Advice on buying diesal Golf please

me fein

Hi there,
Any advice on this would really be appreciated. I have been thinking of trading in my Polo (1.2 petrol) for a nearly new (around 20,000km on the clock) 1.6 diesal Golf. I have read a few bits on here about diesals not being great for people who do short journeys and little mil. over a year. I'd say I prob. do 20,000km per year and my Monday to Friday travel would be around 30km each way with speed limits of 60-80-100km depending on which bit of road I am on. Can anyone tell me if this is considered low/moderate mileage I have no clue or if that kind of driving is enough of a 'good run' for the car- is it too little to be thinking of a 1.6 diesal? Petrol is gone through the roof and diesal is that bit cheaper plus it goes further (along with the lower tax).

Also, I have noticed ppl talking about different filters needing to be changed (by the sounds of it ....an expensive job) and lights relating to them going on and costing more again. These filters seem to be doing a similar job to the catalic converter in my existing petrol polo. Basically, I am wondering if I am walking into a landmine of problems if I go for the 1.6 D Golf or if its a reasonable option. I really like the car but would obviously walk away and start the search again if I need to. I hope to keep the car for as long as possible, so 10 years anyway, hopefully.

Finally, any advice on whether spec (trendline/match), colour/paint job make much of a difference when reselling or would that depend on how long I wait to sell/trade in the car.

I realy hope someone can shed a bit of light for me,

Thanks

Bpmull

Its the diesel particle filter that fails on these cars that's what people were talking about. Basically if you only do town driving soot builds up in the filter. The filter only gets a chance to clean itself when the engine gets really hot and the soot is burned off typically heats up going on the motorway. So if you drive 30km each way at fairly constant moving Trafic you should be ok. A run up the Motorway would help every week. 20k km is boarder line petrol / diesel. I would go for the diesel and just take it on the motorway once a week. Thereis no one here that will tell you if your filter will fail or not but driving on the motorway helps prolong its life span. However if it's 30km of really stop start town driving then stick with petrol.

jayc12

I have a 1.6 diesel golf highline. I do the same mileage as yourself. I never had a problem with the diesel participate filter. There is a warning light to tell you if the dpf is becoming saturated which will require you to take the car for a drive for about 20 minutes at 2000 rpm to clear the filter. If the filter becomes saturated the car will go into limp mode and you will have to take it to the garage to get it sorted. I think at 100000 miles the dpf is checked for soot levels and if it is high it will have to be replaced and is expensive to do. You shouldn't have any trouble with it so long as it isnt all city/town driving you do.

I think like any car if it is maintained properly it shouldn't give any trouble. Its a car that will have good resale value and what spec to choose depends on your budget and how many extras you want.

me fein

Thanks a million for the advice guys. Bpmull I do a good 15/20 mins once/twice a day at 80/100km per hour as part of the commute so like you say I should be grand esp. if I give it a good drive when I can. Jc12, it's good to know about the light for the dpf, thanks. At least there's a warning to give it a good solid spin if for some reason what I'll be doing isnt adequate to keep the filter clear. Thanks a million again, much appreciated ;-)