Diesel for short city trips?

FutureTech on 10/04/2020 - 22:23

Hi guys,

Eyeing off a 2019 Audi Q5 2.0 TDI at the moment. Am a bit worried about short city trips with a diesel engine though. I don't expect to drive too much during the weekdays and it would mainly be for weekend grocery runs/trip to the swimming pool however I do plan to drive reasonably long distance say every other weekend for fun/getaways etc. Would it be a hugh problem if I get the diesel variant for this? I heard that diesel engine technology has improved over the years and short trips are less of a problem compared to the old days - is this correct? Thanks in advance for your input.

Automotive

Comments

  • zuuutoootuuu on 10/04/2020 - 22:44
    +2

    just google "Audi DPF regeneration", it's a PITA when it clogs up… ask me how I know.

    • FutureTech on 10/04/2020 - 23:00
      -1

      Yes had a look and seems like you only need to do a 20 min highway drive once in a while to burn it off? Shouldn't be a problem?

      • ESEMCE on 11/04/2020 - 08:33
        +1

        If you don't do a 20 minute highway drive (not in traffic) weekly already, then yeah it's a huge problem.
        Buy a petrol model instead.

      • [Deactivated] on 11/04/2020 - 08:52
        -2

        Pretty much it, it's not a big issue. I just wait for the DPF warning light to come on then I go for a highway cruise. Only happens once every blue moon. I also run 15-40 generic mineral oil in the engine which is apparently another big no no. But I would prefer an immaculate engine running on real oil rather than an immaculate exhaust filter with a burnt out engine running on full synthetic vegetable oil…

        • Snake 4 on 11/04/2020 - 10:31
          +3

          What a load of crap.

          We have 330,000k running on so called "full synthetic vegetable oil"

          For your education.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_oil

          • [Deactivated] on 11/04/2020 - 11:47
            -2

            @Snake 4: Oops my bad, vegetables are natural not synthetic. That should of been full synthetic rat hair/detergent/poly plastic oil mix…

            My body runs better on whole fruit and veg than it does on artificial protein powder. I just use the same reasoning with oil. A car should run better on whole natural crude than it does when fed distilled rat hair/detergent/poly plastic super, high technology protein oil.

            Just saying… ymmv.

            • Peace Maker on 11/04/2020 - 15:54

              @[Deactivated]: Why are you comparing what an organic living organism uses for fuel with what a man made object uses for lubrication?

              • [Deactivated] on 12/04/2020 - 06:33
                -5

                @Peace Maker: Because Mother Nature is always the better choice for anything in life whether it be lube, fuel or a cure for Corona virus. Mother Nature is boss. Forget the fake Man-made synthetic science crap. Man can never compete with nature. He always fails…

  • Austaurean on 11/04/2020 - 08:47

    As others have said, The issue is the DPF, Diesel Particulate Filter, constant short trips will clog it up, also you may not be able to clear it and a dealer will need to conduct the burn.

    Plus be aware they dont have a massive life span either and are very expensive to replace. I went petrol Subaru instead of diesel due to DPF.

    Plus i do a 60k round trip 5 days a week with 100k, 90k and 80k zones, and still wasnt sure enough about it regenerating/burn appropriately.

    Also, due to current world wide events, no fun get aways at the moment…

  • JimmyF on 11/04/2020 - 11:32
    -2

    Diesel is bad for everyone, please don't buy it.

  • whooah1979 on 11/04/2020 - 11:41

    Just do 20 minutes on the M4, M5 and M7 every weekend you’ll be fine.

    • nikoris on 15/04/2020 - 03:19
      +2

      Who wants to spend one hour every week just for maintaining a stupid filter?
      I would never drive a car with dpf unless it was already in my schedule to do long runs weekly

      • whooah1979 on 15/04/2020 - 19:13

        How do you get an hour from 20 minutes?

        • Euphemistic on 16/04/2020 - 16:54

          Ever heard of a 20min wait at the Dr surgery?

  • FutureTech on 11/04/2020 - 11:42

    Thanks guys for the help

  • iforgotmysocks on 11/04/2020 - 11:57
    +2

    Get the petrol version

  • [Deactivated] on 11/04/2020 - 13:27
    -1

    Support the company that supports the gassing of inner city dwellers though high emissions of NOx

    • whooah1979 on 11/04/2020 - 14:58

      They could always move to the bush if they don’t like the inner city traffic.

      • [Deactivated] on 11/04/2020 - 16:42

        Or buy from a car company that actually meets the specifications they state, and have properly working DPFs.

        • whooah1979 on 11/04/2020 - 16:45

          Do you have any evidence that this particular model doesn't meet Euro 5?

          • [Deactivated] on 11/04/2020 - 16:52

            @whooah1979: More so a feeling for the brand, they have form for creating excessive emissions. “Dieselgate” and Auschwitz are 2 that come to mind from the founder of VW.

            • whooah1979 on 11/04/2020 - 18:44

              @[Deactivated]: Apple, Google, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla have all been accused of dealing with companies that use child labourers. That doesn’t stop us from supporting them.

              • [Deactivated] on 12/04/2020 - 00:17

                @whooah1979: But when you factor in the deplorable behaviour of the whole network of dealers, it becomes apparent the apple(no pun intended) doesn’t fall far from the tree. There are many better and more helpful car companies to support.

                • whooah1979 on 12/04/2020 - 10:22

                  @[Deactivated]: VW is the leader in the diesel suv segments. If anyone is going to pay x amount for a good then they may as well go for the leader.

                  • [Deactivated] on 12/04/2020 - 14:31

                    @whooah1979: Oh how wrong you are.
                    The Virtually Worthless don’t make the top ten is sales by volume and are not in the top 3 for sales in SUV sub categories for sales YTD. The Audi A3 Makes a mention for small SUV >40k and the caddy is the top in the light van market with only 2 other competitors (hollow victory).
                    So much for leader status.

            • SBOB on 12/04/2020 - 09:23

              @[Deactivated]:

              . “Dieselgate” and Auschwitz are 2 that come to mind from the founder of VW

              Man, this isolation thing brings out some truly insane posts

              • [Deactivated] on 12/04/2020 - 14:23

                @SBOB: Well I thought the same before. Gassing seems to come natural for some.

  • Euphemistic on 11/04/2020 - 13:34
    +2

    Can’t believe ozbargainers are suggesting ‘just go for a drive for 20min’ every Week like it’s not a waste of time and money to do so. If you don’t normally do 20min freeway drives, don’t get a diesel. Planning to start specially going for DPF drives with your new car is just dumb.

    • whooah1979 on 11/04/2020 - 14:57
      -1

      A 20 minute drive in a diesel on the freeway may be more economical than driving a petrol vehicle five days a week.

    • [Deactivated] on 15/04/2020 - 09:42

      Can’t believe ozbargainers are suggesting ‘just go for a drive for 20min’ every Week like it’s not a waste of time and money

      I can't believe that OzBargainers aren't reaming this bloke for buying a new Audi that he only drives once a week. Talk about a waste of money!

  • BertieBrown on 11/04/2020 - 17:20
    +1

    My advice would be to go for a petrol engine, the main reason being that unless you’re absolutely sure you’ll be able to do enough long trips to heat up the diesel particulate filter in order to burn through the build-up you may need to have either the diesel particulate filter replaced, or have it cleaned.

    So for clarity I would suggest that you ring an Aldi service centre and you ask them how much it would cost you to replace the DPF if necessary, or get it cleaned, if necessary. I have no idea, but my understanding for other makes is that it can be thousands of dollars to rectify a clogged DPF in some circumstances.

    The other issue is that you’re unlikely to even really need a diesel anyway, if you’re not going to be towing say a caravan, or a large boat for instance, and even then you’re still limited by the max tow rating of the chassis anyway. By the sounds you also won’t need a lot of low range torque for four wheel driving. In which case going to and fro from shops and home, a petrol engine will be fine. These days many petrol engines are able to achieve very low L/KM, and considering that the cost of diesel and petrol is usually on-par, I can’t see a huge advantage in diesel prices anyway.

    A diesel engine may last longer than a petrol engine because the diesel engine needs to tolerate more compression, but there are inherent issues with diesel engines, just as much as petrol, for instance problems with turbos. And, unless you’re going to keep the vehicle into the late two or three hundred thousand KM’s before selling it, the petrol again will probably be still chugging along.

    When I was considering vehicles I realised that every weekend I would have to go for a drive on a highway to heat up the DPF in order to clear it. I knew that realistically I wouldn’t be able to guarantee that every weekend of the year I’d be able to do that, and so I couldn’t risk buying a vehicle that might go into limp mode if the DPF needed to be looked at by a mechanic.

    I suppose at the end of the day if you’re sure that you’ll absolutely be able to go for that weekend drive, then maybe, if you need the other benefits of a diesel such as low range torque, towing, four wheel driving etc, it might be worth it, but if you’re not sure you’ll be able to continually manage the DPF then I’d personally just go with a petrol.

    The other thing you could do is look at the L/KM figures for the petrol/diesel and work out how much difference in fuel there would be with the diesel. If it’s say $2k over ten years, then you could probably say that you’d allow yourself one chance, potentially for the DPF to need to be cleared, and then you’d be breaking even between the cost of fuel. But you’d also want to consider the upfront cost between the diesel and the petrol engine too.

    • FutureTech on 11/04/2020 - 17:35
      +1

      Thanks mate for the detailed response. Main reason I'm considering a diesel is there's one available with the options I like and a low price, some $6000 lower than a petrol variant with similar mileage and configuration. I don't really need a diesel engine but if it's not going to end up costing me more I thought I could live with it.

      • BertieBrown on 11/04/2020 - 18:06

        Well, in that instance if I was you, I would be ringing an Aldi dealer and asking them, that if you bought this model and the DPF has a conniption how much they’d charge you to replace it, all said and done, including service not just the part cost. If that’s a lot less than $6k then at least you know where you’d stand.

        • John Kimble on 11/04/2020 - 18:12
          +1

          Does the generous 60 day return policy apply to Aldi cars too?

          • BertieBrown on 11/04/2020 - 18:32

            @John Kimble: Oops! Haha! Pardon my brain fart. I'm gonna leave it there for posterity.

            And of course, the 60-day policy applies.

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