Do DPFs make Diesel vans unsuitable for city use?

[Thomas_8080]

Hello, I'm a tradesman living in the centre of Bath and am looking to replace my old Diesel van with something newer when the council bring in the clean air zone next year. Ideally I'd like to but a Euro 6 Diesel van but I've read that due to Diesel Particulate Filters becoming blocked, Diesel vans aren't really suitable for people who rarely drive on A roads / motorways. I tend to make a couple of short 10 minute journeys each day and rarely exceed 30 mph as I don't often drive out of the town. As a result I'm thinking of buying a Ford Transit Connect LWB (petrol) but am a bit worried about whether it will have enough torque to get up the hills in Bath when fully loaded!

I wonder whether the articles that I have read are a bit of an exaggeration given how few petrol vans there are on the market as I'm hardly in a unique situation. Do you think I'd probably be ok with a Diesel van?

Do I need to be doing more than 40mph for the regeneration cycle to start or only in order to clear a blocked filer? And in terms of knowing that the filer is blocked in the first place, would a warning light always appear on the dash board?

Thanks in advance!

[egor110]

Royal mail are buying in lots of petrol peugeot partners .

[Venisonpie]

Some are better than others. I run about 80 Mercedes Vitos that operate inside the M25 and haven't had a single DPF issue.
The Ford Customs of which we have about 100 suffer though.

[AC43]

Venisonpie said:

Some are better than others. I run about 80 Mercedes Vitos that operate inside the M25 and haven't had a single DPF issue.
The Ford Customs of which we have about 100 suffer though.

One of my neighbours here in London is a builder with a Transit Custom and it's happened to him two or three times. Lots of short trips in stop start traffic bugger it up.

He now literally drives from here to Watford and back once a week (!) purely to clean the crap out of it.

[TCX]

Yeah real world motoring suggests decent run out,get up to temp on a fairly frequent basis,got an older diesel in London that's going to be left 'oop norf',swapped for petrol down here,stop start,small mileage

[agent006]

Thomas_8080 said:

tend to make a couple of short 10 minute journeys each day and rarely exceed 30 mph as I don't often drive out of the town..... enough torque to get up the hills in Bath when fully loaded!

Would a Nissan e-NV200 be too small?

[jjwilde]

agent006 said:

Would a Nissan e-NV200 be too small?

I was going to also suggest an electric van, then just enjoy the savings.

[Thomas_8080]

agent006 said:

Would a Nissan e-NV200 be too small?

I live in a second floor flat so unfortunately an electric van isn't going to be suitable.

[Thomas_8080]

Venisonpie said:

Some are better than others. I run about 80 Mercedes Vitos that operate inside the M25 and haven't had a single DPF issue.
The Ford Customs of which we have about 100 suffer though.

That's interesting to know. Thanks for the replies everyone. Given that I have no where to charge an electric van, I'm definitely swaying more in the direction of buying a petrol one. It's surprising how few of them there are on the market though.