Diesels when doing low mileage

[Justchris17]

I know short journeys and low mileage isn’t the best for diesels but if the majority of driving is short journeys would a 250 mile motorway blast once a month be enough to clear the pipes and keep it healthy?

Been offered a decent Volvo diesel but I only do 5-6k miles a year with the majority of my driving just short journeys taking the dogs out or going shopping I’m hoping my once a month 250 mile journey would keep it healthy

[normalbloke]

I see trouble ahead….

[cantstopbuyingcars]

If in doubt just go for a petrol as diesels get worse MPG when cold and around town anyway. I think once a month will definitely help, but in reality at all costs try to go for a petrol as the benefits of a diesel only really come in when doing more miles and longer journeys and it's a pointless extra problem to have.

[jfdi]

We've got a 2009 B class 2l diesel that does loads of short journeys of 5 miles or less then occasionally (probably not even monthly) gets a run up the motorway for 25 minutes. It's done 106k miles now and we've had no issues with it in the 2 years we've had it.
So long as it get a run every so often I don't think diesels are anywhere near as bad as made out on here. As for it being not as economical on local journeys, it still manages around 50mpg which is far more than a petrol B class would achieve.

[Justchris17]

My preference is petrol and been on the hunt for a petrol estate I just got offered a well maintained diesel from a friend so just crunching the numbers to see if I could make it work

[300bhp/ton]

cantstopbuyingcars said:

If in doubt just go for a petrol as diesels get worse MPG when cold and around town anyway. I think once a month will definitely help, but in reality at all costs try to go for a petrol as the benefits of a diesel only really come in when doing more miles and longer journeys and it's a pointless extra problem to have.

I doubt very much that a petrol gets better mpg when cold or around town. Not on a like for like performance and power basis.

So much BS posted about diesels these days ffs

[Justchris17]

jfdi said:

We've got a 2009 B class 2l diesel that does loads of short journeys of 5 miles or less then occasionally (probably not even monthly) gets a run up the motorway for 25 minutes. It's done 106k miles now and we've had no issues with it in the 2 years we've had it.
So long as it get a run every so often I don't think diesels are anywhere near as bad as made out on here. As for it being not as economical on local journeys, it still manages around 50mpg which is far more than a petrol B class would achieve.

Interesting thanks. Does it have a dpf?

[AC43]

Justchris17 said:

I know short journeys and low mileage isn’t the best for diesels but if the majority of driving is short journeys would a 250 mile motorway blast once a month be enough to clear the pipes and keep it healthy?

Been offered a decent Volvo diesel but I only do 5-6k miles a year with the majority of my driving just short journeys taking the dogs out or going shopping I’m hoping my once a month 250 mile journey would keep it healthy

My neighbour here in NW London has a diesel Transit. All short trips. He's spent so much on clogged DPF's and EGR's that he's decided to drive it to Watford and back once a week every week just to avoid future issues.

[cantstopbuyingcars]

300bhp/ton said:

I doubt very much that a petrol gets better mpg when cold or around town. Not on a like for like performance and power basis.

So much BS posted about diesels these days ffs

I don't recall saying like for like on a power basis- I've owned multiple diesel and petrol VWs so go figure

[_Hoppers]

300bhp/ton said:

cantstopbuyingcars said:

If in doubt just go for a petrol as diesels get worse MPG when cold and around town anyway. I think once a month will definitely help, but in reality at all costs try to go for a petrol as the benefits of a diesel only really come in when doing more miles and longer journeys and it's a pointless extra problem to have.

I doubt very much that a petrol gets better mpg when cold or around town. Not on a like for like performance and power basis.

So much BS posted about diesels these days ffs

On my return journey from work from the centre of York to the ringroad, from a cold start, my car computer gives a reading of 35mpg for 3.5miles of travelling, so not too bad I don't think?

Edit: Running a 2l TD

Edited by _Hoppers on Friday 12th August 18:08

[Canon_Fodder]

Justchris17 said:

I know short journeys and low mileage isn’t the best for diesels but if the majority of driving is short journeys would a 250 mile motorway blast once a month be enough to clear the pipes and keep it healthy?

Yes

[Justchris17]

AC43 said:

My neighbour here in NW London has a diesel Transit. All short trips. He's spent so much on clogged DPF's and EGR's that he's decided to drive it to Watford and back once a week every week just to avoid future issues.

Has it helped him avoid issues or has he only just started doing it?

I’m not too fussed on mpg as long as it gets over 40mpg on a run which a diesel should main thing is reliability

[cantstopbuyingcars]

Justchris17 said:

Has it helped him avoid issues or has he only just started doing it?

I’m not too fussed on mpg as long as it gets over 40mpg on a run which a diesel should main thing is reliability

It helped with my Transit but that's only because there's very little in the way of petrol/electric vans and it's very annoying and a waste of time to have to take it on a good run regularly. The point is that if you're not doing long journeys you're probably best off buying a petrol even if it costs you more to buy the petrol version.

[Justchris17]

cantstopbuyingcars said:

It helped with my Transit but that's only because there's very little in the way of petrol/electric vans and it's very annoying and a waste of time to have to take it on a good run regularly. The point is that if you're not doing long journeys you're probably best off buying a petrol even if it costs you more to buy the petrol version.

I do a 250 mile journey once a month but the rest of mileage is short journeys I was hoping that would be enough to justify the diesel car

[jfdi]

Justchris17 said:

Interesting thanks. Does it have a dpf?

Good question, I've never thought to check.
I've just done an vin check and it doesn't have the code for a dpf and comes back as euro 4. So no it doesn't appear to have one.
Strangely my 2010 GL 450 does have a dpf but is still classed as euro 4. It also does a fair few short journey with the occasional long run towing the caravan to clear it out. However the 2 DPFs on that are like dustbins so not likely to block up.

[IJWS15]

I have a diesel Superb on lease, mainly because I was expecting to be back in the office every day but that hasn't happened - they sold the office!

In 2 weeks short of 2 years it has done 18k and that includes a trip to the south of France in May, it can go for weeks just pootling to my Daughters (maybe 3 miles each way) but does get warm maybe once a month. At one stage one tank lasted 2 1/2 months.

Have had (touch wood) none of the dpf issues I was expecting.

[Fastdruid]

300bhp/ton said:

cantstopbuyingcars said:

If in doubt just go for a petrol as diesels get worse MPG when cold and around town anyway. I think once a month will definitely help, but in reality at all costs try to go for a petrol as the benefits of a diesel only really come in when doing more miles and longer journeys and it's a pointless extra problem to have.

I doubt very much that a petrol gets better mpg when cold or around town. Not on a like for like performance and power basis.

So much BS posted about diesels these days ffs

I have a Mondeo 2.5T, while it was in the bodyshop (after someone drove into it), I had a Galaxy TDCI140 for two weeks. Massively slower than the Mondeo but same torque (at the crank anyway).

I got all of 3mpg better in the same use (except slower) in the Galaxy round town and I was always cold as the blasted thing took about 10 miles to warm up before you'd get any heat into the cabin. On the few days I took it on slightly longer (~14Mi) runs it was better...but again, was cold until about 1 Mile before home or the office!

Far better obviously on a run, I saw 50+mpg out of it (vs mid 30's out of the Mondeo) but that's pointless if that's not the bulk of your mileage.

Back to the issue of reliability however, the problem with DPF's is that different manufacturers have different ways of doing things and some work better than others. For example some inject extra fuel which if you turn it off before the regen is complete ends up with contaminated oil. Others will regen so often that if you're doing short mileage you'll never get it up to temp and by the time you do your "long run" it'll be too late and clogged up.

[Garett]

Justchris17 said:

I know short journeys and low mileage isn’t the best for diesels but if the majority of driving is short journeys would a 250 mile motorway blast once a month be enough to clear the pipes and keep it healthy?

Been offered a decent Volvo diesel but I only do 5-6k miles a year with the majority of my driving just short journeys taking the dogs out or going shopping I’m hoping my once a month 250 mile journey would keep it healthy

What Volvo is it? We have a 2011 V70 D5 that only does about 8k a year. We've had it for almost 4 years, and have taken it from 74k up to 108k so far. It mainly does short journeys of 3 miles or so but at least once a month it'll have a 170 mile round trip mainly on the motorway. Touch wood we've never had any issues and speaking to the indie I use he said he doesn't see many D5s with DPF issues.

[Fusion777]

My folks had a diesel Focus estate for a good time and didn't do big miles in it at all. No diesel specific issues, but that particular model didn't have a DPF. Was always ran on V-Power diesel and serviced on the nail. Don't think diesel related issues are as big a deal as many say on forums.

Would recommend V-Power or additives if you can afford it, though.

[Sheepshanks]

Fastdruid said:

….and I was always cold as the blasted thing took about 10 miles to warm up before you'd get any heat into the cabin. On the few days I took it on slightly longer (~14Mi) runs it was better...but again, was cold until about 1 Mile before home or the office!

They do take into the teens of miles of normal running for the engine to get properly hot, but all diesels have some kind of system to boost the heater and will start to blow warm air within a few hundred yards. Sometimes the car to be moving though and won’t warm up at idle. Assuming the system isn’t broken or turned off.

On my 2005 Merc it only worked if the outside temp was 8C or lower.