Am I the only one to think it a bit crass to have to drive around for a quarter of an hour when a warning light and message appears.
We are very pleased with our diesel 500C; it does all we want for a runabout and here in Spain, to put the roof down and back up at the touch of a button is brill'.
But come on, keep driving to clean a filter in this day and age!!!

Yup. Go to a truck or tractor supply, and buy a big 4l bottle of DPF cleaner. No more DPF lights and it will more than pay for itself in fuel/ time savings.

tbh it sounds like a modern diesel is the wrong car for your driving needs if the dpf warning keeps coming on, diesels these days are only suitable for people who drive 20k miles plus a year, you should have bought a cheaper and less problem prone petrol car.

Before changing to the 500, I drove a diesel for 5 years doing 10K a year with no problems. I also know of work colleagues doing low mileages with more modern diesels than what mine was.
The problem with DPF is not getting the car up to temperature and only doing short trips.
A diesel can do low mileage as long as there is a good run along your journey, for example my commute was :-
2 miles at 40 mph
2 miles at 60 mph
8 miles at 70 mph
1 mile at 30 mph
1 mile at 40 mph
1/4 mile at 20 mph.
So 10 miles of my commute were at fast speeds, and this was twice a day 4 days a week.
I also made sure that at least once a week I had a good motorway blast for good measure.

If the OP is just doing short low speed trips then yes a diesel is no good, and the supplying dealer has advised wrongly on engine choice. We really need to know his driving habits and mileage. If he is doing " out of town" fast driving then a diesel should be OK.

I only do 8.5k miles a year in my Saab 9-3 1.9, but most of that mileage is for long mileage runs so for instance, just done a return trip to Gatwick, 360 miles. Used just less than half a tank, averaged 56 to 58 mpg. No complaints here. Never had an issue with the DPF, I only ever use Shell Nitro Diesel and the car has every one of its 150 horses. I know this as I recently treated the car to a Dyno on a rolling road.

I'm also lucky (depending on your point of view! ) living almost next to the M1, so the car gets a darn good blast at least twice a month when I'm not doing a long journey.

So yes, as has already been stated, you can own a diesel car and do low annual mileages, as long as you drive it properly. When I say properly, modern turbo diesels need to be driven 'enthusiastically', not pootled up the road gently in a very eco warrior fashion because that method of driving will just kill it doing short journeys.

I realise that there is a real concerted effort at the moment to try and kill diesel cars, but despite the bad press they're getting at the moment, some of us do try our best to mitigate the enviro issues. I change my engine oil and filter every 5k without fail, DPF is fully intact, EGR valve/MAP sensor and throttle body serviced by myself every six months, clean better burning fuel. This stuff isn't rocket science. Oh and I don't believe my Fiat sourced 1.9 engine is fitted with an emissions defeat device! Unless of course anyone can prove me wrong........:devil:

frupi said:

modern turbo diesels need to be driven 'enthusiastically', not pootled up the road gently in a very eco warrior fashion because that method of driving will just kill it doing short journeys.

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Driving only short journeys will kill it anyhow. If there is no chance for regenerating the DPF during your journeys, then you will get into trouble sooner of later. Driving 'enthusiastically' will probably not help either if you only drive short journeys. Yes, you might be able to make regeneration start earlier, even during short journeys, but while driving 'enthusiastically' the engine produces more soot. This means that you also need the regeneration earlier. Bottom line is that if you only drive short journeys, then you shouldn't buy a car with a diesel engine.

frupi said:

Oh and I don't believe my Fiat sourced 1.9 engine is fitted with an emissions defeat device! Unless of course anyone can prove me wrong........:devil:

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Isn't the largest emissions defeat device behind the wheel?

Thank you to all those who pointed out we are dimwits for buying the car!

stewartw said:

Thank you to all those who pointed out we are dimwits for buying the car!

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I think you're being a bit tough on yourself there my friend!

frupi said:

I only do 8.5k miles a year in my Saab 9-3 1.9, but most of that mileage is for long mileage runs so for instance, just done a return trip to Gatwick, 360 miles.

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Wow, surprised they let you past the 'checkpoint' approaching Gatwick. We like to know who is encroaching on our space :devil:

Over a 4 yr period I ran an Audi 2.0 A4 followed by a Merc C class 2.3 Sport. I only did 9k per year, but was fortunate enough to do a 14 mile round trip on the A27 3 > 4 times a week when I gave them a blast. Needless to say i did not incur any DPF problems.

I concur with some of this and also I regularly use millers diesel power it really is excellent, I have a 1.9 jtd doblo. We have an old corsa c with excellent Isuzu 1.7 dti never had any probs, this car has been subject to very short journeys at times.

Neilycus said:

We have an old corsa c with excellent Isuzu 1.7 dti never had any probs, this car has been subject to very short journeys at times.

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Older (pre-DPF) diesels do not suffer from these sort of problems and are like chalk and cheese; comparing them to a modern one is both pointless and potentially misleading.

The days when you could run a diesel for 200,000 miles or more without issues are, sadly, over.

You wouldn't be happy with the under powered 1.2 petrol engine after the torquey diesel motor anyway especially if you live in a hilly area. Just take it for a blast up the motorway once or twice a week.

stewartw said:

Thank you to all those who pointed out we are dimwits for buying the car!

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Don't blame yourself, unless your dealer advised you not to buy this car and you deliberately ignored that. Unfortunately not all dealers inform their customers well.

Here below you can read what any good dealer should do:

AndyRKett said:

I've just bought a brand new diesel VW and they were extremely careful to explain the DPF filter and make sure that it was suitable for my needs, they also told me stories about people who still insist on buying a diesel and using it to trundle round town once a week and still come back and complain when the fuel economy is crap and the filter clogged.

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I still stand by my original comments, that I think it crass that a modern car needs to be driven round to clean a filter.
And I am willing to shoulder the blame for not doing enough, or any, research before buying the car.
We have several vehicles for differing tasks.
The 500C is not the one used for long autovia (motorway) journeys or airport visitor collection; a diesel 5008 with cruise control and seven seats does that job.
The 500C is not the one for humping half a ton of produce at a time to the local cooperative or collecting similar loads of fertilizer; an elderly diesel Mondeo estate does that job.
The 500C cannot traverse the eight levels of terraces on our land to collect forty kilo sacks of olives; an ATV does that job.
The 500C does not give me a buzz blatting up and down mountain roads and in the twisty foothill roads; an indecently quick Lotus seven replica does that job.
The 500C is a local runabout and for the weekly shop, which it does admirably with the one exception being the DPF. We expect the consumption to be poor; so what!
When it came to replacing the diesel 207, the wife said she liked the look of the 500 and especially the convertible 500C.
The roads round here are in places steep and a small diesel does the job.
OK, we failed to notice the significance of the DPF and certainly the sales people were just chuffed to have someone come through the door with a wodge of dosh and knowing what they wanted.
I don't feel inclined to take a half hour trip to the nearest 120kph stretch of road just so a light does not come on, so will just have to do the fifteen minutes local loop every so often, or bung in some additive.
Still think it's crass, but am obviously in the minority!

I guess you should go on the Caterham forum and moan about the harsh ride and lack of refinement...

Yes I've driven one and it was as much fun as tooth ache.

RussH said:

I guess you should go on the Caterham forum and moan about the harsh ride and lack of refinement...

Yes I've driven one and it was as much fun as tooth ache.

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Har, har!
I had one of Chapman's original Sevens fifty years ago, so know what "harsh ride and lack of refinement" means.
Modern replicas are comfy pu$$y cats!