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• any - who adds 2SO to their diesel fuel 1 Jun 2011 (Forum)
  In other words, the 2-stroke oil has a much lower ash-content as diesel, when burned. This proven fact delays the DPF (diesel particulate (soot) filter) to clogg, and the "burn free" process of the DPF will be much less. One more information: in Germany we have to present our cars every 2 years to the TUV -Technical Supervision Organisation - who will check, amongs others, the pollution of petrol and diesel engines.
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  A new mid-sized car 1 Jun 2011 (Ask HJ)
  Do you know of any forthcoming changes to VAG diesels, such as chain cam and/or less problematic DPF? Are DMFs used on automatics/DSGs by VAG or Hyundai?...
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  We are looking for a reliable 5-door car with good build quality - should we buy petrol or diesel? 21 May 2011 (Ask HJ)
  We have recently retired and are planning to spend around £20,000 on a new or nearly new car. Being conscious of escalating fuel costs we were planning...
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  Can you recommend an economical 4WD vehicle to replace our Jeep? 5 Feb 2011 (Ask HJ)
  Our fantastic Jeep is sadly coming to the end of its life. We need to replace it with something equally good in the snow (we live in Scotland). The Jeep...
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  I need an economical automatic with a large boot as a company car - what do you recommend? 10 Oct 2010 (Ask HJ)
  I retire at the end of November and will be handing back my company car – a 2008 Audi A3 Sportback 2.0TDi Automatic. This is my third A3; the previous...
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  Should my daughter buy a Kia Cerato or Citroen Picasso? 12 Sep 2010 (Ask HJ)
  My daughter has just started teaching in Manchester, a daily return trip of 75 miles per day, 70 miles of which is motorway driving. We would like to replace...
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  My partner needs a new car for her commute - what about the MINI? 4 Sep 2010 (Ask HJ)
  We are looking at purchasing a replacement car for my better half. Annual mileage circa 12,000, consisting of four daily 30-mile commutes on dual carriageways...
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  My Peugeot 307 HDi lost power and started smoking - does the exhaust need to be removed? 21 Aug 2010 (Ask HJ)
  I have a Peugeot 307 HDi Quicksilver 05 plate (1.6). I was coming home on the M4 last week and all was fine, but after paying the bridge tolls, as I pulled...
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  Miles per gullible 21 Aug 2010 (Ask HJ)
  I have a Skoda Octavia 2.0TDI DSG bought new in 2005. Fault-free so far but a bit too noisy - especially road roar at speed and engine noise in town. I...
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  Diesel Particulate Faulter 5 Sep 2009 (Ask HJ)
  While driving in town quite normally, my 2005 Citroen C4 2L HDI 40k miles, suddenly over-revved, revved up and down a few times, revved incredibly highly...
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  Passat imperfect 14 Mar 2009 (Ask HJ)
  I emailed a few weeks ago about an unreliable 2006 VW Passat estate I bought. I have managed to sell it privately. I am looking at replacing with a SAAB...
• Any - How clean is your exhaust tailpipe?! 25 Oct 2023 (Forum)
  It meets Euro 5 emissions regs, so should we venture to London or other urban centres in it, we’d likely have to fork out for some sort of ULEZ charge. It has a DPF which appears to be serving its intended function, as wiping a finger inside the end of the exhaust doesn’t result in a mucky/sooty finger. My 2020 ‘clean’ Kuga 2.5 PHEV with a petrol engine and plug in hybrid capability is Euro 6 and deemed sufficiently clean to dodge any ULEZ money grabs.
• Citroen C5 - Citroen C5 2.0 HDI 114k miles a good choice or not 17 Mar 2023 (Forum)
  Anyone know what these cars are like and if they are generally sturdy and dependable enough to last the next few yrs? I have heard the shocks can be an expensive job, wiper motors go and the DPF could need a look at soon, but anything he should be aware of before committing?
• Dacia Duster 2019 - New 2019 Dacia Duster 1.3 Petrol versus 1.5 Diesel 17 Feb 2020 (Forum)
  Info - i travel two 18 mile trips per day 5 days a week and two 40 mile round trips at weekend. Always had diesels with no issues but aware of many nightmare story's on this formula with dpf etc. Current car Dacia Duster 2016 Diesel 51.000 miles so aware of what im buying and happy with choice its just the above to consider please. Thank you
• Can anyone Help? - A very cheap car to give/or free. 19 Oct 2018 (Forum)
  They were given (it turns out) loaned an Audi a4 estate about 15 months ago after their previous car had dpf/oil pump/clutch probems and they live on a very very tight budget.  One neighbour let them use his car for a while, but now they need basic transport. credit is not an option so here we go!
• Help pick an SUV, auto, petrol Max £16K 5 Jun 2018 (Forum)
  Must be high seating (so SUV think), petrol only (conditions are always town driving so don't want diesel, DPF issue etc), automatic. Under 16K and ideally year 17 on so have some manufacturers warranty. Also like the look of Android Auto/Apple CarPlay for phone connection with a nice large touchscreen. Not too bothered on inbuilt sat nav as can use the phones sat nav as only used sparely anyway.
• Honest John’s Motoring Agony Column 21-01-2018 Part 2 23 Jan 2018 (Forum)
  Again, with diesels - a manufacturer is recommending an owner doing 25 miles a WEEK or 100+ a month just to guarantee it passively regenerates the DPF. So all that extra mpg they're getting over petrol engined cars is essentially wasted just to burn off some soot. Just shows how ridiculous it is buying a diesel if you either don't do mostly motorway type driving (even on lower mileage, but then you get far less of a benefit from the better mpg than petrol if you do very low mileage) or over 20k miles (preferably 25k) pa and a regular (at least once a week if not more) amount on faster-moving roads.
• VW - VW Diesels - which one? 19 Oct 2017 (Forum)
  2.0TDI PD 170bhp - Siemens injectors - very troublesome engine with a high rate of injector faliures, cracked injectors looms, and DPF issues. 2.0TDI CR 140 + 170bhp - Siemens injectors - generally better due to redesigned injectors, but still suffers from injector faliures  
• Audi A6 / A3 - Nearly new cars 16 Aug 2017 (Forum)
  My annual mileage is around 12k per year so not quite enough to justify diesel, however most of my trips are a minimum of 50 miles so diesel wouldn't be a problem from a DPF clogging perspective. My budget is around £25k (will take out a loan @ 2.8% but have the means to settle it if things take a turn for the worse). Now, I can find a fair number of petrol A3's in a good spec for this budget ('66' plate onwards) or I can go the 'luxury' route and plump for an A6 in 3.0 diesel format.
• VW Sharan TDi - Extended warranty recommendations 4 Aug 2017 (Forum)
  The only one I looked at is VWs own and to be honest it looks good to me covering everything other than a list of named exclusions but the main thing is it covers what I see as the high risk items DSG, turbo, injectors, fuel pump, EGR, SRC / AdBlue system, catalyst but only covers the DPF for internal failure but not from getting blocked, all the sensors are covered. £277 for a years cover with £100 excess and 10K miles limit.   I hate taking the first quote I get and these thing look like a bit of a mine field so any recommendations would be helpful.