2003 Yaris d4d. Owned since 2005.

Engine problems? Well at 13 years I replaced the glowplugs.. (easy job)..

Totally unsatisfactory ! :-)

Apart from one, no real bother here either, and all mine are that unreliable French junk...!

Xantia 2.0 HDI 110 - no engine problems, other than the LP fuel pump packed up at 140k, Scrapped at 160k (for non engine reasons)

Xsara Picasso 2.0 HDi 90 - needed an LP pump at relatively low miles, otherwise no engine trouble. Sold on at 93k.

C4 Picasso 1.6 HDi 110 - the troublesome one. Turbo went at 70k, sump off twice in 10k following that (was OK after I took the strainer out); new injector seals at 100k, new EGR valve at 90k. Sold on at 120k.

307 1.6 HDi 110 - new injector seals at 110k otherwise no engine trouble. Scrapped at 140k (rusty sills) on original turbo, EGR, DPF and clutch

C4 Picasso Mk2 1.6 Blue HDi - no trouble so far, but then it has only done 10k...

3008 1.6 HDI 115 - now at 60k, no trouble since I got it 8k ago.

My sister's C4 Picasso is 2011 (an early 8v version of the 1.6 HDi engine) and has needed 2 injectors (so far!).

I've probably saved about 10k in fuel costs over these, against maybe 1.5k paid out.

Most issues relate to later emissions control equipment particularly the DPF. Older pre-DPF diesels are generally very robust.

Additionally, in the past (up until Gordon Brown stupidly made it far more tax efficient to buy a diesel car because he thought that lower CO2 emissions was great, forgetting established science about particulates emitted from diesel engines) the vast majority of people buying diesel-engined cars used them for higher mileages/longer journeys only, as the purchase and fuel price penalty was more than outweighed by the far greater mpg and robustness of the engines, before the powers-that-be realised their mistake and legislated for DPFs etc, making such engines far more complex and susceptible to premuture reliability problems.

I remember people buying diesel-engined car in their droves just after DPFs came out in the mid 2000s and thought nothing of it, despite them doing only low mileages and far more urban journeys (meaning the higher purchase and fuel prices weren't offset by the higher mpg), only to wonder why their precious car needed to go back to the dealer so often or required expensive new parts well before their petrol-driven cousins.

For the most part, if people (as I suspect the majority of those reporting 'no problems' do) stuck to the original usage patterns for diesels before things went gaga 15 years ago, few of these cars would have problems. As SLO says, pre-DPF cars don't have this issue precisely because they don't have all the complex and seemingly fragile emissions equipment.

I thought that by now, given this subject has been essentially done to death both on this forum and, I suspect on many others, most people would know by now what the causes of modern diesel engines are and how to avoid them. By recent posts by newbie members, it seems the message hasn't got through yet. Maybe they don't want to hear it, especially if they've not listened to sage advice and repeated the mistakes of the past again - I've seen that all too often, people trying to justify their mistakes rather than listening.

It really seems that the problems started when DPF's and other forms of engine management were adopted to control emissions. Prior to that the diesel engine was a good and reliable performer. I had lots and still drive one because I tow a caravan and the diesel engine copes better with towing than petrol.

Peugeot HDi 125K miles No engine problems 2 cars

Renault HDi 130K miles No engine problems lots of electronic ones though 1 car

Toyota D4d 120K miles No engine problems 1 car

Vauxhall Tdi 115K miles No engine problems 1 car

Jaguar Tdi 78K miles No engine problems 1 car

VW Tdi 110K miles No engine problems 1 car

Skoda PDTdi 220K miles No engine problems 1 car

Present car is a Volvo XC60 Tdi 16K miles No problems so far.

All in all a very good record for reliability. With current concerns and the possibilities for major problems with emissions equipment I will look at petrol next time around. However, how long will it be before petrol is vilified like diesel?

Cheers Concrete

Some cars can be reliable regardless of the fuel used. If you purchase based on proven design you can get to high miles with any vehicle. My petrol car is now on 252k miles and still going.