DPF/EGR Question re Used Car Purchase

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DPF/EGR Question re Used Car Purchase

Andysan

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Hi All,

Currently considering replacing my car - looking at Alfa Brera's with approx 50k miles of up to five years old.

Now, cars of this age/mileage will likely be candidates for DPF issues, as I understand that these manifest themselves when driving lots of short journeys, as a car that is not doing more than ten thousand miles per year may be doing.

What I'm not clued up on is whether this makes them safe to purchase. I do 80 miles a day and that includes several 'motorway blast sections' with my foot firmly planted into the floor, so my driving habits meet what the car was designed for (indeed, no problems with my current cars EGR in 40k miles - it doesnt have a DPF). Will that mean that I can buy a car regardless of it's prior driving habits and essentially reverse any build up in the DPF/EGR, or is the damage irreversible once it's been done (by the previous owner) and therefore I should be wary of DPF/EGR issues with these cars?

Cheers!
 
To be honest if your driving any car with a DPF fitted you will do it the world of good giving a daily motorway blast.
They tend to play up on the modern cars more when used around town or school runs.
As for reversing any previous damage..... Well the car if working correctly should automatically regenerate the DPF when driving.... Normally when driven at around 50mph for around 20 minutes.
I'm not sure how the alfa system works but there all pretty much the same.
And to be honest too if the DPF is totally blocked and the dealers are.telling get you need a.new one..... Most of the time you can take them apart and pressure wash the filter through then carry out a forced re-gen and it's good to go again for the next 50k.
Something you could look in to is the servicing of the car, as ford recommend on the 70k service the DPF should be changed as do Citroen and Peugeot at a slightly higher mileage.
I have a car with a DPF and simply do the worry about it as they are quite simple to repair if they go wrong and if you really don't want one on your car there are plenty of company's out there that will replace / remove your DPF and re-program your ecu so it isn't looking for one and this will not affect your mot.
 
Agree with much of the above post.

My Croma (56 plate) has a DPF, has done 57K miles. Before I retired I was doing a 25 mile trip to work and back (50 in total). For the last 3 years mileage has been sporadic but generally an 8 mile to 35 mile run with some short local 5 mile trips.

No DPF issues thus far.

One thing I would check is the cars oil. Is the oil level high? Does it look thin?

A side effect of poor regeneration cycles can be oil dilution by excess diesel fuel.

Unless the car has had a very recent oil change then I would personally change to oil to be on the safe side.

Of course the usual engine checks for noise, rattles, etc. etc. should be undertaken.

As for EGR.....not a real issue if you can afford £100 for a new EGR valve.
 
Thanks both for the sound advice, appreciate you taking the time to help me out.(y)

Now to decide whether to buy the thing or not.... :confused:
 
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