Should I go for TDI or TSI? (DPF question)

[redtee34]

I don't do "mega miles" but I also don't do *that* many short cold engine journeys.

Lets say a typical week for me might be:

Monday -15 min town drive
Tuesday - motorway, 30 mins each way
Wed, Thur - car sits on drive
Fri - 10 min town drive
Saturday - 15 min town drive
Sunday - sits on drive

Once per month a 50 mile trip.
Few times per year 200 mile trip.

Is it appropriate to consider picking up a used 1.6L TDI Leon with 50-100k miles on it, given what we know about DPF management? Or is my life going to be easier just going for a petrol? UK climate fwiw

 

[BigJase88]

Diesel is fine people get too worked up about dpf’s

my mother has owned a 325d with dpf for 10 years and her longest trip is 15 miles. The car now has over 100k and still on original dpf.

it won’t be an issue for you.

 

[Miguel 7]

Had a diesel for 4 years and was travelling to work 3 miles.
Was doing some longer trips over the weekends etc but still, nothing ever happened to it

 

[SRGTD]

Never had any issues with my mk6 Golf GTD that I owned for nearly 5 years, and my daily commute to work was 7 miles each way. Other than commuting, there were a couple of longer journeys (50 mile round trips) most weeks. I was aware if an active DPF regen was taking place - higher engine rpm’s cooling fan running - but they were pretty infrequent.

I’d probably be more concerned with possible restrictions that national and local government might impose to in their efforts to demonise diesel cars - e.g. introduction of more ultra low emissions zones, imposition of congestion charges in more built up areas.

 

[Mr Pig]

Diesel is fine people get too worked up about dpf’s

Yip, get the diesel, use decent fuel, keep it serviced and it'll be fine. More MPG too. We put 70k on a diesel doing mostly short trips with no issues.

 

[SJFR]

I agree, I put 60K on my diesel with mainly short trips. Due to lockdown I have done very few miles since March ( less than 30 miles per week at the start) and it has been absolutely fine.

 

[Rooster]

You should really try both petrol and diesel, as they feel completely different.

 

[Mr Pig]

You should really try both petrol and diesel, as they feel completely different.

They do. We have both and which I prefer depends on which day it is!

 

[redtee34]

They do. We have both and which I prefer depends on which day it is!

Would you say the diesel is noisier in the case of an mk3 Leon? I've heard it said the TDI can be smoother and more comfortable than the TSI, even though across cars in general the opposite is often the case.

 

[Mr Pig]

Would you say the diesel is noisier in the case of an mk3 Leon?

It depends. There seems to be a bit of variation in how noisy individual diesel engines are. Maybe how well they are maintained or luck of the draw? Our 1.6 TDi was very smooth and quiet unless pushed and sat at 70 you could hardly hear it was running. The 2.0 TDi is a bit noisier but still far from intrusive.

The 1.4 TSi is generally quieter but is actually louder at 70. Go figure. Bottom line is that they are all different but none are excessively loud.