Diesels - Keeping DPF/EGR Clear

[Mr Bump]

I am 'possibly' looking at moving from an A5 to a Q5 and pondering which to get.  I only do around 8k miles/year, mainly short journeys with my commute being town/A roads in stop/start traffic, so I have read it may be unwise a bad idea to consider a diesel.  However, the mpg from a petrol/plug in Q5 (once battery depleted) is pretty lousy so I am still tempted by the diesel, plus I do like the torque they provide.

Once or twice a week I can easily arrange to take a slightly longer route home from work which would include a 14 mile drive on dual carriageways where the car would warm up properly (that drive takes around 25 minutes).  I can also take it for a blast at the weekend if needed.

Would that mix of driving be likely to see me have issues with diesel or should that suffice to keep it clear? I realise that's in an ideal world.

Thanks.

[Steve Q]

Yes you could end up with blocked dpf with soot if the engine isn't run hot for long enough. I'd definitely advise a petrol in your case. 

Also I'm not sure what towns/cities you visit but diesel will be more of a problem if emissions zones are brought in. 

[Mr Bump]

Thanks Steve.  I have read differing opinions today on what 'short journeys' constitute, along with claims from TDi owners that they have never had an issue.  Similarly there are people who have.

As above, I'd be making sure the car had a 20 - 25 minute motorway run once a week whereby it would be warmed up properly - is that likely to be sufficient to offset the daily short journeys Monday to Friday, and avoid the dreaded DPF blocking?

Thanks for the help.

Edited November 19 by Mr Bump

[Steve Q]

Not necessarily as it depends on when the car wants to do a regeneration on the dpf. 

Unfortunately dog and egr issues are common problems on most modern diesels these days. Use the search function to see the different threads to see what I mean 

[cliffcoggin]

Paul.

It makes no sense to do unneccesary journeys merely to keep the DPF clean, which is unlikely to work, and in the same breath be concerned at the mpg of a petrol or hybrid. If you do mainly short journeys a hybrid would be ideal for you as long as you can recharge the battery at home.

[Mr Bump]

Thanks Cliff, though I partly disagree.  Having spoken to a number of dealers there's a consensus that a petrol Q5 is 'very thirsty', so I'm not sure a 20 minute blast in a diesel would be enough to offset the cost between the 2.  Whether or not it would solve the DPF issue, I'll defer to you as I am not that well informed on the matter.

Ref the hybrid whilst it's a good suggestion, I am not sure it's any different to a petrol to be honest, and perhaps even worse.  The official range for a Q5 PHEV is around 26 miles so in the real world that's likely to be around 20 at best.  That's not enough to even cover my daily commute to work on a full charge which means that for some proportion of the journey I'd be driving a petrol with the added burden of a massively heavy battery.  I am not sure that's a great solution.

I do have the concerns about the diesel/DPF issue which is a real shame as the Q5 would be my preference, all told.

[cliffcoggin]

Paul.

If you are limiting youself to only a Q5 then you will have to compromise between range, fuel cost, and DPF problems.

Perhaps it's time to consider another model or even another brand that would give you more options.