Hello everybody. New to the site. I've recently purchased a vehicle and after now reading some of the things said about my vehicle I am worried that I have made a grave mistake.

My new vehicle is a 2.2 diesel mazda 6 tourer. It's on a 2013 plate. I purchased it 2-3months ago with 71k on the clock and I have already got it up to 76k.

Before I go into my issue I will say that I was aware of the dpf needing regeneration and I am aware that these engines are not designed for short trips. I am also aware that mazda likes to mis-sell these dpf vehicles to unsuspecting people that will not drive it the way its intended, only drive it to the shops or around town and wonder why the dpf breaks.

I do actually do a lot of driving, mostly motorway and A road. I spend most of my time in 6th gear doing 70. My partner and I are the adventurous type, a 6 hour drive in of a Saturday is the normal to us, we also don't live anywhere near our family so regardless of who's family we visit they are at least an hour and a half drive away. My daily commute to work is also a half hour motorway/a road drive each way. So as you can tell, it was most definitely a diesel engine I required. I am clued up on the dpf regeneration process, how frequently it requires one and I actually do have software on my laptop with a modified cable to connect up to my car in order to force into a static regeneration as and when it is required.

I was making the swap from a 58 plate mondeo titanium x sport 2.2 diesel which I had got up to 160k on the clock. I would always manage to get between 550 - 600 miles to the tank. Road tax on this vehicle was £200 a year. I was looking at (and now wish I had) staying with mondeo and upgrading to a 2013 or thereabouts facelift version of my previous car which would have seen the horses increase from 175 to 200 but also the tax go from 200 to 220. I was set on this but then I discovered the mazda 6 sport nav tourer. Comparing them they are similarly specced out, with some features being better on the Ford, some better on the mazda. The mazda is slightly smaller but still just about big enough for my needs. It doesn't look as sporty as the ford but ultimately what made the mazda win it for me was the engine it boasted and the fuel economy. It boasted getting an extra 20mpg over the Ford and the more economical engine meant its only £30 road tax per year as well as ulez exempt so I saw this as being future proof. So trying to be a sensible father of two that spends a lot of time on the road, the mazda seemed the better choice.

Immediately after purchasing I was noticing a number of issues. Most of these have now been rectified apart from the worst issue of the lot which is the absolutely dreadful fuel efficiency. I feel as if it is drinking the diesel as if it was a 3 litre v8. I feel as if I am filling it up every other day. From a full tank I am only getting 420 miles. Over 100 less than I was getting from my 5 year older less economical ford mondeo. Infact its even less than I was getting from my old 2005 ford focus ghia 1.6 petrol. So basically what I am saving on tax a year I am spending more than at the pump and at this rate I will not be able to run the car.

The dealer I purchased it from kindly paid to have a diagnostic carried out at a mazda dealer. After being in for a full day, changing the seller of the vehicle 170pounds for the privilege, mazda claimed they had fixed the issue. They claimed that the car had 'learnt' the previous owners driving style and was only getting about 20mpg because of this, they said they had reset this so now the car should get 36.2mpg.. alarm bells was already ringing as that still sounds appallingly low and I explained for te 3rd time the type of driving I do and the mpg I was getting to my mondeo. They said I should notice a big change in the miles I was getting to a tank. To test this, I filled up a full tank and to my delight the new range said I should get over 600 miles out of it. However driving it, I literally watched in horror as the range disappeared at a rate of 1 mile to every 0.1 mile travelled. I literally watched the miles disappear by the second. It dropped dramatically until it leveled out and yet again to a full tank I got in the region of 420miles.

I got back onto mazda and told them that after a full day and changing 170pounds they had not fixed the issue. Infact I think all they did was go through the trip computer menu, press and hold on the average mpg and reset it.

This time they told me that they now believe the issue could be that the engine is clogged up. They said that it is a known issue to them that they don't like talking about but their engines are prone to clogging up to the point it will need taking apart and deep cleaning. They called this process a de-coat (not sure on spelling). They said this procedure will cost in the region of £1000 and could take over a day, but as it is an issue mazda know is wrong with their engines, they would pay for it on their own warranty at no cost to me.

They booked the car in and as I am a key working, this time begrudgingly agreed to provide me with a courtesy car. They had my vehicle in for 1 and a half days, showed me before and after photos of inside my engine and how it is now shiny clean in there and said this will have now definitely solved the issue.

I again did a full tank and to my amazement, it now said I had a range of over 700 miles to the tank. I reset the trip computer to keep an eye on this.

Yet again to my horror I watched the miles disappeared at a rate of 1 mile per 0.1 miles travelled. This was while doing 70 in 6th gear at 05:30am on the m1 with all lanes clear. It dropped and eventually started to level out the lower it got. I have now currently done 230 miles and it is saying I have a range of 190 left to go.

So after this long post I hope it may have been an interesting read for some of the intelligent folk on here and I hope someone may be able to offer up some advice on getting an mpg out of it you would expect from a 2.2 diesel that's driven the way it was intended.

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Hi I bought my first car around feb 2019, it’s a LCI F20 118i with the N13 engine the cars been great only really had one problem with it which was the hose for the turbo coming loose which brought up a drivetrain error. But I’ve noticed over the past year the cars using a lot of oil between service intervals about 1 litre every 1500-2000 miles and I’ve seen online that high oil usage is a symptom of the timing chain about to go I really like the car but I don’t know if I should try to sell it before it does go or bring it to BMW to have a look at as I’ve bought the extended insured warranty from them and the car was also bought from a BMW dealer. I told my local dealer about the high oil usage and he said it’s normal but I’m not so sure as the car sounds like a diesel from a cold start. Read more

If you end up with a dead (not flat?) battery as a result of not starting and using the car for 5 months, is it worth getting it jump started or just replace with a new battery?

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With much reluctance I have finally parted with my hard earned and purchased another car. Swmbo was angling for a new model Volvo XC60 at £25k upwards but after a bit of effort I managed to find a cheaper option that satisfied her need to lord it over others on the road. I bought an approved used 2015 Volvo XC60 D5 auto with all the toys, 44,000 miles, a full Volvo history and in spotless condition inside and out. After negotiation the price wasn’t too bad compared to others nearby at £14,700 but this one had a years Volvo warranty included. With a private plate you wouldn’t know what age it is thanks to the condition too.

Fingers crossed it’s as reliable as our cars typically are but with the one owner from new having traded it in for another one with the local dealer who’d serviced it for the last few years I’d say he’s been happy with it. Yes I could’ve held out for a cheaper one privately, to be honest that’s what I was doing but this one is optimal, it’s right in every way if not exactly cheap and pickings are slim on the private sale front these days with only a very overpriced 17 plate V40 sparking any real interest but it was at retail money and needed to come down by £1500. Read more

Hello,

I’m looking to replace my car with something I can take fishing for the weekend and sleep in over night so I was thinking of an estate rather than SUV/MPV but open to suggestions.

Budget up to 5k ish , ideally looking for something with a flat folding rear seat that can take a 6ft person for sleeping.

Shortlist so far

Octavia - but mainly diesel, concerned with reliability
Focus mk3/mk2 but not many with 1.6 petrol, is 1.6 vcti still the Yamaha one? Or 1.8
Avensis estate petrol
Kia ceed estate
Hyundai i30 estate
Volkswagen touran

Maybe a large hatch would be big enough... I did see a Skoda Rapid Spaceback byf don’t think it would be big enough.

I’m a diesel fan but modern ones put me off, currently have a 1.6cr in my seat but failed regens and oil overfilling/dpf and intermittent injector errors put me off the older PD I had was much better. Are there any modern diesels at this price point that are any good? Or stick to petrol.

If I had more money I’d be looking at the civic tourer 1.6 dtec.
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