volkswagen did the Alhambra briefly with a disastrous Twincharger 1.4TSI 150 petrol engine. Avoid at all costs. Better a Galaxy with Ford's 2.0 EcoBoost 205 or 240 engine, though this does usually involve the Powershift box which has some quirks including a three year service requirement. Plenty of black Galaxy 2.0TDI Powrrshifts coming off the Addison Lee private hire fleet as they switch over to hybrids.
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